Course Calendar

• Key rhetorical contexts: purpose, audience, and occasion; reader-based writing that accomplishes something
• Key terms: rhetoric, ideology, analysis, claim, argument, context, critical thinking
• New York Times [+subscription info]
• St. Martin’s Handbook: 1c, 1d, 1e
• Reading
• Digication and my example

In class: NYT as assigned
Due: article summary, your choice:

• Kristof and WuDuun, “The Way to Beat Poverty” (SR, 1)
• Sawhill, “Beyond Marriage” (SR, 1)

Email your summary to yourself or bring it on a laptop; you’ll need some digital access to it in class.

In class: NYT as assigned — I’ll email instructions on Sunday

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 #2: Rhetorical précis — your choice: any persuasive essay in this week’s Sunday Review section

St. Martin’s 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.

Due: Rhetorical précis on an article of your choice

Reading: NYT, as assigned Sunday via email:
Everyone should read the front section and the Sunday Review section; you should 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.

In class: NYT as assigned

View Page One: Inside the New York Times

Due: Rhetorical précis: “Learning to Love Criticism” (SR 8)
Due: Journal Reflection on Page One

For your Page One reflection:

– What did you learn about the NYT from watching this film?
– What was the most interesting part for you?
– What role do women play in the film?
– What questions, concerns, or ideas does the film raise for you?

As with all good writing, the more specific you can be, the better.

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

• St. Martin’s chapter 8 on reading & analyzing arguments, especially 8g: A student’s rhetorical analysis of an argument
• Chapter 8d: ethos, pathos, logos
• Chapter 9a: arguing for a purpose

Reading: 

• Kristof: When Whites Just Don’t Get It — SR, page 1
• Friedman: I.S. = Invasive Species — SR, page 11 (let’s try to identify his tone!)

Due: Textual Analysis, Final Draft

Preview Letters to the Editor:

• Procedure: How to
• Background: Tips for getting your letter published
• Successful examples from DePaul students

Last names A-L: submit by Thursday, 10/28 and BCC me
Last names M-Z: submit by Tuesday 11/11 and BCC me

Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Persuasive Writing Workshop 

• 9a: Arguing for a purpose
• 9b: Determining whether a statement can be argued
• 9k: A student’s argument essay

Review: Stasis

Due: Op-Ed Statement of Purpose

Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Writing workshop

Due: Op-Ed draft

The first sentence of your first paragraph will begin, “I have come to believe that _______________________ …”

The first sentence of the next three paragraphs will begin with some variation on,

• “I wonder sometimes, however …”
• “And sometimes I wonder …”
• “But sometimes I wonder …”

This process helps you — or forces you — to explore doubts about your issue, engages you in some necessary perplexity, and may even result in some truth-seeking behavior

• Write a rhetorical precis and a two-paragraph peer review of your partner’s draft. Post it directly into their draft — at the top or at the bottom — and include your name (“Reviewed by …”)
• Write a one paragraph synthesis of David Brooks’s two articles “The Empirical Kids” & “Started at the Bottom” 
• Notes on synthesis

In class: Editing workshop
St. Martin’s 1.4 — especially 4.h and 4.1

Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Proofreading workshop
St. Martin’s: The Top 20

Due: Op-Ed, final draft and one PIE paragraph

Preview: Remix the New York Times

Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Remixing the New York Times workshop
Due: Remix worksheet

In class: Digital Portfolio Workshop

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 .

Due: New York Times, remixed + reflective Statement of Goals and Choices (SoGC)

Our scheduled exam time, when we will meet for the final, official delivery of your WRD103 Portfolio:  Thursday, November 20: 11:45 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Alternative time: Friday, November 21st 11:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. in my office, 362 SAC.