ENGL 292
Course description and objectives
Description
In this course, we'll take a broad look at some of the foundational issues of the discipline of Rhetoric, beginning with theories of language and ending with technical and professional communication. In between, we'll dabble in social theory, new media, and the grammar of everyday life. This course is designed to strengthen your skills as a rhetorica "agent." Rhetoric is a living, breathing, active art, one that you already engage in every waking moment. All the materials that we cover shed light on the same basic processes of accessing, interpreting, and deploying the common grounds of meaning. Thus, the course is meant to unshackle your already-abundant rhetorical intelligence so that you will become a more engaged, articulate, savvy, persuasive, critical, and civil student and human being.
Objectives
In this course, you will learn how to:
- understand and apply the basic concepts in the discipline of rhetoric,
- practice these concepts in the analysis and/or creation of everyday texts,
- enhance your self-understanding of your own rhetorical practices in the new digital world, and
- enhance your awareness of the rhetorical culture in which you dwell.
This online course was developed by Dr. Andrew McMurry, with instructional design and multimedia development support provided by the Centre for Extended Learning. Further media production was provided by Instructional Technologies and Multimedia Services.
Materials and resources
Textbooks
Required
- Language Matters, 2nd edition, Donna Jo Napoli and Vera Lee-Schoenfeld, Oxford University Press, 2010.
- The Essential Guide to Rhetoric, 2nd edition, William Keith and Christian Lundberg, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2017.
For textbook ordering information, please contact the Waterloo Bookstore.
For your convenience, you can compile a list of required and optional course materials through BookLook using your Quest userID and password. If you are having difficulties ordering online and wish to call the Waterloo Bookstore, their phone number is +1 519-888-4673 or toll-free at +1 866-330-7933. Please be aware that textbook orders CANNOT be taken over the phone.
Course readings
The course readings can be accessed from the Module Landing pages.
Resources
Library services for co-op students on work term and distance education students
Grade breakdown
The following table represents the grade breakdown of this course.
| Activities and Assignments | Weight (%) |
|---|---|
| Introduce yourself | Ungraded |
|
Progymnasmata (10 x 6%) Students are required to complete 10/11 progymnasmata |
60% |
| Final examination | 40% |
Course Schedule
| Module | Readings | Activities and Assignments | End/Due Date | Weight(%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Module 1: Language - The origins of language and its limits |
Text: Language Matters: Chs. 1 and 2 |
Introduce yourself | Tuesday, September 14, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
Ungraded |
| Progymnasma 1: The fable | Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% | ||
| Module 2: Language - Structure in language and the shape of thought |
Text: Language Matters: Chs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 |
Progymnasma 2: Structural analysis |
Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Module 3: Language - Varieties of English and the language of identity |
Text: Language Matters: Chs. 8, 9, 10, and 11 |
Progymnasma 3: Micro-varieties of English field work |
Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Module 4: Rhetoric - Early literacy and the emergence of rhetoric |
Text: The Essential Guide to Rhetoric: pp. 3-31; 37-52; 58-64 |
Progymnasma 4: What is truth Friedrich? |
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Module 5: Rhetoric - From classical to contemporary rhetoric |
Text: The Essential Guide to Rhetoric: pp. 53-57 |
Progymnasma 5: Baby, I'm lovin' it |
Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Reading: Killingsworth, Appeals in Modern Rhetoric, pp. 1-10 |
||||
| Reading Week (Saturday, October 10, 2020 to Sunday, October 18, 2020) | ||||
| Module 6: Rhetoric - Twists and turns in language and the power of metaphor |
Text: The Essential Guide to Rhetoric: pp. 65-73 |
Progymnasma 6: The Hummer H4 |
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Reading: Larson, Metaphors for Environmental Sustainability, pp. 2-22 |
||||
| Module 7: Media - McLuhan and the laws of media |
Reading: McLuhan, "Communication: McLuhan's Laws of the Media", pp. 74-78 |
Progymnasma 7: The laws of media |
Thursday, November 4, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Reading: McLuhan, "The Agenbite of Outwit" |
Review Progymnasma 8: McMurry's unplugged experiment |
|||
| Module 8: Media - Communication in the digital era |
Reading: Carr, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" |
Progymnasma 8: McMurry's unplugged experiment |
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Reading, Major, "Thoreau's Cellphone Experiment" |
||||
| Module 9: Media - Power of ideas and ideas of power |
Reading: Fairclough, Language and Power, pp. 73-83 |
Progymnasma 9: "Power in everyday life" field work |
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Module 10: Power - Language through the microscope |
Text: Language Matters: Ch. 13 |
Progymnasma 10: Analyzing discourse |
Wednesday, November 25, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Reading: Machin and Mayr, How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis, pp. 186- 206 |
||||
| Module 11: Power - Professional (mis)communication and ethics |
Reading: Katz, "The Ethic of Expediency" |
Progymnasma 11: The ethic of expediency |
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 11:55 PM |
6% |
| Module 12: Power - Phronesis |
Reading: Wallace, "Kenyon Commencement Address" |
|||
| Final examination | 40% | |||
| Progymnasmata: Students are required to complete 10/11 progymnasmata at 6% each for a total of 60% of the course grade. |
||||
Official grades and course access
Official Grades and Academic Standings are available through Quest.
