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.
Grade breakdown
The following table represents the grade breakdown of this course.
| Activities and Assignments | Weight (%) |
|---|---|
| Introduce yourself | 5% |
|
Progymnasmata (8 x 7.5%) Students are required to complete 8 out of 11 progymnasmata | 60% |
| Final essay | 35% |
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 | 5% |
| 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 | 35% | |||
|
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.