RWS 100/101 – THE RHETORIC OF WRITTEN ARGUMENT
Mrs. Roberta Stagnaro, Instructor
Fall 2012
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TuTh 8-9:15a.m.
TuTh 11a.m.-12:15 p.m.
TuTh 2-3:15 p.m.
TuTh 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Rm. AH 2107
Rm. AH 3130
Rm. AH 2113
Rm AH 4131
Required texts: Essentials of Argument by Nancy V. Wood third edition, and
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, available at Aztec Shops Bookstore, and RWS
100/101 by Roberta Stagnaro, available at Cal Copy. If you do not own a good
English handbook, one is strongly suggested but not required, as are a college
dictionary and thesaurus.
Office hours: TuTh 12:30-1:45 p.m. in AH 3120, telephone 594-6486, extension
2, other times by appointment. Do not call to notify me of ordinary absences. It
is wise to obtain the numbers of a few classmates to check with about class or
homework. Make sure that you are on Blackboard. I do not post anything, but I
do use Blackboard to send emails to advise you of any changes. I sincerely want
this to be a good course for you. Please see me if you have questions about
your progress, the lectures, or the assignments. College can sometimes be an
overwhelming experience, and I’d like to help you in any way I can.
Course objectives: RWS100, The Rhetoric of Written Argument, is a course
designed to introduce college level reading, writing, and thinking skills. When
you finish this course, as in other RWS courses, your rhetorical knowledge,
critical thinking and reading skills, composing processes, and knowledge of
conventions will be increased. In addition, your attitudes, values, and preparation
for life beyond the university will be clarified and enhanced. Our learning
outcomes reflect the goals and capacities of the General Education Program.
RWS100 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,
RWS100 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 goal focus on helping students 1) craft well-reasoned
arguments for specific audiences; 2) analyze a variety of texts commonly
encountered in the academic setting; 3) situate discourse within social, generic,
cultural, and historic contexts; and 4) assess the relative strengths of arguments
and supporting evidence. Our student learning outcomes for RWS100 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.” 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 put small,
focused research tasks to find information that helps clarify, illustrate, extend, or
complicate that argument, using appropriate reference materials, including a
dictionary, in order to clarify their understanding of an argument; 3) construct an
account of one 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; and 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 are
student outcomes for RWS100: Students will 1) describe elements of an
argument—claims, methods of development, kinds of evidence, persuasive
appeals—and annotate the work that is done by each section of a written
argument; 2) use all aspects of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting,
revising, editing, and proofreading; 3) choose effective structures for their writing,
acknowledging that different purposes, contexts, and audiences call for different
structures, and understand the relationship between a text’s ideas and its
structure; 4) identify devices authors have used to create cohesion or to carry
the reader through the paper and use metadiscourse to signal the project of the
paper and guide a reader from one idea to the next in their writing; 5) effectively
select material from written arguments, contextualize it, and comment on it in
their writing; 6) determine when and where a source was published, who wrote it,
and whether it was reprinted or edited and understand that texts are written in
and respond to particular contexts, communities, or cultures and examine the
vocabulary choices a writer makes and how they are related to context,
community, or culture, audience, or purpose; 7) 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; 8) analyze and assess the relative
strengths of arguments and supporting evidence; 9) analyze and assess
arguments made by visual texts and incorporate visual images into their
documents; 10) craft well-reasoned arguments for specific audiences; 11) edit
their writing for the grammar and usage conventions appropriate to each writing
situations; 12) assign significance to the arguments they read; 13) reflect on how
they wrote their papers and revise arguments and findings based on critical
reflections.
Thoughtful content, careful structure, and correct use of standard written English
will be required in all assignments.
Course requirements: All papers must be typed, numbered, stapled in the upper left hand
corner, double-spaced with standard margins. All papers must have a title page, and your
name may appear NOWHERE except the title page!. There will be four papers (three
75-100 line essays and one 125-175 line source-driven paper). Save your notes, outlines,
and drafts because I may want to see them. It is wise to keep a hard copy of each paper
you submit in case of loss or computer-related malfunction. Late papers will be lowered
one grade; a paper over one week late will not be accepted. No late finals will be
accepted. You will be able to revise two of your papers: one of the first two and one of
the second two. They must be submitted, along with the original graded paper, before or
on the specified dates. Late papers may be revised; however, the highest grade the
revision of a late paper may receive is a B. But if the original paper is not at least 2/3 of
the required length, the revision privilege is forfeited. In addition, out-of-class tutoring
sessions are required of every student enrolled in RWS 101, and University policy
stipulates that students may proceed to RWS 200 from 101 only if they complete the
tutoring component of the class. This component will require each RWS 101 student to
meet with the tutor at least once or more BEFORE EACH PAPER OR REVISION IS
TURNED IN for a total of SEVEN meetings. The completed and signed “Tutor Session
Report” form must be stapled to the front of each paper, or the original paper will
receive an F and a revision will not be accepted. The minimum passing grade is a D.
