Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Instructor: Captain Shank
Office Location, Phone: 1518 POT, (859) 257-1840
Office Hours: MWF 9:00am-10:00am and by appointment
Course Information: MWF, CB 316, Section ___
Email: NathanShank@uky.edu
Overview
Composition and Communication II centers on critical inquiry and argument through the modes of writing
and speech. In this course, students will explore issues of public concern using rhetorical analysis, engage in
deliberation over those issues, and ultimately propose solutions based on well-developed arguments.
Students will sharpen their ability to conduct research; compose and communicate in written, oral, and
visual media; and work effectively in groups. A significant component of the class will consist of learning
to use visual and digital resources. Over the course of the semester, class members can expect to work
independently, with a partner, and in a small group to investigate, share findings, and compose and deliver
presentations.
Required Materials
• Everything’s an Argument, UK Custom 5th ed. Lunsford, Andrea A. and John J. Ruszkiewicz.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010.
• A Pocket Style Manual, custom version
• E-reader
• 3x5 inch index cards for speech notes
Grading Policy
Only students who have completed all components of six the major assignments below are eligible for a
passing grade in this course.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Topics Speech
Stakeholder Speech:
Image and Text Analysis
Rhetorical Analysis
Group Speech
Digital Project
Quizzes , Homework, In-class Work
5%
20%
5%
20%
20%
20%
10%
A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 70-79
D = 60-69
E < 69
A rubric will be distributed in advance of all major assignments.
Participation and Attendance
Since discussion is an integral part of the course, you should be prepared for class, on time, and offer
productive comments based on the assigned readings. Preparation involves not only reading but also
making notes about the reading so that you are prepared to discuss issues in depth. Pop quizzes will occur
frequently to make sure all students have read the assigned material.
You can accrue three unexcused absences without penalty, but your final course grade will be reduced by a
half letter grade (5%) for each unexcused absence thereafter. To receive an excused absence, you should
provide official documentation; if for a sponsored University activity (such as intercollegiate athletics),
documentation should be provided in advance. The University Senate and the Division of Writing,
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Rhetoric, and Digital Media set a limit on total absences—both excused and unexcused—at 1/5th of the
total class meetings.
Students who are 10 minutes late will be marked absent for the day. That absence will become an
unexcused absence, weighing against your total number of unexcused absences, if you cannot provide
proper documentation. If a quiz occurs, you can only make it up if you have a valid, documented excuse
for your tardiness.
Late Assignments
Your assignments for this course—including speeches, essays, and informal assignments—are due on the
dates indicated in the class schedule below or as indicated in class. Late assignments may receive half
credit, up to a week late. All assignments should be posted on Blackboard, which puts a date-time stamp
on them. They should be posted before class in order to be marked as on time. If you are absent on a day
when an assignment is due or your speech is scheduled, you will be allowed to hand in or make-up that
work only if the absence is officially excused.
Revision Policy
You may rewrite one paper that gets a C, D or F. It must be turned in no later than two weeks after you
get the original paper back. You should meet with me before rewriting the paper to discuss changes. This
paper will need to be accompanied by a typed explanation listing the major changes that were made to the
paper. I will re-evaluate the paper and assign a new grade. The highest possible grade on the revision is an
85% B.
This course offers no extra credit assignments.
Plagiarism
Part II of Student Rights and Responsibilities states that all academic work‚ written or otherwise‚
submitted by students to their instructors or other academic supervisors‚ is expected to be the result of
their own thought‚ research‚ or self-expression. See section 6.3.1, online at http://www.uky.edu/Student
Affairs/Code/Section%20VI.pdf
For cases in which students feel unsure about a question of plagiarism involving their work‚ they are
obliged to consult their instructors on the matter before submission. When students submit work
purporting to be their own‚ but which in any way borrows ideas‚ organization‚ wording or anything else
from another source without appropriate acknowledgment of the fact‚ the students are guilty of plagiarism.
Plagiarism includes reproducing someone else’s work‚ whether it be a published article‚ a chapter of a book‚
a paper or file from a friend‚ or another source, including anything from the Internet. Plagiarism also
includes the practice of employing or allowing another person to alter or revise the work which a student
submits as his/her own‚ whoever that other person may be. Plagiarism also includes using someone else’s
work during an oral presentation without properly crediting that work in the form of an oral citation.
Plagiarism also includes using a previous paper of your own without citation. Whenever you use outside
sources or information‚ you should carefully acknowledge exactly what‚ where and how you have employed
them. If the words of someone else are used‚ you should put quotation marks around the passage in
question and add an appropriate indication of its origin. Plagiarism also includes making simple changes
while leaving the organization‚ content, and phrasing intact. However‚ nothing in these rules shall apply to
those ideas which are so generally and freely circulated as to be a part of the public domain.
