Rhetoric & Composition I Rotating Header Image

Course Calendar

Please note that this calendar is designed to be flexible: we may make changes along the way, depending on your interests and the needs of the class. Should you miss a class, you are responsible for knowing about—and adjusting for—any changes by getting notes and other materials from a classmate. Professional protocols and collegiality call for you to alert us if you’ll be missing on a day when we’re having a workshop or when you are scheduled to present materials.

 Week 1
Introductions, key concepts, & course goals
St. Martin’s Handbook, Chapter 1: Expectations for College Writing
Thursday, September 10th In class: Introductions, key concepts, & course goals
Due: Course Survey
Preview:

  • Key rhetorical contexts: purpose, audience, and occasion; reader-based writing that accomplishes something
  • Key terms: rhetoric, ideology, analysis, assumption, assertion, claim, argument, context, critical thinking
  • New York Times [+subscription info]
  • St. Martin’s Handbook: 
    • 1d Becoming an engaged reader and active listener
    • 7a Reading print and digital texts
    • 8b Thinking critically about argument
  • Digication and my example
   
Tuesday, 9/15 In class: NYT as assigned — I’ll email instructions on Sunday
Due: article summary on Frank Bruni’s “Measuring a College’s Value” — Sunday Review section, page 3
 — bring it in digital form, emailed to yourself, or on your laptop; we’ll need the digital version so that we can post them to your Digication site. Here’s my example
 
Week 2
Summary & Analysis
St. Martin’s Handbook, Chapter 8
Thursday, 9/17

In class: NYT, continued

Due: #1: post your revised initial, first summary in précis form, and keep both versions; we want to be able to see your original summary and the revised version, in précis form. Here’s one possible organizing principle for that.

Due #2Rhetorical précis — your choice

St. Martin’s Handbook:

  • 8e Identifying elements of an argument
  • 8f Identifying fallacies
  • 13b ”Working with quotations”; note how some of the signal verbs are rhetorically active verbs (“claims”) and some are not (“says”). Can you tell the difference? Samples.

For class discussion, we’ll focus on p. A1 and the Sunday Review section — come prepared to discuss.

 
Tuesday, 9/22 In class: For class discussion, we’ll focus on p. A1 and the Sunday Review section — come prepared to discuss.
Due: Rhetorical précis — Manne, “Why I Use Trigger Warnings”
   
 Week 3
Reading and writing rhetorically: ethos, pathos, & logos
Thursday, 9/24

Due: Rhetorical précis:

9:40 section: Douthat, Evangelicals and the Carson Illusion

1:00 section: Sunstein, Making Government Logical

Reading: NYT, as assigned Sunday via email:
Everyone should read the front section and the Sunday Review section; you image titleshould also be seeking out sections that tend to interest you more than others — Sports, Business, Arts, Style & Fashion — try to note stories, trends, and writers that interest you.

In class: We will begin class by going around the room and hearing an informal 60-90 second overview of an interesting article that you read in the Sunday NYT — any section, any topic — why it was important and relevant to you, and why it should be important and relevant to us. It’s a great way to get a tour of the Sunday paper, and to find out what people are interested in.

Page One: Inside the New York Times — no longer on Netflix, but is available via Hulu and Amazon Prime — free trials are available for both.

   
Tuesday, 9/29

In class: NYT as assigned; Brooks: The American Idea and Today’s G.O.P., which we’ll use as a test case: if we were going to write a rhetorical analysis of this essay, how would you do that?

Due: Annotated copy of a NYT article for your Rhetorical Analysis

St. Martins Handbook PART TWO—Critical Thinking and Argument

7. Reading Critically
8. Analyzing Arguments

   
 Week 4
Planning and drafting a rhetorical analysis
& individual conferences — schedule and sign-up TBA
Thursday, 10/1

Reading: NYT, as assigned:
Due: Rhetorical Analysis draft #1

In class: Writing Center Presentation; moving from summary to rhetorical analysis

St. Martins Handbook PART TWO—Critical Thinking and Argument

7. Reading Critically
8. Analyzing Arguments

   
Tuesday, 10/6

In class: NYT, continued; peer reviews
St. Martin’s Handbook: 4b Reviewing peer writers’ work

Due: Rhetorical Analysis draft #2

   
 Week 5
Advocacy and Argument: Op-Ed Project
… and why you’ll want to be in a good writing group the next several years
Thursday, 10/8

Reading: NYT, as assigned TBA
Due: Rhetorical Analysis, Final Draft; by Friday at 5:00 p.m., add your project reflection to the bottom of your final draft, like this

Previewing the Op-Ed essay project

Sunday, 10/11  Mid-term self reflection
Tuesday, 10/13

In class: NYT, continued

Preview Letters to the Editor:

Last names A-L: submit by Thursday, 10/29, and BCC me
Last names M-Z: submit by Tuesday 11/17 and BCC me

   
 Week 6
Writing workshops: advocacy and argument
Thursday, 10/15

No class meeting
Reading: NYT, as assigned

Due: Op-Ed inquiry question & your 500-word exploratory essay; yellow-highlight your best, or most interesting, or most compelling, or most intense sentence. 

   
Tuesday, 10/20

NYT, as assigned
In class
: Persuasive Writing Workshop

Due: Op-Ed project 2nd draft

   
 Week 7
Advocacy and Persuasion
Thursday, 10/22

Due: Op-Ed project 2nd draft
Draft #2 or #3 made available to Peer Reviewer

 

Due Sunday 10/25: Phenomenological-reading peer reviews, via SoundCloud

What we’re looking for is your experience reading the essay — how it made you feel, not making corrections. So we’d expect to hear you saying things like,

  • “This made me feel …”
  • “I felt swept right up in the rhythm of that paragraph …”
  • “I’m confused here. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to get from this”
  • “That made me laugh”
  • “This made me a little sad”
  • “This reminds me of …”
  • “My essay is on a similar topic, and this made me think about …”

Post your SoundCloud link to Digication.

Tuesday, 10/27 Reading: NYT, post reading notes for “My Dark California Dream” to your Digication Reading Journals page

In class: Revising & editing workshop
St. Martin’s Handbook:

   
 Week 8
Editing and Proofreading
Thursday, 10/29

Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Proofreading workshop

St. Martin’s Handbook:

Due: Op-Ed, final draft with project reflection, and one before-and-after PIE paragraph

Preview: Remix the New York Times

   
Tuesday, 11/3

Reading: NYT, as assigned 

In class: Remixing the New York Times workshop
DueRemix worksheet

   
 Week 9
Remixing the New York Times
Thursday, 11/5 Reading: NYT, “The Moral Bucket List” — post your reading notes to Digication under journals
In class: Remixing the New York Times workshop
Due: Remix “draft” #1 — can be messy & rough — photo, sketch, etc.
   
Tuesday, 11/10

Reading: NYT, as assigned
In classPortfolio preview
Due: Remix final with user’s manual; Remix Statement of Goals and Choices (SoGC)

   
 Week 10
Conclusion and portfolio development
Thursday, 11/12 In class: Digital Portfolio Workshop
   
Tuesday, 11/17

Portfolio workshop and editorial feedback  You can work on your portfolios during this time; we will problem-solve any technical or organizational issues; and we will discuss editing and visual, logistical coherence.

   
 Finals Week
  Our scheduled exam time, when we will meet for the final, official delivery of your WRD103 Digital Writing Portfolios:

  • Section 116: Thursday, 11/19, 8:45 AM-11:00 AM
  • Section 133: Thursday, 11/19, 11:30-1:45 P.M.