Jan. |
15 |
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22 |
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Orality and Literacy: From Homer to Plato
Due: Class Readings: Homer, Iliad, Book 1; Plato, Republic,
Books 5, 6, 7, and 10 (Selections); Eric A. Havelock, Preface to
Plato, Chapters 3, 4, 11, and 12
Due: Presentation on Individual Readings: Options: Walter J. Ong,
Orality and Literacy, Chapter 3, pages 31-57, and/or Chapter 4;
Other (1 page max.)
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29 |
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The Rhetorical Tradition: Aristotle and Beyond
Due: Class Readings: Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book I, Chapters 1-3,
9; Book 2, Chapters 18-23
Due: Presentation on Individual Readings: Options: George A. Kennedy,
Classical Rhetoric, Chapter 4, pages 74-93; S. Michael Halloran,
"Aristotle's Concept of Ethos"; James C. Raymond, "Enthymemes,
Examples, and Rhetorical Method," in Essays on Classical Rhetoric
and Modern Discourse; Nedra Reynolds, " Ethos as Location";
Other (1 page max.)
Due: Ideas for Conference Paper 1
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Feb. |
5 |
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The Rhetorical Situation
Due: Class Readings: Lloyd F. Bitzer, "The Rhetorical Situation";
Richard E. Vatz, "The Myth of the Rhtorical Situation"; Scott Consigny,
"Rhetoric and Its Situations"
Distinguished Guest: Amber Davisson, "Rethinking the Rhetorical Situation"
Due: Presentation on Individual Readings: Options: William L. Benoit,
"The Genesis of Rhetorical Action"; Barbara Warnick, "Looking to the
Future"; Other (1 page max.)
Due: Preview of Conference Paper 1
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12 |
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No Class Thursday; Scheduled Consultations Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
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19 |
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Due: Presentation of Conference Paper 1:
Schedule (in .pdf)
Intertextuality and Contextuality 1: Mikhail M. Bakhtin on Polyphony
Due: Class Readings: Mikhail M. Bakhtin, Problems of Dostoevsky's
Poetics, pages 5-8, 109-12, 132, 181-204
Recommended Reading: Gary Saul Morson and Caryl Emerson, Mikhail
Bakhtin: Creation of a Prosaics, Chapter 4, especially pages 123-36
(on dialogue) and pages 146-61 (on single-voiced and double-voiced
words), and/or 6, especially pages 231-59 (on polyphony)
Due Friday, February 20, 6:00 p.m.: Conference Paper 1 (7-8 pages)
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26 |
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Intertextuality and Contextuality 2: Texts and Contexts
Due: Class Readings: Celeste Michelle Condit, "The Rhetorical Limits of
Polysemy," in Contemporary Rhetorical Theory; Michael Calvin
McGee, "Text, Context, and the Fragmentation of Contemporary Culture,"
in Contemporary Rhetorical Theory
Due: Presentation on Individual Readings: Options: Roland Barthes, "The
Death of the Author" and "From Work to Text," in Image — Music
— Text; Gary Saul Morson and Caryl Emerson, Mikhail
Bakhtin: Creation of a Prosaics, Chapter 4 and/or 6; Julia
Kristeva, Desire in Language, Chapter 3; Other (1 page max.)
Due: Ideas for Conference Paper 2
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Mar. |
5 |
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Intertextuality and Contextuality 3: Texts, Technology, and Culture
Due: Class Readings: Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of
Its Technological Reproducibility: Second Version," in The Work of
Art
Distinguished Guest: Paul Booth, "Intertextuality and Intra-Textuality"
Due: Presentation on Individual Readings: Options: Homi K. Bhabha,
"Culture's In-Between," in Questions of Cultural Identity;
Mikhail N. Epstein, After the Future, Chapter 9; Jan Mieskowski,
"Art Forms," in The Cambridge Companion; Other (1 page max.)
Due: Preview of Conference Paper 2
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19 |
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Due: Presentation of Conference Paper 2:
Schedule (in .pdf)
Due Friday, March 20, 11:59 p.m.: Conference Paper 2 (7-8 pages)
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26 |
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Rhetoric, Identification, and Collaboration 1: Kenneth Burke on Identification and Transcendence
Due: Class Readings: Kenneth Burke, A Rhetoric of Motives, pages
19-23, 37-39, 43-46, 49-59, 197-203, 221-33, 328-33 (Photocopy)
Due: Presentation on Individual Readings: Options: Kenneth Burke,
"Rhetoric—Old and New"; Timothy W. Crusius, "A Case for Kenneth
Burke's Dialectic and Rhetoric"; Ross Wolin, The Rhetorical
Imagination of Kenneth Burke, Chapter 7; Other (1 page max.)
Due: Ideas for Draft Journal Article
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Apr. |
2 |
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Rhetoric, Identification, and Collaboration 2: Identity versus Identification?
