course.goals
materials
assignments
grading
attendance
electronica
ethics
disability
evaluations
instructor
kevin eric depew
office bal 313
phone 683.4019
e.mail kdepew@odu.edu
office hours m 2-3, t 2-4, & by appointment
quick.links
calendar
blackboard
(listserv, student email, online readings)
resources
student.email
English 325 has been designed to facilitate students' understanding of rhetorical theory, especially as it applies to disciplinary communication. As we study rhetorical concepts, we will examine the complexities of different theorists' approach to rhetoric and the nuances of the different theories. Likewise you will understand how rhetoric has been and can be used to persuade, inform, and form community. By the end of the semester you should be able to confidently analyze the texts that you read and understand how you are generating desired outcomes for the texts you compose.
In this course you will learn...
- the history and complexity of "rhetoric"
- the application of rhetoric to certain English Studies fields
- rhetoric's relation to discourse communities
- rhetoric's relation to the creation of knowledge
- how to analyze other's use of language
- how to be deliberate in your own use of language
Prerequisites
To best fulfill these goals, the prerequisites for English 325 include the 6-hour General Education composition requirement.
On
Rhetoric: A theory of civic discourse
Author(s): Aristotle [trans. George A. Kennedy]
Oxford UP
ISBN 0-19-506487-9
The major assignments for English 325 have been designed to build upon each other. The three short analysis papers are meant to be
Group Presentation: All the students will be divided into groups of three to four students. On the designated day, your group will be responsible for 1) generating a principles table for the readings, 2) presenting this principles table, 3) being the primary respondants for the day's conversation. (50 points)
Analysis Papers 1-3: Toward the beginning of the semester, you will choose a text that you will analyze from different perspectives throughout the course of the semester; you are encouraged to choose a text that corresponds with your major emphasis of study. During the course of the semester, you will write three 2-3 page papers analyzing this text by focusing on the principles that we have studied for a given unit. These papers also serve as rough drafts for the Final Analysis (50 points each)
Final Analysis Paper: After you have studied all of the principles in this course, you will compose a 6-7 page final analysis paper in which you will do a single thorough analysis of the text that you have chosen using many of the principles that we have learned. Use the instructor's comments on the analysis paper to guide your composition of this paper. (200 points).
Three Means of Failing the Course related to Major Assignments
- Not completing a major assignment
- Major assignments will be given no credit if the assignment is not turned in prior to the instructor returning the respective assignment to the class. This becomes the equivalent of not completing a major assignment
- An act of plagiarism (or other forms of academic dishonesty)
Minor Assignments
Throughout the semester you will be doing in-class activities and homework related to the topics we are discussing in the course. These minor assignments have been designed to give you low stakes opportunities to explore various topics related to rhetorical studies and to guage your understanding of the principles. These minor assignments make up your process grade.
Use these writing opportunities to your advantage instead of treating them as "busy work." A lot of the work that you do for these smaller assignments can be used directly in the final assignment; therefore, you will want to take these assignments seriously. This also gives you an opportunity to get serious feedback from the instructor on your work-in-progress. So, just fulfilling these assignments will often result in twice as much work for you.
The instructor will use the principles of Purpose, Product, and Production/Process (as described below) to make comments and determine the point value on the respective major and minor assignments. Remember that each assignment is slightly different; therefore how these principles get addressed in one assignment may not be applicable in another.
PURPOSE (Content) : How effectively does the text accomplish its intended task for its intended purpose and audience? Does the text you submit...
- meet the goals and the demands of the assignment?
- provide and support a sound or viable argument?
- meet
readers' needs (including your own)?
provides relevant, useful, and accurate information?
PRODUCT (Content/Convention) : How well constructed is the document? Does the text you have composed have...
- orderly and coherent presentation of materials?
- effective design and formatting?
- expected language use for the given context?
- effective use of visuals?
- professional tone and style?
PRODUCTION/PROCESS (Convention) : How effectively was the document produced? If applicable, does the text demonstrate evidence of...
- quality of planning, collaboration, research & invention, drafting, editing, proofreading?
Process Grade
Your process grade will be 20% of your overall grade (100 points). All students will start with 85% of the possible process points (85 points); this point total will be adjusted positively and negatively based upon homework, class work and attendance using the following system described below.
Minor assignments (e.g., class activities and homework) that contribute to the process of completing major assignments will be marked and commented upon; these marks will entail a large percentage of your participation grade. Late or missing minor assignments that are no longer relevant will receive no credit. Late work will only be accepted if you consult with the instructor prior to the class period in which the work is due.
Each minor assignment will be given a score from -4 to +2.
(or 0) = You did the work satisfactorily, and on time. It will need some revisions or rethinking before the final assignment
+1, +2 = You demonstrated various degree of engagement with the ideas and you turned it in on time. It will need some revisions, but not much
–1, -2 = Your work demonstrates a misunderstanding of the assignment, minimal effort, shows that you did not do the assigned reading, or was not turned in on time. Significant revision will be needed before the final assignment
- 4 = No submission
This style of grading allows the instructor to evaluate the process of your work–how each student's work develops throughout a project–instead of only grading each minor assignment as a separate entity. The major assignment grades are final; therefore consider the questions and comments that the instructors poses to you inthe comments written on your minor assignments.
Grade Scale
Each
deliverable and your final grade will be graded on the following
point scale* :
| A =92-100 % | A -= 90-91.9 % | B+ = 87-89.9 % | |
| B = 82-86.9 % | B- = 80-81.9 % | C+ = 77-79.9 % | |
| C = 72-76.9 % | C- = 70-71.9 % | D+ = 67-69.9 % | |
| D = 62-66.9 % | D -= 60-61.9 % | ||
| F = 0-59.9 % |
*
= The instructor reserves the right to adjust this scale based on the
students' performance throughout the semester. Any adjustments will 1)
apply to the entire class and 2) never deny a student the grade that she/he
earns based upon this posted scale.
