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Rhetoric and Writing Studies 200: Rhetoric of Written Arguments in Context
The Effects of Nourishment
Instructor: Natalie Cook
Office: AH 3178
Fall 2012
Office Hours: Wednesday 9:30-10:50 or by appointment
MWF 11:00-11:50 a.m. in room SLHS 247
Email: natali3cook@gmail.com
REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS:
 Course Reader available at the bookstore
 Access to a computer for additional materials posted on: http://blackboard.sdsu.edu
WHAT IS RHETORICAL CONTEXT?
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is the ability to make effective arguments, so that the intended audience is moved
to think differently, to agree or disagree, or to change a course of action. In RWS 200, we will expand on the topics
introduced in RWS 100 by specifically focusing on the element of context in argument. We will study arguments
(using previous knowledge from RWS 100), and then advance our thinking further in regards to social, historical, and
cultural contexts.
Consider first the origin of the word “context”: it comes from Latin, contextus, which means woven together.
Everything we do, everything we say, has a past, present, and future. We are creatures of context – part of a narrative
story that comes before our particular moment and follows it. Context is everything that surrounds an act of
persuasion.
We will ask ourselves questions such as: How does context affect argument? What were other people during this time
period writing and saying about this topic? When was this piece published? What was the general tone of society at
the time? How does the larger conversation influence how you read the argument?
THE THEME OF THE COURSE
The processes associated with food—production, regulation, and consumption—are central to such topics as
advertisements, agriculture, animal sciences, culinary arts, economy, geography, horticulture, hunger, nutrition,
obesity, poverty, reform, segregation, slavery, sustenance, trade, and wealth. Food is omnipresent, involved in forces
that have shaped world history and culture for centuries. It is no wonder the topic of food can be a writer’s
opportunity to express convictions, provide insight, and persuade their readers. When we study food, we expose a
web of social relations defined by class, ethnicity, identity, gender, and shifting economic forces. In this course will
discuss how, or if, the authors’ claims have changed our perspectives on the effects of nourishment and address the
connections between works and their rhetorical elements.
COURSE WORK REQUIREMENTS
Papers: You will write 3 major papers in this course. Each paper will require at least one rough draft for peer or
instructor review, or both. All pre-writing, rough drafts, and final drafts are due in-class and/or online on the date
and time specified. Specific criteria and due dates for each paper will be given with the prompt.
Conferences: You are required to meet with me to discuss your papers twice in the semester. Each conference will
take about fifteen minutes, but if you feel you need more time, please let me know. Failure to show up to a mandatory
conference will lower your final essay grade one step (for example, an A- will drop to a B+). Sign up sheets will be
distributed at designated times throughout the semester.
Peer review: 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.
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Homework: Students will be responsible for completing various independent assignments, which will be discussed
in class the day before they are due.
Leading Class Discussion Reports: Three students will lead the discussion of a text of their choice that illuminates
some contextual element of the unit’s assigned readings. I will pass around a sign-up sheet during our 3rd class
meeting. The “Leading Class Discussion Reports” schedule will be posted on our Blackboard web page. Groups will
post the text on blackboard the Wednesday before their Friday presentation so that every student can come prepared
to discuss the text. Other students are expected to respond to the presenters' work. Grading will be pass/fail based on
your group presentation, written report, and engagement in the discussion. I encourage you to visit me during office
hours to discuss your report ideas.
Each group should prepare for the discussions by providing the class with a 2-3 page handout that:
1.) Summarizes the key claims in the text
2.) Discusses the contextual connections to the week’s readings
3.) Lists at least five thoughtful questions from the readings to guide class discussion.
4.) Includes a Works Cited section
Blackboard: Students should review blackboard to access important information required of this class, such as
assignments, readings/materials, and this syllabus. I will inform you in advance of the times you will need to go to
Blackboard to complete assignments.
Participation/Student Responsibilities:
 Be self-motivated; have a positive attitude
 Keep track of assignments and handouts
 Ask questions and/or come see me when you don’t understand something
 Have the reading/writing done before class
 For every 1 hour of class, schedule at least 2-3 hours for homework/studying
 Make a positive contribution to class discussions
 Work in groups for various activities (Collaborative Learning)
 Be prepared to begin and end class on time
GRADING/EVALUATION:
Assignment
% of grade
3 major projects
Group presentation
Leading Class Discussion Report
Homework
60%
15%
10%
10%
Participation/ Attendance
5%
Total:
100%
Letter Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
Points
93-100 %
90-92 %
87-89 %
83-86 %
80-82 %
77-79 %
Letter Grade
C
CD+
D
DF
Points
73-76 %
70-72 %
67-69 %
63-66 %
60-62 %
0-59 %
Drafting, conferencing and peer-reviews will be part of your major project grade
Homework grade includes all short assignments and outside reading reports
Participation grade includes quizzes, group work, class openers and other in-class assignments.
*All assignments, percentages, & due dates are subject to change at the instructor’s discretion*
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POLICES (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
Assignments: All papers are due on the date specified, unless otherwise instructed. All assignments complete outside
of class must be typed and adhere to MLA format. Assignments done in class cannot be made up. If you foresee an
absence and still want credit for your work, email your homework to a classmate who can print it out and turn it in
for you. Please contact me as soon as possible about any unplanned occurrences that may inhibit you from
performing to your best ability in this class.
Attendance: You must come to class on time and be fully prepared to contribute. This means that you have read the
assigned material, understood it, and completed any other preparation that I assign.
NOTE: If you miss more than 3 classes or make it a habit to come to class unprepared to contribute, your final grade
will drop by 5%.
