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RWS 200: RHETORIC OF WRITTEN ARGUMENT IN CONTEXT
Course Syllabus
Spring 2013 * Section 75 * T/Th 2-3:15 pm * SLH 149
Instructor: Amanda Fuller
Email: masllena@gmail.com
Mailbox: RWS Main Office, AH 3138
Office: Adams Humanities (AH) 3178
Office Hours: T 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Course Description and Objectives
RWS 200, The Rhetoric of Written Arguments in Context, satisfies the university requirement in
Intermediate Composition and Critical Thinking. Other courses, which satisfy this requirement,
are Africana Studies 200, Linguistics 200 and Philosophy 110. To enroll in any of these courses,
students must have satisfied the Lower Division Writing Competency Requirement.
RWS 200 is a course in academic writing and reading, emphasizing the rhetorical analysis of
arguments in context. Building on RWS 100, the course asks students to continue the work of
articulating what argument a text is making and describing elements of the argument. It now
asks them to also consider the contexts of arguments and to discover what arguments are
responding to, both in the sense of what has come before them and in the sense that they are
written for an audience in a particular place and time.
The course examines the ways in which writers use sources in their writing in order to pursue
questions and understand both experiences and texts. By the end of the course, you should be
able to write and revise papers for which you have investigated arguments in context, created
significant relationships among them, and shown an understanding of their positioned, cultural
dimension. You should be able to make independent decisions about structure, cohesion and
conventions of correctness. You should be able to present an argument—not in the sense of
defending an already-formed opinion, but in the sense of having inquired into a question and
discovered ways to analyze, use, and respond to texts about that question.
In RWS 100 you learned that no text is autonomous, and that all writers draw upon other texts,
including the texts of their own histories and cultures, to create new texts. You began to learn
that a perspective, an idea or even a single sentence from one text can suggest a question that
needs investigating or provide a framework for interpreting and writing about experiences,
observations, or the work of another author. RWS 200 reinforces this learning, taking context, as
its key term.
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Context is a term that refers to: (1) the roots of an idea (for example, the religious and
philosophical ideas from Socrates, the Bible and Ghandi are some of the roots of Martin Luther
King’s discussions of non-violence); (2) the time and place in which a writer is writing and the
particular audience addressed; (3) the variety of texts available on a particular topic; (4) the
current moment in which one is reading a text—one’s own social/cultural/historical context.
In RWS 200, I will help you to recognize a writer’s source materials, to analyze not only
conventions of citation but how a writer uses sources to construct new knowledge, and to
practice using sources as you inquire into and write about complex questions. One part of this
work is to recognize the influence of audience and social context on every piece of writing. As
in RWS 100, your instructor helped you to examine the texts you read for the clues about the
situation, community, and culture in which these texts were written, and to recognize strategies
for appealing to audiences. RWS 200 builds on this work by asking you to identify and analyze
features of context embedded in arguments, and to research elements of context by being activist
readers.
Pre-requisites: Satisfaction of the SDSU writing competency requirement (see University
Catalog) and completion of RWS 100.
Materials
Required:
Columbo, Cullen, & Lisle: Rereading America (8th edition)
The Little Seagull Handbook or your preferred grammar, style, and usage
handbook
A college-level dictionary (e.g., American Heritage Dictionary or Webster’s
New Collegiate Dictionary)
Assignment Types
The following outcomes are directly related to the three main writing projects or "assignment types" for
the course. Students will be able to:
1. Construct an account of an argument and identify elements of context embedded in it, the clues
that show what the argument is responding to--both in the sense of what has come before it and in
the sense that it is written for an audience in a particular time and place; examine a writer’s
language in relation to audience, context and community;
2. follow avenues of investigation that are opened by noticing elements of context; research those
elements and show how one's understanding of the argument is developed, changed, or evolved
by looking into its context;
3. given the common concerns of two or more arguments, discuss how the claims of these
arguments modify, complicate or qualify one another;
4. consider their contemporary, current life as the context within which they are reading the
arguments assigned in the class; position themselves in relation to these arguments and additional
ones they have researched in order to make an argument; draw on available key terms, concepts
or frameworks of analysis to help shape the argument.
