CCC Connection
Because Corning Community College sponsors this course, much of what we do mirrors the course description of English 1010 at CCC. Particularly, we emphasize “the development of expository and argumentative writing” through the well-recognized sequential steps of the writing process, including peer and teacher review prior to final editing. CCC expects you to write at least 3500 words for the course.
 
Here are the course outcomes as described by CCC:
 
Students should demonstrate competency in the following areas:
 
A.  Reading and analyzing arguments and other rhetorical models by:
 1.  Identifying major premises.
 2.  Locating and evaluating supporting evidence.
 3.  Recognizing claims and/or deductive conclusions.
 4.  Determining logical validity.
 
 B.  Prewriting techniques that include:
1.  Generating ideas through freewriting, brainstorming, discussion, reading, research, etc.
2.  Analyzing the audience.
3.  Evaluating ideas and formulating a unifying thesis.
4.  Organizing material into a coherent plan.
 
 C.  Composing well-organized essays that:
1.  Include clear theses.
2.  Support those theses with appropriate evidence and appeals.
3.  Avoid fallacies of logic and avoid clichéd or unexamined items.
4.  Define terms sufficiently.
5.  Employ language appropriate to college level writing.
6.  Anticipate and refute counterarguments where appropriate.
7.  Comprise well-developed body paragraphs, introductions, and conclusions.
   8.  Conform to standard usage, grammar and mechanics.
 
 
 D.  Creating researched essays through the process of:
1.  Choosing and refining a topic that conforms to assigned criteria.
2.  Locating and evaluating supportive material.
3.  Properly employing quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material.
4.  Utilizing the MLA system.
 

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Text:
Faigley, Lester and Jack Selzer. Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments: Second Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2004.

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Assignments
The college requires at least “six evaluated structured writing assignments, primarily argumentative, totaling a minimum of 3500 words” and a one thousand word research paper.
 

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Attendance:
Because we will depend so much on critiquing each other’s papers, you will want to attend each class.
Remember that DCS has an attendance policy that may affect your grade. You will also want to know that CCC requires attendance of at least 86% for its students to get credit for a class (no more than 6 absences out of 45 hours).
 

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Plagiarism
We are bound, by honor and by the Dundee discipline code, to attribute others’ ideas, information, and phrasing to those others. Any assignment violating this requirement AT ANY STAGE OF ANY DRAFT will earn a zero, IMMEDIATELY. Read the Student Handbook for other consequences. If you have doubts or questions about what you’re doing, see your teacher.

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Lesson Plans
Plans are available on the classroom door and by going on the Internet to <http://docushare.edutech.org >, clicking on the EduTech School Districts folder, then on the Dundee Central School folder, next on the Junior-Senior High School folder, and finally on the folder for our plans.
 

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Grades and Grading
You can calculate your quarter grade roughly by averaging your composition grades (weighted as 90% of the report card) and any tests (weighted as 10% of the report card grade).
 

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Tests
You may expect tests as preparation for discussion and writing.
 

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Writing Assignments
Timely papers earn full credit, and late papers will be docked, unless you have made specific arrangements for an extension. Papers should be typed and double-spaced, with one inch margins. Label them in the top left corner of the first page with your name and the date; on the top right hand corner with ACE/AP English, and the assignment (Bradford Paper, for example). Give your papers a thoughtful title, and use the MLA method of parenthetical citation to refer to specific passages in a text. We will review citations in class. You will find models at <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html > and in your text.
 
Generally, you should provide completely original essays; this course intends to develop your skills to analyze text, not your skill at reporting what others have reported. That is, unless your instructor specifically recommends research, you will provide totally independent thinking and writing.
 
Papers should be emailed, following the instructions below. Please read both of the following paragraphs before you do anything else.
 
At the time of writing of this syllabus, I do not know whether we will have access to <turnitin.com>. If we do, I will walk you through the process of using it.
 
If we don’t use <turnitin.com>, you should email your work to <mscher@dundeecs.org>, preferably as an attachment in Microsoft Word. [NOTE: that’s WORD, not WORKS. If you are on a Mac, use Word, AppleWorks, or ClarIf we don’t use <turnitin.com>, you should email your work to <mscher@dundeecs.org>, preferably as an attachment in Microsoft Word. [NOTE: that’s WORD, not WORKS. If you are on a Mac, use Word, AppleWorks, or ClarisWorks]. If you cannot provide a copy by email, you may provide the file on a disk.
 
If you cannot get access to a computer (even on campus), please let me know, so that we can develop a workaround. You will earn the first twenty points on each assignment written out of class by submitting work this way.
 
For some assignments, we will also need a printed version.
 

