--Spring 2014--
Instructor: Megen O’Donnell Email : mro36@nau.edu
Office: Storm Hall 116
Office Hours: Tuesdays 4:30 - 6:30 Class Meets : TTH 11:00-12:15 in SLHS-220
" He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words."
- Elbert Hubbard
"I had learned that you should always shout louder than your aggressor."
- Marjane Satrapi
"Your silence gives consent."
- Plato
REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS:
1) RWS 200 Course Reader: "Breaking the Silence"
. Listed under “O'Donnell” and/or “RWS,” available at SDSU bookstore. (Please be sure you are purchasing the correct reader as there are many)
2) Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
3) Access to computer, internet, and printer with sufficient ink
4) (Optional) One spiral notebook to take down notes from context reports
THEME:
The theme for this course is "breaking the silence". The course of history has witnessed the voices of many individuals silenced through cultural movements and revolutions. In order to bring their words and worlds to public light, many authors have found innovative and artistic means of expressing their views.
Throughout this class we will consider not only some of the contexts in which these people have been silenced, but by looking at a variety of media, we will explore how their arguments have broken through social barriers.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an extension of RWS 100 and is intended to build off of the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills developed there. This semester we will again practice interpreting, analyzing, and producing written arguments, but this time with a stronger emphasis on evaluating their effectiveness and

considering the larger context in which they reside. Every argument and text is part of an ongoing conversation and the recognition and consideration of this context is key to thorough understanding. You will learn to write and revise papers in which you address complex arguments effectively, use source materials responsibly, and make sound decisions about audience, context, structure, and purpose. These skills you will develop are central to success in academic, professional, and civic life, regardless of what field you intend to enter.
ESSAYS: You will be required to write 3 essays for this course. The first will be 4-5 pages in length, the second 5-6, and the last 4-5. Each essay will require at least one rough draft. All pre-writing, rough drafts, and final drafts are due in-class and/or on Blackboard TurnItIn on the date specified. Specific criteria for each essay will be given along with the prompt.
CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT PRESENTATION: Near the end of the semester you will be broken into groups of five to six students. After reading Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood you will create a group presentation comprised of verbal, visual, and written components. The goal of this presentation will be to consider your contemporary, current life as context to position yourself and make an argument.
While doing so, you will also demonstrate your understanding of the original text.
CONTEXT REPORTS: The best way to absorb information surrounding a topic is to do some research.
In this course, I will be asking each of you to give a three to five minute presentation overviewing a topic significant to the class unit. A written transcript will be handed in at the end of your talk.
QUIZZES: Quizzes will periodically be given to ensure reading is being done and students are absorbing content correctly and well.
PARTICIPATION: You are expected to participate actively in class. Although this does not mean speaking up and contributing valuable insight during every class session, it does mean arriving on time and being prepared, paying attention, and being involved .
IF YOU ARE ABSENT you are still responsible for knowing what was covered in class, what the homework is, and when it is due. I suggest you exchange phone numbers and/or emails with at least two of your classmates. In addition, check blackboard regularly.
GRADES Points
150 Essay 1
Essay 2
Essay 3
Contemporary Context Presentation
Context Reports
150
150
250
100
Quizzes
Attendance
Total
100
100
1000

