English 30263: Style
Spring 2012
George
Office: 322 Reed
Hours: F 9-12 and by appt.
Email: a.george@tcu.edu
Mailbox: 314 Reed
“Getting readers to hear tunes is what good writing is all about. The writers we admire most are
those whose sentences . . . become the sound pattern of a distinct, engaging, human personality.
In writing, that sound is directed by printed cues. From them, we make the music of speech
heard, if only in our heads; and we respond to its special qualities intellectually, socially, and
emotionally.”
—Dona Hickey, Developing a Written Voice
This course is designed to expand your understanding and repertoire of stylistic moves and to
enable you to write the finely crafted, rhetorically sensitive prose that Cicero called eloquence.
Oddly enough, although we tend to think of prose primarily as a visual entity, its effectiveness
often substantially depends on the listening pleasure and emphasis it affords. So just as a
musician develops an ear for pitch, we’ll work on developing an ear for words, for the melody
and rhythm of language. We’ll work on developing what Joe Glaser calls “voices we want to
listen to” (Understanding Style).
This course is also designed to introduce you to modern language theories, which posit that
language is inherently ideological (or rhetorical). That everything is an argument. That language
shapes the way we think and feel. That changing style changes meaning. We’ll analyze the role
of style in persuasion—and try to strategically employ elements of style in our own arguments.
One more thing: this class is less about rules (even grammar rules!) than about choices, play,
experimentation, trying on different linguistic costumes, seeing what fits, what works.
Outcomes
 Students will analyze their own and other authors’ style(s) in discussion and in imitation
and revision exercises.

Students will experiment with different prose styles in writing notebook and imitation
exercises.

Students will analyze, and demonstrate the ability to use, grammar accurately and
rhetorically.

Students will demonstrate the ability to adapt their style to different audiences and
genres in short exercises.

Students will analyze the gendered and ideological nature of language in discussion,
short essays, and audience accommodation exercises.

Students will produce a major revision of their prose that demonstrates an ability to
accommodate style to an audience and to use emphatic and varied syntax, rhetorical
grammar, editing skills, and proofreading strategies.
Texts
Anne Fadiman, ed. Best American Essays of 2003
Martha Kolln & Loretta Gray, Rhetorical Grammar, 6th ed
Raymond Queneau, Exercises in Style
What You'll Be Expected to Do
 Attend faithfully. This course assumes that we will collectively construct a good deal
of the knowledge to be gained in the course. You need to be in class to make that
happen.

Read conscientiously. Understanding the finer points of grammar or theory or
perceiving stylistic nuances can be difficult. In other words, you may need to read
things twice.

Bring assigned your texts (including handouts) to class. Do NOT come to a reading
group without the text (book, print out, laptop—no texts on smart phones). Bring
Rhetorical Grammar, style move handouts, and samples/packets whenever assigned.
Bring Queneau Pattern Practice to EVERY class.

Say something. Much of the responsibility for the success of this course rests with
you. Given our topic, the nature of the readings, and (of course) how smart we all are,
we expect our class discussions to be lively and interactive. Come prepared to make
some contribution (express confusion, if nothing else). Needless to say, this is not a
lecture course.

Collaborate generously. Early in the semester, the professor of my first graduatelevel poetry workshop announced that he wouldn’t tolerate any jealousy. We weren’t
competing with each other, he said; we were competing with Shakespeare and
Dickinson and Frost. Although that maybe wasn’t the most reassuring thing to hear at
that point in our writing careers, it did put things nicely into perspective: it’s pointless
to hide your work so that no one else steals “your” brilliant ideas (believe me, there
are enough brilliant ideas to go around), and it’s completely counter-productive to
withhold your insight and advice so that others don’t get a better grade than you
(there are also plenty of good grades to go around although, truthfully, they are one
of the least important things to carry away with you). Professional writers consistently
share drafts. To write well, we'll need to help, challenge, and inspire each other.

