Syllabus: ENC 1101: Writing and Rhetoric I
MWF 10:00 10:50 AM
Instructors: Ann-Renee Clark, Jason Ehlen, Darbee Hagarty, Joaquin Pedroso
Email: aclar006@fiu.edu, jehle001@fiu.edu, darbee.hagerty@gmail.com, jpedr002@fiu.edu
Office: SIPA 201
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 11 AM to 1 PM and by appointment
Telephone: 954-985-5743
Introduction:
Welcome to ENC 1101 - Writing and Rhetoric. In this course you will learn the basics of college composition and practice skills that will help you more easily master the writing styles that will be required for your future careers.
Please read this entire syllabus! This syllabus is a contract between students and teachers.
It will protect you and it will protect us. It provides an overview of the expectations for this class, as well as what you can expect for your major assignments. It also includes our contact information, textbook information for the course, and grading and course policies. Please notice that it also contains a signature page at the end for you to sign, agreeing to the terms and conditions of the class. We’re looking forward to a productive and creative semester, so please read this syllabus carefully and make sure this is the right section of this course for you.
Learning Outcomes for this Course:
By the end of ENC 1101, students will
 Respond in writing to various rhetorical purposes and address the needs of various
 audiences
Develop their ideas through a recursive process of writing, revision, and editing




Display appropriate format, structure and stylistic choices to meet audience needs and to satisfy their rhetorical purpose
Develop an effective thesis and support it with reasons and evidence
Interact with complex texts, explore alternative perspectives, and articulate and support their own perspective in response
Incorporate sourced materials into their own work through effective use of
 quotation, summary, paraphrase and citation using MLA or other appropriate style manual
 Exhibit appropriate syntax, punctuation, and spelling
Develop a rhetorical vocabulary for understanding and talking about writing.
Required Books and Technology Use:
Lunsford, Andrea. The Everyday Writer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. Customized for
Florida International University. 5th edition. 2013
Ramage, John, John Bean and June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing . New
York: Customized for Florida International University. 5th edition. 2013.
Please note: This course will have a "Blackboard" online site to augment classroom instruction. Please go to http://ecampus.fiu.edu/ for login instructions. Turnitin.com will

also be used for this course. Please be aware that Turnitin keeps all student work in its database.
Course Policies
Attendance:
FIU’s Writing Department policy is that students who are absent for more than 20% of classes without documentation should automatically fail this course. Please don’t put us in the situation where we're forced to fail you over something as simple as attendance. If you have a medical emergency or documented illness, if you must be excused for a religious holiday, or of you have a serious family emergency to which you must attend, please bring documentation for your absence to the professors as soon as possible, so you may be excused as per University policy. Undocumented absences will not be excused.
While regular attendance will not ensure a student’s success, it will definitely help student understanding of course concepts and assignments. Additionally, this class is structured as a workshop, which means that students will work collaboratively on critiquing each other’s work. If you’re not present to work with your classmates, your loss will be felt, and your input to their writing will be missed.
Personal Technology Devices:
The professors understand that in today’s world a plethora of electronic devices are calling to us on a second by second basis, and that many students have to work and fulfill a myriad of social and personal responsibilities. However, the use of electronic devices for purposes other than class activities is unhelpful to the workshopping process, and may negatively affect student grades by interfering with concept comprehension. Students should feel free to use laptops and tablets to take class notes, read and work on drafts, and refer to electronic copies of the textbooks, but students found engaging in non-class-related activities or making noise with electronic devices may be asked to leave the class for the day. Please silence your cell phones, and refrain from texting, browsing social media sites, or checking email during the brief time we have to learn the concepts on which you'll be graded.
Plagiarism:
Students should review the FIU web page on plagiarism, and be aware of the disciplinary sanctions resulting from academic misconduct (please see http://www2.fiu.edu/~oabp/misconductweb/1acmisconductproc.htm
) In order that there is no confusion and that students fully understand exactly what plagiarism is and is not, class time will be spent addressing various aspects of plagiarism and how to avoid it. Please feel free to ask questions of the professors at any time if you have any doubts regarding what constitutes plagiarism, and what qualifies as original work.
Late Work:
Due dates for all assignments will be listed on the online assignment sheets and discussed in class. The assignments themselves are structured in such a way that you should have already written much of the paper well ahead of the final due date, so there will not be much room for leniency as far as extensions. Late papers will be penalized 5 points for every day that the paper is late. For example, if you turn in a paper one day late and that paper would have received a “92%” it would now receive an

