English 250 Fall 2013
NOTE:The syllabus is subject to change and may not list all readings and shorter assignments. Readings AND Reading Journals are to be completed before the class period for which they are listed. Please bring Envision and The Everyday Writer to class EVERY DAY, and either a print or electronic copy of individual readings to class on the day for which they are assigned. **For photo essays, select 1 image to bring for discussion during class.
Env = Envision in Depth: Reading, Writing and Researching Arguments; EW = Everyday Writer
Week / Dates / Topic and Reading / In-Class Activities and Assignments1 / 8/27-8/29 / T - Introduction to Course
R- “Ah Wilderness”
pp. 1 – 12 Env;
pp. 129 – 137, Chapters 1 - 2 EW; / T - Discussion of class policies. Introduce Major Assignments. In-Class Writing.
R – Discussion of “Ah Wilderness”
Summarizing McKibben excerpt from The End of Nature
2 / 9/3-9/5 / Visual Rhetorical Analysis A#2
T- Overview of A#2
pp. 23-26, Ch. 2 Env
Ch 5 – 10 EW
R- pp. 42-43 Env
Ch. 11, 12 EW
Ecuadorian Amazon Photo Essay
Bring found ad to class / ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
T- Introduction of Visual Rhetorical Strategies in Print Media & Film; Analysis of Arguments - Effective Visual Persuasion; Print Media v. Film PPT
BRING ROUGH DRAFT OF MEMOIR TO CLASS
R- Memoir Assignment #1 DUE via EMAIL 5pm
Visual Rhetorical Strategies in Print Media & Film
Analysis of Arguments - Effective Visual Persuasion
3 / 9/10-9/12 / T- Ch. 2 Env
p. 36-44 EW
Velazquez “In Search of Justice”
Chavez “Wrath of Grapes Boycott Speech”
R - Ethiopian Pastoralists Photo Essay / T- Writing Presentation #1 Grammar Basics
Peggy Shepard TEDxHarlem
EPA 20th Enviro Justice Video Series
Identifying Rhetorical Context
R- Visual analysis cont.
4 / 9/17-9/19 / T- Ch. 3, 4, 12 -14 EW
Tuvalu Photo Essay
R- p. 69-70 Env
UNICEF “Climate Change & Children” / T – Writing Presentation #2 Concise Writing
In-class analysis of SUN COME UP
Analysis of Arguments – Visual
R- Visual Rhetorical Analysis Partner Practice
5 / 9/24-9/26 / Begin Textual Rhetorical Analysis A#3
R – pp. 30-42, Ch 3 Env, ** pp. 45-50
Ch 12-14 EW
Rich “Jungleland: The Lower Ninth Ward…”
Smith “34”
Hurricane Katrina Photo Essay / CONFERENCES – NO CLASS TUESDAY
R - Visual Rhetorical Presentation #1: Crude
Overview of Assignment #3 – bring rubric to class
Canons of Rhetoric
Smith recordings
Emotional v. Logical appeals
6 / 10/1-10/3 / T- pp. 220-221, Ch. 3 Env, ** pp. 50-55, 62-68; Ch 20-22 EW
Pollan excerpt from The Omnivore’s Dilemma
TableTop Photo Essay
R- p. 151-155 EW
Berlau “Our Unhealthy Future Under Environmentalism”
Cloud “Eating Better Than Organic” p. 241-247
Env / SUSTAINABILITY & FOOD
T – Writing Presentation #3 Use of Quotations
Identifying Rhetorical Strategies in Text
Thesis!
R - Visual Rhetorical Presentation #2: Food, Inc.
Arrangement, Structure of Argument
Rebuttals, Fallacies, and Logic
7 / 10/8-10/10 / Textual Rhetorical Analysis
T- Ch 6,8 Env;
Ch. 20 – 21, 23 EW
R- Ch. 61 – 62 EW
pp. 265-272 Env
Berry “Manifesto: Mad Farmer Liberation”
Jackson “Outside the Solar Village: One Utopian Farm” / T – Writing Presentation #4 Revisions
Peer Review – BRING ROUGH DRAFT A#3 TO CLASS
Planning & Revision Strategies
Weak v. Strong Language
R - Visual Rhetorical Presentation #3: Gasland
Genres of Argument
Voice, Tone, and Format
8 / 10/15-
10/17 / Argumentative Essay Assignment #4
T- Ch. 4-5 Env, ** pp. 74-82
Ch 14-19 EW
Greenburg “Tuna’s End”
Steinbeck
Fisheries Photo Essays (1&2)
R – Ch. 6 Env ** pp. 62-68
Whitty “BP Cover-Up”
Brown “ND Went Boom”
BP Oil Spill Photo Essay / T – Writing Presentation #5 Fragments
Assignment #3 DUE via EMAIL 5 pm
Prewriting, Research Proposals, Evaluating Sources
R - Visual Rhetorical Presentation #4: The End of the Line
TED TALK Garbage Patch
Claim-Data-Warrant on Off-shore drilling
9 / 10/22-
10/24 / Argumentative Essay
T- Ch 5, 7 Env; Ch 15 - 17 EW
R- Payton “You’re Not Welcome Here”
Mountaintop Removal Photo Essay / T – LIBRARY RESEARCH DAY – Meet in front room of Parks Library
R - Visual Rhetorical Presentation #5: The Last Mountain
Submit thesis statement, informal outline, annotated bibliography for Argumentative Essay. Topic may not be changed after instructor approval of your thesis statement and outline.