Write. Write. Write. Most successful writers go through draft after draft, revision on
top of revision. Good writing takes persistence and lots of practice. It also takes active
engagement. If you approach the exercises as busy work, you’re wasting everyone’s
time.
What You’ll Be Graded On
 Imitation/Emulation Project
 Audience Accommodation
 Terministic Screen Analysis
 Self-Analysis & Revision
 Collaborative Trope Oral Presentation
 Pattern Practice Notebook (Queneau)
 Reading group notes, style moves, etc: the written
materials of your class participation
15%
15%
10%
25%
10%
15%
10%
Course Policies:
1. Attendance and Attention:
No one escapes entirely from life's little emergencies, and you won’t be penalized for an
occasional absence, but excessive unexcused absences will lower your final grade. Ditto for
lateness; three “tardies” will count as one unexcused absence. Students who accumulate six
unexcused absences will automatically fail the course. Only students with official university
absences (for athletic events, concerts, etc.) are excused. Present or not, you are responsible
for everything that goes on in class. Email a classmate (not me) to find out what you missed
and come prepared.
But being in class, on time, is not enough. You need to be actively engaged in the class, giving
your full attention to me, your classmates, and your work. Laptops are permitted for taking
notes or working on drafts, but if I see you emailing or googling, you’ll be asked to shut it down.
Your cell phones should be turned off and stowed.
2. Submitting Assignments:
 Homework: is due in-class, on time; if you are ill, email your work in an attachment.

Rough drafts: We will be having a draft workshop for each of the major writing
projects—you will need a complete, legible copy of your draft for that class.

Final drafts: Attach your rough draft to your paper when you turn it in. I won’t accept
papers without drafts. Final drafts should be typed (double-spaced) with standard
margins.

If, for some reason, you need to turn an assignment in outside of class time, put it in my
mailbox in the English department office (314 Reed). I will not read papers left in the
bin outside my door.

Late papers: Late work is bad for both of us. Turn in your essays in class, on time, unless
you have some emergency or have made PRIOR arrangements with me for an extension.
Late papers will be penalized one grade step (i.e., from a B+ to a B) for each day late.
3. Contacting me:
 Office Hours: I consider my office an extension of the classroom. Feel free to use my
office hours to discuss any aspect of the assignments. This time is strictly yours and may
be your best chance to get help. Use it. (Note: I will be in my office at times other than
office hours. If my door is open, I’ll be happy to talk with you. If it’s closed, please
respect my work time.)

Email is the best way to reach me outside of class. I check email twice a day—once in
the morning (after class) and once in the late afternoon. I seldom check email in the
evenings or on weekends. I’ll answer your emails as quickly as I can, but please allow 24
hours for a reply. I do not read drafts or discuss grades over email; both of those are
best done during office hours.
4. Grades
Simply fulfilling the minimum requirements of the assignments and the course warrants an
average grade (i.e., a C). Coming to class every day and doing assignments is not something that
earns “extra credit” or an automatic A; it’s an expectation for being in the course. A higher than
average grade will be based on: 1) your active engagement in collaborative readings groups and
peer editing; 2) your ability to articulate and apply the rhetorical principles of style and grammar
that we study; and 3) a willingness to experiment with new genres, style moves, and techniques.
Below is a breakdown of how final grades are calculated.
Letter Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
Percentage
93-100
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
59 or less
Quality of Work
Outstanding
Exceeds Expectations
Meets Expectations/Average
Below average/needs work
Unacceptable/Incomplete
5. Academic Misconduct:
While it would be pretty hard to cheat in this course, I suppose you could find a way. Don’t
do it—the idea is to improve your writing. And the consequences at this university are
lengthy, bureaucratic, and thoroughly unpleasant.
Academic Misconduct (Sec. 3.4 from the Student Handbook) – Any act that violates the
academic integrity of the institution is considered academic misconduct. The procedures
used to resolve suspected acts of academic misconduct are available in the offices of
Academic Deans and the Office of Campus Life. Specific examples include, but are not
limited to:

Cheating: Copying from another student’s test paper, laboratory report, other report, or
computer files and listings; Using, during any academic exercise, material and/or devices not
authorized by the person in charge of the test; Collaborating with or seeking aid from
another student during a test or laboratory without permission; Knowingly using, buying,
selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or
other assignment unauthorized for release; Substituting for another student or permitting
another student to substitute for oneself;

Plagiarism: The appropriation, theft, purchase or obtaining by any means another’s work, and
the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one’s own offered for
credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another’s work without giving
credit therefore.

