english 20803: intermediate composition · how and why different kinds of arguments are...

English 20803: Intermediate CompositionCourse Objectives, Policies, and Syllabus

Instructor: Joel Overall Email: [email protected] Office: Sadler 203 Office Hours: TR 10-11 When: TR 11-12:20Where: Moudy 204s

Books and Supplies:Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Ruszkiewicz. Everything’s an Argument. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007.

Additional Supplies:• Blog account with blogger.com• An email account• Computer access account

Course Outcomes:• Study the terminology of historical and current-day rhetorical theory• Demonstrate the ability to write an argument for a specific rhetorical situation• Demonstrate capability to use sources for constructing arguments• Practice the complex dynamics of collaborative work and analyze how that effects the rhetorical situation in producing arguments• Create effective arguments by composing through new media• Connect personal experiences with larger social conversations

Overview:English 20803 is intended to extend the introduction to various forms of writing that are the focus of English 10803; in particular, this course focuses on different aspects of argument writing. This course in particular will focus on looking at arguments within music culture. While one goal of the course is to help you continue improving your ability to shape your writing for different audiences and different effects, another goal is to make writing—theories about how writing works—the subject of the course. We’ll also explore how and why different kinds of arguments are effective—to us and to others. English 20803 will be especially concerned with preparing you to analyze and produce complex arguments, including arguments that go beyond print. In an American culture that seems focused on arguments as only two-sided battles to be won, dialogue seems harder to come by, and we’ll consider how to create more nuanced and com-plicated arguments in a myriad of ways.

Course Requirements

Attendance and Participation:• Due to the collaborative nature of this course, it is im-portant that you come to class every day and are involved in class discussions and activities. I will abide by the English department policy that states that 3 weeks worth of ab-sences (6 TR absences) is grounds for failure of the course.

Blogs:• This semester, you will be writing in a blog with 5 blog posts over the semester. As a class, we will discuss how to set up your blog on blogger.com, and your posts should be 250 words. Each assignment will be due at midnight on the due date posted in your syllabus. After blog responses have been posted, you will be required to read and comment on two of your classmates’ blogs before the next class period. Due to the timely nature of this assignment, late blog posts will not be accepted. We will discuss this assignment more throughout the semester.

Journals:• You will also be asked to keep a journal this semester. A good amount of the writing you will be doing in this jour-nal will be completed in class and will help you envision how you plan to write your essays. However, you will be required to keep up with one journal entry outside of class. The journal will be graded for completion only.

Drafts and Workshops:• For each major writing assignment in this class, you will be required to submit a rough draft to eCollege for peer workshop. In these peer workshops, you will be required to read and respond to several of your classmates’ essays elec-tronically. These workshops and class activities will factor into your portfolio grade for each of your essays.

Writing Assignments:• Throughout this semester, you will write 4 major essays for a total of about 30 polished pages of writing. Three of these essays will be individual, and one will be a collabora-tive assignment. Each draft of your essay will be accom-panied by an author’s note (a half-page document that de-scribes the strengths, weaknesses, and general state of that draft). You will receive a detailed assignment sheet for each essay at the beginning of each unit.



Rhetorical Analysis Essay:• For this essay, you will be asked to look at two music websites, videos or CD covers to analyze the persuasiveness of the images and text. In particular, you will want to ob-serve how the image and music choices effectively persuade the intended audience.

Explaining Opposing Ideas (Stasis) Essay:• In this essay, you will be researching an issue within popular music culture and writing an essay that explains the various sides of this argument. For this essay, you will NOT be taking a side in the debate. You will not argue, propose, or evaluate the issue, but instead, you will present the debate that has been happening in this particular issue. Your essay may be divided up into several sections that ex-plains each nuance and possibility of the argument you are exploring.

