RHET 1302.

501 / BURNETT / Spring 2011

RHET 1302: Rhetoric Section 501 (MW 5:30-6:45 pm)

Spring 2011 Classroom: JO 4.306

Instructor: Lora Burnett, M.A. EMAIL: LDB082000@utdallas.edu

Office Number: JO 4.118 Office Hours: Monday10:30-11:30
Office Phone: (972) 883-2018 or by appointment

Course Syllabus
Introduction

RHET 1302 is a required course for all undergraduate majors at the University of Texas at Dallas. The
course is designed to strengthen students' skills as writers, readers, and participants in scholarly research
at the university level. While the course is intended to introduce freshmen and sophomores to the
conventions and expectations of college-level writing, students at all stages of an undergraduate career
can benefit from the practices and processes taught in this class.

In On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, bestselling author Stephen King offers some simple advice. "If
you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot" (145). In
this class you will do both of those things, and much else besides -- all with the aim of helping you
become a stronger, clearer, more effective academic writer.

However, this is not just a writing class; this is a rhetoric class. The academic discipline of rhetoric
involves both studying how others communicate their ideas through various mediums (texts, visual arts,
film, etc.) and practicing how to communicate your own ideas to various audiences. Over the course of
the semester, our work in this class will address both those aspects of rhetoric, but will place a greater
emphasis on putting rhetorical knowledge into practice through your writing.

Course Description

RHET 1302 will prepare you for college-level writing while helping you develop your critical thinking
skills. Rhetoric is the study and practice of how people communicate messages, not only in writing and
speech, but also through visual and digital mediums. In this class, you will develop skills to analyze the
way rhetoric, in its various forms, addresses audiences. By paying attention to the strategies that good
writers and speakers use to persuade their particular audiences, you will learn to reason better and to
persuade others in your own writing. For RHET 1302, you will read and reread texts and write multi-
draft essays. Practically speaking, you will learn skills that you can use in your future course work
regardless of your major.

Student Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to write in different ways for different audiences.
• Students will be able to write effectively using appropriate organization, mechanics, and style.
• Students will be able to construct effective written arguments.
• Students will be able to gather, incorporate, and interpret source material in their writing.

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Required Texts and Materials

Writing Analytically with Readings by David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen (New York: Thomson/
Wadsworth, 2008).

Writing Papers: A Handbook for Students at Smith College, 4th Revised Edition. A publication of the
Jacobson Center for Writing, Teaching and Learning.
(This textbook is available at the following URL as a free, downloadable .pdf file:
http://www.smith.edu/jacobsoncenter/writing_papers.pdf )

Students should bring a spiral or perfect-bound notebook and a pen to class every day for in-class
writing exercises

Students who own a laptop or netbook are strongly encouraged (NOT required) to bring them to class.

Grading

Blog Project 20%

Essay #1: Community Writing 10%
Essay #2: Visual Rhetoric 15%
Essay #3: Academic Research Essay & Proposal 25%
(Proposal = 5% of total 25%)
Portfolio 10%
Homework/Writing Journal/Other Assignments 10%
Participation 10%
Total 100%
(I will make use of the +/- system in grading as stipulated by The University of Texas at Dallas
Undergraduate Catalogue, 2010-2012.)

Please note: In-class work and supplementary homework tasks, though not alway listed in the syllabus,
will be assigned throughout the semester, and are worth 10% of your final grade. In addition, missing
homework assignments may also negatively affect your participation grade, which is worth another 10%
of your semester total. Absences beyond the allowable limit WILL negatively affect your final grade.

See pages 9-10 of this syllabus for important course policies which WILL affect your grade.

CATCH-ALL DISCLAIMER: All matters associated with this course are subject to change at the
instructor's discretion. Any and all changes to this syllabus will be communicated to students in writing
via UT Dallas email and/or eLearning. Students should regularly check eLearning for updated course/
assignment information.