10 / 10/29 –
10/31 / Argumentative Essay
T- Reread Payton “You’re Not Welcome Here”; write at least 3 questions for the author
R- pp. 124-128, Ch 7 Env; Ch18 – 19 EW
Lopez “A Presentation of Whales”
Bradfield “Whalefall”
Mooallem “Intro”
Non-Charismatic Megafauna Photo Essay / ACTIVISM & INDIVIDUAL IMPACT
T – Writing Presentation #6 Mechanics I
VISITING WRITER Andrew Payton
R - Visual Rhetorical Presentation #6: Dive!
Peer Review – BRING ROUGH DRAFT A#4 TO CLASS
Integration of Sources
11 / 11/5 –
11/7 / Argumentative Essay
T- Ch 8 Env;
Ch. 49-52 EW
Butterfly Hill excerpt from The Legacy of Luna
Stone “Diversity”
Protestors Photo Essay
R- Louv “Life of the Senses” / T - Visual Rhetorical Presentation #7: If a Tree Falls
Audience, POV, and Genres of Argument
R- Writing Presentation #7 Mechanics II
Visual Design, Presentation Etiquette Revisited
12 / 11/12-
11/14 / T- Field trip to Brookside Park
RAIN/SNOW or SHINE!
CONFERENCES – NO CLASS / T- Meet at Main Shelter Area of Brookside Park
CONFERENCES – NO CLASS THURSDAY
13 / 11/19 –
11/21 / T- WRITING DAY
R – WRITING DAY / T – Bring draft #2 with questions for partner/instructor
R - Argumentative Essay Assignment #4 DUE via EMAIL
14 / 11/25 –
11/29 / FALL BREAK – NO CLASS / FALL BREAK – NO CLASS
15 / 12/3 –
12/5 / PHOTO ESSAY PRESENTATIONS / PHOTO ESSAY PRESENTATIONS
16 / 12/10 –
12/12 / Assignment #5: Portfolio
T- PHOTO ESSAY PRESENTATIONS
R- Final Reflective Rhetorical Memoir
Assignment #5: Portfolio
Lopez “American Geographies”
Re-read McKibben excerpt from The End of Nature / T- PHOTO ESSAY PRESENTATIONS
R- In-class reflective essay (pt. 3 of Portfolio)
Discussion of elements of final reflective rhetorical memoir, revision v. editing; summarizing v. analysis.
Student course evaluations completed in class.
17 / 12/16 –
12/20 / Finals Week / Final Reflective Rhetorical Memoir Assignment#5 Portfolio DUE via EMAIL during final exam time designated by the university.
Assignments
Units and Grade Distribution
Unit 1: Assignment #1: Memoir
Unit 2:Analyzing Visual Rhetorical Arguments
Assignment#2: Group Documentary Film Presentation15%
Unit 3:Analyzing Textual Arguments
Assignment #3: Textual Rhetorical Analysis15%
Unit 4:Researching
Assignment #4: Argumentative Essay15%
Oral Presentation of Arg. Photo Essay5%
Other
Assignment #5: Final Reflective Rhetorical Memoir15%
Reading Response Journals15%
Class Participation/Attendance10%
Writing Lesson Group Presentation5%
Discussion Leader5%
All work completed outside of class should be typed, printed and stapled before class. Make sure you have a backup copy of all work before you turn it in to be graded. Keep all graded assignments for potential revisions. Major essays will be penalized one letter grade (e.g., from B to C) for each class period they are late. Absences during presentations will result in a zero for that assignment, unless you notify me beforehand and reschedule.
