Syllabus

Reading Against the Grain

First Rule of Rhetoric: Read Against the Grain:

1. Read the Introduction to Persuasion (xvii - xxvii)
2. Read 'Reading Against the Grain.' (1 - 5)
3. Find an editorial, a piece of writing with an obvious slant in favor of one position on a topic, copy and past it into our website, and read it against the grain. [Place a question in square brackets next to everything you would like the author to rethink or revise.] Your goal is to imagine helping the author gain insight into the weaknesses of their argument, as if you might be able to help them modify their position. Don't be snarky. Don't just fight back. Be or at least try to be constructive. Don't rant back.

   Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Fifty points for picking a piece of writing that can be read against the grain -- something argumentative rather than expository or journalistic. Plus two points for each apt [parenthetical question]. Arithmetically, that means you need at least 20 apt questions to get 100% on this assignment. But don't just count. Think. Is this a legitimate critique?

   Example

Toulmin

Second Rule of Rhetoric: Don't Make Unwarranted Assertions:

1. Read the section on "The Toulmin Model." (19 - 23)
2. Write a paragraph structured according to Toulmin' s Model in which you argue that something is or isn't true. Label each part like this:
   Children should not have televisions in their bedrooms[CLAIM]. Children who have televisions in their bedrooms spend less time reading and sleeping, are more likely to perform poorly in school, gain excess weight, or develop video-game addiction [DATA]. These findings are based on a study, published in Developmental Psychology, in which 4,700 kids in the U.S. and Singapore ages 6-17, were followed for at least six months and up to two years [WARRANT]. Children with tvs in their rooms also tend to watch more violent programs than they normally would elsewhere in the house [BACKING]. Some might say that kids are more likely to get bored and sneak out if they don't have a television, but if kids are taught young not to have a tv in their room, they will learn to do other things such as read or play or be creative[REBUTTAL]. Plus, kids or teenagers are more likely to sneak out to see friends, not because they can't watch television [REBUTTAL]. Parents, [MODAL] seriously consider not having a tv in your child's room, starting from a young age, because the longer they have a tv in their room, the harder it is to break that habit.
   

   Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Ten points subtracted for each missing or mislabeled element.

Because this is a short assignment, when you are done, read the website section on writing. We will discuss it in class.

Cognitive Biases

Third Rule of Rhetoric: How you think influences what you think

1. Read "Cognitive Biases" (p 41 - 48).
2. Write a 500 or so word essay on 3 or 4 cognitive biases. Explain why you chose the ones you did. Wherever possible, give examples. Assume your reader is not so much skeptical as inquisitve; she needs concrete and specific details more than argumentation.

   Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Make sure your short essay has a structure, an introduction, a couple paragraphs, and a conclusion. Get a definition wrong, - 10 points. Have no or broken structure, - 20 points. Two points subtracted for each grammar, punctuation, diction error.

3. The title for this piece should be Cognitive Biases.
4. You should read these excerpts from Thinking Fast and Slow
5. The Decision Lab offers a good overview of cognitive biases.
6. Visual example of a cognitive bias in action

7. You should also practice editing.

Ethos

Fourth Rule of Rhetoric: Look and Sound Like a Good Person
Ethos: Good Character, Good Sense, & Good will.

Notice I said "look" and "sound" like a good person. I did not say "be a good person." Of course, it's best for the world and you if you actually are a good person, someone of good character, good sense, and good will. But the rhetorical fact is people won't believe you unless you seem (look and sound) like a good person. Appearances matter. Intentions don't.

1. The section in the textbook on Ethos (p 49 - 66).
2. Write 500 words or so about ethos. Make sure you define it and name and explain the 3 characteristics that make up an ethos. Give examples. What things might a person do to convey those characteristics? What kinds of things might a person do to fail to convey or convey the opposite of the 3 characteristics? Can the effort to create a positive ethos be likened to "impression management" and if so, does that strike you as a bad thing? Does smooth strike you as greasy, charming as manipulative? Explain. Give examples. As always, be detailed and specific. The title for this piece should be Ethos.

   Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Make sure your short essay has a structure, an introduction, at least a couple of paragraphs, and a conclusion. Get the definition wrong, - 20 points. Have no or broken structure, - 20 points. Two points subtracted for each grammar, punctuation, diction error.

