“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Plato
RWS 100: The Rhetoric of Written Argument
Section: 61/62
TTh 8-9:15 Rm AH3110
Fall 2014
Instructor: Arafiena Bhuiyan (formerly Akbar)
Department Phone: 619-594-6515
Office: SH 106D
Office Hours: MW11-1/ T 11-12 and by appointment
Email: abhuiyan@mail.sdsu.edu
Prerequisites:
All RWS 100 students must have satisfactory completion of the Lower Division Writing
Competency Requirement.
Required Textbooks and Materials:
Peterson, Linda, ed. The Norton Reader, shorter13th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
2012
Optional:
Raimes: Keys for Writers (6th or 7th edition) (or any other writing handbook if you already have
one).
-Please keep all course materials organized in a folder or 3-ringed binder
-Please bring lined paper for in-class free-writes, journals, and pop-quizzes (will be collected
during each class).
-Keep a dictionary on-hand for all readings: this can be online or a hard copy.
Course Description, General Education Capacities/Goals and RWS Learning
Outcomes
“Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of
persuasion.” Aristotle, Rhetoric
This section of RWS 100 is a collaborative learning environment, allowing students to discover
and make meaning for themselves and with each other as a community. This is a discussionbased course. Unlike a lecture-based course, students are encouraged and expected to contribute
to discussions in each class to ensure a diverse and compelling class dynamic.
Our Learning Outcomes reflect the goals and capacities of the General Education Program.
RWS 100 is one of several courses in the area of general education defined as “Communication
“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Plato
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 100 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:
1)
2)
3)
4)
craft well-reasoned arguments for specific audiences;
analyze a variety of texts commonly encountered in the academic setting;
situate discourse within social, generic, cultural, and historic contexts; and
assess the relative strengths of arguments and supporting evidence.
Our student learning outcomes for RWS 100 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.”
Learning Outcomes for RWS 100
The following four outcomes describe the four main writing projects or “assignment types” for
the course. Students will be able to:
1) Describe and analyze an author’s argument, claims, project, support and rhetorical
strategies;
2) Construct an account of an author’s project and argument and carry out small,
focused research tasks and find information that helps clarify, illustrate, extend or
complicate that argument; use appropriate reference materials, including a dictionary,
in order to clarify their understanding of texts;
3) Construct an account of two or more authors’ projects and arguments and explain
rhetorical strategies that these authors—and by extension other writers—use to
engage readers in thinking about their arguments;
4) Construct an account of two authors’ projects and arguments in order to use concepts
from one argument as a framework for understanding and writing about another.
The following points describe outcomes to work on throughout the course, to be attained over the
fifteen weeks. Students will be able to:
5) Describe elements of an argument—claims, methods of development, kinds of
evidence, persuasive appeals; annotate the work that is done by each section of a
written argument;
“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Plato
6) Use all aspects of the writing process—including prewriting, drafting, revising,
editing, and proofreading;
7) Choose effective structures for their writing, acknowledging that different purposes,
contexts and audiences call for different structures; understand the relationship
between a text’s ideas and its structure;
8) Identify devices an author has used to create cohesion or to carry the reader through
the text; use metadiscourse to signal the project of the paper, and guide a reader from
one idea to the next in their writing;
9) Effectively select material from written arguments, contextualize it, and comment on
it in their writing;
10) 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;
11) Respond in writing to ideas drawn from various cultures and disciplines, using the
activity of writing to clarify and improve their understanding of an argument;
12) Analyze and assess the relative strengths of arguments and supporting evidence;
13) Analyze and assess arguments made by visual texts; incorporate visual images into
their documents;
14) Craft well reasoned arguments for specific audiences;
15) Edit their writing for the grammar and usage conventions appropriate to each writing
situation;
16) Assign significance to the arguments that they read;
17) Reflect on how they wrote their papers, and revise arguments and findings based on
critical reflection.