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Spring 2011 Assignments

Readings are listed on their "due date" -- the date on which they will be discussed in class
(WAR = Writing Analytically w/ Readings; BB = Bird by Bird [handout/reserve]; WP = Writing Papers)
Mon Jan 10 Introduction to the Course
Diagnostic Writing

Wed Jan 12 Blog Project Orientation

WAR, Chapter 1; WP, pp. 1-15
WRITING JOURNAL BEGINS

UNIT ONE: THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY

Mon Jan 17 -- MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY -- NO CLASS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk

Wed Jan 19 Writing and Critical Analysis

WAR, Chapters 2-3
Online reading: http://chronicle.com/article/Whats-the-Problem-With-Quiet/124258/
BLOG PROJECT BEGINS

Mon Jan 24 Evidence and Claims

WAR, Chapters 4-5
Online readings:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/plagiarism-is-not-a-big-moral-deal/
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/the-ontology-of-plagiarism-part-two/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/

Wed Jan 26 Thesis Statements

WAR, Chapter 6

Mon Jan 31 ESSAY ONE: FIRST DRAFT DUE

WAR, Chapter 7

Wed Feb 2 Writing Workshop

BB, pages 21-27 ("Shitty First Drafts"), pages 151 - 161 ("Writing Groups"), and pages 162 - 171
("Someone to Read Your Drafts"); ALSO WP, pages 1-39

Mon Feb 7 Writing Workshop

WAR, Chapter 8

Wed Feb 9 ESSAY ONE: FINAL DRAFT DUE

In-class assessment

UNIT TWO: PICTURING AN ARGUMENT

Mon Feb 14 Analyzing Visual Rhetoric

Group homework project #1

Wed Feb 16 Analyzing Visual Rhetoric (cont'd)

Online readings:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574406903628933162.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/01/AR2010070107266.html
http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2008/02/norman_rockwell_and_the_civil.html

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Mon Feb 21 Constructing Logical Arguments

WAR, Chapter 9

Wed Feb 23 Constructing Logical Arguments (cont'd)

WAR, pp. 577 - 599 ("Images of Women in European Art" by John Berger)
WAR, pp. 551 - 562 ("In Plato's Cave" by Susan Sontag)

Mon Feb 28 ESSAY TWO: FIRST DRAFT DUE

WAR, Chapter 10

Wed Mar 2 Writing Workshop

WAR, Chapter 11

Mon Mar 7 Writing Workshop

Wed Mar 9 ESSAY TWO: FINAL DRAFT DUE

In-class assessment

Mar 14 - 19 SPRING BREAK! WOOT WOOT!

UNIT THREE: RESEARCH PAPER

Mon Mar 21 Writing Across the Professions

WP, pp. 40 - 53
Panel Discussion

Wed Mar 23 Working with Sources

WAR, Chapter 12
Mon Mar 28 ESSAY THREE: PROPOSAL DUE
Group homework project #2

Wed Mar 30 MLA Citation

WAR, Chapter 13; WP, pp. 54-58

Mon Apr 4 Grammar and Mechanics Review

WAR, Chapter 14

Wed Apr 6 ESSAY THREE: FIRST DRAFT DUE

Mon Apr 11 Writing Workshop

Wed Apr 13 Writing Workshop

Mon Apr 18 ESSAY THREE: FINAL DRAFT DUE

Wed Apr 20 Revising the Portfolio

Mon Apr 25 Revising the Portfolio

Wed Apr 27 PORTFOLIO DUE

Course evaluations

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Assignment Descriptions

WRITING JOURNAL

Length: varies (usually 1-2 handwritten pages)

Due Date: one per class beginning on January 12

Throughout the semester, you will keep a hand-written journal in a spiral or a perfect-bound notebook
(approx. 70 - 100 pages). Although the Writing Journal counts towards your homework grade for the
semester, daily journal entries will be assigned and written in class. Furthermore, some journal entries
will be used for in-class group exercises. Journals will not be graded for style, grammar, spelling or
punctuation. However, your instructor will check your journals from time to time and may read selected
journal entries.

The main purpose of this Writing Journal is to help you establish and maintain the ability to write when
you have to, whether you feel like or not. Academic life can seem like one long string of unpleasant
deadlines. When you have such a deadline looming, you need to be able to face the blank page without
fear and do work that, while it may not be perfect, is good enough. Keeping a Writing Journal will help
you learn or strengthen these habits. Besides providing you with daily writing practice, journal entries
are intended to help you generate or explore ideas for the major project assignments in the course.

