ENGL 520 - Modern Rhetorical Theory
Spring 2009
Th 5:30-8:00

What then is truth? A movable host of metaphors, metonymies, and anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and rhetorically intensified, transferred, and embellished, and which after long usage, seem to a people to be fixed, canonical, and blinding. Truths are illusions which we have forgotten are illusions; they are metaphors that have become drained of sensuous force, coins which have lost their embossing and are now considered as metal and no longer as coins. - Friedrich Nietzsche, On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, printed in Bizzell and Herzberg, page 1174

Nietzsche's claim here, one in which we find an historical turn toward understanding reality and truth from a linguistic perspective, marks the end of the 19th century and the beginning of our study in modern rhetorical theory. After all, Nietzsche's claim marked "a philosophical orientation with profound implications for understanding rhetorical practices and their status as social realities" (Hauser and Whalen 118). Rhetoric came to be viewed as epistemic, as constitutive, not as the representation of truth or reality but as reality itself. The new rhetoric theorized here, and pursued by Mikhail Bakhtin, I.A. Richards, Chaim Perelman, Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca, and many more, is to be the focus of our course over the coming weeks.

OBJECTIVES: Over the course of this summer term, you will come to understand the historical, philosophical, and cultural underpinnings of modern rhetoric. Additionally, you will become familiar with the major rhetorical theorists and currents of thought in contemporary rhetorical theory, and you will produce a scholarly paper on some aspect of modern rhetoric.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Bizzell, Pat and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present, 2nd edition. Boston: St. Martin's, 2001.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Students will identify key movements and themes in the history of rhetoric.
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of the constitutive nature of rhetoric.
• Students will gain an awareness of historical and cultural contexts that inform and build a theory of modern or new rhetorics.
• Students will be able to analyze critically specific discourses in terms of cultural and ideological contexts, i.e., students will come to understand the practice of rhetorical analysis
• Students will understand rhetoric as a distinctively contextual, ever-changing way of knowing.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS/ASSIGNMENTS

1. Journal Assignments: Each of you will be responsible for maintaining a journal based on our various readings throughout the semester. This material is quite dense at times, and you may find that writing about/reflecting upon your readings is helpful in comprehension and application. Writing prompts frequently will be made available—albeit you are encouraged to add to your journals and bring questions on topics for discussion to class. These prompts are designed to both direct your readings of the various texts and they are designed to help you focus your journal response.

2. Book Report: Books report will be 4-6 pages in length. Include information about the author, title of the book, publication place and date, a synopsis of the book's organization, application to/synthesis with course material (perhaps on the last page), and key/central excerpts and passages that we will all find revealing and insightful. Most books included on the bibliography are available in the library.

3. Short Essays: After course readings and discussions, you will write three short essays (4-6 pages in length). We shall cover the focus of these essays at the appropriate times.

4. Oral Reports: Each of you will give both an oral and written report on an assigned article. Reports should demonstrate your ability to synthesize new material (i.e., that material from the article) with material previously covered in class. Reports should last approximately 20 minutes and they should be accompanied by a 1-2 page handout.

5. Research Paper: The research paper may be an extended and more focused version of one of your short essays. A formal assignment sheet will introduce this assignment. Research papers should be approximately 10 pages in length, and you must use MLA style.

GRADING

Policies and Procedures

ATTENDANCE: Regular attendance is required.

REVISION POLICY: The goal for all assignments is for you to revise work prior to deadlines--prior to evaluation. As you revise your work, I encourage you to take advantage of my office hours, to e-mail me with questions, to schedule appointments with me.

If you wish to revise work after a deadline (and after a grade has been assigned to your completed assignment), you MUST SEE ME to make arrangements for this revision (viz. what you will do to revise the project, what new deadlines will apply, etc.). If you revise work, the final grade for a revised project will be calculated by averaging the grade on the original completed assignment with the grade on the revision.

PLAGIARISM:  The Student Handbook defines plagiarism as follows:

To plagiarize means to take someone else's words and/or ideas (or patterns of ideas) and to present them to the reader as if they are yours.  Plagiarism, then, is an act of stealing

At any time, however, that you read anything in preparation for a paper or consciously recall anything that you have read or heard, you must be prepared to provide documentation.

Purdue University's OWL (Online Writing Lab) and its information on avoiding plagiarism is a fine resource if you're uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism.

CAMPUS E-MAIL :  To enhance student services, the University (and therefore I) will use your UTC email address (firstname-lastname@utc.edu) for communications.  (See http://onenet.utc.edu for your exact address.)  Please check your UTC email on a regular basis.  If you have problems accessing your email account, contact the Help Desk at (423) 425-2676.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES :  If you are a student with a disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, etc.) and think that you might need assistance or accommodation in this class, call the Office for Students with Disabilities/College Access Program at 425-4006 or visit Frist 110.

Pledge to Students with Disabilities:  I pledge to work with you to seek departmental and University resources that will ensure access and/or accommodation in this class.

COUNSELING AND CAREER PLANNING :  If you find that personal problems, career indecision, study and time management difficulties, etc. are adversely affecting your successful progress at UTC, please contact the Counseling and Career Planning Center at 425-4438, or walk in to see a counselor between the hours of 9:00 to noon and 1:00 to 3:00 Monday through Friday--UC 338.

UNIVERSITY WRITING CENTER :  Take advantage of the free writers resources available to all UTC students, including one-on-one writing consultations, handbooks, style guides, and computers for research and for printing student texts.  The Writing Center is located in Holt 119.  Phone:  (423) 425-1774