Course Requirements:





Four formal essays. First drafts and revisions will be required.
Final in-class critical reflection.
Selected readings from textbook
In-class journal/free-writes/pop-quizzes
Class participation in small group activities, class discussions, and writing
workshops and meeting with tutor.
“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Plato
Grade Breakdown:
Each paper will receive a letter grade based on the quality of work it contains, as will your final
exam paper. The value of the letter grade corresponds to the recommended values in the SDSU
catalog (A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, etc.). Participation will be assigned a letter grade that takes into
consideration both your attendance and your level of involvement in class discussions and group
work. Your final grade will be determined by weighting those letter grades as follows:
First Paper: 15%
In-class Journals/Pop-Quizzes:
15%
Second Paper: 20%
Participation/tutor meetings:
15%
Third Paper: 20%
Fourth Paper: 15%
Assignment Due Dates: Refer to reading schedule for all reading and assignment due dates.
Check blackboard daily for updates, schedule changes and important announcements.
Policies:
Late work: Late work will not be accepted. Should something come up that requires you to
request extra time, please contact me. I will deal with the situation depending on the case of the
student.
Hard copies: All assignments are due during the class period and must be turned in as hard
copies. I will not accept electronically-submitted assignments.
Graded papers: Papers are generally graded and returned to you within an average of two weeks.
At times the turn-around time may be shorter and on occasion it may be longer, depending on the
amount of commentary I find it necessary to include on the returned papers.
Attendance: If you are not in class, you cannot participate. Missing class will affect your
participation grade in the class and you are likely to fall behind. I will not provide make-up
assignments or quizzes to those who are absent. I understand that personal issues may come up
and ask that you email me to notify me of your situation so I can work with you. If you do not
communicate with me, I will not be able to help you! Note that students who leave during class
will be marked absent. Also, three tardies will be counted as one absence.
Cell phones: Please be sure cell phones are turned off or silenced and put away before entering
class. Having a phone go off in class is distracting to all and interrupts the train of thought and
discussion. Having your phone out during class is not only distracting, but also very rude and
unacceptable at the university level. If you need to use your phone, feel free to step outside of the
classroom.
E-mail: I will do my best to respond to all emails within 24 hours, however, responses may be
delayed during weekends. When sending me an email, please state your full name (first and last)
and write your section number in the subject line. I do not accept assignments via email unless
arrangements have already been made. This course is not taught via e-mail. If you miss class,
“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Plato
contact a classmate for missed notes. I will not repeat classroom information to those who were
absent. Also, it is not necessary to notify me if you will be missing class on a particular day,
though if something has come up that will result in you missing several classes, you will want to
let me know.
Special arrangements: If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need
accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact Student Disability
Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you
should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that
accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations based upon disability
cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter
from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Student athletes: If you are a student athlete with away games scheduled during the semester,
please let me know by the end of the first week of class, and present me with a copy of your team
travel schedule. I am aware of your multiple obligations as student athletes, and we will make
appropriate scheduling arrangements—this may include turning assignments in early.
Plagiarism: According to the policy file, “Plagiarism shall be defined as the act of incorporating
ideas, words, or specific substance of another, whether purchased, borrowed, or otherwise
obtained, and submitting same to the university as one’s own work to fulfill academic
requirements without giving credit to the appropriate source. Plagiarism shall include, but not be
limited to: a.) submitting work either in part or in whole completed by another; b.) omitting
footnotes for ideas, statements, facts, or conclusions that belong to another; c.) omitting
quotation marks when quoting directly from another; d.) close and lengthy paraphrasing of the
writings of another.” Plagiarism is a breach of academic codes of conduct. Refer to the General
Catalog for the potential consequences of plagiarism, which may include failing the course
and/or possible expulsion from the university.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any concerns or questions regarding the class. I am
more than happy address any issues you may have. If you feel you are in need of extra writing
assistance, contact me so that I may guide you towards some helpful resources.
“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Plato