ENGLISH 110 RHETORIC AND RESEARCH
Summer I 2008 Dr. Arden Jensen
TEXTS: Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. The Pocket Wadsworth Handbook 3rd ed. Boston: Thomson, 2006.
Additional readings chosen by instructor
UNIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT:
Lee University seeks to provide education that integrates biblical truth as revealed in the Holy Scriptures with truth discovered through the study of the arts and sciences and in the practice of various professions. A personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the controlling perspective from which the educational enterprise is carried out. The foundational purpose of all educational programs is to develop within the students knowledge, appreciation, understanding, ability, and skills which will prepare them for responsible living in the modern world.
CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
This course focuses on four major writing projects, enables students to review the creative process as it applies to composition, learn the research methodologies and procedures of their chosen discipline (including computer-generated research), internalize approaches to critical thinking, apply basic principles of public speaking, and perform literary analysis. Prerequisites: ACT English score of 29 or better or an SAT recentered verbal score above 660 or completion of ENGL 105 or 106 with a grade of C or better. Three Credit Hours.
I. PURPOSE
This course is intended to focus on development of advanced writing skills and basic oral communication skills as students review principles of rhetoric, practice techniques of research (including computer-related skills), improve their critical thinking skills and strategies, apply principles of public speaking, and analyze literature.
II. OBJECTIVES OF COURSE
A. General Learning Objectives
This course seeks to
1. Encourage students to use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating
2. Help students to understand a writing assignment as a series of tasks, including finding, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources
3. Enhance students’ awareness of purpose and audience
4. Provide opportunities for students to respond appropriately in writing to different rhetorical situations, including adopting appropriate tone, voice, and level of formality
5. Teach the basic techniques of public speaking
6. Acquaint students with research methods
7. Familiarize students with online research and documentation of electronic sources
8. Introduce students to readings and techniques in at least one genre of literature
9. Present the techniques of critical thinking as applied to essay writing and research, including critical analysis of literature.
B. Specific Behavioral Objectives
As a result of the activities and study in this course, the student should be able to
1. Plan and write a full-length essay
2. Write essays appropriately adapted to the reading audience
3. Apply the techniques of extemporaneous public speaking in oral reports based on writing projects
4. Articulate the research process orally or in writing
5. Write documented papers exhibiting effective integration of source material with the writer’s own ideas and following documentation form accurately
6. Employ Internet materials with good judgment and accurate documentation
7. Demonstrate knowledge of the analytical techniques of at least one genre of literature
8. Produce a properly documented literary analysis paper
9. Demonstrate the ability to do critical thinking in the handling of research and in analysis of literature
III. TOPICS TO BE COVERED
A. Rhetorical principles, processes, and structures
B. Basic techniques of public speaking
C. Research methods and techniques
D. Documentation forms and techniques
F. Revising and editing procedures, including spot attention to grammatical deficiencies in papers
G. Techniques of analysis of the chosen literary genre
H. Critical thinking skills
IV. INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES
A. Selected and individualized readings
B. Lecture
C. Writing assignments with focus on analytical and research techniques
D. Revision in response to peer or instructor critique
E. Library orientation activities/research
F. Critical thinking exercises
G. Oral presentations by students
V. RESPONSIBILITIES OF STUDENTS
A. Complete assigned textbook readings
B. Write several essays in different genres, including at least one argumentative essay (total 1,500 words for all essays)
C. Prepare a research project in the discipline of the student’s choice which involves extensive traditional and online research and which culminates in a fully documented multi-source paper of at least 1,500-1,700 words
D. Present an oral report related to the research project, preceded by attention to basic public speaking skills
E. Read and analyze selections from one genre of literature
F. Write a fully documented literary analysis of at least 1,000-1,200 words
VI. EVALUATION
A. Components and relative weights of evaluation activities:
Assignments: Percentages:
Essay I 25%
Essay II with public speaking component 25%
Article analysis (@500 words) 10%
Literary analysis (1,000-1,200 words) 30%
Daily grades 10%
There is a one-letter-grade penalty for each day an assignment is late.