Your access to this course will continue for the duration of the current term. You will not have access to this course once the next term begins.
Course and department policies
Late submission
The progymnasmata will have a late penalty of 10% per day.
Intellectual property
Students should be aware that this course contains the intellectual property of their instructor, TA, and/or the University of Waterloo. Intellectual property includes items such as:
- Lecture content, spoken and written (and any audio/video recording thereof);
- Lecture handouts, presentations, and other materials prepared for the course (e.g., PowerPoint slides);
- Questions or solution sets from various types of assessments (e.g., assignments, quizzes, tests, final exams); and
- Work protected by copyright (e.g., any work authored by the instructor or TA or used by the instructor or TA with permission of the copyright owner).
Course materials and the intellectual property contained therein are used to enhance a student’s educational experience. However, sharing this intellectual property without the intellectual property owner’s permission is a violation of intellectual property rights. For this reason, it is necessary to ask the instructor, TA and/or the University of Waterloo for permission before uploading and sharing the intellectual property of others online (e.g., to an online repository).
Permission from an instructor, TA or the University is also necessary before sharing the intellectual property of others from completed courses with students taking the same/similar courses in subsequent terms/years. In many cases, instructors might be happy to allow distribution of certain materials. However, doing so without expressed permission is considered a violation of intellectual property rights.
Please alert the instructor if you become aware of intellectual property belonging to others (past or present) circulating, either through the student body or online. The intellectual property rights owner deserves to know (and may have already given their consent).
University policies
Submission times
Please be aware that the University of Waterloo is located in the Eastern Time Zone (GMT or UTC-5 during standard time and UTC-4 during daylight saving time) and, as such, the time that your activities and/or assignments are due is based on this zone. If you are outside the Eastern Time Zone and require assistance with converting your time, please try the Ontario, Canada Time Converter.
Accommodation due to illness
If your instructor has provided specific procedures for you to follow if you miss assignment due dates, term tests, or a final examination, adhere to those instructions. Otherwise:
Missed assignments/tests/quizzes
Contact the instructor as soon as you realize there will be a problem, and preferably within 48 hours, but no more than 72 hours, have a medical practitioner complete a Verification of Illness Form.
Email a scanned copy of the Verification of Illness Form to your instructor. In your email to the instructor, provide your name, student ID number, and exactly what course activity you missed.
Further information regarding Management of Requests for Accommodation Due to Illness can be found on the Accommodation due to illness page.
Missed final examinations
If this course has a final exam and if you are unable to write a final examination due to illness, seek medical treatment and have a medical practitioner complete a Verification of Illness Form. Email a scanned copy to the Centre for Extended Learning (CEL) at extendedlearning@uwaterloo.ca within 48 hours of your missed exam. Make sure you include your name, student ID number, and the exam(s) missed. You will be REQUIRED to hand in the original completed form before you write the make-up examination.
After your completed Verification of Illness Form has been received and processed, you will be emailed your alternate exam date and time. This can take up to 2 business days. If you are within 150 km of Waterloo you should be prepared to write in Waterloo on the additional CEL exam dates. If you live outside the 150 km radius, CEL will work with you to make suitable arrangements.
Further information about Examination Accommodation Due to Illness regulations is available in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Academic integrity
In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. If you have not already completed the online tutorial regarding academic integrity you should do so as soon as possible. Undergraduate students should see the Academic Integrity Tutorial and graduate students should see the Graduate Students and Academic Integrity website.
Proper citations are part of academic integrity. Citations in CEL course materials usually follow CEL style, which is based on APA style. Your course may follow a different style. If you are uncertain which style to use for an assignment, please confirm with your instructor or TA.
For further information on academic integrity, please visit the Office of Academic Integrity.
Turnitin
Turnitin.com: Text matching software (Turnitin®) may be used to screen assignments in this course. Turnitin® is used to verify that all materials and sources in assignments are documented. Students’ submissions are stored on a U.S. server, therefore students must be given an alternative (e.g., scaffolded assignment or annotated bibliography), if they are concerned about their privacy and/or security. Students will be given due notice, in the first week of the term and/or at the time assignment details are provided, about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin® in this course.
It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor if they, in the first week of term or at the time assignment details are provided, wish to submit the alternate assignment.
Discipline
A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing an academic offence, and totakeresponsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needshelp inlearning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration, should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate Associate Dean. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline. For typical penalties, check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.
Appeals
A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, (other than a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline, may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72 - Student Appeals.
Grievance
A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.
Final grades
In accordance with Policy 46 - Information Management, Appendix A - Access to and Release of Student Information, the Centre for Extended Learning does not release final examination grades or final course grades to students. Students must go to Quest to see all final grades. Any grades posted in Waterloo LEARN are unofficial.
AccessAbility services
AccessAbility Services, located in Needles Hall, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodation to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with AccessAbility Services at the beginning of each academic term and for each course.
Accessibility statement
The Centre for Extended Learning strives to meet the needs of all our online learners. Our ongoing efforts to become aligned with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) are guided by University of Waterloo accessibility Legislation and policy and the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. The majority of our online courses are currently delivered via the Desire2Learn Learning Environment. Learn more about Desire2Learn’s Accessibility Standards Compliance.
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