Collusion: The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit.
6. Disability Statement (approved Fall 2007 by the Undergraduate Council, revised Fall 2010)
Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking
accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Student Disabilities Services in the Center
for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive,
therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which
they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for
Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.
Adequate time must be allowed to arrange accommodations and accommodations are not
retroactive; therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the
academic term for which they are seeking accommodations. Each eligible student is responsible
for presenting relevant, verifiable, professional documentation and/or assessment reports to the
Coordinator. Guidelines for documentation may be found at
http://www.acs.tcu.edu/disability_documentation.asp.
Students with emergency medical information or needing special arrangements in case a
building must be evacuated should discuss this information with their instructor/professor as
soon as possible.
Course Calendar (subject to change)
N.B.: Being prepared for class means having your texts and handouts with you. Do NOT come
to a reading group without the text (book, print out, laptop download—no texts on smart
phones). Bring Rhetorical Grammar, style move handouts, and samples/packets whenever
assigned. Bring Queneau Pattern Practice to EVERY class.
Week One: Queneau: Narrative Base (43), Retrograde (25)
1/17 Introduction to class & classmates.
1/19
Introduction to Queneau and Reading Groups; Introduction to rhetorical grammar:
Rhetorical Grammar (RG) pp. 1-3. Rhythm: RG pp. 105-10, 114-121. Doyle, “Joyas
Voladoras” (eCollege)
Week Two: Queneau: Word Game [use words in book](33), Another Subjectivity [shift point of
view](41)
1/24 Reading group practice: Didion, “Marrying Absurd” (eCollege).
Basic grammar review. RG pp. 6-18,
Begin Imitation/Emulation Project. Bring Hemingway passage (eCollege)
1/26
Emulation 1 (Hemingway) due.
Style Move 1: Coordination. RG pp. 53-55, 59-60, 64-74. Bring handout on eCollege.
Week Three: Queneau: Negativities (46), Exclamations (83)
1/31 Reading group 1: Gopnik, “Bumping Into Mr. Ravioli” (BAE).
Begin Emulation 2 (Oliver). Bring Oliver passage (eCollege)
Style Move 2: Dependent clauses/phrases (adverbials). RG pp. 157-62. Bring handout on
eCollege)
2/2
Trope Presentation: Schemes of Balance—Parallelism (isocolon, tricolon)
Emulation 2 (Oliver) due. Begin Imitation 1 (Updike). Bring Updike passage (eCollege)
Week Four: Queneau: Tactile (117), Gustatory (115)
2/7
Reading group 2: Mike Rose, excerpt from Lives on the Boundary (eCollege).
Imitation 1 (Updike) due
2/9
Trope Presentation: Schemes of Balance—Chiasmus, Antimetabole
Style Move 3: Adjectival dependents: Relative clauses. RG pp. 180-87. Bring handout on
eCollege
Week Five: Queneau: Feminine [write from opposite gender] (142) (just one this week)
2/14 Reading group 3: Gawande, “Learning Curve” (BAE).
Imitation 2 due (your choice). Bring sample analyses for imitation/emulation (eCollege)
2/16
Trope Presentation: Schemes of Repetition—Anaphora, Epistrophe
Imitation/Emulation workshop. Imitation/Emulation due Monday 2/20 in Dr. George’s
mailbox
Week Six: Queneau: Homeoptates (53), Present (69)