“87%.” Homework will NOT be accepted late, but up to five homeworks will be dropped.
Assignments and Grading:
An assignment sheet will be posted on Blackboard at the beginning of each unit.
All papers for this course must be original work intended to address each individual assignment and not work that was previously done for other courses. You are expected to write at least three drafts for each assignment, with each draft showing significant improvement. You will receive input from both the professors and your peers to help you with the revision process.
You must receive a grade of "C" or higher to pass your ENC 1101 and 1102 courses, so please pay careful attention to the expectations for the assignments as written below and on the assignment sheets that will be posted on Blackboard.
Assignment Minimum Words Percent of Course Grade
Rhetorical Analysis 1200-1500 15%
Visual Analysis
Synthesis Essay
1200-1500
1500-2000
Timed-Writing Essay TBA
20%
25%
10%
Drafts
Peer Review
A- 90-93
B+ 87-89
B 84-86
B- 80-83
700
N/A
Homework Assignments 250
Class Participation
Grade Scale:
A 94-100
N/A
5%
10%
5%
10%
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72

D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F 0-59
Grievance Procedures:
Please contact Dr. Kimberly Harrison, Director of FIU's Writing Program, harrisok@fiu.edu or Associate Directors Mike Creeden (creedenm@fiu.edu) or Robert
Saba (sabar@fiu.edu) if you have concerns that you feel you cannot discuss with the professors.
Agreement to the Syllabus: (to be detached and returned to your instructor)
I have read and fully understand the syllabus as written here. I also understand that this syllabus is subject to change if circumstances require, and that I will be notified in advance of any changes to the procedures in this syllabus. I agree to these terms and to the terms of this syllabus.
________________________ ___________________________ ___________
(Print Name) (Signature) (Date)

Rhetorical Analysis Unit Schedule
ENC 1101
Date Topic for
Today
Class Activities Outcome
Monday,
Jan 6, 2014
Welcome to
ENC 1101!
Discussion of the
Course
To understand the course format and structure
Wednesday,
Jan. 8, 2014
Writing,
Rhetoric, and
Style
Class Discussion on Writing; What is Rhetoric? How do writers use style?
To understand and communicate how you view writing and who you are as a writer
Assignments for next class
Read your
Syllabus and bring it back signed; Read
Chap. 1 in Allyn and Bacon
1-2 page narrative discussing your relationship with writing; look over
Everyday Writer on Style
Friday,
Jan. 10,
2014
Monday,
Jan. 13,
2014
Wednesday,
Jan. 15,
2014
Types of
Essays; What makes a good
Closed-Form
Essay?
Audience,
Purpose, Genre
Discussion of key concepts; small group activities
Logos, Ethos, and Pathos
What is
Rhetorical
Analysis?
Discussion of concepts with group analysis of
Presidential speeches (class activity)
To understand how writing changes with context
Understand how to detect ethos, pathos, and logos
Understand how to
Read Allyn and
Bacon, Chap 3
Rhetorically
“dissect” selected essay:
In a paragraph, identify main appeals in
Passages 1 and
2 on pp. 65-6 in

Friday,
Jan. 17,
2014
Monday,
Jan. 20,
2014
Wednesday,
Jan. 22,
2014
Friday,
Jan. 24,
2014
Monday,
Rhetorical analysis cont.
Reading with and against the grain
What is Peer
Review and
Why is it
Important?
Thesis
Statements
Thesis
Class discussion of findings from homework; how to incorporate logos, pathos, ethos, and angle of vision into rhetorical analysis. Also, In class analysis of
Presidential speeches. incorporate logos, pathos, ethos and angle of vision into their rhetorical analysis
Allyn and
Bacon
Class discussion of, and small group activities with models from the book
Class discussion and activities on the continuum of closed to open form essays
To understand the purpose and techniques of being a strong, critical reader
Read Ch 5 in
Allyn and
Bacon, paying particular attention to the model essays in the book
Read Chapter 2 in Allyn and
Bacon
To understand types of essays
- the Closed
Form essay in particular.
Discussion of the peer review process; class drafts peer review questions together
To understand the peer review process, and to draft peer review questions for use through the semester
Read Allyn and
Bacon, pp.431-
436 on Peer
Review
Choose your essay to analyze and come up with a question; bring to class on
Friday
Discussion of what makes a good thesis statement; workshop turning questions into theses
To understand the elements of a strong thesis statement
Write a thesis statement for your Rhetorical
Analysis essay
Peer Review and To analyze and Review Allyn

