RWS 200.55: The Rhetoric of Written Arguments in Context
Spring 2013
TTH 12:30-1:45 Room: SLHS 220
Professor: Trevor Auser
Office: Adams Humanities TA Office 3178
Office Hours: 2:00 – 3:00 Thursdays and by
appointment
Email: thetrevorauser@gmail.com
Mail: RWS Main Office, AH 3101
Required Texts and Materials:
-A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace
-A Brief History of Neoliberalism, by David Harvey
-No Exit and Three Other Plays, by Jean-Paul Sartre
-Existentialism is a Humanism, by Jean-Paul Sartre
-Planet of Slums, by Mike Davis
*I also recommend that you have access to some sort of book for citation like Keys
for Writers. This is not absolutely necessary though, as there are very good websites
concerning citation like Purdue OWL.
*Please print out and bring digital assigned readings to class. All readings are
expected to be completed outside of class by the reading’s discussion date.
Course Description
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.
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 Gandhi 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 also 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. The theme of our texts and discussions will be “Capitalism &
Existentialism.”
RWS 200 Student Learning Outcomes
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
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 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.”
Assignment Types: the following four outcomes describe the four 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.
Outcomes across the semester: the following points describe outcomes to work on
throughout the semester, to be attained over the 15 weeks. Building on the work
done in RWS 100, students will be able to:
5. 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 reenvisioning 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.
Assignments Calendar
ASSIGNMENT DRAFT 1 DUE
DATE
Assignment 1
2/12
Assignment 2
3/7
Assignment 3
3/26
Assignment 4
4/30
FINAL DRAFT DUE
DATE
2/19
3/14
4/9
5/7 turnitin only
As the semester progresses I will provide a more detailed calendar for each
assignment unit.
Also, please note that I reserve the right to make reasonable alterations to
the calendar if necessary. Any changes to the calendar will be promulgated
appropriately.
Grading
1st Assignment
2nd Assignment
3rd Assignment
4th Assignment
Quizzes
Pre-Writing & Drafts
Harvey
The Flies
The City
Davis et al.
points based
points based
points based
points based
points based
points based
20%
20%
20%
20%
10%
10%
100%
Note that attendance and participation are not included above. That is
because a lack of either will eat away at your grade. You can miss two classes
without your grade being negatively affected. If you miss more than two classes,
then your grade will be reduced one notch (e.g., B to B-) for each class session
missed. Are there exceptions to this rule? Of course: you are a student-athlete, you
have a medical emergency, etc., etc. If you feel you will potentially be missing more
than two classes because of justifiable reasons, please talk to me after class.
Let me explain why it’s so important for you to be in class regularly. This
won’t be a test-driven course where attendance matters only insofar as it contributes
to your performance on exams. On the contrary, this course is designed to be a rich,
complex educational experience—one in which the texts, the class sessions, and the
written projects are all of primary importance. Your presence in class, therefore, is
one of the elements that establish your level of participation in the course and, with
it, your grade.
The other elements that establish your level of participation are staying on
point and contributing to class discussions and group work; being a good student.
What I mean by the phrase “staying on point,” is following direction. In other words,
staying fully engaged with the work at hand. As for contributing to class discussion,
let me say this: there are 32 of you in this section. That is a lot. Do I expect to hear
from you every class? Probably notbecause of sheer sizebut I do expect to see
your hand coming up multiple times and hear your voice at least once a week.
Because I have this policy regarding participation it means that you could
theoretically attend every class, turn in every assignment for an A and not get an A
for the course. If you have any questions about this policy, please talk to me after
class.
Tardiness
Excessive tardiness (arriving more than 15 minutes late to class) is
equivalent to one absence. If any student has to leave class more than 15 minutes
early, then the student receives ½ credit for attendance that class meeting.
Pre-Writing and Drafts
All pre-writing, rough drafts, and final drafts are due in-class on the date
specified. I do not accept late work. If you have an extenuating circumstance, you
are welcome to discuss it with me, provide necessary documentation, and perhaps
we can work something out.
Nota Bene: A rough draft is a completed essay. If, for example, you come to
class on February 7th with two pages of writing, having left off right in the middle of
the essay, when the prompt calls for a 4-6 page paper, you will not receive credit for
that portion of the assignment.
Workshops
Four times during the semester you will be required to come to class with a
draft. On that day you will workshop your essay with your peers, both gaining and
giving feedback. Be sure to stay on point during these days and bring two copies.
One of these you will give to me.
Electronics
Your active participation is required in this course. Please turn off your cell
phones, iPods, and other electronic equipment when you come to class. In fact, I
don’t even want to see them. Please know that if you are seen using these items
during class your overall grade will be decreased by 5 points each time. Because we
will be interacting in group discussion often, the use of laptops will also be
distracting. Students that would like to use laptops are encouraged to discuss the
specific need with me in advance.
Plagiarism
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 2011-2012. San Diego State University, 2011: 472)
For more information on the university cheating and plagiarism policy, please visit:
http://infotutor.sdsu.edu/plagiarism/index.cfm
For each final draft you will turn in a paper copy on the date the final draft is due and you
will also submit your paper to turnitin to be checked against their database.
Respect
Since this is a discussion-based class, it is vital that you listen and speak
respectfully to others at all times. Discriminatory remarks will not be tolerated. I
encourage you to express your opinions, as they will often inspire good discussions.
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. 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).
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) 4793339. C&PS on campus also has a “Center for Well-Being” with multiple stations for
relaxation if you are feeling stressed. C&PS is located in the Capulli Center, Room
4401.
Student-Athletes: Student-athletes have very demanding, dynamic schedules that
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 or
assignment deadlines, 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.