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
You may discuss assignments among yourselves or with me or a tutor‚ but when the actual work is done‚ it
should be done by you alone unless the assignment has been designed to be conducted with a partner or
small group of classmates. All work submitted should be new, original work; you may not submit work
you have produced for another purpose or class, including a previous CIS or WRD 110 course. If you do,
you will have plagiarized.
Class Conduct
In order to maintain a productive work environment, I expect you to turn off your cell phone before each
class period and refrain from eating, sleeping, reading irrelevant materials, talking once class is in session
unless asked to do so, and entering the classroom late or leaving early without permission. Texting is not
permitted in class. Students may receive a zero on that day’s class participation grade for texting during
class. Students who engage in behavior so disruptive that it is impossible to conduct class may be directed
to leave for the remainder of the class period. See UKY's Code of Student Conduct for further
information on prohibited conduct: http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/Code/part1.html
Blackboard
The daily schedule may change during the semester. You will be responsible for checking the online
syllabus and schedule before beginning your homework for each of our class meetings for any changes or
updates. I will post all major assignments here and on the announcements section on Blackboard. You are
responsible for keeping back-up (I recommend several) copies of all your work since electronic texts can be
lost. Copies of work can be saved in the “Content Collection” area of your Blackboard account. You are
also responsible for checking to make sure that your assignments are posted to Blackboard on time, in the
right location, and in the right format. Additionally, you are expected to check your email on a daily basis
in case I need to contact you.
Resources
The Writing Center is located in W. T. Young Library, Thomas D. Clark Study, 5th Floor, West Wing
(phone: 257-1368). You can walk in or make an appointment online (http://web.as.uky.edu/oxford/).
The staff can help you identify and correct problems with all aspects of your writing as well as work with
you on visual design. If you have additional problems with your speaking, you may also go to the
Multimodal Communication Lab in 106 Grehan (phone: 859-257-8370). I recommend that you consider
going to either location if you feel stuck at any stage of the communication process.
Students with Special Needs
If you are registered with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) and require special accommodations to
complete the work for this course, you should get a letter from the DRC that details what you need before
I can grant you these accommodations. Special accommodations cannot be granted retroactively. This is a
non-negotiable class policy. Please contact the DRC at 859-257-2754 if you have questions about your
eligibility for special accommodations.
Echo Policy
Because this class involves live speeches, classes will be recorded by the Echo video service. We will use
this technology to study our speeches in order to improve them. Please be aware that these videos are
private and protected, and you may use them only for purposes related to the completion of this course.
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Student Learning Outcomes
By the end of the semester, you will be able to
• compose in writing and deliver orally with visuals (in a face-to-face or digital environment) at least
one major project grounded in scholarly research in a manner that is appropriate and effective for the
audience, purpose, and occasion. (The development of one or more major research projects is the
course’s primary educational focus.)
• conduct significant research on a subject, using the resources of the UK Libraries
• employ advanced strategies for developing ideas and analyzing arguments, with greater emphasis on
addressing and mediating issues of public interest, and with evidence of critical thinking in both the
conception and the development of the thesis.
• refine their speaking, writing, and visual communication skills, focusing on matters of construction,
design, and delivery style.
• critique the work of peers and professionals.
• revise their written and oral presentations, in collaboration with peers, instructor, librarians, and
pertinent members of the public.
• employ and evaluate interpersonal and small group communication skills.
Important Dates
• MLK Day
• Topics Speech:
• Stakeholder Speech:
• Image and Text Analysis:
• Rhetorical Analysis
• Spring Break Holiday
• Group Speech:
• Digital Project:
1/21
1/18
2/4-8
2/25
3/6
3/11-16
4/3
due at final
Assignments
In groups of 4-5 students, you will select a public controversy to study throughout the semester. Each
group will choose their own public controversy that is currently in the news at the local and national levels.
Your group will find original documents produced by those involved in the controversy and secondary
sources written about the controversy. You may also produce your own data through interviews with those
involved or by observing some facet of the controversy in action. Since you will be expected to offer
original insights, you will not be allowed to select a subject that has been thoroughly researched, such as the
abortion or gun control controversies. The Topics Speech will be the method for deciding on a group
controversy.
Topics Speech
Every student will find one topic which interests them and which they would like to be one of the main
group topics for this course. In this 1-2 minute speech, you will briefly explain the controversy’s multiple
sides and main areas of disagreement among them. You will then argue to the class why your topic should
be chosen as one of the course’s group topics. Each student will pick three of the topics they prefer, and
groups will be decided based on interest and availability. This speech is worth 5% of your final grade.