GRADING RUBRIC
Letter Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Points
900-1000
800-899
700-799
600-699
< 600
IMPORTANT DUE DATES
Context Reports
Refer to assigned topic choice list on blackboard
Essay #1
Rough Draft: Your scheduled conference time with me (Wed. 2/12-Wed. 2/19).
Final Draft: Tuesday, February 20th
Essay #2
Rough Draft: Thursday, March 6th (print out and bring three copies)
Final Draft: Tuesday, March 11th
Essay #3
Rough Draft: Tuesday, April 8th (print out and bring three copies)
Final Draft: Thursday, April 10th
Contemporary Context Presentations
Tuesday (4/29), Thursday (5/1), and Tuesday (5/6)
POLICIES & PROCEDURES (The nitty-gritty)
ATTENDANCE : There is no substitute for attending class. Since this is a discussion-oriented course, your attendance is crucial and key to understanding the material. You will not succeed in this course unless you regularly attend class. Regardless, I also understand illness and unforeseeable events occur; as Bill Belichick once put it, “sometimes that stuff happens.” Therefore I am allowing up to two absences, either excused or unexcused, without penalty during the semester. Absences beyond this will hurt your grade. Students who leave during class will also be marked absent. Please also note that a tardy (being late to class by five minutes or more) will count as half an absence.
ESSAYS : All essays are due as a hard copy in class AND turned in to turnitin on blackboard on the date specified. All essays must be typed and adhere to MLA format and must be stapled . Emailed assignments will not be accepted. Late work will not be accepted .
FORMAT OF WRITTEN WORK : All essays and assignments are due as a hard copy in class on the date specified. All assignments must be typed (Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1” margins) AND
STAPLED (I will take points off if it is not stapled!!!). Please adhere to MLA format when citing and for all bibliographic information.
LATE WORK : Is not accepted unless otherwise noted. Work turned in late will be given a zero.

COURSE TUTORING, ESL, & WRITING HELP : RWS tutors are available to help you with your writing. Tutors are located in Love Library. Contact the department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies at
(619) 594-6515 for more info on drop-in tutoring hours. Some help is available for ESL writers (if you need significant ESL help, you can transfer to LING 100, which specializes in this). I am committed to helping you develop as a writer. If you have questions or would like additional assistance with class concepts or essays, please drop in at any time during my office hours or make an appointment to speak with me.
ELECTRONICS : Your active participation is required in this course. As such, our classroom will be a
“laptop and cell-free zone.” Please turn off your cell phones, laptops, tablets, and similar electronic equipment when you come to class . Unless otherwise permitted, if you are in class and on one of these devices (this includes texting) I will mark you absent .
PLAGIARISM : It is never ok. All work in this course must be original; academic integrity is expected at all times. Plagiarism in any class will result in serious consequences ranging from grade reduction to failure in the class to expulsion from the college. The university catalog describes plagiarism as follows:
“Plagiarism is formal work publicly misrepresented as original; it is any activity wherein one person knowingly, directly, and for lucre, status, recognition, or any public gain resorts to the published or unpublished work of another in order to represent it as one’s own. Work shall be deemed plagiarism: (1) when prior work of another has been demonstrated as the accessible source; (2) when substantial or material parts of the source have been literally or evasively appropriated (substance denoting quantity; matter denoting qualitative format or style); and (3) when the work lacks sufficient or unequivocal citation so as to indicate or imply that the work was neither a copy nor an imitation. This definition comprises oral, written, and crafted pieces.
In short, if one purports to present an original piece but copies ideas word for word or by paraphrase, those ideas should be duly noted.” (from
SDSU General Catalog 2009-2010 . San
Diego State University, 2009: 455)
For more information on the university cheating and plagiarism policy, please visit: http://wwwrohan.sdsu.edu/dept/senate/ policy/pfacademics.html. SDSU’s library also has an excellent tutorial on how to avoid plagiarism.
RESPECT : During this course, we will be covering controversial and debatable subjects. Since this is a discussion-based class, it is vital that you listen and speak respectfully to others at all times.
Discriminatory and disrespectful remarks will not be tolerated. I encourage you to express your opinions, of course – they will often inspire good discussions—but please do so consciously with tact and professionalism. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to drop by my office hours or send me an e-mail.
PROBLEMS : If you run into problems or emergencies, talk to me as soon as possible.
HELP/SERVICES
OFFICE HOURS : I encourage all students to attend office hours, especially if you have any questions or concerns about reading, writing, rhetoric, or the structure or requirements of the course. Office hours are listed on the front page of the syllabus.