Assignment 1
Personal Environmental Memoir - Description and Narrative of Place
English 250 Fall 2013
Due date: Thursday 5 Sept via EMAIL 5 pm
“A world is looking over my shoulder as I write these words; my censors are bobcats and mountains. I have a place from which to tell my stories. So do you, I expect. We sing the song of our home because we are animals, and an animal is no better or wiser or safer than its habitat and its food chain. Among the greatest of all gifts is to know our place.” – Barbara Kingsolver, “Knowing Our Place,” from Small Wonder
In her essay from Small Wonder, Barbara Kingsolver describes two places she lives and writes, Appalachia and Arizona. She interacts with these two places, and while she may own land or be a part of a certain community, Kingsolver insists “these places own me” (944).
Think about the places that own you. What environment(s) have been significant to your development as a person? You may decide to write about the place you were raised, or you can choose some other environment that has impacted to you. You may want to focus your essay on a particular event in order to frame your discussion.
Planning and Drafting
Questions to ask yourself:
• How do you engage with this place?
• How has this place shaped and affected you?
• Is this a natural or human-constructed environment?
• What sorts of animal and plant life exist there? What kind of non-living material?
• How does it look, sound, smell? Why is this important to you?
Some Evaluation Criteria
The essay
- provides specific and relevant examples or experiences that support the stated attitude
- contains sensory detail
- is appropriately organized into paragraphs
- contains few errors in mechanics
Assignment 2
Visual Rhetorical Analysis: Documentary
English 250 Fall 2013
Due Dates According to Presentation Schedule
Group Presentation
In groups of three or four, you will watch and analyze an assigned documentary, sharing with the class your group’s interpretation of the film’s message and rhetorical strategies. Together prepare a short presentation (10-15 minutes), including the trailer of the film. VERY BRIEFLY summarize the documentary, and then explain in detail the rhetorical context (filmmaker, year of production) and how might it fit into a larger movement around the particular issue. Then identify the documentary’s argument, evaluate the oral, visual, and rhetorical (emotional, factual or ethical appeals) strategies the filmmakers used to make this argument, and explain whether or not you think they were effective in doing so. If possible, draw connections to class readings and assignments. Be prepared to answer questions from the class.
These films are available on Instant Netflix, in the ISU library, and/or the Ames Public Library. If you have any difficulty finding a film, let me know.
Group Written Analysis
In a 2-4pp. written analysis of your group’s environmental documentary, write a BRIEF summary of the documentary (no more than 1 paragraph), identify the filmmaker’s purpose and argument, evaluate the oral and visual strategies the filmmakers used to make this argument, and explain whether or not you think they were effective in doing so.
Both your presentation and your essay must answer the following questions:
- what sources (on-camera interviews, expert opinions, graphics, newspapers, TV reports, etc.) did the filmmakers consult during the film?
- how did the filmmaker use: image, sound, music, color, etc. in the documentary?
- what emotional appeals did the filmmaker use? How did they do this? Were these strategies successful?
-what logical connections did they make to scientific, technological, socio-economic or political issues? How did they do this? Were these strategies successful?
Other Evaluation Criteria
- source, date of production, target audience, and purpose are clearly stated
- clear and interesting thesis supported by specific, concrete detail
- ethical, logical, and emotional dimensions of analysis are present
- primary and secondary sources are cited appropriately
DOCUMENTARY OPTIONS
Crude (2009) - This documentary explores the ongoing battle waged by 30,000 indigenous Ecuadorans against Chevron for dumping billions of gallons of toxic oil waste. In a cinéma-vérité feature from acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger, Crude is the epic story of one of the largest and most controversial legal cases on the planet. An inside look at the infamous $27 billion "Amazon Chernobyl" case, it is a real-life high stakes legal drama set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints, the film subverts the conventions of advocacy filmmaking as it examines a complicated situation from all angles while bringing an important story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus.
Dive! (2010) -- Follow filmmaker Jeremy Seifert and his circle of friends as they dumpster dive in the back alleys and gated garbage receptacles of L.A.'s supermarkets. In the process they uncover thousands of dollars worth of good food and an ugly truth about waste in America: grocery stores know they are wasting and most refuse to do anything about it.
The End of the Line (2010) -- Based on the critically acclaimed book by Charles Clover, THE END OF THE LINE charts the devastating ecological impact of overfishing by interweaving both local and global stories of sharply declining fish populations, including the imminent extinction of the bluefin tuna, and illuminates how our modern fishing capacities far outstrip the survival abilities of any ocean species. Scientists explain how this depletion has slipped under the public radar and outline the catastrophic future that awaits us an ocean without fish by 2048 if we do not adjust our fishing and consumption practices.
Food, Inc. (2008) - Examines the costs of putting value and convenience over nutrition and environmental impact. Director Robert Kenner explores the subject from all angles, talking to authors, advocates, farmers, and CEOs, like co-producer Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma), Gary Hirschberg (Stonyfield Farms), and Barbara Kowalcyk, who has been lobbying for more rigorous standards since E. coli claimed the life of her two-year-old son. The filmmaker takes his camera into slaughterhouses and factory farms where chickens grow too fast to walk properly, cows eat feed pumped with toxic chemicals, and illegal immigrants risk life and limb to bring these products to market at an affordable cost.