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Contacting me:
by voice-mail at 607.243.5533, ext 7219
by email to <mscher@dundeecs.org>
 

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Schedule (subject to modification)

 
Weeks 01-02. Sep. 7-16:
1.  Groups of students make certain that the class understands key points in this syllabus and show how the early classes connect to the later classes in subject matter—particularly in skills and knowledge. You will leave this section of the class knowing how this syllabus impacts your work.
2.  Review the writing process and our rubric. Students examine a sample student essay, demonstrating its strengths and weaknesses as the rubric applies to it. You will leave this section of the course assured of how the rubric applies to essay writing and how you can use it to improve your own work.
3.  Review the issue of documenting sources and avoiding plagiarism. As assigned, individual students explain issues raised in Faigley 297-304. After modeling by the teacher, individual students show how Thomas uses sources in 310-318. You will leave this section of the course knowing when and how to document sources.
4.  Define “argument.” Prior to discussion read Faigley, 1–4. Bring to class a list of at least five arguments that you observed recently.
5.  In class, help each other make a list of things that “tick you off,” for use later.
6.  Write an ungraded writing sample on this topic: why should you be taking this course? We will make time for work on this topic in class, and we will agree on a deadline for this assignment.
 
 
Weeks 03-04. Sep. 19-30:
 
1.  Learn and apply some of the rules of logical argument. You will be asked to teach the rest of the class how to find and avoid certain of the logical fallacies listed at <http://www.datanation.com/fallacies/index.htm >, so go there before class. See also Faigley, 46–47. I will let you know which particular fallacies you will explain to the class. This section of the course will reinforce your skills in logic.
7.  Develop deductive skills:
Prior to class, go to <http://www.ballandclaw.com/vermeer > for samples of paintings. and go to <http://www.haberarts.com/vermeer2.htm > for a sample of the detailed observation that you will be cultivating. I will work with the entire class to model how to find organizing principles in certain of Vermeer’s work.
Go to <http://docushare.edutech.org/dscgi/ds.py/View/Collection-6515 > for samples of student writing of this kind.
In class, students reveal principles of composition that govern selected pieces by Vermeer.
8.  Write a deductive essay from a painting to be assigned. We will set a due date for this essay.
After teacher evaluation is complete, we will spend several days in ungraded revision after peer review. For that purpose, read Faigley, 211–222.
In this section, you will improve your ability to determine how other artists (yes, you are an artist) organize their work and you will improve your ability to use and organize detail.

 
 
Weeks 05-06. Oct. 3-Oct. 14:
Defining rhetoric, ethos, pathos, logos, rhetorical context, and rhetorical situation. We will examine some samples of rhetoric in common use (editorials, sales material, letters, essays, for example). Then we will examine the rhetoric in the readings listed below. In this section of the course you will recognize certain matters of rhetoric, so that you can apply them to your own thinking and writing.
Before class, read Faigley 13 and then 5–27. Watch especially for ethos and pathos. Be ready to answer the following questions in class:
1.  What is Carson’s central argument?
2.  What reasons does Carson provide to support her argument?
3.  In what ways does Carson establish herself as a credible voice in this debate? In what ways does she reach out to the emotions and values of her audience?
4.  How does the structure of this chapter—the way that she presents the material—reflect Carson’s awareness of her audience? (Lupfer, Eric and Victoria Davis. Instructor’s Manual to Accompany Faigley/Selzer. . . NY: Pearson, Longman, 2004, 7.)
 
Read Faigley, 42–43; then read the explanations in 28–48. In this section, you will confirm your ability to recognize certain kinds of “good reasons,” as an element of logos.
Examine Guinier 48–54 in light of the “Questions for Finding Good Reasons,” 42–43. Be ready to explain your findings in class, with answers to the following questions, especially in light of logos:
 
1.  What are Guinier’s central claims?
2.  Choose one of Guinier’s central claims. What reasons and evidence does she provide to support this claim?
3.  Consider the logical structure of Guinier’s argument.
�   Does she argue by definition? If so, how?
�   Does she argue from value or consequence? If so, how?
�   Does she compare or contrast? If so, how?
�   Does she counter objections to her position? If so, how?
4.  Why is Guinier’s argument arguable? (Lupfer 13)
 
Examine Malkin’s article in Faigley, 470-480. We will take some time to evaluate her rhetoric. Start with an answer to these general questions: what is her central claim and how fully does she persuade you? In class, be ready to show how she uses rhetorical devices as part of her argument.
 
Follow the directions in Faigley, 54, items 1–6, to write on one of the topics you devised called “things that tick you off” [ see our first section, item #5] for peer examination. Turn your essay in on a date to be announced. For this essay, you should focus your attention on devising “good reasons.”
Once your peers have evaluated your logos, we will spend some effort in revising. For that purpose, we will return to Faigley, 211–222. The class will be looking over some of your paragraphs to see how attention to Faigley, 211–222 improves your work. That means that we will be projecting publicly your pre-Faigley, 211–222 draft and your post-Faigley, 211–222 draft.
 
