Introduction. Sep 14. Rhetorical intelligence. Foss Ch. 1. Sep 19. Doing rhetorical
criticism. Foss Ch. 2. Sep 21. Foss Ch. 3. Sep 26. Neo-Aristotelian. Criticism.
English 309c: Contemporary Rhetorical Theory This course is designed to strengthen your skills as a rhetorical agent; it’s not designed to present you with a lot of facts that you must memorize. Rhetoric is a living, breathing, active art, one that you already engage in every waking moment. All the theories that we cover are but different ways of looking at the same basic processes. Thus, the course is meant to unshackle your inherent rhetorical intelligence so as to become a more engaged, articulate, savvy, persuasive, critical, and civil human being. In this course, theory is taught as a means to improve practice. Instructor My name is Dr. Andrew McMurry. My office is HH 265; hours are Thursdays from 1:003:00 and by appointment. I can be reached most easily by email at this address:
[email protected]. I will try to respond to your emails within 24 hours. T h e Te x t b o o k Sonya Foss’s Rhetorical Criticism, 3rd Edition, Waveland Press The Schedule Date Sep 12 Sep 14 Sep 19 Sep 21 Sep 26 Sep 28 Oct 3 Oct 5 Oct 10 Oct 12 Oct 17 Oct 19 Oct 24 Oct 26 Oct 31 Nov 2 Nov 7 Nov 9 Nov 14 Nov 16 Nov21 Nov 23 Nov 28 Nov 30 Dec 2 Dec ?
Topic Introduction Rhetorical intelligence Doing rhetorical criticism Neo-Aristotelian Criticism Cluster Criticism Pentadic Criticism Hitler class First in-class essay Fantasy-theme Criticism Generic Criticism Ideological Criticism Hummer class Second in-class essay Metaphor Criticism Narrative Criticism Feminist Criticism Third essay (exam period)
Due
Readings Foss Ch. 1 Foss Ch. 2 Foss Ch. 3
Progymnasma #1 Foss Ch. 4 Progymnasma #2 Foss Ch. 11 Progymnasma #3 “Farewell Address” Foss Ch. 5 Progymnasma #4 Foss Ch. 7 Progymnasma #5 Foss Ch. 8 Progymnasma #6 “First Day” (website) Foss Ch. 9 Progymnasma #7 Foss Ch. 10 Progymnasma #8 Foss Ch. 6 Progymnasma #9
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The Progymnasmata 40%
(32% + 4% + 4%)
The ancient Greek rhetoricians taught their art to novices by taking them through a series of exercises called progymnasmata (literally, “fore-exercises”) that helped develop their understanding of the basic components of argument. Among the 14 progymnasmata were fables, anecdotes, narrations, and maxims. The exercises for this course don’t follow the ancient Greeks exactly; in fact, I’ve tailored them to reflect the particular needs of today’s students. You need less work on proverbs, for example, than you do in media analysis. So I’ve constructed nine exercises—one for each chapter in the book we’re reading—that take key notions from the critical practice under discussion and ask you to apply them to something close to home. You are responsible for eight submissions (you can take a break for one week, in other words). Each pro gymnasma is worth 4%: you'll receive this grade regardless of the “quality” of your submission if it is of adequate length and submitted in class on Tuesday. (Don’t email it.) If you submit it by Thursday’s class, you'll receive 2%. After that, I can't accept the exercise. There are two reasons for these penalties: one is that I want to encourage you to bring your exercises to class on the days that we will talk about them; the second is that I want to encourage you to develop discipline in your reading and writing. You may also be wondering why there is no discrimination based on the quality of the progymnasma (with a small exception—see below). The answer is that these are meant to be low-risk exercises that will help you do better on the longer essays. As in a sport, your performance in practice is less important than in games. Practice is a time for experimenting, strengthening, and honing. During the course of the term, each of you will have a chance to talk about your work in class. You'll receive an additional 4% if you are there to talk about your work on the day that you are selected (at random) to do so. Rhetorical Éclat : It’s my sincere wish that by the end of the course everyone’s progymnasmata will show evidence of increasing rhetorical judgment and reflection, not to mention written excellence. At the end of the term, please select your three best, most representative progymnasmata and submit them to me. I will happily award a further 4% to those of you who have amassed a portfolio of very fine exercises and, to the rest, some proportion of the 4% commensurate with the quality of the portfolio. The progymnasmata will be posted each week before the Thursday class in which the associated rhetorical theory is introduced. That will give me a chance to allay any concerns you have before you go about preparing the progymnasma for the following Tuesday’s class. You can find the progymnasmata assignment descriptions on our class website at http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~amcmurry/309c/309c.html. Additionally, I will post examples of excellent progymnasmata, drawn from the class, on the website. How to prepare the progymnasmata: each should be 500 words, give or take 25 words. 2
That’s about one page, single-spaced, Times New Roman. Put your name and the progmnasma’s title at the top. You can use the DCE method of organization that we’ll discuss in class, but however you decide to write the exercise, make sure you briefly but effectively describe the artifact(s) and the concepts you are working with; “Note on avoidance of code, using those concepts, the artifact(s) or features of the artifact(s) that academic offences: All students registered in the you find compelling; and evaluate the artifact(s) vis-à-vis the theory. T h e Te s t s ( 2 x 3 0 % = 6 0 % ) The test format is what you might call an “in-class essay.” Each test will give you the chance to apply the theories we’ve been looking at in the three weeks prior to the test. The tests will deal with artifacts that I’ll present to you in advance. You’ll have ample opportunity, in other words, to reflect on them from the perspectives of the schools of criticism we studied in the three weeks leading up to the test. (Example: Test 1 will require you to apply Neo-Aristotelian, Cluster, or Pentadic criticisms to an address by Adolf Hitler.) We will also use the class immediately before the test date to discuss the artifact and possible test questions. I’ll drop the lowest of your three test scores. (Effectively, that means you may choose to write only two tests, though I encourage you to use all three opportunities.) Attendance and Participation
courses of the Faculty of Arts are expected to know what constitutes an academic offence, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for their academic actions. When the commission of an offence is established, disciplinary penalties will be imposed in accord with Policy #71 (Student Academic Discipline). For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students are directed to consult the summary of Policy #71 which is supplied in the Undergraduate Calendar (section 1; on the Web at http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/ infoucal/UW/policy_71.html). If you need help in learning how to avoid offences such as plagiarism, cheating, and double submission, or if you need clarification of aspects of the discipline policy, ask your TA or course instructor for guidance. Other resources regarding the discipline policy are your academic advisor and the Undergraduate Associate Dean.”—Undergraduate Calendar
My assumption is that if you decide to stay in this course, you have obligated yourself to attend all its meetings and to come prepared to each one. You will have read the assigned texts and written your exercises. You will be ready to respond to and initiate discussion, listen to me and to your peers’ remarks, and, in general, engage thoughtfully with the material we are studying. In turn, my obligation is to make these classes worth attending and the material interesting and useful. If you find I am not doing so, I encourage you to let me know.
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