Students are required to attend every class. If you miss a class, for whatever reason, you are responsible for making up any missed work.
You are not only required to to attend every class, but you are required to come to class prepared. If you do not come to class prepared, you will receive an absence. Therefore, it is recommended that you pay attention to the calendar.
In a writing class, you do a lot of work in the classroom. Therefore the attendance policies are:
- you
are allowed two absences, excused or unexcused. More than two
absences will result in failing the course
- on the first day that you return from an absence you are responsible for submitting any homework or class work that you missed due to absence. To learn what work you have missed consult the instructor or the calendar. You are however encouraged to submit this work prior to an absense or any time during the week leading to your return.
As a general rule, a student missing a class assignment because of observance of a religious holiday shall have the opportunity to make up missed work. Students must notify the instructor of anticipated absences before the absence occurs. Likewise, students who represent ODU at any official extracurricular activity shall have the opportunity to make up missed assignments, but the student must provide official written and/or email notification to the instructor no less than one week prior to the missed class(es).
Electronica refers to technology-related issues.
E.mail
Accounts
Having an e-mail account
is required; a lot of information for this class will be exchanged via
email, including some
assignment
submissions and class updates. You will want to establish a consistent
email account that you will use throughout the entire semester. To get
an ODU account go to OCCS.
You are responsible for making sure that files and messages are
successfully received by the instructor and your peers; other email providers
cannot provide this security.
LAN
Accounts
LAN accounts will
be necessary to use the computers in the computer labs throughout the
semester. If you do not already have a LAN account, please register for
one with OCCS.
Drafting
Documents
You
should use a recent version of MS Word to compose or to save the documents
that you will send as an attachment. This will guarantee that your audience,
the instructor, can view and read your submissions. You are responsible
for making sure that the instructor can access your work.
Because you are sending these documents electronically, it will be most appropriate to single space your work.
Saving
Documents
When
you save Word documents for the Project Proposal, Research Plan, Data
Analysis, and Genre & Audience Analysis you will want to name the
assignment to clearly distinguish the person who sent the file and what
work you are sending. To do this, please use the following guidelines
for naming files.
[First Three Letters of your Last Name][Assignment Acronym].[File Type]
ex. DEPsp1.doc
- Remember
this is the attached file name (the name that you save the document
as), not just the subject line of the email.
- The Assignment
Acronym will be found with the assignment
descriptions–look for bracketed acronyms.
- The
extensions (e.g., ".doc" or ".ppt") is often needed
to transfer files successfully, especially across platforms.
- Files that do not comply with these guidelines will be returned unevaluated.
Protecting
Your Work
Backup your document
files frequently. Also save all email transmissions for this course. Keep
your files on your home machine, floppy disks, cds, and/ or flash drives.
The excuse "that was my only copy" is not a valid one. Some
tips for protecting your work–and yourself are:
- Save all English 327w work until the course is over
- Maintain copies of drafts and work-in-progress
- Create folders on your hard drive and in your INBOX (email) for this class.
- Keep copies of your email messages related to the course as a record of your work. For all messages that you send to the instructor, you should either have the message sent to your "Sent" folder in your email account or cc: yourself the message so that you have a copy for verification
Receiving
Comments
For
documents submitted as MS Word attachments, the instructor will use the
Comment function in MS Word to send you comments. All of the campus computers
will allow you to review the comments that the instructor has made. If
you do not have access to a computer with this function, please talk to
the instructor.
E.mailing
When emailing the
instructor or the the class list make sure that you include a subject
line that includes the nature of the email. A subject line, such as "homework"
is vague. Instead be specific and state whether it is a "homework
submission," "homework clarification," or "homework
problem."
Also use the priority setting rhetorically; in other words, make your email message stand out when you really need to draw the recipient's attention to your message. Do not use the priority setting on your standard assignment submissions.
Class
List
A list will be
set up to make announcements, exchange information, and discuss issues
raised in the class.
Also, post questions about homework and assignments to the list because
in most cases, all students will have the same question.
Keeping Up
- Check your e-mail daily to keep up with announcements.
- Check the calendar every Sunday evening (after 8pm) for new updates for the next two weeks.
- If you are going to miss class, inform the instructor ahead of the missed class to find out what will occur on that day.
Electronic
Ethics and Respect
Electronic media allows
us some freedoms that print media does not allow. Consequently, it is
also subject to abuse. Please be respectful of your peers throughout the
semester by not displaying, viewing, or posting web pages, files, or emails
that may make others uncomfortable. Violations of this respect can be
considered harassment according to university
policy and will be handled as such.
As per the University's Honor Code, you must do your own original work in English 325–and appropriately identify that portion of your work which is collaborative with others, or which is borrowed from others, or which is your own work from other contexts. Whenever you borrow graphics, quote passages, or use ideas from others, you are legally and/or ethically obliged to acknowledge that use, following appropriate conventions for documenting sources. In English 325, the most serious form of academic dishonesty is to recycle another individual's major project under your own name.
If you have doubts about whether or not you are using your own or others' writing ethically and legally, ask the instructor. Follow this primary principle: If in doubt, ask. Be up front and honest about what you are doing and about what you have contributed to an assignment.
If you have a documented disability, make sure you register with Disability Services (757) 683.4655. Once you do so, feel free to talk to me about any special accommodations that you may need to fulfill the requirements of this course.
At the end of the semester, you will have an opportunity to evaluate the instructor and the course. This is very important for helping the instructor and the department access the course. Please take the time at the end of the semester to do these online evaluations.
last.updated 05.31.05