Course Learning Objectives

After taking this course, students should be able to

1. Define rhetoric.

2. Explain the fundamentals of rhetorical action.

3. Explain and apply the resources for rhetorical action (evidence, argument, language).

4. Explain and apply the challenges arising from rhetorical context (audience, subject and purpose, rhetor).

5. Apply standards of evaluation to rhetorical texts.

6. Describe, analyze, and evaluate the rhetoric of professional “rhetors in action.”

7. Participate meaningfully in the public sphere through the production of an original rhetorical act.

By the end of the first week, students will
- - - complete a start-of-semester survey.
    - introduce themselves in a discussion board video and respond to at least one other student.
    - watch video lectures for chapters 1 and 2 of the course textbook.
    - complete a well-thought out "Report Card" for a rhetorical act from the New York Times.
By the end of the second week, students will
- - - Watch video lectures for chapters 4, 5, and 7.
    - demonstrate comprehension of chapters 1,2,4,5, and 7 by passing exam #1.
By the end of the third week, students will
- - - watch video lectures for chapters 8,9, and 10.
    - complete a well-thought-out "Report Card" for a column written by an assigned New York Times opinion writer.
By the end of the fourth week, students will
- - - watch video lectures for chapters 11, 12, and 13.
    - evaluate an episode of the New York Times Daily Podcast by applying chapter 11 concepts.
    - analyze the New York Times as a piece of visual rhetoric.
By the end of the fifth week, students will
- - - engage in an Email conversation with another student who has been assigned the same opinion writer.
    - edit the Email conversation for grammar/spelling/coherence and submit it to the professor.
By the end of the sixth week, students will
- - - demonstrate comprehension of chapter 8,9,10,11,12, and 13 by passing the Final Exam.
    - provide the professor with a thesis statement for an original opinion piece and three bullet point reasons to support the thesis.
In the final week of the course, students will
- - - upload a 900-1000 word opinion piece in Canvas.
    - record a video version of the opinion piece in the discussion board.

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