William T. FitzGerald
Fall 2006
English 393- Argument and Advocacy
Class: Armitage 212, MWF 11:15 - 12:10
Office: Armitage 420
Hours: M 1 - 2; W 12:30-1:30 and by appointment
Telephone: 856- 225 -2925 (H); 610-642-3823
Email: wfitz@camden.rutgers.edu/wtfitzg@ix.netcom.com
Class Website: http://crab.rutgers.edu/~wfitz/english393.html
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Overview
In this course we will investigate principles
and practices of persuasive communication, particularly through the
central concept of argument. Drawing upon both classical and modern
approaches to the study of rhetoric, we will learn how to analyze and
construct arguments of various kinds, especially those that occur in
contexts of advocacy. We will further explore the character and
consequences of specific forms of advocacy based rhetoric. Applying
what we learn to 'real life' situations, you will have the opportunity
to research in depth some aspect or instance of advocacy based rhetoric
to develop into a substantive analytical essay and/or an occasion for
advocacy of your own
Texts
Required (available at the Rutgers bookstore and through Amazon.com):
The Art of Rhetoric, Aristotle , trans. Rhys
Roberts
(available in
hypertext at
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~honeyl/Rhetoric/index.html)
The Uses of Argument, 2e (Cambridge UP), Stephen
Toulmin
The New Rhetoric, (NotreDame UP), Chaim Perelman and
Lucille Olbrechts-Tyteca
Recommended (available through Amazon.com)
Toward a Civil Discourse: Rhetoric and
Fundamentalisms (Pittsburgh UP), Sharon Crowley
On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse, Aristotle
(trans. George Kennedy)
In addition to these book-length texts for purchase, you will be asked
to read a wide range of scholarly and popular articles and other
shorter pieces which will be available either online or on e-reserve at
Robeson Library.
Evaluation
Your course grade will be determined as follows:
Class participation (including attendance
): 10%
Formal Papers:
60%
Short exercises:
15%
Quizzes:
5%
Commonplace Book:
10%
100%
Quizzes: frequent; some announced, others unannounced, 5-10 minutes in
length; primarily focused on readings assigned for that day.
Papers: three major papers; (1) a 4 to 5 page analysis of a classic or
contemporary verbal argument (15%); (2) a researched analysis (8 to 10
pages) over multiple drafting stages of a contemporary act of
rhetorical advocacy (30%); (3) an argument (3 to 5 pages) of your own
contributing to some site of rhetorical advocacy (15%).
Commonplace Book: In addition to assigned readings, you will develop
and maintain a collection of samples (with commentary) of interesting
or (in)effective arguments in a range of media and gathered from
various places. You will be expected to add at least 24 entries into
the commonplace book in the first 12 weeks of the semester. In week six
I will collect it, review it, and offer a comment or two on the
character of your efforts thus far. At the end of week 12, I will
collect it and assign a grade.
Short exercises: expect frequent homework exercises in the form of
short analyses of sample arguments and explications of material from
our primary texts. In some cases, these exercises will involve
individual presentations of material and require you to lead discussion
for 5 to 10 minutes. Not all exercises will be collected, but many
will.
Participation
Attendance: As this class is primarily discussion based, not lecture
based, your regular attendance is vital, both for your personal success
and for the success of the class as a whole. Consequently, excessive
absence will weigh heavily upon the class participation component of
the course grade, even up to losing the full 10% for particularly
frequent absences or late arrivals.
As befits a course in the study of argument, English 393 is structured
to integrate writing with reading. You will be participating in draft
workshops at various times, and your attendance in these activities is
crucial. Missing these sessions will almost certainly result in lost
points toward your paper grade.
n. b. : For every absence,excused or
unexcused,legitimate or otherwise, I request a typed business letter
accounting for the date(s) and circumstances of the absence, delivered
in person to me prior to the absence (when foreknown) or immediately
upon returning to class. This written record of your lapse in
attendance should be placed into a business envelope with my name and
your name clearly handwritten or typed.
Late Papers: Papers and paper drafts are due in class and at the start
of class on their due dates. Late papers will lose a half letter grade
for every class date they are late. Papers turned in late will not be
eligible for revision
Communication: You will be expected to maintain and access an email
account in the event that we need to reach one another outside of
class. Thus, any email address you give me should be one you check with
some regularity. There is a course listserve I will use to send
occasional messages (including details of daily assignments) to
you. We also have a course website that will be updated
frequently throughout the semester.
