Beth Eakman Re
CALENDAR
SEU Academic Calendar
A note about course calendars
Writing course calendars is more art than science. While I personally love sticking to a calendar, I try to leave some wiggle room for schedule adjustments so that we can spend more or less time on a topic as best serves the class as a whole, deal with inclement weather, avoid spreading disease, or work around other obstacles as they might appear. So, please check this page regularly for updates.
Week 1: Introductions
8/28-9/1
M: Introduction to course. What is rhetoric?
W: Continue introductions.
F: Watch VICE documentary on Charlottesville in class. Topics assigned.
Homework: (1) Research your topic and write a 1-page explanation to share with the class. (2) Read "Googlepedia." Write a one page reflection on your research process: Where did you find your information? Did you use search terms? Which ones? Did you need to adjust them? Explain. About how long did you spend on your research? What source or sources did you use? Why did you choose the source or sources that you did? Do you think your sources are credible? Why? Submit these two pages together on Canvas. Your topic should be your first page and the research reflection should be the second. Due before midnight 9/4. Please note that Canvas is very particular about locking assignment submissions at 11:59 pm, so don't wait until the last minute to try to upload your papers.
Specifications
In the upper left hand corner of the page, type your name, space down, type Topic/Research Reflection, space down, and type the date. It should look something like this:
Beth Eakman
Topic/Research Reflection
9/1/17
Use normal margins, a font-size that is roughly equivalent to 12-point Cambria, and do not indent margins, but indicate paragraph breaks with white space (just like you are reading right now). Use 1.5 line spacing, halfway between single- and double-spaced. Until we get to our formal research paper, all assignments will use this format.
Week 2: Audience, purpose, and occasion; how we analyze rhetoric; making observations
9/4-8
M: Holiday: class does not meet.
W: Read topics aloud in class.
F: Assignment: Research Reports
Reading: What U. Va. Students Saw in Charlottesville
Begin research logs
Week 3: Writing is Social/Writing is Generative
9/11-15
For consideration this week:
When we say that writing is a social practice, what do we mean? Read this short excerpt from a scholarly paper by Professor R. Ivanic. What does this mean in simple terms?
"writing is not done for writing's sake, writing is done to achieve something else, writing is purposeful, goal-directed and culturally shaped". In for example higher education these purposes include:
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demonstrating knowledge, understanding and competence,
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developing knowledge, understanding and competence,
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workplace purposes for which the course is preparing,
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administrative purposes,
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purposes in people’s everyday lives, and
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knowledge-making.
To assume these purposes also involves assuming new identities as writer and participating in social, writing practices."
Reading: Basic questions for rhetorical analysis
M: Discuss rhetorical analysis papers. Asking the right questions. Seeking connections.
W: That is a THESIS and what does it DO? Definition versus function.
F: Writing isn't summative; that means that we don't just do a whole bunch of research, reading, and analysis and afterwards write it all down. It isn't something that is done separately from research. When we say that writing is generative, we mean that we often don't really know what we think until we write it down. What this means is that you should be writing--a LOT--more or less constantly as you are doing your research and analysis. Write in your research logs. Give yourself prompts:
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I see...
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I've noticed that....
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What I'm thinking right now is that....
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I'm not sure about....
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I wish I knew more about....
Week 4: Reports, claims, outlines, and organizing the mess
9/18-22
Reading: How to structure and organize your paper.
M: Meet in the library for information literacy session (instruction room, first floor)
W: Work day, finish your first drafts of your reports for class on Friday: Class does not meet.
F: First drafts due for peer editing
Week 5: Sketching your ideas
9/25-29
M: Work on document maps in class.
W: Work on document maps in class.
F: Reports Due
Week 6: Begin formal research papers
10/2-6
M: How to start writing a research paper about a historical event, in our case, the Unite the Right rally. While there are lots of ways to get started writing a paper, we are going to start with the following process:
1. Know why you are interested in the topic.
2. Turn your general interest into specific questions.
3. Identify a statement or specific claim to be tested.
4. Choose appropriate evidence to support your claim. 5. Gather the evidence in an organized way.
6. Analyze/synthesize the information.
7. Organize the essay.
W:
F:
Week 7
10/9-13
M:
W: Meet in the library instruction room. Topic Proposals due
F: Founder's Day Holiday
Week 8:
10/16-20
M:
W:
F:
Week 9
10/23-27
M:
W: Work day. Finish your annotated bibliographies. Class does not meet.
F: Annotated bibliographies due
Week 10
10/30-11/3
M: Meet in the library instruction room
W
F
Week 11:
11/6-10
M: .
W:
F: Synthesis maps due
Week 12:
11/13-17
M:
W:
F: Formal papers due
Week 13: Thanksgiving holiday
11/20-24
M:
Week 14: Multimodal Rhetoric and Remix workshops
11/27-12/1
M: Class discussion of multimodal rhetoric and big ideas in writing in the disciplines and across the curriculum. Reading assignment: The Girl Effect, It Gets Better, Banksy, Ghost Bikes.
W
F: Formal paper revisions due
Week 15: Remix presentations and Reflection
12/4-8
M
W
F: Peer review folders due. Submit samples of your peer editing, both the worksheets and marked up papers, in a double pocket folder with a letter of transmittal. Any extra credit should be submitted in this folder and marked EXTRA CREDIT at the top in colored pen. Please check the syllabus for extra credit procedures if you aren't sure how to do it.
Week 16: Portfolios due
Finals: 12/11-15
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F