Ethos Script

1. Write a brief (200 words) script designed to foster a positive ethos for an assembly about which you have some knowledge. The assembly might be a student government association committee or a parent teachers' association or a church group or whatever group of people you can imagine trying to influence. You don't need first hand knowledge of the actual audience or their work, just a sense of the things you would say to foster a positive ethos.
   Notice that you are writing down a speech. Speeches differ from texts in lots of ways. What's written and meant to be read by the audience is typically longer and more detailed and nuanced that what is written to be recited by a speaker. Much of the world's work got done by means of speeches before deliberative assemblies. In the digital era, set speeches are increasingly replaced by rallies and short digital pieces, Tweets, Instagram Messages, Facebook posts, and so on. Each of these has it's own rhetoric.

   Grading: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Make sure you provide an introductory paragraph in which you explain who you are talking to, on what occasion, for what purpose, and what your role is. Forget this paragraph, - 30 points. The subsequent paragraphs should demonstrate one of more of the three elements of a postive ethos, good sense, good will, and excellence. Place [in square brackets] at the end of each sentence which of the three elements of a positive ethos is covered by that sentence. If a given sentence doens't serve ethos, but has some other purpose, don't provide the [square brackets]. If a given sentence serves no clear purpose, delete it. Two points subtracted for each grammar, punctuation, diction error.

2. About what a good introduction to an argumentative essay might look like. From (p179 181).
3. Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

Audience

Fifth Rule of Rhetoric: Know your Audience

1. The section on Audience (71 -85)
2. Write 500 words or so about your ideas about audience. Who are you thinking about when you write? How has it changed, if at all, now that you've read the section on audience?
3. The title for this piece should be Audience.

   Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Make sure your short essay has a structure, an introduction, at least a couple of paragraphs, and a conclusion. Have no or broken structure, - 20 points. Two points subtracted for each grammar, punctuation, diction error.

4. Get a jump on next week's reading

Pathos

Sixth Rule of Rhetoric: Feeling Some Kind of Way

pages 87 - 104, on the Social Construction of Emotions

Emotional appeals (Aristotle used the word pathos) are the form of arguments we encounter most often. Advertisements, for example, are almost always trying to push someone's buttons. If a given ad isn't aimed at you, you might notice what they are doing but if you are their target demographic, you might just feel what they want you to feel without noticing it happening. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. But knowing it can happen and paying attention are good things.

Below are some ads designed to push buttons.

Pick two to analyze: Which buttons does each push and how do they do it? Find a third on your own and analyze it in the same way.

Jameson: Inclusion

Nike: Equality

Monster: Humor

Kia: Prestige

Dialectical Dialogue

The 5 Canons of Rhetoric (p 108 - 112).

The section on dialectic (p 112 -134).

Example of Dialectic Pulp Fiction.

Example of Dialectic Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

Read the excerpt from Plato's Gorgias found in the textbook (p335 - 357).

If you have time, read the excerpts from Crucial Conversations

practice of dialectic

Write a short dialogue in which you differentiate one of the pairs of words on pages 129 and 130. If none of them appeal to you, choose your own pair of similar but ultimately different words.

Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Fifteen points deducted for choosing to differentiate "alone" from "lonely" -- it's too easy. Two points subtracted for each grammar, punctuation, diction error.

Topics

Seventh Rule of Rhetoric: Keep all the Arguments Handy
The Topics

1. The section on Topics (p. 134 - 142).
2. 

   There are two parts to this assignment. The first regards the topics of the preferable that are on pages 138, 139, 140. Each is a generalized pattern of thought.

   The first topic is what is scarcer is more valuable than what is abundant if value is the issue. A sentence that exemplifies that pattern might be, I'd pay $100 for an autographed copy of a book I wouldn't pay $10 for with no signature. The signed volume is much more rare than the unsigned volumes, right? So, it's worth more.

   The second topic is what is abundant is better than what is scarce if the thing in question needs to be useful. Eg, If I was hiking the Appalachian trail, I'd rather have a jar of peanut butter than a tin of caviar. (Peanut butter is nutrient dense, far more calorically abundant than caviar [I'm assuming; I should Google that]) I'd be burning more than 5000 calories a day on the trail. And I'd have to carry everything I had. So, nutrient dense is better in that case.

