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Humanities 2130:Introduction to Rhetoric
Walker 0120A
MWF 2:05-2:55pm, Fall 2014
Professor:Dr. Andy Fiss
Office Location:Walker 341
Office Hours:M 11:00am – 12:30pm, Th 12:30pm-2:00pm, or by appointment
E-mail:
Course Description/Overview
This class examines the classical origins, cultural contexts, and contemporary relevance of rhetorical traditions. In other words, we will read, write, and speak about how historical figures used language, how they persuaded each other, how they argued – in short, how they read, wrote, and spoke, too. We engage in this somewhat cyclical process in order to develop our senses of the history and practice of rhetoric (in its varied forms)so that we can see its occurrences and can use its tools in our own lives today.
University Student Learning Goal
The university has chosen this class to fulfill the student learning goal Critical and Creative Thinking:“Students will be able to think critically and creatively, as demonstrated by their broad, adaptable and versatile use of reasoning, logic, and evidence, to access and evaluate information and solve complex problems both independently and in groups.” The university’s rubric contains more information about the specific skills that fall under this category:
Also, the university senate asks me to make you aware that“student work products (exams, essays, projects, etc.) may be used for purposes of university, program, or course assessment. All work used for assessment purposes will not include any individual student identification.” (
In other words, after this class is over, external readers may assess your exams, essays, or projects according tothe goal above or other criteria. However, this process will occur after the semester has ended and will have no bearing on your course grade.
Course-Specific Learning Goals
Along with the goal above, ourfour main goals this semester will be:
- To begin to consider the broad historical trends surrounding the theory and practice of rhetoric.
- To build a sense of rhetoric as a web of intellectual and cultural influences, encompassing a range of historical and contemporary traditions and practices.
- To develop abilities to read for our own claims and the claims of others and to evaluate the use of evidence in our and others’ work.
- To start navigating various instances of speech and writing and to start introducing our voices into the debates.
Course Resources
Required Course Texts
- Patricia Bizzell and Bruce Herzberg (eds), The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present, Second Edition (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001). ISBN 0-312-14839-9
- Other short texts will be made available on our Canvas website.
Grading Scheme
Grading System
Letter Grade / Percentage / Grade points/credit / RatingA / 92.5% & above / 4.00 / Excellent
AB / 87.5% – 92.4% / 3.50 / Very good
B / 80% – 87.4% / 3.00 / Good
BC / 77.5% – 79.9% / 2.50 / Above average
C / 70% – 77.4% / 2.00 / Average
CD / 67.5% – 69.9% / 1.50 / Below average
D / 60% - 67.4% / 1.00 / Inferior
F / 59.9% & below / 0.00 / Failure
I / Incomplete; given only when a student is unable to complete a segment of the course because of circumstances beyond the student’s control.
X / Conditional, with no grade points per credit; given only when the student is at fault in failing to complete a minor segment of a course, but in the judgment of the instructor does not need to repeat the course. It must be made up by the close of the next semester or the grade becomes a failure (F).
Grading Policy
Responses / 10%Quizzes (announced in class) / 5%
Project 1: Present a Rhetorical Perspective (in Pairs) / 5%
Project 2: Propose a Case Study to be “Read” through a Rhetorical Perspective / 10%
Project 3: Create a Poster Applying the Rhetorical Perspective to Your Collected Cases (in Groups) / 15%
Midterm / 15%
Final / 20%
Attendance and Participation / 20%
Total / 100%
Late Assignments
All papers and projects are due at the beginning of class, and I cannot accept late submissions of certain class work, such as responses or informal writing exercises. A late paper will incur a penalty of 5% for each calendar day it is late.
Course Policies
Attendance, Participation, and Class Expectations: Humanities classes rely on the sharing of diverse ideas and perspectives. So, please be prepared to speak in class, and also make sure to listen attentively and generously. In building this community, your presence and active participation is essential. You may miss three classes this semester without penalty, but your attendance/participation grade will drop by 5% for each additional day missed. Also, excessive absences may result in a failing grade. Please let me know if you have to miss for religious observances or family/medical emergencies.
Responses: These short written exercises allow you to practice skills and tools that build toward your larger projects. By the beginning of scheduled class periods, post an entry of about 150to 250 words to our Canvas discussion board. I will usually post a question for you to answer. Because they build class discussion, responses will not be accepted late.
Examinations and Quizzes: The two exams in this class will feature a mix of multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, short-answer, and essay questions. The occasional quizzes are opportunities to practice those sorts of questions that will appear on exams.
Projects:The projects allow you to explore rhetorical traditions with different classmates and through different media. First, sign up for a day when you and a partner will present a rhetorical perspective to the class. Project 1 should feature your sense of the reading’s main ideas, as well as some conversation-starter: questions for the class or group activities. Next, Project 2 will be a 4-page, thesis-driven paper. Through library research, identify and argue for a case study (text, image, event, artifact) that you think can be “read” through a rhetorical perspective. Finally, Project 3 will be a research poster, informed by your library research and technology workshops about poster design. In assigned groups, create a poster that links your various collected case studies in order to build a better sense of the central rhetorical perspective(s). Note: These projects can be linked. You might choose to present about Aristotle’s Rhetoric, argue for its application to the HIV/AIDS Quilt, and then incorporate this piece into your group’s poster.
Collaboration v. Plagiarism
As this class becomes a learning community, I encourage you to discuss readings and assignments with each other, and certain assignments rely on working with your peers on writing, speaking, and designing. However, any paper or project must be original to that individual or group. It is not acceptable to copy the ideas, words, or designs of another person and try to pass them off as your own. These elements “stolen” from online or other sources may result in a failing grade for the assignment or for the class. The university and I consider plagiarism a serious offense.