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Outcomes across the semester
The following points describe outcomes to work on throughout the semester, to be attained over the 15
weeks. Students will be able to:
5. Building on the work done in RWS 100, students will be able to: articulate what argument a text
is making; describe the work that is done by each section of the argument; describe elements of
the argument—claims, methods of development, kinds of evidence, persuasive appeals; translate
an argument into their own words;
6. understand and incorporate all aspects of the writing process--including prewriting, drafting,
revising, editing, and proofreading;
7. articulate what key terms, definitions, concepts, statements of a problem or issue are established
by a text;
8. investigate and articulate how an argument is positioned—based on certain kinds of assumptions,
located in a way of thinking and representing issues from a point of view;
9. work with multiples sources in a paper, deciding what to include and what to exclude, choosing
an effective structure, and creating significant relationships among sources;
10. analyze and assess arguments made by visual texts; incorporate visual images into their
documents;
11. craft a cohesive paper, and use effective metadiscourse to articulate the project of the paper and
guide a reader through it;
12. describe their own papers and reflect on how they wrote them; differentiate between the content
of their texts and the language and rhetorical strategies they employ;
13. assign significance to the arguments they read;
14. revise their own work effectively, re-reading previous work and re-envisioning it in the light of
reflection, feedback, further reading and new sources of information;
15. edit their writing for the grammar and usage conventions appropriate to the project.
About Blackboard
I frequently use Blackboard to post assignments and paper prompts, send out announcements,
etc. Homework assignments and any needed supplementary materials will be posted periodically
on Blackboard. Please check Blackboard for last minute announcements before class.
Grades
Project 1 Paper
Project 2 Paper
Project 3 Collaborative Essay
Group Presentation/Final Exam
Attendance/Participation
Related coursework (Reading Response Worksheets,
reading and writing exercises, annotation checks, inclass work, etc.)
Total
100pts
100pts
100pts
100pts
100pts
100pts
600pts
Grading is on a point system that will be converted into a letter grade at
the end of the semester.
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Percentage-to-grade
breakdown
A
93-100
A90-92
B+
87-89
B
85-86
B80-84
C+
77-79
C
75-76
C70-74
D+
67-69
D
65-66
D60-64
F
59 and below
Policies
Respect: Above all, respect is what I value most. The best classroom experience comes from
students respecting each other and the instructor. This includes everything from coming to class
on time, refraining from private conversations during class, to texting during a lecture. It is vital
that students listen and speak respectfully in class, particularly since the reading will spark
discussion on controversial and personal issues. Here are some good ground rules on maintaining
classroom respect created by students.
 Speakers should aim to:
o Keep disagreements focused on the issues (don’t get personal)
o Speak up so everyone can hear
o Address the group, not just the teacher or another individual
o Avoiding interrupting or talking over others
 Listeners should aim to:
o Respect the speaker (don’t interrupt or carry on other conversations)
o Use positive body language
**If you have read this far, and paid close attention, then your thoroughness and desire to do
well in this course will be rewarded with five extra credit points if you email me before the first
class and share a hobby or topic of interest that you are passionate about.
Attendance and Participation: There is no substitute for attending class. Students earn points
each day for attending class. Students who arrive late to class will get half of the possible
attendance points for the day. Students who miss for any reason cannot make up the
attendance points; however, missing or arriving late to one or two classes will not significantly
impact your overall grade -- repeated absences and tardies will.
 Students will sign in on a roster at the beginning of each class.
 Note that extracurricular events are generally not acceptable absences; however, athletes
should check in with me if they will need to miss class for a school-sanctioned event.
 Students are expected to participate actively in class. Expect to demonstrate excellent
preparation for the day’s lesson, including but not limited to: having completed readings
and homework and arriving to class with all required materials on time. Be ready to
grapple critically with texts, significantly contribute to discussion, and demonstrate
ongoing active involvement.
Essays: You will be required to write 3 essays (each will be 3-6 pages in length) for this course.
Each essay will require at least one rough draft. All pre-writing and rough drafts are due in class
on the day specified. Final drafts are due to Turn-it-In, and a hardcopy for the instructor, on
the assigned due date. Specific criteria for each essay will be given along with the prompt. One
or more drafts will be required for each writing assignment. You will “workshop” the essay with
your peers, both gaining and giving feedback. You will complete feedback forms in peer review
and be evaluated based on evidence of engagement in the activity.
Turnitin: Turnitin (integrated within Blackboard) will be used in this course for many
assignments. Students in this course agree that papers are subject to submission for textual
similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism, as well as for online evaluation,
feedback and grading by the instructor, and peer review by fellow class members. All submitted
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papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for
the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Students may submit their papers in such a
way that no identifying information about them is included. Another option is that a student may
request, in writing, that his/her papers not be submitted to Turnitin.com. However, this option
requires the student to provide documentation to substantiate that the papers are the original
work of the student and do not include any plagiarized material.