BLOG PROJECT

Length: 125 - 250 words

Due Date: one per week beginning on January 19

You will write a weekly blog post and publish it on our class blog, located at the following URL:

http://burnettspring2011.blogspot.com/

Our class blog provides a virtual space outside of the classroom for you to engage in an ongoing
thoughtful conversation with your classmates, your instructor and other interested readers about ideas,
topics and issues raised in class. Your instructor may assign a specific blog topic for the week, or you
may choose a class-related topic of your own or write your own post in response to another student's
topic. For any blog post, you may revise and publish work from your daily writing journal.

While our class blog will not be listed in search engines, your writing and comments may be visible to
anyone who calls up the blog URL. These readers, known and unknown, constitute a public audience,
and what you post on the internet never really goes away. So while your blog entries need not be formal
in diction or style, they should be written with care. Avoid text-speak (ROTFL, SMH, FML, etc.) and
swear words, and do not make statements which violate the University's policies regarding appropriate
student conduct (http://provost.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies/). Since this blog is part of your assigned
classwork, the same things which are inappropriate to express in the classroom--"racism, sexism,
homophobia, classism, ageism, and other forms of bigotry"--are inappropriate to write on the class blog.
Violation of this policy may result in disciplinary action.
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ESSAY ONE: COMMUNITY WRITING

Length: 750 - 1000 words (not including Works Cited), 12 point font, MLA format, double spaced
Required sources: at least one (1) outside source
First Draft Due Date: JANUARY 31 (submit paper to turnitin.com AND bring a hard copy to class)
Final Draft Due Date: FEBRUARY 9 (submit paper to turnitin.com AND bring a hard copy to class)

The Community Writing assignment asks you to think about the university as a community of scholars
to which you belong and in which you participate. You might consider this class, your other classes,
your major, department, and school as various micro-communities within the larger university
community of UT Dallas. Further, you might think of this university itself as a micro-community which
is part of the larger community of higher education in the United States and/or the world. However
broadly or narrowly you choose to view it, the university community is a vibrant and dynamic place.
Membership and participation in such a community presents you with both challenges and opportunities.
In this paper you will identify and explain one such challenge or opportunity you have faced as part of
this community, express an opinion about it, and offer some suggestions on how it can be met.

The readings assigned with this unit highlight a few challenges and opportunities which are part of
university life: the privileges and perils of classroom discussion, the growing prevalence of plagiarism,
problems of overcrowding and underfunding, etc. You may choose to discuss one of these issues or
write about another issue facing the university community. Your intended audience for this essay is
made up of fellow members of the community--classmates, undergraduate and graduate students,
professors, administrators and education policy makers. Your goal is to write a well-informed,
thoughtful piece which might be suitable as a guest opinion column in the university newspaper. Weds,
while the style of this essay may be informal, the writing should be free of errors in grammar, syntax,
spelling and punctuation.

Here are some examples of issue-based opinion pieces demonstrating a range of writing styles which
would be appropriate to this assignment:

http://media.www.utdmercury.com/media/storage/paper691/news/2009/02/09/Opinion/
Professors.Can.Prevent.Another.Textbook.Fleecing-3618684.shtml

http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2007/11/11/the_nerd_handbook.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=women-tenured-science-professors

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ESSAY TWO: VISUAL RHETORIC

Length: 1000 - 1250 words (not including Works Cited), MLA format, 12 point font, double spaced
Required Sources: at least two (2) secondary sources
First Draft Due Date: FEBRUARY 28 (submit paper to turnitin.com AND bring a hard copy to class)
Final Draft Due Date: MARCH 9 (submit paper to turnitin.com AND bring a hard copy to class)

The Visual Rhetoric essay asks you to select a visual text and analyze its rhetoric.

For this assignment, you will be selecting and analyzing a painting by the 20th century American artist
Norman Rockwell (1894 - 1978). Rockwell got his start as an illustrator for magazines and books. He
is best known for the many magazine covers he painted for The Saturday Evening Post from 1916 -
1963. He also executed an influential set of four paintings illustrating "The Four Freedoms" mentioned
by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his 1941 State of the Union Address. During World War II,
this series was reproduced on posters encouraging Americans to buy war bonds. And in the 1960s,
Rockwell produced several magazine covers for Look which depicted various aspects of the Civil Rights
struggle and sought to express the highest ideals of a free democratic and pluralistic society.

Rockwell's long career as an illustrator makes his paintings a particularly rich source for exploring how
a visual image goes about communicating a message. Rockwell's work seems to embody the notion that
"a picture is worth a thousand words." Whether or not they were executed to address a specific social
issue--and most of his paintings were not--Rockwell's works do communicate a distinctive artistic vision
of what Rockwell and perhaps his audiences thought American society was, or is, or should be.