Collaborative Evaluation Project:• For this project, you will be assigned to a group, and your group will work to evaluate a musical artist to determine if they would make a cultural impact as a suitable headliner for your chosen music festival. The project will involve a group proposal and an indivual cover letter that discusses the various criteria that your festival has for musical acts. Your argument for the musical artist should prove that they are the best fit for your festival. You will want to consider more complex criteria than the obvious financial criteria,

and your group should do extensive research on both the festival and evaluated artist. The second part of this proj-ect will involve the development of a new media presenta-tion that makes an argument to your festival sponsers for your selected musical act using 3 mediums. You should consider writing and performing a song, developing a vi-sual argument (video or print), or using posterboard charts or graphs as some of the possibilities for this part of the project. We will discuss this project more thoroughly later in the semester.

Proposing a Solution Essay:• For this essay, you will want to identify a major problem or issue within pop music and propose a solution to that problem. Initially, you should try to identify and describe the problem by researching various music publications. Once you have described the problem, you should propose your solution and create a substantial argument in favor of your proposal. We will discuss possible topics when we get to this assigment in the semester.Grade Breakdown:• Analyzing Ads Essay 15%• Explaining Opposing Ideas Essay 20%• Proposing a Solution Essay 20%• Collaborative Evaluation 20%• Blog Posts (5 @ 2%) 10%• Journal Check (4 @ 2.5%) 10%• Final Presentation 5%


Course Policies

Revision:Throughout the semester, you will be given many op-portunities to revise your work. In addition to revisions before you turn in your final draft, you will be able to revise up to 2 graded individual drafts. For each paper you choose to revise, you will be required to submit a revision proposal that will be discussed later in the semester.

Late Work:Major papers turned in late will be penalized 10% per day, including weekends. Homework will not be ac-cepted late.

Classroom Atmosphere: I envision our classroom as a place where all of us can share our ideas, thoughts, and questions without fear of being made fun of or embarrassed. Our classroom interaction will be based on respect for all of the writ-ers and readers we encounter this semester.

The Writing Center: The William L. Adams Writing Center is an academic support service available to all TCU students. Writing specialists and peer tutors are available for one-on-one tutorials from 8 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Rickel Building and from 6 to 9 p.m. in the library computer lab on Sunday through Thursday evenings. Drop-ins are welcome.

The New Media Writing Studio: (NMWS) is available to assist students with audio, video, multimedia, and webdesign projects. Located in Scharbauer 2003, the Studio serves as an open lab for use by students during posted hours. The Studio has both pc and Mac computers outfitted with Adobe CS3, which includes Adobe Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Photo-shop, Flash, and InDesign. A variety of equipment is available for checkout to students whose teachers have contacted the Studio in advance. For more information and a schedule of open hours, see www.newmedia.tcu.edu

ADA: Texas Christian University complies with the Ameri-cans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Reha-bilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabili-ties. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinatoras soon as possible in the term for which they are seek-ing accommodations. Further information can be ob-tained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.


incorporation of that work as one’s own offered for credit. Appropria-tion includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another’s work without giving credit therefore. C. Collusion. The unauthorized collaboration with another in prepar-ing work offered for credit. D. Abuse of resource materials. Mutilating, destroying, concealing, or stealing such materials. E. Computer misuse. Unauthorized or illegal use of computer soft-ware or hardware through the TCU Computer Center or through any programs, terminals, or freestanding computers owned, leased, or operated by TCU or any of its academic units for the purpose of affecting the academic standing of a student. F. Fabrication and falsification. Unauthorized alteration or inven-tion of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsifica-tion involves altering information for use in any academic exercise. Fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise. G. Multiple submission. The submission by the same individual of substantial portions of the same academic work (including oral re-ports) for credit more than once in the same or another class without authorization. H. Complicity in academic misconduct. Helping another to commit an act of academic misconduct. I. Bearing false witness. Knowingly and falsely accusing another student of academic misconduct.”

All cases of suspected academic misconduct will be referred to the Director of Composition. Sanctions imposed for cases of academic misconduct range from zero credit for the assignment to expulsion from the University. This policy applies to homework and drafts as well as final papers.