B. Attendance: Each student is allowed two days of sick/personal absences. Beyond that number of absences, the student will be penalized three points on his or her final grade average for each absence up to a total of ten points. Students who come to class unprepared for the day's activity may be counted absent. A tardy counts as 1/2 absence.
C. Grading scale: A=90-100 B+=88-89 B=83-87 B-=80-82 C+=78-79 C=73-77 C-=70-72 F=below 70
VII. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
Lee University is committed to the provision of reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Students who think they may qualify for these accommodations should notify their instructor immediately. Special services are provided through the Academic Support Program.
VIII. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
As a Christian community of scholarship, we at Lee University are committed to the principles of truth and honesty in the academic endeavor. As faculty and students in this Christian community, we are called to present our academic work as an honest reflection of our abilities; we do not need to defraud members of the community by presenting others’ work as our own. Therefore, academic dishonesty is handled with serious consequences for two fundamental reasons: it is stealing - taking something that is not ours; it is also lying - pretending to be something it is not. In a Christian community, such pretense is not only unnecessary, it is also harmful to the individual and community as a whole. Cheating should have no place at a campus where Christ is King because God desires us to be truthful with each other concerning our academic abilities. Only with a truthful presentation of our knowledge can there be an honest evaluation of our abilities. To such integrity, we as a Christian academic community are called.
IX. READING LIST
Ballenger, Bruce. Beyond Notecards: Rethinking the Freshman Research Paper. Portsmouth,
NH: Boynton Cook, 1999.
Clark, Carol Lea. Working the Web: A Student’s Guide. 2nd ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 2000.
Corbett, Edward P.J. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. 4th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1998.
Corbett, Edward P.J., Nancy Myers and Gary Tate, eds. The Writing Teacher’s Sourcebook. 4th ed. New York: Oxford, 2000.
Daiker, Donald A., Mary Fuller, and Jack E. Wallace. Literature: Options for Reading and Writing. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
Elbow, Peter. “The Cultures of Literature and Composition: What Could Each Learn from the Other?” College English 64 (May 2002): 533-546.
Emig, Janet. “Writing as a Mode of Learning.” College Composition and Communication 28.2 (May 1977):122-28.
Foehr, Regina Paxton and Susan A. Schiller, eds. The Spiritual Side of Writing: Releasing the Learner’s Whole Potential. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1997.
Ford, James E., Ed. Teaching the Research Paper: From Theory to Practice, From Research to Writing. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1995.
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. New York: MLA, 1999.
Griffith, Kelley, Jr. Writing Essays about Literature: A Guide and Style Sheet. 5th ed. Atlanta: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1997.
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephan R. Mandell. The Harcourt Brace Guide to Documentation and Writing in the Disciplines. 6th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 2002.
----. The Brief Holt Handbook. 3rd ed. Fort Worth : Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 2000.
Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide. 10th ed. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 2001.
Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.
Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Ruszkiewica and Keith Walters. Everything’s an Argument. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001.
Mayberry, Katherine J., and Robert E. Golden. For Argument’s Sake: A Guide to Writing Effective Arguments.4th ed. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman, 2001.
McDonald, Daniel Lamont. The Language of Argument. 10th ed. New York:
Harper & Row, 2001.
Murray, Donald. The Craft of Revision. 3rd ed. New York: Thompson International, 1997.
Perkins, Priscilla. “ ‘A Radical Confersion of the Mind’: Fundamentalism, Hermeneutics, and the Metanoic Classroom.” College English 63 (May 2001): 585-611.
Roberts, Edgar V. Writing Themes About Literature. 6th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988.
Silverman, Jay, Elaine Hughes, and Diana Roberts Wiebroer. Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers. 4th ed. St. Louis: McGraw-Hill, 1999.
Spigelman, Candace. “Argument and Evidence in the Case of the Personal.” College English 64 (September 2001): 63-87.
Sprague, Jo. The Speaker’s Handbook. 5th ed. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1999.
Villanueva, Victor, ed. Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1997.
Wiley, Mark, Barbara Gleason and Louise Wetherbee Phelps, eds. Composition in Four Keys: Inquiring into the Field. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1996.