University Policies
Quoted from:
Academic Integrity:“Academic regulations and procedures are governed by University policy. Academic misconduct cases will be handled in accordance the University's policies.”
Disability Services:“If you have a disability that could affect your performance in any class or that requires an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact your instructor [me!]or Disability Services at 487-1494as soon as possible so that appropriate arrangements can be made.”
Institutional Equity:“The Office of Institutional Equity has asked that you be made aware of the following: Michigan Technological University complies with all federal and state laws and regulations regarding discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.Michigan Tech has a policy of affording equal opportunity to all of its employees, students, applicants for employment, and applicants for admission without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, height, weight, genetic information, or marital status, disabled veteran status, veteran status, or disability.”
Course Schedule
The calendar might change. Please look for updates in Canvas.
Week 1
W 9/3Course Introduction: Why Study Rhetoric?
F 9/5No Class: K-Day
UNIT 1: READING CLASSICAL RHETORIC
Week 2
M 9/8Classical Greek Rhetoric
Read for class: Bizzell and Herzberg, pp.19-32
W 9/10Plato Arguing Against the Sophists
Read: Selections from Plato’s Gorgias (87-99)
F 9/12What did the Sophists Say?
Read: Gorgias’sEncomium of Helen (44-46); Isocrates’s Selection from Antidosis (75-79)
Write: Response 1
Week 3
M 9/15Aristotle on Rhetoric
Read: Selection from Aristotle’s Rhetoric (179-185)
W 9/17Aristotle’s Pathos and Ethos
Read: Selection from Aristotle’s Rhetoric (213-219)
F 9/19Greek Rhetoric in Greek Mathematics
Read: Selection from Euclid’s Elements (PDF)
Write: Response 2
Week 4
M 9/22Classical Roman Rhetoric
Read for class: Bizzell and Herzberg, pp.32-41
W 9/24Cicero’s Ideal Education
Read: Selections from Cicero’s On Oratory (289-292)
F 9/26Quintilian’s Expectations for Conduct, Writing, and Speech
Read: Selections from Quintilian’s Institutes of Oratory (364-369, 403-407, 412-418)
Write: Response 3
UNIT 2: WRITING THE MIDDLE AGES
Week 5
M 9/29Writing the Middle Ages: Part 1, Religious Treatises
Read for class: Bizzell and Herzberg, pp.429-441
W 10/1Reconciling Christian and Greco-Roman Traditions
Read: Selection from Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine (456-459)
F 10/3Reconciling Islamic and Greco-Roman Traditions
Read: Selection from IbnSina’sCanon of Medicine (PDF)
Write: Response 4
Week 6
M 10/6Writing the Middle Ages: Part 2, Letters and Sermons
Read for class: Bizzell and Herzberg, pp.441-449
W 10/8Medieval Letters
Read: Selections from Principles of Letter Writing (496-502); Laura Cereta’sLetter…Defense of the Liberal Instruction of Women (PDF)
F 10/10Preaching through and beyond the Middle Ages
Read: Selection from Robert of Basevorn’sThe Form of Preaching (528-532); Margaret Fell’s Women’s Speaking Justified, Proved, and Allowed by Scriptures (753-760)
Week 7
M 10/13Review Session for the Midterm
W 10/15Midterm Exam
F 10/17Looking Back on the Renaissance
Read for class: Bizzell and Herzberg, pp.555-580
UNIT 3: NATIONAL RHETORICS OF CHILDHOOD, PERSONHOOD, EDUCATION
Week 8
M 10/20Emerging National Rhetorics in the Enlightenment
Read for class: Bizzell and Herzberg, pp.791-813
W 10/22English and French Views of Childhood and Education
Read: Selections from John Locke’s Some Thoughts Concerning Education; Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Children and Civic Education; and Joseph Priestly’sEducation for Civil and Active Life (PDF)
F 10/24Scottish Responses
Read: Selection from George Campbell’s The Philosophy of Rhetoric (923-929)
Write: Response 5
Week 9
M 10/27Library Session
W 10/29American Interventions
Read for class: Bizzell and Herzberg, pp.983-993
F 10/31Women’s Education and Rights
Read: Selection from Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps’s Lectures to Young Ladies (PDF);The Declaration of Sentiments (PDF)
Write: Response 6
Week 10
M 11/3The Education and Personhood of African Americans
Read: Selection from Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1070-1075); Sojourner Truth’s Aint I a Woman? (PDF)
W 11/5Peer Review Session for Project 2
Bring in: Draft of Project 2
F 11/7No Class: Instructor at the History of Education Conference
Write: Response 7
UNIT 4: IMAGINING THE NEW RHETORIC
Week 11
M 11/10Rhetoric since the Nineteenth Century
Read for class: Bizzell and Herzberg, pp.1183-1188
W 11/12New Audiences
Read: Selection from Chaim Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca’sNew Rhetoric (1375-1379)
Bring in: Project 2
F 11/14New Debates
Read: Selection from Bruno Latour’sScience in Action (PDF)
Week 12
M 11/17New Traditions
Read: Selection from Sandra Harding’s Science and Social Inequality (PDF)
W 11/19Technology Workshop, Part 1
F 11/21New Media
Watch: “Jack Judith Halberstam on Chicken Run, Feminism, and Pixar Movies” (YouTube)
THANKSGIVING BREAK
Week 13
M 12/1Technology Workshop, Part 2
W 12/3Poster Session
Bring in: Project 3, Posters
F 12/5Digital Rhetorics
Read: Susan Delagrange, “(Re)Vision & Remediation” (online)
Week 14
M 12/8The Future of Rhetoric
Read for class: Bizzell and Herzberg, pp.1199-1205
W 12/10Everyday Rhetoric: The Present of Rhetoric
Write: Response 8
F 12/12Final Exam Review
Finals Week
Scheduled Final Exam