Academic Dishonesty:

“An academic community requires the highest standards of honor and integrity in all of its participants if it is to fulfill its missions. In such a community faculty, students, and staff are expected to maintain high standards of academic conduct. The purpose of this policy is to make all aware of these expectations. Additionally, the policy outlines some, but not all, of the situations which can arise that violate these standards. Further, the policy sets forth a set of procedures, charac-terized by a “sense of fair play,” which will be used when these stan-dards are violated. In this spirit, definitions of academic misconduct are listed below. These are not meant to be exhaustive.

I. Academic MisconductAny act that violates the spirit of the academic conduct policy is con-sidered academic misconduct. Specific examples include, but are not limited to: A. Cheating. Includes, but is not limited to: 1. Copying from another student’s test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings. 2. Using in any academic exercise or academic setting, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test. 3. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during an academic exercise without the permission of the person in charge of the exercise. 4. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or solicit-ing in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assign-ment unauthorized for release. 5. Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for oneself, in a manner that leads to misrepresentation of either or both students work. B. Plagiarism. The appropriation, theft, purchase, or obtaining by any means another’s work, and the unacknowledged submission or


Exceptional college-level. It offers an excellent response to the assignment; it fulfills minor as well as major purposes. Its overall pattern of organization is appropriate; the internal organization of ideas is effective; transitions are smooth. The message is well written, interesting, and easy to read. It may show originality in organization, development, sentence structure or word choice. It is free of all major and almost all minor errors in format, grammar, mechanics, organization, and development. It follows instructions completely.

Good college-level work. It offers an effective response to the assignment. Both the overall pattern of organization and the internal organization are good. The writing style is clear, concise, and friendly. It may have a few minor mechanical errors or some awkward spots, but basically it is well written. It fol-lows instructions completely.

Satisfactory college-level work. It offers an acceptable response to the assignment; it uses an acceptable pattern of organization; the writing follows the conventions of standard English. There may be minor errors in style, tone, internal organization, format, or mechanics. It generally follows instructions.OR A good (B) paper with a major flaw in one of the following: the organization, development, tone, or writing style.

A satisfactory (C) paper with a major flaw in one of the following: the organization, development, tone, format or writing style.OR A poor paper which shows some evidence of attempting to solve the problem, but which has many minor errors in organization, development, word choice, style, tone, format, and mechanics. None of these alone would necessarily doom the paper; however, together they make the paper unsatisfactory.

A poor (D) paper with a major flaw in one of the following: the organization, development, tone, or writing style.OR A paper that violates the facts explicitly given in the problemOR A paper that is marred by an unacceptable number of errors in organization, development, word choice, style, tone, format, and mechanics.OR A paper that contains any form of dishonesty.

Grading Criteria- This is generally the grading criteria I follow although you will receive a more detailed rubric for each assignment.

B+ 87-89B 83-86 B- 80-82

A 95 hA- 90-94

F 64 i

D 65-69

C+ 77-79C 73-76C- 70-72

Unit One Calendar - Analyzing Images

Tuesday Thursday1/12

2/42/2

1/281/26

1/211/19

1/14Introduction to Course, SyllabusWhat is Rhetoric?Blog Setup

Analyzing Images Essay DueAnalyzing Images Essay Workshop

No Class-conferencesRead Ch. 14 (411-437)Discuss Visual Rhetoric

Read Ch. 5 (102-122)Rhetorical situationAnalyzing the Skiff

Read Ch. 4 (78-101)Discussion of logos(Blog) Argumentative Images

Read Ch. 2 and 3 (45-77)Discussion of ethos and pathos

Introduce Analyzing Images Essay


Other important dates2/25 Explaining Opposing Ideas Essay Due4/1 Collaborative Evaluation Presentations4/27 Proposing a Solution Essay Due5/6 11:30-2:00 Final Exam

english 20803: intermediate composition · how and why different kinds of arguments are...

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