Syllabus

Penn State Greater Allegheny
Department of Communications
Fall 2013 CAS 201
Rhetorical Theory

Instructor: Michael Vicaro
Email: mpv2@psu.edu
Office: 106A Main
Office hours: M 9:30am-12:00pm and Th 12:30-2pm and by appointment
Class Meetings Monday 1pm-3:45pm
Class Room: Frable 310

Course Description
This course will explore the theory, criticism, and practice of rhetoric (the art of civic discourse), a fundamental concept in the study of communication and a ubiquitous aspect of human experience. Beginning with the teachings of the Ancient Greeks, we will look at how great thinkers have understood, defined, and theorized rhetoric throughout time. We will identify rhetoric’s presence in contemporary life—from personal interactions at school and work to graffiti on the street corner, from political speeches on television to the barrage of advertisements we encounter nearly everywhere. We will also focus on a set of voices not typically heard, including a special focus on the writing and speech of the imprisoned.

Goals: Upon successful completion of the course, students will have
1. Developed skills to recognize and analyze persuasive appeals in a variety of texts and experiences
2. Learned about basic concepts in rhetorical theory (e.g. ethos, pathos, logos, audience, identification, etc.) and some advanced concepts (e.g. body rhetoric, visual rhetoric, the rhetoric of political dissent).
3. Developed expertise in a specific area of public discourse through a semester-long focus on one main issue, idea, or controversy
4. Produced a multi-media advocacy project that contributes to the discourse about some significant public problem, issue, or event.

Texts
You are not required to buy a book for this course. I will provide a number of articles and handouts to be posted on Angel.

Requirements/Assignments:

1. Weekly writing (200 pts): Each week, you will be asked to write a blog entry that responds to and engages with some aspect of public discourse. The blog should serve as a “safe space” to explore ideas and as a record of your engagement with the course
a. There are two main kinds of blog entries for this course:
i. Entries that respond to course readings and discussion topics: Each week’s readings will be accompanied by a set of questions to which you may respond. The questions will be open-ended and typical responses will be 2-4 paragraphs. They will be evaluated for the clarity of your writing and the depth of your engagement with the ideas.
ii. Entries that focus on examples of public discourse: For these entries, students produce a written analysis of interesting, powerful, controversial (or just plan bad) examples of public rhetoric (including speeches, images, short films, advertisements, discussions, etc). Can you find provocative public discourse that demands our response? The best entries will use course concepts and vocabulary in the analysis.
1. Note: For the final advocacy project, each student will be responsible for developing a special focus on one area of public discourse (a specific issue, controversy, speaker, etc.). You may choose to dedicate a set of blog entries to this special topic—applying course concepts and vocabulary to the analysis of the public discourse around your issue.
iii. We will discuss your blog entries during the following class meeting.

2. Class Participation (100 pts):
a. You will be evaluated weekly on your classroom participation. A good participation grade requires consistent engagement with class readings and discussions, asking good questions, bringing illustrative examples, playing a leadership role in the class. You’ll also be asked to report on your advocacy project and to workshop on classmates’ projects.
b. In addition, you will be asked to serve as a discussion leader for part of at least one course meeting. You will choose the discussion topic, provide readings or media texts, frame discussion questions, and then lead the class conversation. You may work alone or in groups of 2 or 3 if you wish.

3. Exam (200 pts)
a. The course will feature one exam around the mid-term period of the semester. The exam will be a take-home, written response to a set of questions that will require you to apply course concepts and vocabulary to an example of your choosing.

4. Advocacy Project (500 points)
a. This project will require you to study and respond to a specific public issue, event, problem or controversy. The project will include a written analysis that situates your special topic in historical context; and identifies key arguments, persuasive voices, and points of silence or misunderstanding. It will also include a multimedia response by you—your contribution to the public discourse—you might think of this as a kind of “persuasive speech.” Lastly, the project will include a written self-evaluation that will employ the concepts and vocabulary from the course readings and discussion (and thus serve as a final exam). I’ll provide assignment sheets and grading rubrics for each portion of the assignment and you’ll have the opportunity to workshop drafts of your work along the way.

Attendance:
• Active attendance is crucial for your personal success in this course and a responsibility you have to your fellow students. Prior notification of a legitimate reason for absence (or within 24 hrs after an unexpected absence) is required.

Additional Resources:
• Helpful websites to check out: www.americanrhetoric.com; http://rhetoric.byu.edu/, http://www.youtube.com/user/binerman,

Students with Special Needs
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact your instructor and Victoria Garwood (Frable 102, vkg2@psu.edu), the campus’ Disability Contact Liaison. Please do so at the very start of the semester so that we can provide appropriate support.

Academic Integrity
Students in this course will be expected to comply with Penn State’s Policy on Academic Integrity. Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner.

Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University’s Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’ dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts.

Academic integrity includes a commitment by all members of the University community not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromise the worth of work completed by others. Any student suspected of violating this obligation will be required to participate in the disciplinary processes outlined in the guidelines on Academic Integrity. www.psu.edu/dept/ufs/policies/47-00.html#49-2

Some special topics for Consideration

War and public discourse
Law and public discourse
Science and public discourse
Healthcare and public discourse
Religion and public discourse
Sports and public discourse
Advertising and public discourse
Music as public discourse
Dance as public discourse
Design as public discourse
Drugs and public discourse
Violence and/as public discourse
Disobedience, Protest, Dissent
Rap as rhetoric
Video Games as public discourse
Graffiti as rhetoric
Literature as rhetoric
Architecture as rhetoric

Political rhetoric
Presidential rhetoric
Rhetoric and social change
Rhetoric and race
Rhetoric and class
Rhetoric and gender
Rhetoric and news broadcasts
A specific theorist
A specific persuasive speaker or speech
A specific controversy

CAS 201 Vicaro