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Stakeholder Speech
Every team will generate a list of major stakeholders involved in the controversy that your group is
studying. Within your team, each group member will become an expert on one stakeholder and present
that person or group’s angle on the topic, irrespective of your own position on the issue. In a 3-5 minute
persuasive speech without a lectern, each team member will give a speech about what motivates his or her
stakeholder’s involvement in the controversy and at what points they enter debate. You will argue for the
position of your stakeholder. Your speech will use as evidence at least three texts or images (from different
sources) made by your stakeholder to explain your stakeholder’s motivation and side; this supporting
evidence will be presented on a minimal Prezi. At least one of your sources should come from the UK
libraries. Each presenter may each use a maximum of five 3x5 one-sided index cards (key words only––no
complete sentences except for quotes). This individual speech is worth 20% of your final grade.
Image and Text Analysis
To lead up to the Rhetorical Analysis, you will analyze an image or particular section of text from your
stakeholder in terms of its rhetorical dimensions. The image and text may come from one source or two.
Your study should include a discussion of the audiences, intended audiences, genre, logos, ethos, pathos,
stases, or other strategies that the text uses to communicate its goal. You should avoid summary and
personal opinions. You will receive feedback on this assignment in order to write the Rhetorical Analysis.
Paper should be no shorter than 600 words. This assignment is worth 5% of your final grade.
Rhetorical Analysis
Using careful research and critical thinking, each team member will write an 1800-word rhetorical analysis
of one stakeholder’s position, argument, and rhetorical strategies. Each group member’s rhetorical analysis
should cite at least three outside sources and use at least two supporting images and/or graphics. Sources
should be used as the material that you analyze, rather than commentary about the stakeholder. These
analyses should provide a fair evaluation of your stakeholder’s position by quoting from and closely
engaging with the texts and images. To review the purpose of academic arguments, see EAA, page 15 and
chapter 5. This paper is not an analysis of your stakeholder’s views. Instead, it is an analysis of how your
stakeholder communicates through text. This individual essay is worth 20% of your final grade.
Group Speech
Now having a detailed knowledge of your stakeholders’ rhetorical strategies, your group will give a
persuasive presentation on your controversy with the following objectives: convince the audience to agree
with your position, propose solutions, and persuade the audience to take action to help solve it. You are
therefore arguing for a position on your topic.
Each group will choose a pattern for persuasive speeches that the group as a whole will follow. For
example, person A might act as a moderator, introducing the speech, person B might discuss the
background of the issue, person C might talk about the proposed solutions and their limitations, person D
might discuss the advantages of the group’s proposed solution, and person A might reappear to make a call
to action. Regardless of your organizational style, one group member should serve as the moderator for the
group speech, offering an introduction, presenting each member of the group, transitioning between
speakers, and calling the audience to action at the end of the speech. To review the purpose of persuasive
arguments, see EAA, pages 10-11. The group will create one typed outline, which includes individual
members’ outlines, to be turned in on your assigned group speech day. After the presentation, the group
will participate in a question and answer session with the class.
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
While the group speech will have an overall organization, each individual within the group will present a 46 minute speech that includes an introduction, body, and conclusion—a mini-speech within the larger
organization. Speakers should cite at least two relevant outside sources (oral citations) and use at least two
PowerPoint slides containing a title, key words, and one symbol not just words (e.g., image, pie chart, line
graph, or a diagram) that helps listeners better understand the message. You may each use a maximum of
five 3x5 one-sided index cards (key words only––no complete sentences except in quotations).
This group speech is worth 20% of your final grade: 10% individual speech, 10% group dynamics.
Note: Periodic evaluations of group work and dynamics will be conducted throughout the project and will
count as points in the in-class work category on the syllabus. See Blackboard for the requirements and
rubrics for these assignments.
Digital Project
Now that you have developed an argument about your controversy, in the last major project you will use
digital tools to advocate your message for a particular stakeholder into the broader public sphere. You will
prepare a digital project (e.g., YouTube video, website, audio essay, complex prezi) which argues for the
position of one of the stakeholders. By the end of the semester, your digital project will go public.
Your group will develop a digital project that argues for one side of your group’s controversy. You can use
the same argument that you developed for the Group Speech, provided it is narrowed down to one
stakeholder. This project should not be directly imitative of anything already produced by that group (so,
for example, if they have a website already, yours should look complete different). The project should
include visuals (moving or still) and text, but the specific medium is up to you. For example, the group
may decide to produce a video for YouTube that includes a voice-over while moving and still images play.