Jan. 27,
2014
Wednesday,
Feb. 5, 2014
Friday,
Feb. 7, 2014
(Darbee)
Monday,
Feb. 10,
Workshop
Putting it all together - how to structure the essay
Conclusions and Revisions;
Why Revise?
Conferences
Class Discussion of Thesis
Statements
Wednesday,
Jan. 29,
2014
What constitutes a good summary?
Class discussion of summaries and citation; small group activities
Friday,
Jan. 31,
2014
Workshopping
Summaries
Monday,
Feb. 3, 2014
Writing a Good
Introduction; citations
Small Group review of student summaries
Discussion of
Introductions and looking at a model; class discussion of citations
Small Group peer review of the first two pages of the essay strengthen the drafted thesis statements for the Rhetorical
Analysis essay and Bacon pp.
99-104 on
Summary, paying particular attention to the model essays
To understand the elements of a strong summary
To strengthen summary- writing skills
Read “My
Genome,
Myself” and write a summary
Read Everyday
Writer , MLA section; play
“MLA Master
Blaster” Game
To understand the elements of a strong introduction; to understand and use MLA citations
Write a 1 to 2 page draft of your introduction and summary, including thesis
To learn how to organize and structure a strong rhetorical analysis essay
Begin working on First FULL draft of the essay, with analysis section, and citations
Peer workshopping of conclusions; class discussion on revision
To learn to craft effective conclusions; to understand the importance
(and difficulties) of the revision process
First Draft DUE online by midnight today
No class meeting - go to the
To obtain feedback on the
Write second draft of essay

2014
(Darbee)
Wednesday,
Feb. 12,
2014
(Darbee)
Peer Review -
Second Draft
DUE Today conference with your professor at your scheduled time
Peer Review activity-
“Hotspotting” first draft from the professor with conference comments in mind
To receive peer feedback on the second draft, and move forward with the final draft of the essay
Write final draft of essay with
Peer comments in mind
Friday,
Feb. 14,
2014
(Darbee)
FINAL DRAFT
DUE TODAY!
In class, we’ll reflect on the
Essay and workshop mechanical errors
To discuss the
Rhetorical
Analysis Unit and resolve final mechanical issues
Read Allyn and
Bacon Chap. 6 on Visual
Analysis
Week 1: Writing and Rhetoric Introduction
Key Concepts : About the Class/Discuss the Syllabus; Talk about Writing; Style; closed form to open form essays
Monday, January 6: Welcome to ENC 1101! Discussion of the course and the syllabus.
“Freewrite” in class about what you think writing is, and discussion of writing as a class. Read the syllabus tonight, and bring the last page back on Wednesday, signed. Read Chap. 1 in Allyn and Bacon (get this textbook now - you’re going to need it!)
Wednesday, January 8: Class discussion on writing, rhetoric and style; freewrite to focus thoughts and discussion: How have you used writing in the past? What does “style” in writing mean to you? After discussion, break into small groups and answer the prompt
- “What is rhetoric? How would you explain this to a friend who missed class today?”
Class discussion then centers on a working definition of rhetoric. Homework - Who are you as a Writer? (Views on writing, what you want to change, etc.) 1 to 2 pages; look at
The Everyday Writer section on Style. Think about your style choices on this first writing assignment, and how you can make deliberate stylistic choices to enhance all of your writing.