   The third topic:

   What is more difficult is preferable to what is easier once it is accomplished. What gives a person a better sense of accomplishment, a 5 mile bike ride on the Silver Comet Trail or a 10 mile hike on the Appalachian trail? Well, I'd be proud of myself for accomplishing either, but given how much harder 10 miles walking on rough terrain is vs riding on a paved surface, I'd be prouder sitting down to my peanut butter sandwich at the end of 10 miles on the AT than at the end of a 5 mile bike ride. In other words, the harder something is, the more people feel good about accomplishing it. If it was easy, you wouldn't place much value in it at all.

   For the assignment, try to come up with an example for each of the 35 topics. Some will seem so obvious as to require no example. Provide an example anyway. If the sentence you come up with seems to you self-explanatory, leave it at that. If you think I might not get it offer the explanation like I did above.

   For a slightly different explanation of topics, look here.

   Please number each topic. If you don't have an example, just write down the number and move on to the next one.

   The second part of the assignment is to create a list of sentences out of the words listed in the indented paragraph on page 140. Those words are descent, money, friends, relatives, etc. Imagine you need to write a speech in praise of someone. You want everyone in the audience to think, wow this person is really great. What do you talk about. Well, according to rhetorical tradition you would consider what you could say using each of the words in the list.

   Were they born with money or did they earn it? If born with it, then you would say something like growing up they had the best of everything but they never took anything for granted.

   For friends you might say, at college they joined the #flb sorority. Or maybe, they made friends with everyone in their classes, the most promising and the least.

   And so on.

   You aren't writing the whole speech. Just an outline composed of single sentences that you would, presumably elaborate on when you gave the actual speech.

   Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Since there are 35 topics of the preferable, let's say you get 2 points for each, assuming your example works. And you get 3 points for each of the topics of praise, so 10 correct sentences get's you 30 points.

Triads

Ninth Rule of Rhetoric: Choose Your Words Carefully
On Diction

1. Read "Diction" (p. 186 - 193).
2. Come up with at least 10 sets of Positive (euphemistic) / Neutral / Negative (disphemistic) words. Each word in each set should have the same denotation and differ only in connotation: they are NOT opposites. One way to test for this is to create a simple sentence where the meaning remains basically the same but the feeling changes as you swap the neutral for the positive for the negative word.
   1. That person is ambitious
   2. That person is competitive
   3. That person is domineering
   1. That person is fit
   2. That person is thin
   3. That person is scrawny
   1. re-imagine
   2. renovate
   3. fix
   This assignment is much harder than it may look. You need to use a dictionary and a thesaurus.

Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 10% of final grade. To get 100%, you need to have 10 flawless examples. For each error in any set of Positive/ Neutral / Negative adjectives, - 5%. Thus the most you can loose for any set of three is 10%.

Spring Break

Rhetoric and Power

The Tenth Rule of Rhetoric: You Can't be Good Unless you Know Bad
The Dark Side of Rhetoric

1. The fine art of manipulation in 41 sec.
2. Read "Machiavellian Rhetoric" (p. 306 - 317).
3. Write about ONE of the following:
   1. Which of the 48 Rules do you use and when/why?
   2. Flesh out the Rules of Weakness on 317
   3. Literature and TV (especially HBO) are full of Machiavellians. Today we might call them psychopaths, not so much Jeffrey Dahmer as Nurse Jackie (or Villanell of Killing Eve?). If you know or have met a Machiavell, what were they like and what was being with them like for you?
   4. What do you make of cold reading? Are there any circumstances in which you might want to do it or some variation of it?

Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Make sure you have an in introductory and concluding paragraph (-10% for either missing). Two points subtracted for each grammar, punctuation, diction error.

Character Traits of a Rhetor

1. Read "Character Traits of a Rhetor" (p.318 - 320).
2. What do you think?

Final Reflection on Class

Last week of class

Write a 500 or so word reflection on your experience in this class. List the things you learned. List the things covered in the book you wish we had written about. Comment on the assignments, on the website, on the book, the feedback you got. And anything else you would like me to know.

If you have any recommendations about this website, please include them.

Rubric: Graded out of 100. Worth 5% of final grade. Standard assessment measures apply.