Or, the group may produce an audio essay for the radio that is uploaded onto a Blog with visuals and other
graphics (see NPR for examples). A wix.com website that takes advantage of the design abilities of this
webservice would also be fitting.
The majority of the project should come from your own creation (so, for example, excessive use of block
quotes or of TV clips would hurt your grade). The digital project should be produced in a context that is
apt for your topic and familiar to the public audience you are trying to reach (so, for example, a
complicated wix might be a poor choice if arguing on behalf of AARP members). Length requirements will
vary based on the genre you choose, but your project should be detailed enough to be persuasive for your
audience, which means it should contain substantial sections of original, informed text, whether spoken or
written. Text, whether spoken or written in the project, must be at least 1600 words. For any spoken text,
the group should turn in a transcript of everything said. See the examples we go over in class for a more
precise idea of length for visuals. Be aware that getting technical details correct is part of your grade.
An informal proposal is also required. It will be an explanation of your project that your whole group
presents in front of the instructor during an in-class work day and should include the following
information:
1)
2)
3)
4)
how your argument will be refined based on the feedback you received from the group speech
an audience analysis
a detailed description of the digital project (content, mode of delivery, persuasive strategy)
a project plan, with assignments to group members and deadlines associated with each task.
The digital project is worth 20% of your final grade.
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Course Schedule
The following course outline is subject to change. See Blackboard for more updated information.
Week 1: Introduction to Course 1/9-11
Wednesday
• Syllabus, course introduction
• Homework due Friday:
o Read EAA cha.1 (quiz)
o Prepare for quiz
Friday
• Introduction to argument
• Homework due Monday:
o Read Mark Slouka, "Dehumanized: When Math and Science Rule the School" Harper's
Sept 2009
o http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/09/0082640
o Write down any word or reference you do not know and bring to class
Week 2: Humanities at Stake 1/14-18
Monday
• Humanities stakeholders
• Homework due Wednesday:
o Read PSM 87-103
o Read links on the Humanities debate
 http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/tenuredradical/2009/02/in-policy-defenseof-humanities/
 http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/the-humanities-have-no-purpose/6738
 http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/18/106949/study-many-collegestudents-not.html
 Dana Gioia. "Culture vs. Entertainment: Challenging Pleasures or Easy
Comforts?" Education Canada (e-reader)
o Comes up with three ideas for topics speech
o Possible quiz
Wednesday
• Humanities debate in terms of stakeholders
• Homework due Friday:
o Prepare Topics Speech
Friday
• Topics Speeches
• Homework due Wednesday:
o Read C. H. Knoblauch, “Literacy and the Politics of Education” (e-reader)
o Possible quiz
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Week 3: Language and Literacy 1/21-25
Monday—MLK holiday
Wednesday
• Knoblauch’s critique of literacy
• Knowledge and stakeholders, role of language in life
• Homework due Friday:
o Read Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” (e-reader)
o Possible quiz
Friday
• Discussion of Orwell: His role in the Humanities debate and his pointers on writing
• Structuring arguments, informative speaking
o Homework due Monday:
o Specific Group Topic Proposal due—with stakeholders chosen for speech
o Be researching
o Be writing your speech outline (due Wednesday)
Week 4: Speech Skills 1/28-2/1
Monday
• Organization
• Homework due Wednesday:
o Working outline due
Wednesday
• Thesis, Introduction, Conclusion
• Peer Review outlines
• Homework due Friday:
o Read TBA, possible quiz
o Complete the outline
Friday
• Public speaking skills
• Homework due Monday:
o I will return your outline with feedback (Word comments). You should make all the
changes that I suggest. Due Monday by class, emailed back to me.
o Prepare to rehearse
Week 5: Speeches 2/4-8
Monday
• Rehearsals in groups
• Homework due on day your group presents:
o Stakeholder Speeches due
o Outlines
o Peer reviews of outlines
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Wednesday
• Speeches
• Homework due Monday: EAA chas. 4 and 5
Friday
• Speeches
• Homework due Monday:
o EAA ch. 4 and 5
o Self-critique of speech from echo. Due the following Friday.