Friday, January 10: Class discussion of the Rhetorical Analysis assignment (projected overhead); “How would you explain this to a friend” Free-write on closed “vs.” open form essays, followed by class discussion; small group Brainstorming - what are the elements of a good closed form essay? As a group, make an idea map; Homework -
Review the essays from the assignment sheet and select which article you want to work with. Post your choice on Blackboard, with a brief description justifying your choice (no more than a paragraph.) Read pages 26-37 in Allyn and Bacon.
Week 2: Rhetorical Analysis
Key Concepts : Audience, Purpose, and Genre; Ethos, Pathos, and Logos;
Wallowing in Complexity, angle of vision
Monday, January 13: Audience, Purpose, and Genre class discussion. “How would you explain this to a friend?” questions in small groups - How can you determine a writer’s purpose from their writing? How do you determine angle of vision? Why does genre matter? Should you write differently for different audiences? What does “wallowing in complexity” mean to you? - followed by class discussion of the terms and topics.
Homework - Identify the audience, purpose, and genre of your selected article for the essay project. Write about 1 paragraph identifying these aspects of the article (post on
Blackboard.) Read Chap. 3 in Allyn and Bacon.
Wednesday, January 15: Discussion of logos, pathos, and ethos with small group analysis of Presidential speeches (video to be shown in class). Homework- dissect passages 1 and 2 on pages 65-66 for appeals to logos, pathos, ethos. Write at least one paragraph, identifying main instances of rhetorical appeals and bring to class for discussion.
Friday, January 17: Models analysis (from pages 65-66) and class discussion of findings from homework - dissection of selected essays for ethos, pathos, and logos. Homework -
Outline main rhetorical appeals you identify in your selected article for the essay project.
Read Chap. 5 in Allyn and Bacon.
Week 3: Writing Strong Essays
Key Concepts : Reading with and against the grain; topic sentences, unity, cohesion, new and old information; forecasting, thesis; the review process
Monday, January 20: Class discussion of this week’s concepts (above), focusing on reading with and against the grain; small group analysis of model on page 111 in Allyn and Bacon, Chap. 5, followed by class discussion of findings concerning reading with and against the grain. Homework - Refer back to your selected article for the essay assignment. Write about one page in which you tell your reader the article’s argument and the support for it (read with the grain), and then read it against the grain and

discuss. Read Allyn and Bacon, pp.431-436 on Peer Review to prepare for next class and for thesis workshop on Friday.
Wednesday, January 22: Class discussion of the peer review process - what’s expected from you and why? Brainstorming peer review questions (for the essay itself, and for the thesis workshop next class) - small groups, followed by class discussion. [Prompts to generate thoughts and questions: What are the elements of a strong thesis for a rhetorical analysis? How do you evaluate the rhetorical context (audience, genre, purpose) for a text? What is your own rhetorical context for this essay? How should this essay be structured? What does it mean to analyze a text? How do you know when a writer is using a rhetorical appeal? What’s the difference between ethos and an appeal to ethos?]
Homework: Write a thesis statement for your rhetorical analysis essay and post it to
Blackboard. Read Chap. 2 in Allyn and Bacon
Friday, January 24: Class discussion and models analysis of class thesis statements
(projected overhead); two person peer workshopping of your thesis statements. (Is the thesis arguable and how would you argue it?; Answer the following questions: Is the thesis clear? Is it concise? Does it make a claim? Does it discuss rhetorical appeals and speak to the effectiveness of the original essay? Does it read the original text both with and against the grain? Does it forecast? Homework - How can you strengthen the thesis that you created? Post your “final” draft of your thesis. Next, try writing the rhetorical analysis portion of your essay project (1-2 pages.) Post this on BB and bring it in for workshopping on Monday
Week 4: Analyzing, and Writing Good Summaries
Key Concepts : summary, attributive tags
Monday, January 27: Models analysis of one or two posted analyses, as a class. Break into small groups for the remainder of the class period and workshop each other’s analyses. Does the analysis address the three rhetorical appeals? Does it address audience, purpose, and genre? Does it focus on the rhetoric in the essay, and NOT the issue? What are the strengths of the analysis, and what can you suggest to make it stronger? Homework - Write a short (1-2 paragraph) discussion of the feedback you received from your peers on your analysis. What advise was helpful? What will you change in your analysis based on peer review? What wasn’t helpful for you? Post to
Blackboard. Review Allyn and Bacon pp. 99-104 on Summary for next class, paying particular attention to the model essays.
Wednesday, January 29: In Class writing: What aspects of summary writing are difficult for you? What tactics do you think that you can use to overcome those difficulties? Class discussion of Summaries and what elements make a good summary;