Your paper will take one Rockwell painting and analyze its rhetoric. Some of the questions you could
address might include one or more of the following: What message(s) is the painting is trying to
convey? What argument is the painting making about its subject? How do the various visual elements
of the painting further the argument? What does the painting tell us about its intended audience? We
will look at several Rockwell paintings to help narrow your selection, and we will brainstorm more
questions together in class.

This essay should be completed in a formal tone. Imagine that you are writing this essay to be included
in a major magazine or an academic publication. You must include a minimum of two sources in your
essay, but you may need to include more in order to make your case. The final draft of this essay should
be free of technical errors.

Several high resolution image files of Norman Rockwell paintings are available for viewing in the
ArtStor database through the McDermott Library Website.

1. Go to the following URL: http://www.utdallas.edu/library/resources/databases/dbA.htm

2. Scroll down the list and select ARTStor
3. Enter your UTD ID and password
4. Click "Enter the ARTstor Digital Library" (top right hand part of the webpage)
5. In the search box, type "Norman Rockwell" and click "Go"

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ESSAY THREE: ACADEMIC RESEARCH ESSAY

Length: 1500-2000 words (not including Works Cited), MLA format, 12 point font, double spaced
Required Sources: at least three (3) scholarly and two (2) popular sources (5 sources total)
Proposal Due Date: March 28 (submit paper to turnitin.com AND bring a hard copy to class)
First Draft Due Date: April 6 (submit paper to turnitin.com AND bring a hard copy to class)
Final Draft Due Date: April 18 (submit paper to turnitin.com AND bring a hard copy to class)

For this assignment, you will write a research essay that examines an issue of importance within your
academic discipline. Choose a topic of interest to you and consult other scholars' work to help you
better understand your topic and better focus the scope of your paper.

The assignment rubric for the Academic Research Essay has two components: a paper proposal and a
research essay. The proposal is worth 20% of the Academic Research Essay grade. For a research paper
of this length, your proposal should be no more than 500 words long (not counting sources). Your paper
proposal should accomplish five main tasks: introduce your topic, define the scope of your inquiry,
introduce a question which your research will answer, explain the basic approach you plan to take to
answer the question, and indicate what sources you intend to use. We will look at some sample
proposals in class.

In writing the research essay, you will draw upon these outside sources to help inform and support your
own interpretation/presentation of the issue at hand. You will be graded on your ability to present an
informed, effective argument that demonstrates your understanding of the subject, displays your
research into its issues, effectively uses source material (in summary, paraphrase, and cogent
quotations), and reaches logical, substantiated conclusions based on well organized and subordinated
claims.

FINAL PROJECT: REFLECTION ESSAY AND PORTFOLIO

The course portfolio is a complete collection of the work you have done during the semester. It is an
opportunity for you to assess your progress as a writer, and evaluate those areas in which you still need
work. Before the due date, I will give you specific instructions on how to submit the portfolio
electronically. You must also submit the Reflection Essay separately to turnitin.com.

The complete portfolio will include the following:

1. Reflection Essay: A 750-1,000 word reflection essay examining your work over the semester.
This personal essay should include some reflection on each of the major assignments you have
completed for the class, and it should express your overall views about your work in the course as
a whole. The essay should highlight problems you faced, ways you improved, and areas in which
you may still need more work.
2. Completed Blog Project
3. Copies of both drafts of your Community Writing Essay, Visual Rhetoric Essay, and Academic
Research Paper

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Classroom Expectations and Course Policies

Attendance
Because each class period consists of a mixture of class discussion, group work and writing, your
thoughtful, attentive, and active participation is essential (and will form a portion of your grade). If you
sleep, engage in non-class-related activities, or interfere with your classmates' ability to learn you will be
counted absent for that day. Be on time - class starts promptly. Leaving early will count as an absence.

Each student is allowed THREE (3) missed classes, no questions asked. Save them for when you really
need them. Each additional absence above the noted three will cause 4% to be deducted off your final
grade for the semester. You are responsible for your attendance. You must make sure you sign the
roll sheet and/or notify me if you arrive late and after I have taken roll.

