to the schedule of readings and assignments
required texts: Garry Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg; Lawler & Schaefer, American Political Rhetoric (5th edition). You'll also need to get some blank 4"x6" index cards.
syllabus: This syllabus may be updated as the semester goes on. I may post updated versions that indicate readings, discussion plans, and reference materials. However, every component of your grade is shown here at the beginning. Please refer to the date and time of printing (at the bottom of each page) to see when the version you are holding was printed. For continuous updates look on line at http://www.uta.edu/english/tim/courses/1301f06/1301main.html
course description: This is an introductory course in rhetoric. We will study Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and other classic texts of American public rhetoric. Our focus this semester will be on epideictic texts (speeches on public occasions, especially funeral oratory) and expository texts (those that explain a situation or a dynamic, or the development thereof).
student learning outcomes: Students will be able to analyze works of
public rhetoric, including some non-verbal examples of "rhetoric" (here,
cemeteries). Students will be able to synthesize their analyses of rhetorical
works by placing them within contexts of American history and other rhetorical
works.
Note on outcomes: although the listed outcomes are desirable and
achievable, the long-term goals of this course, as in any liberal-arts course,
include less-measurable outcomes that we must not lose sight of -- and that are
quite real, though not quantifiable. Among these are the habit of reading
critically, a lifelong interest in and ability to understand the written word,
and the general sense that when we approach life in an intellectual way --
particularly by writing freely (literally, "liberally") about it -- we learn
things that are unforeseeable and immeasurable. While I will be measuring your
explicit listed outcomes by evaluating your papers, you will only know that you
have learned the more important things about the course if the issues we raise
are still alive for you decades from now. That life of the mind, not some
immediate "learning outcome," is the benefit of a liberal education.
assignments: one in-class paper (5% of your grade); two formal essays
(20% each); 15 notecards (1% each); midterm exam (20%); final
exam(20%)
Notecard assignments take the form of summarizing the
day's reading on the front of a 4x6 index card and asking one or two critical
questions about that reading on the back of the card. Your name and the date
should be printed on the front of the card. Notecards are always due at the
start of the indicated class meeting. If you are not present the day a notecard
is due, you get no points for that notecard. Each notecard is worth two possible
points.
You may not make up notecard assignments, in-class papers, or
exams. The two formal papers may be turned in late but will lose 1 possible
point for each day they're late: i.e. instead of being graded out of 40 points,
they will be graded as a percentage of that reduced amount.
grading: Grading is on a point system, with a certain number of points possible for each assignment. There are a total of 200 points for the semester, so if you make fewer than 140 points your grade will be Z if you have actively turned in all assignments and F if you have not. 140-159 points will mean a C grade for the semester. 160-179 is a B; 180 or higher is an A.
I think that a B is a very good grade for an undergraduate course, and that a C grade is quite acceptable. The grade of A indicates excellence rather than mere completion of the course.
academic dishonesty policy: It is the philosophy of The University of Texas at Arlington that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. "Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts." [Regents' Rules and Regulations, Part One, Chapter Vi, Section 3, Subsection 3.2, Subdivision 3.22]
disability policy: The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and letter of federal equal opportunity legislation; reference Public Law 93112--The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. With the passage of new federal legislation entitled Americans with Disabilities Act - (ADA), pursuant to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, there is renewed focus on providing this population with the same opportunities enjoyed by all citizens. As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable accommodation" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Student responsibility primarily rests with informing faculty at the beginning of the semester and in providing authorized documentation through designated administrative channels.
student success: The University of Texas at Arlington supports a variety of student success programs to help you connect with the University and achieve academic success. They include learning assistance, developmental education, advising and mentoring, admission and transition, and federally funded programs. Students requiring assistance academically, personally, or socially should contact the Office of Student Success Programs at 817-272-6107 for more information and appropriate referrals.