Small group activity on judging the effectiveness of example summaries from Allyn and
Bacon pg. 101. Groups will also be given a newspaper article (instructor’s choice) and have to summarize the article in 15 words then present their summary to the class. Homework: Read “My Genome, Myself” by Steven Pinker and write a summary.
Friday, January 31: Summary Workshop - For class you read, “My Genome, Myself” by Steven Pinker, and wrote a summary. In class today, meet in small groups to compare and discuss these summaries. After this, write a reflection on the difference between your summary and the other summaries from the members of your group. What were some strengths of your peer’s summaries and how can you adapt their strategies for your own use? What were some of the weaknesses of their summaries, and how did you help them strengthen their writing today? What did you learn from helping them strengthen their summaries? Homework - read 42-46 Allyn and Bacon and The Everyday Writer section on MLA citation, and play the “MLA Master Blaster” quiz game at http://library.williams.edu/citing/game/ (Challenge yourself to play until you get a perfect score!
Week 5: Composing and Revising Closed form Prose
Key Concepts : the importance of titles and introductions; MLA citation style; the writing process, structuring a rhetorical analysis essay
Monday, February 3: Freewriting: What is the purpose of an introduction in closed form prose? Class discussion on key concepts including the importance of citations and the purpose of a good title, followed by small group activity: Groups will do exercise from page 46 of Allyn and Bacon. Homework - write the beginning of your essay, complete with Title, Introduction, Thesis, and Summary, 1-2 pages (You have most of this already, so let’s see some revision!)
Wednesday, February 5: Freewriting: What was your writing process for the first past of the Rhetorical Analysis essay? Discussion on student’s process, and how to bring all of the elements of the Rhetorical Analysis essay together (structuring); In pairs, do a Tree
Diagram of the expected structure of the Rhetorical Analysis essay (10 minutes.) Then, read the beginning of your partner’s essay and offer suggestions. Homework - write the first full draft of the essay, and bring the conclusion on Friday. (Again, you have most of this already, so make sure you implement your revisions!)
Friday, February 7: Freewrite warm-up: What insights, questions, or frustrations do you have about the essay project so far? What sections do your think are your strongest, and what do you still need to work on? Break into pairs and do a short peer review of the conclusion part of the essay This will be followed by a class brainstorming session on what makes a good conclusion, and a class discussion on revision, questions, etc.. Homework - full, polished first draft due by midnight today.

Week 6: Revision
Key Concepts: revision, conferencing
Monday, February 10: Conferences - Meet with your instructor on your assigned date to discuss your first draft, the progress on your paper so far, and any questions you may have. Homework - revise your draft based on the feedback that you received in your conference today. Post to Blackboard by next class meeting, and bring a copy of the second draft to workshop on Wednesday. For your posted draft, include a 1 page reflective memo on how you used your conference feedback to strengthen your draft.
Wednesday, February 12: Peer Review Classroom activity - Hotspotting. Students will trade papers and read through the drafts that have been brought to class. Each student will highlight or mark in some way parts of the draft they feel are strong or “hotspots” of the draft. They will mark at least three “hotspots.” The students will hand their papers back to each other and pick their favorite of the “hotspots” that their peer has marked. Then that student will start on a new sheet of paper, placing the isolated idea at the top and freewriting with that as the paragraph opener. The goal here is to improve upon at least one idea for the final draft and bring invention into the revision process. Students should be placed in pairs and be given around 6-8 minutes to read the drafts and then 10-15 minutes to write. Homework - revise for your final draft based on your peers’ input, exploring the “hotspot” you choose to expand. Do not post your final draft yet. Instead, write a 1 page reflective memo on what your “hotspots” were, which one you choose to develop and why. Also, write a few sentences about whether this activity was helpful for you.
Friday, February 14: Class assessment of the unit. Bring a printed copy of your essay. There will be an in class grammar and mechanics workshop and an in class exercise in line editing. Students will exchange papers and search for selected grammar mistakes. If time allows, we will discuss the essay unit as a whole - What activities worked for you and why? What activities didn’t help you? What do you still need to work on? Homework - post your final essay on Blackboard by midnight tonight.