Punctuality
Persistent tardiness to class is disrespectful to both your instructor and your peers. Continually arriving
late to class will affect your participation grade in the course. Furthermore, I will consider you
absent if you arrive more than fifteen (15) minutes late to class. If you arrive to class more than 15
minutes late and the door is closed when you arrive, you are welcome to knock on the door and take a
seat in the classroom. But you will be counted absent for the day.

Late Work
All drafts, including final drafts, must be submitted when and as required in order to successfully
complete this course. Late assignments will receive a full-letter-grade deduction for each day late
past the due date.

Extra Credit
Extra credit will be available on any/all of the first three major essay assignments of the semester:
Community Writing, Visual Rhetoric, and Academic Research. To qualify for extra credit, you must
meet with a writing coach at the university Writing Center and hand in the signed slip with your
final essay draft. Drop by CN 1.126 or call (972) 883-6707 to schedule an appointment. Be aware
that appointments fill up fast during mid-term and towards semester's end. Extra credit will be awarded
in the form of one higher mark in the plus/minus grade system. In other words, extra credit would move
a paper grade from a B to a B+, or from a B+ to an A-.

Class Participation
Your participation in classroom discussion, group exercises, and other in-class activities is expected, and
a full 10% of your final grade depends on it. I expect your interactions with your peers and your
instructor to be thoughtful, respectful and appropriate. Remarks/behavior which demean others or
disrupt classroom instruction are not appropriate and will not be tolerated. If I need to ask you to leave
the classroom, you will be counted absent for the day. Don't go there.

In terms of your participation grade, I am interested in the quality of your remarks rather than the
quantity. Not having done the readings or homework prior to class would no doubt adversely affect the
quality of your remarks in class, so come to class prepared to take part in our discussions. Participation
in this course does not include doing work unrelated to this course during class, sleeping in class, or
using the computers or other personal electronic devices for personal messaging, entertainment, or
research not connected with the class. If I need to ask you to leave the classroom, you will be counted
absent for the day. Don't go there.

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Personal Communication Devices

Turn off or silence your cell phone before class starts. Unless using your cell phone is part of the in-
class assignment, you should put it away until class is over. If your cell phone usage becomes an
interruption or disruption, you will be asked to leave class, and you will be counted absent for the day.
Don't go there.

Instructor's Email Policy

You must use your UTD email account for all email correspondence with the instructor. Please do not
expect an immediate response. I will respond to your email no later than 48 hours after you sent it, and
usually much sooner than that.

Room and Equipment Use

Tampering with or destroying any of the computers, printers, modems, or wiring in the classroom is
strictly prohibited. Violations will result in disciplinary action by the Dean of Students’ office.

Hacking a door code and entering a classroom without the instructor’s permission constitutes criminal
trespass. The Director of Rhetoric and Writing will pursue action through the Dean of Students’ Office
and/or the UTD Police Department against any student who engages in such behavior. The Director of
Rhetoric and Writing will also pursue action against students who are caught attempting to enter a room
without permission (i.e., entering possible number combinations in an attempt to open a classroom
door).

University Policies

Please consult the following website for University Policies related to Student Conduct and
Discipline, Academic Integrity, Email Use, Withdrawal from Class, Student Grievance Procedures,
Incomplete Grades, Disability Services, and Religious Holy Days:

http://provost.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies/

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I have read the policies for RHET 1302.501 and understood them. I agree to comply with the policies for
the Spring 2011 semester. I realize that failure to comply with these policies will result in a reduced
grade the course.

Signature: ______________________ Date: ________________________

Name (print): __________________________

UTD e-mail address: __________________________

The use of students’ work during Rhetoric class allows instructors to demonstrate writing concepts with
examples specifically tailored for this course. Use of a sample paper or an excerpt from a paper benefits
students by allowing them to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in others’ writing and to apply
what’s learned to their own work. If you agree to allow your instructor to share your writing samples,
your name and other identifying information will be removed from writing samples. Your work will be
treated respectfully by instructors, who also expect that students demonstrate such respect. All students
are expected to participate in peer review. If you agree to share your work for class demonstration and
exercises, please sign the following statement:

I allow my instructor to use samples of my writing for demonstration during this class and for other
sections of Rhetoric. I may revoke my permission by letting my instructor know I no longer wish my
work to be shared.

Signature: ______________________ Date: ________________________

Name (print): __________________________

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