Gasland (2010) -- In 2009, filmmaker Josh Fox learned his home in the Delaware River Basin was on top of the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation containing natural gas that stretches across New York, Pennsylvania and huge stretches of the Northeast. He was offered $100,000 to lease his land for a new method of drilling developed by Halliburton and soon discovered this was only a part of a 34-state drilling campaign, the largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history. Part mystery, part travelogue, and part banjo showdown, Gasland documents Josh's cross-country odyssey to find out if the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing - or fracking - is actually safe. As he interviews people who live on or around current fracking sites, Josh learns of things gone horribly wrong, from illness to hair loss to flammable water, and his inquiries lead him ever deeper into a web of secrets, lies, conspiracy, and contamination - a web that potentially stretches to threaten the New York Watershed. Unearthing a shocking story about a practice that is understudied and inadequately regulated, Gasland races to find answer about fracking before it's far too late.
If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (2011) – The remarkable story of the ELF rise and fall told through the transformation and radicalization of one of its members, Daniel McGowan. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Marshall Curry weaves a chronicle of McGowan facing life in prison with a dramatic investigation of the events that led to his involvement with the ELF, creating a film that is equal parts coming-of-age tale and cops-and-robbers thriller. Using never-before-seen archival footage and intimate interviews with cell members and with the prosecutor and detective who were chasing them, If a Tree Falls asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.
The Last Mountain (2010) - A spellbinding tour along the frontlines of America's most spirited battle over the environment and the economy. Set deep in the heart of Appalachian West Virginia, this consciousness-raising film captures a rowdy band of citizens as they try to stop a giant coal company from blowing up a pristine mountain for its coal. A tale of greed and courage, folly and forward-thinking, The Last Mountain is brimming with the coal hard facts and vivid testimony from the hardscrabble people whose lives are intertwined with coal. Featuring environmental activist and lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr. and the stunning visuals of Appalachia, The Last Mountain is an informative indictment of America's energy policy, and it points the way to a brighter, greener future.
VISUAL RHETORICAL ANALYSIS PLANNING SHEET
Title of Documentary:Year of Production:
Director:Writer:
Producer/Production Company:Associated Organizations, Sponsors, etc.:
Write a BRIEF summary of the documentary.
What issue or subject is the documentary addressing?
What is the message or argument of the documentary? What is the purpose?
What sources (on-camera interviews, expert opinions, graphics, newspapers, TV reports, etc.) did the filmmakers consult DURING the documentary? Why do you think these were included?
How did the filmmakers use oral/visual elements (i.e. image, sound, music, color) in the film? Which of these elements was most effective? Which of these elements was least effective? Explain your answer.
What emotional appeals are the filmmakers using during the film? Are these successful in supporting the purpose of the documentary? Why or why not?
What logical connections does the film make to scientific, technological, socio-economic, or political ideas? Are these successful in supporting the purpose of the documentary? Why or why not?
Evaluation Criteria
Thesis: ___/5
- contains clear, focused, specific language
- presentation follows and aligns with opinion stated within thesis
- thesis is an analysis of the documentary, rather than the subject itself
Substance: ___/10
- analysis is thorough and uses specific quotations, anecdotes and images from the film
- all elements of the presentation requirements are present
- every member of the group participates equally
Organization: ___/10
- the presentation follows logical progression
- slides are easy to read and easy to follow
Style: ___/10
- students use language appropriate for academic setting
- students use vocabulary relevant to the course, and to the subject matter
- presentation is practiced, clean, and sufficient in length
Mechanics: ___/5
- slides are free of mechanical errors, including
- functions of grammar
- spelling
- punctuation
TOTAL: _____/40
Assignment 3
Rhetorical Analysis of a Written Text
English 250 Fall 2013
Rough Draft Due: Tues 8 Oct
Final Draft Due: Tues 15 Oct via EMAIL 5 pm
Essay Requirements: 3-5p; Double-spaced, stapled; 12 pt. font Times New Roman or Garamond; MLA formatted works cited/bibliography; AT LEAST 3 credible, academic sources; Catchy/Explanatory Title
A rhetorical analysis examines how a text works—how its words, its structure, its ideas connect—or don't connect—with a given audience. Your analysis will show how a text fulfills its purpose for a particular audience. Because this purpose is fairly open-ended, you’ll need to focus your analysis on specific elements the author uses to achieve his or her purpose.
To assist your readers in understanding your analysis, be sure to