| Welcome | Texts | Requirements | For Students with Disabilities |
Welcome to English 570/Education 621, "Introduction to Composition Studies." A course called "Intro to Comp Studies" can be so many things, which is part of what makes composition studies such a vibrant, dynamic field. In this iteration of 570/621, we'll focus a particular lens on composition studies: rhetorical theory. Whether rhetoric is defined traditionally ("the art of discovering the available means of persuasion in a given case"), more contemporaneously ("language as symbolic action"), or functionally ("essential for a life of active citizenship"), its place in the composition classroom is central--so central, in fact, that it frequently appears transparent. In this class we'll talk about rhetoric in ways which make it apparent. If I were to push on the metaphor of rhetoric as a lens through which one might view composition studies, or more specifically what happens in the composition classroom, I might suggest that rhetoric helps us see the composition classroom with greater clarity, focus, and expertise. Rhetoric gives us more access to what happens in that space, a heightened awareness of its possibilities and limitations, and more options for the work that we do there.
If we take rhetoric as a way to know or produce knowledge about the composition classroom, or as a way to understand the composition classroom, or as a way to inform the composition classroom, or even as a way to create the composition classroom, then we define the relationship between rhetoric and composition as one of theory and practice. This definition is hardly neutral, as you will see early in the semester. However, it is one which has a great deal to offer, especially if we take the relationship between theory and practice to be reciprocal: theory informs practice just as practice informs theory.
So what? Well, in this class we'll consistently ask ourselves and each other about the practical value that the rhetorical theory we're studying has for the composition classroom. How can the rhetorical theory you read this week be put into practice in the writing class you'll teach next week? And how does the practice alter your understanding of the theory the week after that?
Many people would say that rhetoric and composition are (is?) marginalized in higher education because of their (its?) practicality or utility. And these people would be correct, at least in part. Some of those people, though, also would say that this practical or useful component of the discipline is one of the things that makes the discipline so dynamic, so interesting, so integral, so vital. You might guess that I am one of those people, and with that in mind I welcome you to this course.
Texts for the Course
Six books and a collection of readings comprise the texts for this
course. The books have been ordered for purchase
at
Shaman Drum Bookshop, which is located at 311-315 South State Street.
They also are on reserve at the
University Reserves
in the
Shapiro Undergraduate Library.
The readings have been compiled for your convenience and they are being
stored at EXCEL, a test preparation and copy center. You may use this set
of readings to make a copy for yourself at EXCEL. Copies cost $.07
per page, with optional additional charges if you want your copies bound
or three-whole punched. EXCEL is located at 1117 South University, above
the Ulrich's computer and engineering store. Their phone number is
996-1500. If you prefer, I will provide you with a bibliography and you
may make copies of the readings on your own.
Course Requirements
In some ways, this course is a typical grad course. Your presence
and active participation
in class discussions, participation which demonstrates preparedness and
engagement with the readings as well as with the ideas of your colleagues
in
570/621, is expected. We'll do (almost) weekly writings: seven
times during the semester between the second and eleventh weeks of class,
submit a one- or two-page response to one or more of
the week's assigned readings. Weekly writings must be submitted to me by
email (cut-and-paste--no attachments, please), on or before the Sunday
preceding the class in which the reading is due. We'll talk more about
these writings in class.
A less typical requirement of the course is a portfolio, linked to a short
presentation that you will make during one of the last two class sessions.
The portfolio will consist of
assignments, exercises, and/or activities you have designed for a
composition classroom based on the semester's readings. You'll need to
append to each assignment, exercise, or activity a brief essay which
contextualizes the classroom application in terms of the theory we've read
and discussed during the semester. We'll talk about the portfolio and
presentation more extensively in class.
Services for Students with Disabilities
If you think you may need an accommodation for any sort of disability,
please contact
Services for Students with Disabilities (G-625 Haven
Hall,
763-3000) and make an appointment to see
me within the first two weeks of the semester.
A.T.'01
Although I assume that you will meet the requirements in ways which will
cause you to earn an "A" in the course, you may wish to know more about
how your grade will be determined.
Participation 25%
Weekly Writings 25%
Presentation 10%
Portfolio 40%
| ENGL 570/ED 621 Home | Schedule of Assignments | Announcements and Updates | Contact Information |