library: Noel Anderson is the Librarian for the English Department. He can be reached at 817 272 3000, ext. 7428, and by email at noel@uta.edu You will find online databases for English among the Arts & Humanities databases at http://www2.uta.edu/library/subjguides/dbEnglish.asp
writing center: located on the fourth floor of the Central Library, and at http://www.uta.edu/owl/, the Writing Center provides free tutoring for UTA students. Tutors will not write your papers for you, but will help you understand and use strategies for effective writing.
schedule of assignments and readings
29
August: syllabus and introductions
31 August: in-class writing: what is
rhetoric? (10 points) Write for the first half of this class period on that very
question: what is rhetoric? When you hear the word, what do you think of? What
are some examples of rhetoric? Is rhetoric good or bad? You may prepare as much
or as little as you like. This is a paper about first impressions and
preconceptions. There are no wrong answers, though you will not get credit for a
paper that says nothing at all :)
5 September: lecture: some historical
backgrounds to Gettysburg
7 September: Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg:
Prologue, pp. 19-40 (notecard due)
12 September: NO CLASS
MEETING
14 September: lecture: some history & principles of
rhetoric
19 September: Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg: Chapter 1, pp. 41-62
(notecard due)
21 September: funeral orations by Pericles & Gorgias
(in Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg: pp. 249-259); by Cheney (in Lawler &
Schaefer, pp. 115-117) (notecard due)
26 September: Wills, Lincoln at
Gettysburg: Chapter 2, pp. 63-89 (notecard due). Images of
Cemeteries
28 September: NO CLASS MEETING; free for library/cemetery
work
3 October: Essay #1 due. (40 points) Choose one of the following
cemeteries within walking distance or short drive of UTA campus: Arlington
Cemetery/Parkdale Cemetery, Berachah
Home & Cemetery, Moore Memorial
Gardens. Visit and observe the cemetery. Write a six-page-maximum essay that
both describes the cemetery and accounts for the ideas behind it (drawing on the
analysis in Wills's Chapter 2).
5 October: The Declaration of
Independence, in Lawler & Schaefer, pp. 1-4 (notecard due)
10
October: Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg: Chapter 3, pp. 90-120 (notecard
due)
12 October: Lincoln, "from First Inaugural Address" in Lawler &
Schaefer, p. 132; Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg: Chapter 4, pp. 121-147 (notecard
due)
17 October: Wilson, from Constitutional Government in the United
States in Lawler & Schaefer, pp. 187-188; F.D. Roosevelt, "Commonwealth
Club Campaign Speech" in Lawler & Schaefer, pp. 188-196; Reagan, 1982 State
of the Union Address in Lawler & Schaefer, pp. 210-214 (notecard
due)
19 October: Midterm Exam (40 points)
24 October: Wills,
Lincoln at Gettysburg: Chapter 5, pp. 148-175 (notecard due)
26 October:
NO CLASS MEETING
31 October: King, "I Have a Dream," in Lawler &
Schaefer, pp. 277-280; F.D. Roosevelt, "Four Freedoms Speech" in Lawler &
Schaefer, pp. 357-360 (notecard due)
2 November: Everett, oration at
Gettysburg, paragraphs 1-11 and 39-58 [in Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg, pp.
213-219 and 233-247] (notecard due)
7 November: NO CLASS MEETING
9
November: NO CLASS MEETING
14 November: Essay #2 due. (40 points) In a
six-page maximum essay, analyze the style of a published 21st-century political
speech (drawing on the analysis in Wills's Chapter 5).
16 November:
Washington, Farewell Address, in Lawler & Schaefer, pp. 43-44 and 354-357
(notecard due)
21 November: Eisenhower, Farewell Address, in Lawler &
Schaefer, pp. 366-369 (notecard due)
23 November: NO CLASS
MEETING
28 November: Brennan, Georgetown speech, in Lawler &
Schaefer, pp. 132-138 (notecard due)
30 November: Bork, "Interpreting the
Constitution," in Lawler & Schaefer, pp. 138-140 (notecard due)
5
December: "Dead Week": review for final exam
7 December: "Dead Week":
course evaluations
## December: Final Exam