Conduct: You are expected to be respectful and courteous. Since the purpose of this course is for all students to
improve their rhetorical skills and abilities, a cooperative and engaging atmosphere will benefit all. Any disruptive
student will be asked to leave class that day, resulting in an absence. Please be courteous to your fellow students by
turning off cell phones and iPods, and refraining from laptop work or conversation unrelated to this course.
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 2009-2010. San Diego State
University, 2009: 455)
For more information on the university cheating and plagiarism policy, please visit: http://wwwrohan.sdsu.edu/dept/senate/ policy/pfacademics.html. SDSU’s library also has an excellent tutorial on how to avoid
plagiarism.
COURSE ASSISTANT SERVICES
Office hours: Please don't be afraid to stop in to chat about how your experience is going, or if you have any
questions or concerns about reading, writing, the course, or college in general. If you cannot make the designated
hour, I am on campus Wednesdays and Fridays pretty much all day. Preferably, bring your necessary materials
including, but not limited to: notes, pre-writing exercises, drafts, and final drafts of your essays with my comments. It
will assist me in answering any questions you may have on the assignments, as well as promote an effective
discussion.
RWS Tutoring: SDSU has an excellent staff of Rhetoric and Writing drop-in tutors to assist students in all courses
that require any writing assignments. The tutoring services are located in the first floor of the Love Library dome next
to the circulation desk. 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).
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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. 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) 479-3339. 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: If you are a student athlete with away games scheduled during the semester, let me know by the
end of the first week of class, and present me with a copy of your team travel schedule. We will then make
appropriate scheduling arrangements working 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.
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
The following four outcomes describe the four major writing projects for the course. Students will be able to:
I.
II.
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;
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;
III.
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;
IV.
given the common concerns of two or more arguments, discuss how the claims of these arguments
modify, complicate or qualify one another.
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:
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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;
understand and incorporate all aspects of the writing process--including prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and
proofreading;
articulate what key terms, definitions, concepts, statements of a problem or issue are established by a text;
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;
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;
analyze and assess arguments made by visual texts; incorporate visual images into their documents;
craft a cohesive paper, and use effective metadiscourse to articulate the project of the paper and guide a reader through it;
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;
assign significance to the arguments they read;
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;
edit their writing for the grammar and usage conventions appropriate to the project.
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COURSE OUTLINE AND READING SCHEDULE
Please note that the following schedule is approximate, as dates and topics may shift as the semester continues. With
each unit, students will receive a detailed schedule. Please refer to Blackboard for current information regarding your
assignment due dates.
Unit 1: Constructing an Account of an Argument and Its Context
WEEK
DATE
CLASS PROJECT
Monday Aug. 27
Introduction to RWS 200/ Review of rhetoric concepts
Wednesday Aug. 29
Friday Aug. 30
Review of rhetoric concepts
Review of rhetoric concepts
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Monday Sept. 3
Wednesday Sept. 5
Friday Sept. 7
Labor Day- No Class
The Politics of the American Diet
The Politics of the American Diet
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Monday Sept.10
Wednesday Sept.12
Friday Sept. 14
The Politics of the American Diet
The Politics of the American Diet
LCD Report
4
Monday Sept. 17
Wednesday Sept. 19
Friday Sept. 21
The Politics of the American Diet
The Politics of the American Diet
LCD Report------ Paper 1 Rough Draft Due by Friday Sept. 21@ 11:55pm
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Monday Sept. 24
Wednesday Sept. 26
Friday Sept. 28
The Politics of the American Diet
The Politics of the American Diet
LCD Report-----------Paper 1 Final Draft Due Sunday Sept 31 @ 11:55pm
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Unit 2: Researching Context and Multiple Arguments on a Single Issue
DATE
CLASS PROJECT
Monday Oct. 1
Dive!
Wednesday Oct. 3
Dive!
Friday Oct. 5
LCD Report
7
Monday Oct. 8
Wednesday Oct. 10
Friday Oct. 12
Dive!
Dive!
LCD Report
8
Monday Oct. 15
Wednesday Oct. 17
Friday Oct. 19
Dive!
Dive!
LCD Report--------Paper 2 Rough Draft Due by Friday Oct. 19 @ 11:55pm
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Monday Oct. 22
Wednesday Oct. 24
Friday Oct. 26
Dive!
Dive!
LCD Report------------Paper 2 Final Draft Due Sunday Oct 28 @ 11:55pm
WEEK
WEEK
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Unit 3: Reading an Argument in the Contemporary Context
DATE
CLASS PROJECT
Monday Oct. 29
The Effects of Nourishment
Wednesday Oct. 31
The Effects of Nourishment
Friday Nov. 2
LCD Report
6
11
Monday Nov. 5
Wednesday Nov. 7
Friday Nov. 9
The Effects of Nourishment
The Effects of Nourishment
LCD Report
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Monday Nov. 12
Wednesday Nov. 14
Friday Nov. 16
The Effects of Nourishment
The Effects of Nourishment
LCD Report--------------Paper 3 Rough Draft Due Friday Nov. 16 @
11:55pm
WEEK
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Unit 4: Understanding the Positions of Debate
DATE
CLASS PROJECT
Monday Nov. 19
Debatable issues-----Paper 3 Final Draft Due Wednesday Nov. 21 @
11:55pm
Wednesday Nov. 21
Class Cancelled
Friday Nov. 23
No Class
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Monday Nov. 26
Wednesday Nov. 28
Friday Nov. 30
The debatable issues
The debatable issues
The debatable issues
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Monday Dec. 3
Wednesday Dec. 5
Friday Dec. 7
Presentations
Presentations
Presentations
Final
Wednesday Dec. 12
Exam Time-10:30- 12:30
Presentations
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