Electronic Devices: Your active participation is required in this course. Please turn off your cell
phones, iPods, and other electronic equipment when you come to class. Because we will be
interacting in group discussion often, the use of laptops will also be distracting. The use of
electronics in class is simply disrespectful. If a student repeatedly violates this policy, they may
be asked to leave, and will lose their attendance/participation points for the day.
Late/missed assignments: I do not accept late work. If there are extreme circumstances or
emergencies, they will be addressed on a case-by-case basis before the due date.
Revisions: Students may revise any paper that scores a C or lower. Revisions are due one week
after the paper is handed back at the beginning of class, along with the original graded paper and
rubric. Your “new” grade will be averaged with the original grade to calculate the final score.
Plagiarism: “One important reason we write is to enable ourselves to engage in a kind of
thinking that would otherwise be beyond us, that is, extended thinking in which ideas are linked
by complex logical and linguistic connections,” according to composition theorists Richard
Young and Patricia Sullivan. This is precisely what makes plagiarism such an egregious offense.
Writing allows us to engage in the complex critical thinking skills expected of the university (not
to mention will serve you in life), and therefore plagiarizers miss the point of the course
altogether. Not to mention it’s illegal. Carefully consider the following SDSU policy:
 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, whether it be a paragraph, sentence, or part thereof;
(d) close and lengthy paraphrasing of the writings of another (f) submitting as one's own
work papers purchased from research companies.
 The minimum consequence for plagiarism in this course is a 50% (F) on the assignment.
More significant consequences, including reporting the plagiarism to the Center for
Student Rights and Responsibilities may be imposed. Needless to say, the best policy is
to always turn in only your own work. If you have questions concerning plagiarism and
citing sources, refer to http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/search.php, any MLA
handbook, or ask me directly. I will be utilizing the school’s plagiarism software
throughout the semester.
Course Assistance Services
Office Hours: I encourage all students to attend office hours (by appointment), but especially if
you have any questions or concerns about reading, writing, the course or college in general.
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Please make an appointment with me in advance via e-mail. Please bring all of your pre-writing,
drafts, and final drafts of your essays with comments to office hours. It will assist me in
answering any questions you may have on the assignments.
Course Tutoring: I welcome all students to attend office hours with questions on writing or the
RWS 200 course. If you would like additional assistance and encouragement, SDSU has an
excellent staff of tutors to assist students in all courses. Students who need assistance with course
concepts or writing assignments in English or ESL are encouraged to contact the department of
Rhetoric and Writing Studies at (619) 594-6515 for more information on drop-in tutoring hours.
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 the instructor privately and to contact
Student Disability Services (SDS) as soon as possible. All discussion of disabilities will take
place privately to protect student confidentiality. SDS staff are available in the Capulli Center in
Suite 3101 or by phone at (619) 594-6473 (voice) or (619) 594-2929 (TTD/TTY).
Student Athletes: Student-athletes have very demanding, dynamic schedules which place
additional hardship on excelling in both arenas. As an instructor, I am committed to helping you
succeed in the course. To do so, regular and effective communication is needed. While no
exceptions will be made for attendance, assignment deadlines, or exams, I would be 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, call (619) 594-4743.
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COURSE CONTRACT – RWS 200 – SPRING 2013 – INSTRUCTOR FULLER
Syllabus Agreement
I have read and understand the entire course syllabus. I agree to participate in the course according to the
requirements, expectations and policies set forth in the course syllabus.
Agreement on Plagiarism
Policy statements and tutorials on plagiarism are provided by SDSU on these web pages:
http://infotutor.sdsu.edu/plagiarism/consequences.cfm?p=graphic
http://infotutor.sdsu.edu/plagiarism/index.cfm?p=graphic
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/conduct1.html
I understand that teachers are required by SDSU policy to report cases of plagiarism. I understand that I
must clearly mark other people's ideas and words within my paper. I understand it is unacceptable to do
any of the following:
 Submit an essay written in whole or part by another person and to present this as my own.
 Download an essay from the internet, then quote or paraphrase from it, in whole or in part,
without acknowledging the original source.
 Reproduce the substance of another writer's argument without acknowledging the source.
 Copy another student/person’s homework and submit this as the product of my own work.
I understand that the consequences for committing any of the above acts can include failure in the class, a
note on my permanent record, and even expulsion from the university. I will not plagiarize or cheat.
Use of Student Work
Your teacher may occasionally wish to share sample student writing in class. She may also wish to share
sample student writing as part of her teacher training. For example, your teacher may wish to show an
example of a strong introduction, or discuss ways of revising a conclusion. Student writing will be made
anonymous (student names will be removed). Is it OK to use your writing in this way?
YES
NO
Signature
Date
Name (print legibly)
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