ENGL 5388: History and Practice of Rhetoric

Fall 2017

Online course

Instructor: Dr. Stephanie Odom

Email: (preferred method of communication)

Office: BUS 243

Office phone: 903-566-7349

Course website: https://uttyler.instructure.com (Canvas)

Office Hours: M 12-2 and T 11-12 and by appointment; available by phone, chat, or in person

Course Description

The topic of this class will be how rhetoric functions in authoritarian societies. One way to describe such rhetoric is with the term "demagoguery," which combines ancient Greek words for "people" and "lead," though demagoguery is not understood as simply leading people. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines a demagogue as "a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument," though our reading will complicate that definition quite a bit. We will read texts about demagoguery and the effectiveness of arguments that perpetuated slavery in the U.S. and enabled the rise of Nazism in Germany. We will learn the “rules” of demagoguery and thus how to inoculate ourselves against it. Students will select their own case studies from literature, history, or current events.

Objectives

Upon completing this course, students will be able to:

v  Demonstrate understanding of the following in weekly discussion board exchanges:

o  various rhetorical theories

o  the relationship between rhetoric, politics, and society

o  key concepts related to demagoguery

v  Apply rhetorical theories to course texts and researched case study

v  Conduct scholarly research using sources available online or in hard copy

v  Write a researched argument essay in MLA format

v  Revise based on feedback from peers and instructor

Required Texts

Your textbooks are available from the bookstore or online sources.

ü  Demagoguery and Democracy by Patricia Roberts-Miller; The Experiment, 2017. ISBN: 978-1615194087

ü  Fanatical Schemes: Proslavery Rhetoric and the Tragedy of Consensus by Patricia Roberts-Miller; University of Alabama Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0817356538

ü  Selected PDFs to be downloaded from Canvas

Grading Policy

Papers will receive letter grades on the +/- scale. Discussion board posts will be graded on a 10- and 5-point scale, outlined in the discussion board rubric on Blackboard. Final grades will be assigned whole letter grades.

A = 90-100

B = 80-89

C = 70-79

D = 60-69

F = 59 and below

Assignment / Weight / Words
Fanatical Schemes Essay / 10% / 750
Annotated Bibliography / 10% / TBD
Research Presentation / 10% / 750
Researched Argument Essay / 25% / 1500
Short Analysis Essay / 5% / 500
Discussion Board Posts / 25% / 250
Short Assignments: reading questions, quizzes, peer reviews / 15% / varies

Revision

Knowing how to revise based on feedback is essential for any writer. You may submit any major writing assignment (except for discussion board posts and reading questions) for revision. You must let me know that you plan to revise within 24 hours of receiving the grade and then I will take up an additional 24 hours to provide you with substantial feedback. You will then have an additional week to substantially revise the assignment for a new grade. I will devote a lot of time and thought into giving you comments on how to revise your writing. If you turn in the same assignment without substantial revision, you will receive a lower grade on the revised assignment than you did on the original. The original grade and the revision grade will be averaged and recorded.

The Writing Center

The UT Tyler Writing Center is a free service available to you for working with a trained writing tutor on your writing. They can help you one-on-one, in person or online, at any stage of the writing process. They are located in BUS 202 and you can look up their hours and other information at http://www.uttyler.edu/writingcenter/.

Late Assignments

All papers will be submitted to me via Canvas and due at midnight (central time zone) on the date noted. Each day that an assignment is late, one third of a letter grade will be detracted.

For example, for papers due at midnight on Sunday

- one third of a letter grade if turned in after midnight on Sunday but before midnight on Monday

- two thirds of a letter grade if turned in before midnight on Tuesday, and so on.

Technology Requirements

My official means of communicating with the class will be via your Patriots email account registered on Canvas. It is your responsibility to ensure that you receive these emails and announcements. It is University policy that I correspond with you at your Patriots email, but let me know ASAP via your personal email address if you have experiencing technical problems with it.

I expect that you will check your Patriots email at least once a day. I will ordinarily respond to email within 24 hours, more promptly between 10-2 M-F. I may be slower on weekends and breaks.

It will be best for you to have access to your own personal computer, but if you are using a public access computer, you will need to know the due dates for assignments in order to upload your work before those deadlines. There may be large files requiring the use of PowerPoint or YouTube videos, among other types of files. If you are having technical issues with Canvas, there is help available through Canvas. I can help you with technology issues other than Canvas.

In Canvas, I’ll give you more specific information about word processing methods and saving your work.

Scholastic Honesty

Turning in work that is not your own, or any other form of scholastic dishonesty, will result in a major course penalty, possibly failure of the course. This standard applies to all drafts and assignments, so if you have any doubts about your use of sources or collaboration, ask me for help before handing in the assignment. UT Tyler’s policies on scholastic dishonesty can be found here: http://www.uttyler.edu/judicialaffairs/scholasticdishonesty.php

University Policies:

See http://www.uttyler.edu/academicaffairs/syllabuspolicies.pdf

Course Schedule

Subject to change. Changes will be made in Blackboard and announced to the class.

NBCS = Norton Book of Composition Studies

PDF: available for download on Canvas

DB = Discussion board on Canvas

All assigned work is due in Canvas (not by email) at midnight central time on the designated day.

Wk / Date / Topic / Readings / Work due (at midnight) / Paper Returned
1 / M, 8/28 / Introduction to class and demagoguery / Atlantic article on Trump and demagoguery
Th, 8/31 / DB self-introduction
S, 9/3 / Reading questions
2 / M, 9/4 / Argumentation and demagoguery / Democracy and Demagoguery; “Stasis Theory” PDF
S, 9/10 / Reading questions; DB reading post; DB response
3 / M, 9/11 / Proslavery rhetoric in antebellum context / Background readings and selections from Fanatical Schemes
S, 9/17 / Reading questions; DB reading post; DB response
4 / M, 9/18 / Proslavery rhetoric / Selections from Fanatical Schemes
S, 9/24 / Reading questions; DB reading post; DB response
5 / M, 9/25 / Writing the Fanatical Schemes paper
S, 10/1 / Fanatical Schemes paper for peer review
6 / M, 10/2 / Identification as persuasion / Sections from Rhetoric of Motives
S, 10/8 / Fanatical Schemes paper; reading questions, DB reading post, DB response
7 / M, 10/9 / Epideictic rhetoric / “Rhetoric of Hitler’s ‘Battle’”; “Epideictic Genre” PDF; Hitler’s Nuremberg Rally speech PDF
S, 10/15 / Reading questions, DB reading post; DB response / Fanatical Schemes paper
8 / M, 10/16 / Academic writing advice / Readings on imposter syndrome, coherence and cohesion, others on academic writing as needed
S, 10/22 / Optional revision of Fanatical Schemes paper; DB reading post; DB response
9 / M, 10/23 / Academic writing advice / Swales, Graff, others TBD
S, 10/29 / DB reading post; DB response; Annotated Bibliography / Revisions of Fanatical Schemes paper
10 / M, 10/30 / TBD / TBD
S, 11/5 / Reading quiz, DB post; DB response / Annotated Bibliography
11 / M, 11/6 / Presentation of case study research / Student presentations
S, 11/12 / 2 DB posts
12 / M, 11/13 / Presentation of case study research / Student presentations
S, 11/19 / Peer review of Researched Argument paper; 2 DB posts
13 / THANKSGIVING BREAK
14 / M, 11/27 / Presentation of case study research / Student presentations
S, 12/3 / Researched Argument paper; 2 DB posts
15 / M, 12/4 / Reading for Short Analysis paper / Reading TBD
S, 12/10 / Short Analysis Paper

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