Syllabus

Research Points of Departure

Readings & Announcements

The Final Examination will be an in-class essay examination on Wednesday, May 19, from 8:45-10:45.  The exam will have three 40-minute questions (plan to write 3-5 large blue book pages on each question).  The questions will be based on the assigned articles (will be listed here as we go to end of the semester--stay tuned), the activities & discussions in class (including the two episodes of The Day the Universe Changed), and on the chapters in Herrick on contemporary rhetoric (Chs. 9, 10, and 11).  Readings and other material are in our COMM 140 Blackboard site.

Readings:

If you look in Google Videos, you can find You-Tube videos of the two episodes I played in class from James Burke's The Day the Universe Changed:  "The Way We Are" and "Worlds without End."

Chapter 2, "On the Liberty of Thought and Discussion," in John Stuart Mill's On Liberty

Douglas Ehninger's "The Promise of Rhetoric"

Eugene Marlow's "Media and Culture"

Marshall McLuhan Playboy interview

Michael Leff and Margaret Procario, "Rhetorical Theory in Speech Communication"

Course Description:
RHETORICAL THEORY:

An examination and analysis of significant theories and theorists of rhetoric from the classical to the modern period. Emphasis on preparation of research papers reflecting rhetorical principles of communication.

Textbooks:

Herrick, James. A.  The History and Theory of Rhetoric.  4^th ed.  Boston:  Allyn and Bacon, 2009.

Hacker, Diana.  A Pocket Style Manual.  5^th ed.  Boston:  Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.

Plan to make extensive use of the University Library and the Internet in research. To facilitate your inquiry, you might begin with a webpage with some research points of departure.

PowerPoint Slides on Writing and Scholarly Style,
as well as a few tips for finding research articles (text) online

Diana Hacker's Research and Documentation Online  
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/
http://dianahacker.com/pocket/

Links as needed

Cool links on the Classical Texts:
The Internet Classics Archive http://classics.mit.edu/

Cool links on the Classical Canon of Elocutio:
<http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/rhetoric.html>
<http://www.americanrhetoric.com/rhetoricaldevicesinsound.htm>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figures_of_speech>
<http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/>
<http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Schemes_n_Tropes.pdf>
<http://www.history.com/media.do?searchTerm=speeches&action=search>