Syllabus

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Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the theory, the practice, and the implications (both social and ethical) of rhetoric, the art and craft of persuasion. This semester, many of your skills will have the opportunity to be deepened by practice, including your analytical and critical thinking skills, your persuasive writing skills, and your oral presentation skills. In this course you will act as both a rhetor (a person who uses rhetoric) and as a rhetorical critic (one who studies the art of rhetoric). Both write to persuade; both ask and answer important questions. Always one of their goals is to create new knowledge for all of us, so no endeavor in this class is a "mere exercise."

Course Structure

Writing

Essays consist of the following:

1. RRR (Ready-Ready Revision) for Workshop
2. Mandatory Revision
3. Optional Revision
4. A Postwrite

Posts consist of writings once a week (~100-250 words each). These are informal writings.

Oral Components

1. Class participation - You should be saying meaningful things in every class (I keep track).
2. Debate - You should demonstrate preparation, practice, command of the topic, and your ability to think on your feet.
3. Informative and Persuasive Speeches - You should demonstrate careful preparation and practice as well as the ability to makes appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos.

Attendance

1. I don’t distinguish between excused and unexcused cuts.
2. There are 3 free cuts—save them for illness, job interviews, religious holidays, etc. (Please note, however, that, even when taking a free cut, you are not participating in class—so your class participation grade is reduced a bit.
3. Cuts 4 & 5 each reduces your course grade by 1 whole grade, so an original A→B (with 4^th cut)→C (with 5^th cut)→F (with 6^th cut).
4. The 6^th cut reduces your course grade 2 additional whole grades (so an A becomes an F) -- automatic failure for course regardless of reason—no exceptions.
5. Do not take this course this semester if you will have to regularly arrive late to class or leave early.
6. Two late arrivals or early departures equal 1 cut.

Grading

I grade on a 12-point scale (and I do not round final grades upwards):

Please refer to Assignments for more details about Grading.

Statement on Plagiarism

Plagiarism—use of another's intellectual work without acknowledgement—is a serious offense. It is the policy of the Literature Faculty that students who plagiarize will receive an F in the subject, and that the instructor will forward the case to the Committee on Discipline. Full acknowledgement for all information obtained from sources outside the classroom must be clearly stated in all written work submitted. All ideas, arguments, and direct phrasings taken from someone else's work must be identified and properly footnoted. Quotations from other sources must be clearly marked as distinct from the student's own work. For further guidance on the proper forms of attribution, consult the style guides available at the Writing and Communication Center and the MIT Web site on Plagiarism.

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