Rhetorical Analysis Assignment Sheet
Purpose:
The purpose of this assignment is to persuade your audience of your evaluation of the rhetorical effectiveness of a selected essay. In order to do this you will have to carefully read and successfully summarize a text, and then analyze its rhetorical effectiveness from the perspective of the intended audience. You will establish an argument (thesis) that speaks to the writer's effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) in the use of rhetorical appeals (logos, ethos, and pathos) and other rhetorical strategies that persuades
(or fails to persuade) a reader in favor of the writer's argument.
Audience:
Your audience for this assignment is a peer reader who may disagree with your thesis. This means that you are writing for a general college reader who may not have read the text you're analyzing (which is why a good summary is so important!) You also need to assess the audience of the original essay. Who was the writer trying to reach with this text? This is extremely important because effectiveness is dependent on the intended audience NOT on what you think about the essay.
Project Outcomes:
At the end of the unit, students should
 Demonstrate familiarity with/understanding of rhetorical concepts including rhetorical situation, rhetorical purpose/aim, audience, rhetorical appeals, genre, angle of vision; reading against the grain



Recognize the rhetorical strategies and stylistic choices made by experienced communicators
Read and summarize another writer's argument succinctly
Articulate a clear perspective on the way the assigned text works rhetorically


Purposefully incorporate quotations, summary, and paraphrase using attributive tags, quotation marks, and appropriate citation style
Employ revision and editing strategies appropriate to the audience and purpose
Description:
You are to write a thesis-driven analysis of a text (selected from the topics below) that addresses the rhetorical effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of that text, the rhetorical appeals (logos, ethos, and pathos) used by the writer, and any additional rhetorical strategies that the writer employs to attempt to persuade the reader. Your analysis should include a concise summary of the original text (no more than 200 words) and an analysis that supports your thesis and addresses the rhetorical context (audience, genre, and purpose) of the original text. Your final essay should be between 1200 and 1500 words in length, double or 1.5 spacing, an in Times New Roman 12 font (or Arial 10 font.)
Due Dates:
First Draft will be due and ready for conferencing on Friday, February 7, 2014
Second Draft will be due and ready for peer review on Wed., February 12, 2014
Final Draft will be due on Friday, February 14, 2014
Topics: (full copies of these essays are posted on Blackboard)

Summary
(15%)
Excellent
14-15
Good 11-13
Satisfactory
7-10
Weak 0-6
Rhetorical
Situation
(15%)
Excellent
14-15
Good 11-13
Satisfactory
1. “ The Crazy State of Psychiatry” by Marcia Angell
2. “ We are Raising a Generation of Deluded Narcissists” by Keith Ablow
3. " Confessions of a Female Chauvinist Sow " by Anne Roiphe
4. “ Poverty in America is Mainstream ” by Mark K. Rank
5. “ The Business of Business is More than Business ” by Laura Tyson
6. “ The De-Americanization of Asia ” by Frank Ching
7. “ Ignoring the Ignorant ” by Henry I. Miller
8. “ The Good Short Life ” by Dudley Clendinen
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Scoring Guide:
Expectations Excellent Good Satisfactory Weak
Thesis
(15%)
Excellent
14-15
Good 11-13
Satisfactory
7-10
Weak 0-6
Has a clearly stated arguable thesis that contains tension
Contains an arguable thesis that lacks tension.
Contains a thesis, but the thesis lacks tension and isn’t clearly stated.
Has no thesis or a thesis that is not arguable and lacks tension.
Objectively summarizes and presents the major arguments of the essay being evaluated
Objectively summarizes the arguments but misses some aspects of the writer’s argument
Summarizes the arguments but doesn’t summarize well or summarizes in a biased manner.
No Summary
Clearly identifies the essay’s audience, purpose, and genre
Identifies most of the aspects of the rhetorical situation.
Identifies some aspects of rhetorical situation.
No identification of rhetorical analysis