Week 6: Rhetorical Triangle 2/11-15
Monday
• Rhetorical Triangle: Logos
• Homework due Wednesday:
o Read EAA ch. 3
o Helen Keller, from her autobiography (e-reader)
o Possible quiz
Wednesday
• Rhetorical Triangle: Ethos
• Discuss Helen Keller’s view of language
• Homework due Friday:
o Read EAA ch. 2
o Bring laptops & textbooks
Friday
• Rhetorical Triangle: Pathos
• Homework due Monday:
o Bring in a TEXT and an IMAGE from your stakeholder
o Watch: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/iain_mcgilchrist_the_divided_brain.html
Week 7: Rhetorical Analysis Strategies 2/18-22
Monday
• How-to: Rhetorical Analysis
• Homework due Wednesday: Print off a text or image from your stakeholder that you find
interesting and thickly annotate it in terms of Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. Annotation involves
underlining/highlighting, drawing arrows, and making comments in the margins. (homework
grade)
Wednesday
• Structuring Arguments
• Homework due Friday/Monday:
o Read Mathieu “Economic Citizenship and the Rhetoric of Gourmet Coffee.”
o Bring in an image that you have found of coffee. It may not be from an image-searching
tool or from Starbucks. Be prepared to discuss its significance using Mathieu as a guide.
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Friday—First half of class meets at Coffea (other half works on Text & Image Analysis)
• Rhetoric of coffee
• Homework due Wednesday: EAA cha 17
Week 8: Understanding Sources 2/25-3/1
Monday—Second half of class meets at Coffea (other half works on Text & Image Analysis)
• Rhetoric of coffee
• Homework due Wednesday:
o EAA cha 17
Wednesday
• Fallacies
• Homework due Friday:
o Text/Image Analysis
Friday
• Integrating sources
• Homework due Monday:
o 4 paged rough draft of rhetorical analysis due
o Bring 2 hard copies
o Bring scissors
Week 9: Argument Introduction 3/4-8
Monday
• Peer Review/Transitions
• Homework due Wednesday:
o Rhetorical Analysis due
Wednesday
• Group project introduction
• Homework due Friday:
o EAA cha. 15
Friday
• Presenting Arguments
• Homework due Monday after Spring Break:
o TBA
Week 10: SPRING BREAK 3/11-15
Week 11 Advanced Arguing Skills 3/18-22
Monday
• Style in Arguments
• Homework due Wednesday:
o Group proposal due
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Wednesday
• Research and Drafting
• Homework due Friday:
o EAA cha 7
Friday
• Hardcore arguing skills
• Homework due Monday:
o Formulate your argument in terms of each of the argument systems from Chapter 7.
o Avoid being simplistic about it or following rigidly to the linear structures—so if there are
two or three important warrants, mention them. If counterargument is more salient, focus
on that (but give all the parts)
o You should give an explanation for each part, like we did in class. Refer to EAA 172-3;
177; 199
 Classical
 Toulmin
 Rogerian
Week 12: Group Speaking Skills 3/25-9
Monday
• Hardcore Arguing skills 2
• Homework due Wednesday: Bring materials needed to work in class
Wednesday
• Advanced speaking strategies
• Homework due Friday:
o Work on Group Speech
Friday
• Organization and Transitions
• Homework due Monday:
o Prepare for rehearsal
Week 13: Group Speeches 4/1-5
Monday
• Rehearsals
• Homework due on date assigned to group:
o Group Speech
Wednesday
• Group Speech #1
• Digital Project overview
• Homework due Friday:
o Speeches
o Bring EAA
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Friday
• Group Speech #2
• Genre
• Homework due Monday:
o Speeches
Week 14: Digital Project Work 4/8-12
Monday
• Group Speech #3
• In class work on Digital Project proposal
• Homework due Wednesday:
o Speeches, proposals
Wednesday
• Group Speech #4
• In class work
• Homework due Friday:
o Digital Project proposal due
Friday
•
•
•
•
•
Group Speech #5
Proposals
In class work
Anonymous group evaluations due
Homework due Monday:
o Work on Digital Projects
o Speech reviews due Wednesday
Week 15: Design 4/15-19
Monday
• (Group Speech #6)
• In class work
• Homework due Wednesday:
o Speech review due
o EAA ch. 14 (& final quiz)
Wednesday
• Visual Argument
• Homework due Friday:
o Bring the URL for a favorite websites or video and be prepared to say something about
why it’s a favorite
Friday
• Visual Arguments
• Homework due Monday:
o Draft of Digital Project Due
Composition and Communication II (WRD111)
Week 16: Finishing Final Projects 4/22-6
Monday
• In-class work
• Homework due Wednesday:
o Work on final project; full draft due
Wednesday
• Peer Review of Final Project
• Homework due by final exam:
o Final Projects, uploaded to Blackboard.
Friday
• Discussion of perspectives on topics
• Semester wrap-up
Week 17: Finals
We will not meet for class during finals week. Read a good book instead.
http://www.npr.org/series/153632828/2012-summer-books