DISABLED STUDENTS: Every attempt will be made to offer reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities in this course. Students with disabilities who may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to notify me privately and to contact Student Disability Services (SDS) as soon as possible.
SDSU staff are available in the Capulli Center in Suite 3101 or by phone at (619) 594-6473 (voice) or
(619) 594-2929 (TTD/TTY).
COUNSELING: There are many events and situations that put additional stress on being a student.
SDSU has an excellent center for Counseling & Psychological Services that is open to students Monday through Friday from 8am-4:30pm. To set up an initial consultation, call (619) 594-5220. For immediate or emergency help, you are welcome to use San Diego’s free 24-hour counseling access line at (800) 479-
3339. C&PS on campus also has a “Center for Well-Being” with multiple stations for relaxation if you are feeling stressed during the semester. C&PS is located in the Capulli Center, Room 4401.
STUDENT-ATHLETES: Student-athletes have demanding, dynamic schedules. As an instructor, I am committed to helping you succeed in the course. To do so, regular and effective communication is needed.
While exceptions will not be made for attendance, assignment deadlines, or exams, I am happy to work with all student-athletes in conjunction with Student-Athlete Support Services (SASS) to help you excel in this course. For more information on SASS’ academic advising and tutoring services, please call (619)
594-4743.
GENERAL EDUCATION CAPACITIES/GOALS & RWS LEARNING OUTCOMES
Our “Learning Outcomes” reflect the goals and capacities of the General Education Program. RWS 200 is one of several courses in the area of general education defined as “Communication and Critical
Thinking.” Focusing particularly on argument, this course emphasizes four essential general education capacities: the ability to 1) construct, analyze and communicate argument, 2) contextualize phenomena, 3) negotiate differences, and 4) apply theoretical models to the real world. This course advances general education by helping students understand the general function of writing, speaking, visual texts, and thinking within the context of the university at large, rather than within specific disciplines. In addition to featuring the basic rules and conventions governing composition and presentation, RWS 200 establishes intellectual frameworks and analytical tools that help students explore, construct, critique, and integrate sophisticated texts.
Within this framework of four general capacities, the course realizes four closely related subsidiary goals.
These goals focus on helping students: a.
craft well-reasoned arguments for specific audiences; b.
analyze a variety of texts commonly encountered in the academic setting; c.
situate discourse within social, generic, cultural, and historic contexts; and d.
assess the relative strengths of arguments and supporting evidence.
Our student learning outcomes for RWS 200 are closely aligned with these goals and capacities, and reflect the program’s overall objective of helping students attain “essential skills that underlie all university education.”
Course Objectives
Throughout the semester, you will engage in reading and writing assignments and discussions, which will encourage mastery of the following learning outcomes. In addition to the three learning outcomes specific to the three assignments, by the completion of this course you should be able to:

a.
Describe and evaluate elements of an argument—claims, methods of development, kinds of evidence, persuasive appeals—and to annotate the work that is done by each section of a written argument; b.
Use all aspects of the writing process—including prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading; c.
Choose effective structures for your writing, acknowledging that different purposes, contexts and audiences call for different structures; understand the relationship between a text's ideas and its structure; d.
Identify and evaluate devices an author has used to create cohesion or to carry the reader through the text; use metadiscourse to signal the project of a paper, and guide a reader from one idea to the next; e.
Effectively select material from written arguments, contextualize it, and comment on it in your writing; f.
Determine when and where a source was published, who wrote it and whether it was reprinted or edited; understand that texts are written in and respond to particular contexts, communities or cultures; examine the vocabulary choices a writer makes and how they are related to context, community or culture, audience or purpose; g.
Respond in writing to ideas drawn from various cultures and disciplines, using the activity of writing to clarify and improve your understanding of an argument; h.
Analyze and assess the relative strengths of arguments and supporting evidence; i.
Analyze and assess arguments made by visual texts; incorporate visual images into your documents; j.
Craft well reasoned arguments for specific audiences; k.
Edit your writing for the grammar and usage conventions appropriate to each writing situation; l.
Assign significance to the arguments that they read; and m.
Reflect on how you wrote papers, and revise arguments and findings based on critical reflection.
Assignment Types
Our three main writing assignments will require you to apply these skills to thought-provoking texts. You will both analyze the arguments present in the course texts as well as those of your peers. You will be challenged to continually form, edit, and express your own arguments in an effective manner. The goals of the three main writing assignments are for you to practice and demonstrate the ability to: a.
Describe, evaluate, and analyze an author’s argument, claims, project, evidence and rhetorical strategies; and evaluate these elements for their effectiveness. b.
Construct an account of an author’s project and argument and carry out small, focused research tasks to find information that addresses the context of the argument, helping to illustrate, clarify, and/or complicate it; use appropriate reference materials, including a dictionary, in order to clarify your understanding/interpretation of an argument; and, c.
Construct an account of one or more authors’ projects and arguments and examine how these two arguments speak to, modify, and extend each other while also considering the larger context of the conversation.