Class Discussion and DraftWorkshops: Engaging conversation is critical
to the success of the course. You are thus encouraged to contribute to
class discussion through thoughtful comments and active listening as
much as possible, including in small group discussions. Of course, the
ability to participate in class discussion is dependent upon having
read the assigned texts. Equally crucial to our work together are
writing workshops in which we will read through drafts of papers. You
are expected to come to writing workshops with the
Quizzes: Expect occasional short quizzes, some announced, others
not, primarily on readings assigned for that day and critical terms
recently discussed or assigned or discussed
Academic Integrity
I place a high value on professional ethics and expect students to
conduct themselves with integrity in their classroom performance and in
their research and writing. Suspicion of cheating, plagiarism, the
false representation of the work of others as one's own, and helping
others to commit these acts will result in a formal procedure of
accusation which, should that accusation be substantiated, will
result in a failure of the course and the possibility of additional
sanctions. You are thus encouraged to clarify any misunderstandings you
may have about responsible methods of research and proper
documentation.
Accommodation
If you have a documented disability that requires accommodation, please
speak with me as soon as possible so that together we can make
appropriate arrangements.
Schedule of Classes
This brief schedule will be updated to reflect announced
changes; for detailed syllabus consult
crab.rutgers.edu/~wfitz/english393.html
Week One (September 4 - 8 )
9/6 -- Course Introductions and Overview
9/8 -- Introduction to Argument
UNIT ONE: ARISTOTLE'S ON RHETORIC
Week Two (September 11 - 15)
9/11: Rhetoric,
Book I, Chapter 1
9/13: Rhetoric,
Book I, Chapters 2 - 9
9/15: Rhetoric,
Book I, Chapters 10-14
Week Three (September 18-22)
9/18: Rhetoric,
Book II, Chapters 1 - 11
9/20: Rhetoric,
Book II, Chapters 12 - 19
9/22: Rhetoric,
Book II, Chapters 20 - 26
Week Four (September 25 - 29)
9/25: Rhetoric,
Book III, Chapters 1 - 3; Quiz on lines of argument
9/27: Rhetoric,
Book III, Chapters 4 - 12; Exercise on Political Websites
9/29: Rhetoric,
Book III, Chapters 13 - 19; Quiz on
Book III; Paper 1 assigned
UNIT TWO: TOULMIN'S THE USES OF ARGUMENT
Week Five (October 2 - 6)
10/2: The Uses of Argument (Toulmin),
Chapter 1, pp. 11 - 40
10/4: Uses, Ch. 2, pp.41 - 66, 82-86; "Civil
Disobedience," Thoreau
10/6: Uses, Ch. 3, pp. 87 - 109; Toulmin
exercise assigned; Pollitt, "Brooklyn Prof in
Godless Shocker";
Invention notes due; Quiz #1 on Toulmin
Week Six (October 9 - 13)
10/9: Uses,
Ch.3, pp. 110 - 134; Toulmin exercise due
10/11: In-class draft workshop; Work-in-progress
essay due
10/13: Uses, Ch. 5; pp. 195 - 206, 221 - 232; Quiz
#2 on Toulmin
UNIT THREE: PERELMAN and OLBRECHTS-TYTECA'S THE NEW RHETORIC
Week Seven (October 16 - 20)
10/16: The New Rhetoric, Intro., 1 - 10; Part I, 11
- 23; Paper 1 due; Begin Major
Project
10/18: TNR, Part I, 23 - 47; Stasis Theory (handout)
10/20: TNR, Part I, 47 - 62; Part II, 65 - 74;
Quiz #1 on TNR
Week Eight (October 23 - 27)
10/25: TNR, Part II, 75 - 99; Stasis exercise due
10/27: TNR, Part II, 99 - 110, 115 - 123; 126
- 129; Project
proposal due
10/27: TNR. Part II, 142 - 183
Week Nine (October 30 - November 3)
10/30: TNR, Part III, 187 - 220
11/1: TNR, Part III, 221 - 260
11/3: TNR, Part III, 261 - 305
Week Ten (November 6 - 10)
11/6: TNR, Part III, 305 - 349
11/8: TNR, PartIII, 350 - 381
11/10: TNR, Part III, 381 - 410
Week Eleven (November 13 - 17)
11/13: TNR, Part III, 411- 450
11/15: TNR, Part III, 451 - 479
11/17: TNR, Part III, 479 - 508
Week Twelve (November 20 - 24)
The New Rhetoric, Part III: 2. Arguments based on
structure of reality, 60-69
11/24: THANKSGIVING BREAK
Week Thirteen (November 27 - December 1)
The New Rhetoric, Part III: 2. Arguments based on
Structure of Reality, 70-77
Part III: 3. The
Relationships establishing reality
Week Fourteen (December 4 - 8)
The New Rhetoric, Parts IV and V
Week Fifteen (December 11 - 15)
12/11: In-class draft workshops; Work-in-progress
essay due
12/13: Last day of class; CONFERENCES (Armitage 420)
12/15: CONFERENCES (Armitage 420)
Week Sixteen (December 18 - 22)
12/18: CONFERENCES (Armitage 420)
12/20: Final projects due