7-10
Weak 0-6
Argument
& Appeals
(15%)
Excellent
14-15
Good 11-13
Satisfactory
7-10
Weak 0-6
Identifies and analyzes the rhetorical effectiveness at least 2 of each of the following methods of argument: reason, credibility, and emotion, and evaluates each one.
Language &
Style (15%)
Excellent
14-15
Good 11-13
Satisfactory
7-10
Weak 0-6
Evaluates to what extent the writer’s language and style work to persuade the audience
Does the vast majority of what constitutes an excellent rating but not all of it.
Identifies and evaluates at least 1 of each of the methods of argument or appeal.
Doesn’t identify specific examples of reason, credibility and emotion.
Evaluates to what extent the writer’s language and style work to persuade the audience but the evaluation lacks clarity or depth.
The evaluation of language and style lacks precision or doesn’t explain how the language and style works to persuade the audience.
Doesn’t evaluate language and style.
Process
(10%)
Participated in all aspects of the writing process: peer reviews, conferences, and drafts.
Participated in most of the writing process activites.
Participated in less than half of the writing process activities.
Participated in none of the writing process activities.
Sourcing
(5%)
Excellent 5
Good 3-4
Satisfactory
2
Weak 1
Mechanics
(10%)
Excellent 10
Good 8-9
Effectively incorporates quotations from outside sources using attributive tags, quotation marks and MLA citation style.
Uses quotations but quotations contain errors in style or aren’t properly introduced or implemented.
Use of quotations is ineffective due to errors in citation style or due to errors in implementation.
No quotations or paraphrases.
Adheres to fundamental grammar rules regarding usage
Follows most grammar rules and conventional
Some grammar usage and spelling issues.
Repeated grammar usage and spelling

Satisfactory
6-7
Weak 0-5 and spelling spellings. issues.
Thesis Statement Workshopping Activity
ENC 1101
Purpose:
To receive peer feedback on the thesis statement for a Rhetorical Analysis essay.
This exercise also allows students to practice providing helpful feedback for a classmate, generating ideas that can be used to improve both student's arguments.
Description:
In groups of two, students will review each other's thesis statement for a
Rhetorical Analysis essay. Students should have previously written a brief thesis statement and have a copy ready to be reviewed by a classmate. Students are to answer, on paper, questions about their classmate's thesis statement, and provide helpful suggestions both on paper and through discussion with their classmate.
Suggested Time:
About 20 minutes in total. Take no more than 8 to 10 minutes answering the questions below. Spend at least 5 minutes discussing each thesis.
Procedure:
You were asked to bring a paper copy of your thesis statement for your Rhetorical
Analysis essay in order to "workshop" it in class today. Get into groups of two and exchange thesis statements with a classmate. Review your classmate's thesis statement, answering the numbered questions below, and taking any additional notes that you need or want to on their thesis. Once you've completed your written feedback, discuss your answers and suggestions with your classmate. When both of you have discussed both theses, exchange papers so that your classmate has the suggestions that you have written for him or her.
1.
What is the argument that the writer (your classmate) intends to make in the essay? How can the thesis be made more clear and concise?
2. Does the thesis make a claim? Is that claim arguable? What suggestions could you make for refining the thesis further to make it more arguable?
3. Does the thesis discuss rhetorical appeals or use any other rhetorical strategies? What suggestions can you make for additional rhetorical strategies for this thesis?
4. Does the thesis read the original text with or against the grain? Can the thesis be made to suggest readings both with and against the grain? If so, how?
5. What else can the writer add to (or remove from) this thesis statement to improve it further? (Examples: Does the thesis statement itself follow a logical arrangement of ideas or are ideas out of logical order? Is the thesis a run-on sentence, and if so, how can it be changed?)