Plagiarism: Beware of plagiarism in writing your papers. Plagiarism is any of the
following:
1. Verbatim copying without proper acknowledgement
2. Paraphrase without proper acknowledgement
3. Unacknowledged appropriation of information or of someone
else’s ideas
4. Turning in, as your own, work you did not do
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Any work showing plagiarism will
result in failure in the course and possible expulsion from the university.
Essay evaluation: Essay grades are based on these areas, each weighted
equally:
1. Clear and meaningful purpose (thesis and stance)
2. Clear and appropriate structure (organization)
3. Clear and appropriate content of sufficient length and depth
(development)
4. Clear, appropriate, effective, honest, and correct language (diction)
5. Overall first impression
I reserve the right to return, ungraded, any paper not of college caliber in any of
the above areas, including major grammatical errors. Major grammatical errors
include sentence fragments, comma splices, run-on sentences, dangling
modifiers, subject-verb agreement errors, pronoun case or agreement errors,
incorrect use of words, and misused and misspelled words. Refer to a good
English handbook and dictionary to avoid these errors. When in doubt, look it up!
Such a paper may be resubmitted within one week of the due date without
penalty. If resubmission is within the second week, the paper will be treated as
a late paper.
Class participation: Your input is important in this class, both in discussion and
group work. Do not hesitate to ask questions! I will consider the quality and the
quantity of your contribution in determining your final grade. Strong class
participation can raise your grade; lack of participation can lower your grade. In
addition, superficial or non-reading of material will lower your grade. Quizzes will
be given to assure completion of all reading assignments.
Class attendance: Regular attendance is essential for your success in this
course. Any unexcused absence, since it precludes class participation, will lower
your final grade. Excuses for absences must be submitted in writing, not orally or
by telephone. Since tardiness disrupts a class and causes you to miss
important material, it will also lower your grade. If you continue to arrive late after
a warning, each two tardies will be counted as an absence. Leaving class early
will be treated as tardiness. Please note that it is your responsibility to advise me
of your presence if you miss roll. NEITHER ABSENCE NOR TARDINESS WILL
BE CONSIDERED AN EXCUSE FOR MISSED ASSIGNMENTS OR
OTHERWISE NOT KEEPING UP WITH CLASS ACTIVITIES. Your classroom
behavior, of course, is expected to reflect maturity and courtesy. This includes
not texting or using any electronic device and turning off all cell phones and
pagers during class. If you are using a computer for any non-class related
activity, you will not be able to use it for the rest of the semester.
Grading: Your final grade will be computed as follows:
60% Short papers
30% Longer paper
5% Other assignments
5% Participation and attendance
Grading scale: A=120, A-=111, B+=99, B=90, B-= 81, C+=69, C=60, C-=51,
D+=39, D=30, D-=21, F+=12, F=0
Note that grades are figured using the mathematical mean, not the median or the
mode.
Class calendar (subject to change as the semester progresses):
8-28
8-30
9-4
9-6
9-11
9-13
9-18
9-20
9-25
9-27*
10-2
10-4
Introduction, read Silent Spring
The writing process, Four Bases, tasks, active reading, read Ch. 1
Argumentation, coherence, read Ch. 2 & p. 303
The rhetorical situation, discuss Silent Spring, read Ch. 3 & 11
Research, documentation, evaluating sources
The thesis statement, write thesis statement
Thesis workshop,
Library presentation, read pp. 259-86
MLA documentation style, write paper
The exploratory paper, definition paragraph, read supplement articles
Discuss, write thesis statement
Thesis workshop, write paper
10-9* Choosing the right/best word
10-11 PM film & worksheet
10-16 Charting an essay, read Ch. 5-7 & pp. 304-06
10-18
Toulmin argumentation, read Ch. 8
10-23 Analyze “LFBJ,” write thesis, first paper revision due (# 1 or 2)
10-25 Conferences
10-30 Conferences
11-1
Thesis workshop, write paper, read Ch. 9
11-6* Visual arguments, analyze ad
11-8
Film
11-13 Film, group discussion, write thesis
11-15 Thesis workshop, write paper, read. Ch. 10
11-20 Rogerian argument/negotiating differences
11-22 HOLIDAY – NO CLASS
11-27 Writing effective sentences, early final or paper #3 revision due
11-29 Grammar & punctuation workshop
12-6* Writing reflection, evaluations, finals due
12-11 Final activity
* Paper due