Due: Class Readings: Maurice Charland, "Constitutive Rhetoric"; Stuart
Hall, "Introduction: Who Needs 'Identity'? in Questions of Cultural
Identity; Lawrence Lessig, Code 2.0, Chapters 1 and 4
Special Guest: Marcy Szablewicz, "Kenneth Burke and Stuart Hall on
Identity and Identification"
Due: Presentation on Individual Readings: Options: Louis Althusser,
"Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses"; Lawrence Lessig, Code
2.0, Chapters 2, 10, 16, 17, and/or 18; Kenneth S. Zagacki,
"Constitutive Rhetoric Reconsidered"; Other (1 page max.)
Due: Ideas for Draft Journal Article
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9 |
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Rhetoric and Digital Media: Marshall McLuhan and Jean Baudrillard
Due: Class Readings: Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy,
pages 11-18, 31-32, 137-41, 159-61; Marshall McLuhan, Understanding
Media, Chapter 2; Jean Baudrillard, For a Critique of the Political
Economy of the Sign, Chapter 2, pages 63-67; Chapter 9, pages 164-66,
169-84
Due: Presentation on Individual Readings: Jean Baudrillard, "The
Precession of Simulacra" in Simulacra and Simulation; Gary Genosko,
McLuhan and Baudrillard: The Masters of Implosion, Chapters 5
and/or 6; William Merrin, Baudrillard and Media, Chapters 1, 2,
and/or 3; Other (1 page max.)
Practice for Written Examination (30 minutes maximum)
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16 |
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Written Examination in VCC South 2:15-4:30 p.m. (2 hours, 15 minutes)
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23 |
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Presentation of Draft Journal Article:
Schedule (in .pdf)
Due Monday, May 4, 8:00 p.m.: Draft Journal Article (15-18 pages)
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Policies
Assignments and Class Activities: Course assignments are intended to
provide preparation for the PhD qualifying examination, dissertation
research, and the development of conference papers and journal
publications. Assignments include readings in rhetoric in relation to
culture and technology in oral, written, print, and digital modes, a
written examination roughly approximating one component of the qualifying
examination, short versions of two conference papers, and a draft journal
submission. Class activities include discussions of class readings,
short presentations on individual readings, informal presentations of
conference papers in progress, and formal presentations of conference
papers and the draft journal submission.
The conference papers and the draft journal article should be addressed
to appropriate venues in rhetoric or communication, composition, or HCI
and technical communication. Each should include a grounding in issues and
problems in the relevant current literatures, an explication of applicable
theories and/or methods, a description of the data to be analyzed, and an
analysis of significant oral, written, print, or digital texts in their
relationship to other texts and their historical and cultural contexts.
Submission of Class Assignments: Each assignment must be submitted
no later than the beginning of the class hour on the due date listed
in the Schedule of Classes and Assignments. Assignments must be
submitted in hard copy, typed, in standard format such as APA, MLA,
or University of Chicago style. Some online resources are available
from the University
of Chicago style manual and/or The Writing Center at the
University of Wisconsin—Madison.
Late Penalties: The late penalty for each assignment submitted after the
due date and time for the assignment will be 1/10 of the value of the
assignment plus an additional 1/10 of the value of the assignment for
each successive class period (or equivalent time period) after the due
date and time (that is, 1/2 point for a 5-point assignment, 1 point for
a 10-point assignment, 2 points for a 20-point assignment, etc.). The
late penalty for the final assignment (draft journal submission) will
be 2 1/2 points for each day or part of a day late. Late penalties will
be assessed in points (of 100 total for the course).
Class Attendance: Class attendance and participation in class activities
are required. Students who miss class for extended periods of time without
permission or explanation will be reported to the Dean of Students Office
or the Department of Public Safety for support and assistance, as needed.
Requests for accommodations, exceptions, extensions, or incomplete grades
due to illnesses or personal emergencies must be supported by written
documentation from the Dean of Students Office.
Electronic Citizenship and Intellectual Property: Rensselaer's policies
on electronic citizenship and intellectual property are explained
in Rensselaer's Guidelines for Computer
use. Violations of these policies will be reported to the Dean of
Students and the Dean of the student's college or school.
Students' Rights and Responsibilities: Students'
rights and responsibilities are explained in The Rensselaer Handbook of Student
Rights and Responsibilities: 2008-2010 and govern the conduct of
both faculty and students. Academic dishonesty is explained on pp.
14-17 and is strictly prohibited. Incidents of academic dishonesty
on any assignment will be graded 0 points for the assignment and may
be reported to the Dean of Students and/or the Dean of the student's
college or school, with a request that the incident be entered into the
student's permanent record at Rensselaer.
Student-teacher relationships are built on trust. For example, students
must trust that teachers have made appropriate decisions about the
structure and content of the courses they teach, and teachers must
trust that the assignments which students turn in are their own. Acts
that violate this trust undermine the educational process.
The Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities
defines various forms of Academic Dishonesty and procedures for
responding to them. All forms are violations of the trust between
students and teachers.
Office of the Provost
Appeals Process: Decisions by the instructor may be appealed through the
LL&C Department Chair and the HASS Dean and/or through the Dean of
Students Office.
Latest Update: 2009-05-01
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