2/21 Reading group 4: Doyle, “Yes” (BAE)
Begin Audience Accommodation (retro ad); bring retro ad handout (eCollege)
2/23
Trope Presentation: Schemes of Repetition—Epanalepsis, Anadiplosis
Audience 1 (retro ad) due. Begin Audience 2 (parody)
Week Seven: Queneau: Rainbow (32), Auditory (121)
2/28 Reading group 5: Martin Luther King, Jr. (“Letter from Birmingham Jail”)(eCollege)
Style Move 4: Adjectival dependents: Participial phrases. RG pp. 174-79. Bring handout
on eCollege.
3/1
Tropes Presentation: Schemes of Omission—Ellipsis, Syllepsis
Audience 2 (parody) due. Begin Audience 3 (Delivering Bad News). Bring Chancellor’s
emails on eCollege.
Week Eight: Queneau: Cross-examination (90), Telegraphic (123)
3/6
Reading group 6: Aciman, “Lavender” (BAE)
Style Move 5: Appositives. RG pp. 191-97. Bring handouts on eCollege
Audience 3 (Bad News) due
3/8
Trope Presentation: Scheme of Omission—Asyndeton and its partner, Polysyndeton
Queneau Pattern Practice, Part 1 due
Week Nine: Queneau: Distinguo (51), You Know (85)
3/13 Reading group 7: Susan Orlean, “Show Dog” (eCollege)
Style Move 6: Fragments. Bring handout on eCollege
3/15
Trope Presentation: Schemes that interrupt usual word order—Parenthesis, Anastrophe
Audience accommodation workshop (bring REVISED draft of 2 exercises). Begin
Terministic Screen analysis
SPRINGBREAK SPRINGBREAK SPRINGBREAK SPRINGBREAK SPRINGBREAK
Week Ten: Queneau: Asides (95), Hesitation (35)
3/27 Reading group 8: Wideman, “Whose War?” (BAE).
Terministic Screen examples: Frontline and Goodman, “War on Drugs” (eCollege).
Audience accommodation due.
3/29
Trope Presentation: Figure of Thought—Metaphor
Terministic screen demos
Style Move 7: List. Bring handout on eCollege
Week Eleven: Queneau: Precision (37), Blurb (56)
4/3
Reading group 9: Pollan, “An Animal’s Place” (BAE).
Terministic screen topics and invention
Trope Review due (assignment sheet on eCollege)
4/5
Trope Presentation: Figure of Thought—Analogy
Terministic screen workshop: bring completed draft
Week Twelve: no Queneau this week
4/10 Reading group 10: Presidential rhetoric: Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address” & 2nd Inaugural
Address (online); FDR’s and JFK’s 1st Inaugural Addresses (online); Johnson, “Destroy or
Build” (eCollege)
Terministic screen due Wednesday 4/11 in Dr. George’s mailbox (314 Reed)
Style Move 8: Strong verbs (no handout)
4/12
Trope Presentation: Figure of Thought—Synecdoche
Begin Revision Assignment: Global Revision—Structure. Bring paper to revise. Dethier,
“Revising Attitudes,” Murray handout, global revision handout (eCollege)
Week Thirteen One final Queneau of your choice
4/17 Global Revision—Power intros, Coherence. Abstract and outline of original paper due.
Bring draft 2 with paragraphs cut apart and in envelope.
4/19
Revised draft 3 due—with 2 openings and 2 possible structures.
Week Fourteen
4/24 Local revision: sentence length, clause relationships, sentence combining. Queneau
Pattern Practice, Part 2 due.
4/26
Draft 4 due. Local revision: 5 revision “work stations” (verbs, concreteness, pronouns,
wordiness, coherence). Read: Cohesion RG pp. 63-68, 80-87; Passives, nominalizations
RG pp. 44-51; Prepositions RG pp.152-155. Bring book to class.
Week Fifteen
5/1
Draft 5 due for peer review. Proofreading workshop.
Final exam time: Tuesday, May 7, 8:00-10:30. Revision portfolio due. Word power final
exercise.