Please note that the following schedule is approximate, as dates and topics may shift as the semester continues. The professor has the right to make adjustments to the syllabus as necessary.
Refer to Blackboard for current information regarding your assignment due dates. All readings are expected to be completed outside of class by the reading
’ s discussion date.
Unit 1: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Week One:
Thursday (1/23): Introductions; Class Overview; Context Report Sign-Ups
Week Two:
Tues (1/28): Introduction to Essay #1; RWS 100; PACES
Thurs(1/30): Context Reports; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Week Three:
Tues (2/4): Context Reports; Through the Looking Glass
Thurs (2/6): Context Reports; Drafting; Discussion; Conference Sign-Ups
Week Four:
Tues (2/11): Tips for paper writing and researching Essay #1; Discussion
Thurs (2/13): No class; Rough draft of Essay #1 due at conference
Week Five:
Tues (2/18). No class; Rough draft of Essay #1 due at conference
Thurs (2/20): Essay #1 due ; Overview of Unit 2; Viewing a Poem as Argument
Unit 2: World War I Poetry
Week Six:
Tues (2/25): Context Reports; "In Flander's Fields"
Thurs (2/27): Context Reports; "Dulce et Decorum Est"
Week Seven:
Tues (3/4). Context Reports; Tips for paper writing Paper #2, Listen to poems
Thurs (3/6): Rough Draft of Essay #2 due & Peer Reviews
Week Eight:
Tues (3/11): Essay #2 due ; Overview of Unit 3
Thurs (3/13): Identifying Conversations in Short Texts
Unit 3: Multi-Ethnic Literature

Week Nine:
Tues (3/18) Context Reports; Introduction to Essay #3,
Thurs (3/20): Context Reports, Watch TED Talk
"The Danger of a Single
Story"
Week Ten:
Tues (3/25): Context Reports; "Trading Stories"
Thurs (3/27): Discussion; Tips for writing Essay #3
Week Eleven:
SPRING BREAK (I recommend you use some of this time to start Persepolis )
Week Twelve:
Tues (4/8): Rough Draft of Essay #3 due & Peer Reviews
Thurs (4/10):
Unit 4: Persepolis
Essay #3 due ; Overview of Unit 4
Week Thirteen:
Tues (4/15): Context Reports; Persepolis; Introduce Group-Presentation
Assignment
Thurs (4/17): Context Reports; Group Work
Week Fourteen:
Tues (4/22): Context Reports; Discussion; Group Work
Thurs (4/24): Discussion; Group Work
Week Fifteen:
Tues (4/29): Presentations (Groups 1 & 2)
Thurs (5/1): Presentations (Groups 3 & 4)
Week Sixteen:
Tues (5/6): Presentations (Group 5); Watch Persepolis
Thurs (5/8): Watch Persepolis ; Class Party