Additional Notes:
(Notes for instructors: this exercise can be modified for use with larger workshopping groups. Add an additional 10 to 15 minutes per student, and instruct the students to complete all written evaluations first before any discussion is done. Each student will need one set of questions per classmate reviewed. A three student group for example can be expected to take about 15 minutes total to address the questions for each classmate, and between 15 and 20 minutes for discussion of all three thesis statements. Each student would need two copies of the questions (Number of students in the group minus one.)
Analyzing Rhetorical Appeals
ENC 1101
Purpose: To be able to correctly identify appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos in a text.
Description: The instructor will present students with short video clips of famous presidential speeches given in similar contexts (after national tragedies). The instructor will ask students to write down instances of specific appeals to either logos, pathos, and ethos and why they thought these constituted such an appeal. Students are to prepare to justify why they interpreted the specific appeal to be taking place and offer possible reasons for such a strategy.
Suggested Time: Total time for this exercise is about 20minutes. The showing of videos should take no more than 5 minutes. Writing and discussion should take no more than 15 minutes.
Procedure: Students are asked to first take out a sheet of paper and prepare to identify the rhetorical appeals we just went over in class. I will first show one clip and ask students to identify what rhetorical appeals are at work, how they are at work, and speculations as to why. We will discuss the student findings and I will guide them to a correct interpretation on the matter. Then, I will show a second clip (a different speech given in the same context) and repeat the process.
Additional Notes:
Students come into the class having already read chapter 3 of Allyn and Bacon which introduces them to these rhetorical appeals. During the class students will transition from simply being able to identify the rhetorical appeals to judging whether or not they are effective as well as being able to form a strong response to the topic and the effectiveness of the appeal. The take home assignment reflects these goals and asks students to read chapter 5 in Allyn and Bacon (on strong response) and to formulate a strong response to a selected text as well as identify whether said text employed rhetorical strategies

effectively. Also, students will pick the essay they will rhetorically analyze for unit assignment.
During class, emphasis will be given to how identifying these appeals can serve in responding to a wide variety of “texts” from the kind of essays students have been reading in textbooks, to the kind of speeches we analyzed in class, to other “real-world” examples we will discuss in class in the process of determining whether the appeals are effective. Students will learn that the effectiveness of appeals will largely rely on context
(what makes a medical diagnosis rhetorically compelling will likely differ as to why and how a presidential speech, film review, or eulogy is rhetorically effective). Students will take this new-found knowledge and apply it to their take-home assignment concerning strong-response.
Hotspotting
“Good stories are not written, they are rewritten.”
-Phyllis Whitney
Purpose: To receive peer feedback on a draft that you’ve written, with feedback focusing on the development of interesting or provocative ideas that need further exploration. This activity will also provide you with the opportunity to explore these ideas further through freewriting.
Description: Revision is a way to learn about the craft of writing. Revision activities help you to reflect on what you’ve written, distance yourself from the page and critically evaluate what you have in front of you - whether it’s your own work or that of a peer writer. This activity will allow you to expand upon underdeveloped but engaging ideas in your own drafts, recognize such ideas in peer writing (helping you learn to recognize such ideas in your own work), and allow you some time and freedom to explore ideas in a location other than in your essay draft. Once you’ve thought through an idea, you can bring it into your essay draft clearly and concisely.
Suggested Time: The total time for this exercise is about 30 minutes. Peer
Review/Hotspotting time: about 10 minutes. Writing time: 20 minutes.
Procedure:
1. Choose a draft you’d like to work on/revise
2. Trade drafts with a peer/partner
3. Read your peer’s draft and mark (underline, highlight, star, etc.) places where you think an idea is working well. It could be a sentence that expresses a thought-provoking idea, a strong or startling image, or a place that could be explored in more detail. These places are “hotspots” of the draft.

4. Try to find three or four hotspots in your peer’s draft, mark these hotspots and then hand it back to your partner.
5. Once you have your own paper back, copy your favorite of the hotspots that your partner picked out onto a clean sheet of paper and write, using the hotspot as a new first sentence (or paragraph). The goal here is to expand on what you already have, don’t worry if your writing leads you in a new direction.
Additional Notes: Ultimately, it’s the decision of the writer of the draft if s/he wants to work the newly-developed concept from this exercise into the next draft of the essay. If, after exploring the concept, you don’t feel that it adds to your essay then you don’t have to include it in your next draft. However, your partner in this exercise choose to bring your attention to those hotspots for a reason. It’s up to you, the writer, to think about your intended audience for your work and to remember that an idea that seems clear to you may seem underdeveloped to your reader. Feedback is a powerful tool for any writer, so consider carefully how you use it!