Weeks 07-08. Oct. 17-Oct. 28:
 
Read Faigley, 57–75. Be ready to tell the class whether or how the information on pp. 42–43 applies here; also answer the following questions, with an eye for issues of audience:
 
For Reilly, “Bare in Mind”:
 
1.  What are Reilly’s central claims? What reasons does Reilly provide to support his claims?
9.  Who is Reilly’s audience? Has he crafted his argument to be persuasive to this audience? If so, how? If not, why not?
10.  Name an audience for whom Reilly’s essay would not be persuasive. Why would this audience resist Reilly’s argument? Could this argument be made in a different way to persuade this audience? If so, how?
 
For “Got Milk”
 
1.  What are the implied arguments of this advertisement?
11.  Would this advertisement have been more effective if its argument had been made explicitly? Why or why not?
12.  In what magazines, and with what audiences, might this advertisement not be effective? Why? (Lupfer 18)
 
 
Do the assignment in Faigley, 75–76, using directions for items 1 and 2. Print your paragraphs for peer review. Your peers will be asking whether you met the rhetorical criteria of the assignment. You will turn in a final draft for a grade at a time to be announced. For this assignment, you will focus your attention on identifying and aiming at particular audiences.
 
Read Faigley, 77–102. Tell the class
1.  What are the central claims of White’s essay?
13.  How does White establish his ethos? [Notes in the margins say,] “he makes himself seem enormously sympathetic and trustworthy.” How does he do so?
14.  How does White connect with his readers’ values and assumptions? (Lupfer 23)
From Easterbrook, in Faigley, 645–653, follow the steps in Faigley, 100–102. Turn in an early draft at a date to be announced and a final draft at a date to be announced. For this assignment, you are focusing on “good reasons,” audience, and ethos. That is, you are concentrating on logos, pathos, and ethos. We will schedule a Writers’ Workshop to improve your drafts.
 
Weeks 09-10. Oct. 31-Nov. 11:
 
Read Faigley, 107–128 for understanding of the importance of “definition.” Answer the following questions for discussion in class:
For McCloud,
1.  What is McCloud’s central claim?
15.  What reasons does he provide to support his claim?
16.  Why, according to McCloud, is this argument important?
17.  Identify the ethical and pathetic appeals that McCloud employs in making his argument. Are they effective? If so, why? If not, why not?
 
For O’Connor,
1.  What is O’Connor’s central claim?
18.  What reasons does she provide to support her claim?
19.  Why, according to O’Connor, is this argument important?
20.  Identify the ethical and pathetic appeals that O’Connor employs in making her argument. Are they effective? If so, why? If not, why not?(Lupfer 29)
With these pieces you had been clarifying and working with ethos, pathos, and definition. In local or national debates that you care about, find two definitional issues and demonstrate to the class how those issues affect the argument. For example, what definitions are involved in the slogan, “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people” or in the words “political conservative” or “political liberal” (as in “Richard Cohen is a liberal writer”; “George Will is a conservative writer”)?
 
Now that you have a firmer handle on definition argument, follow the directions in Faigley, 125–127, in writing an essay. In addition to focusing on definition, you will focus on your skills with ethos and pathos. We will determine the due date.
 
Weeks 11-12. Nov. 14-Dec. 02 (with Thanksgiving holiday):
At this point, we will dig deeper into logical argument, with causal arguments. So, before class, read Faigley, 129–152.
Be ready to show the class
1.  What is the central claim of Tufte’s argument? What is his purpose in making this argument?
21.  What reasons does he use to support his claim?
22.  According to Tufte, how can credible graphic elements add to an audience’s understanding of a causal claim? Conversely, how can graphic elements that are used poorly detract from the credibility of a causal claim. (Lupfer 32) Finally, how do graphics affect ethos?
 
Apply your new skills to the article by E. Johnson at <http://docushare.edutech.org/dsweb/View/Collection-7119 >.
In an essay, explain what methodology Johnson used (something akin to J. S. Mill’s in Faigley, 130–131? Something else?) Was this method effective? Why or why not? If the method was unsuccessful, . . . suggest another method of approaching the argument. (Lupfer 32). In this essay, you are adding additional focus on logos. We will set a due date for this essay.
 
In a second essay, follow the directions in Faigley, 149–152. In this essay, you are confirming your ability to practice the skills emphasized so far in our work. We will set a due date for this essay and we will schedule a Writers’ Workshop. Beforehand, return to your earlier essays to generate a needs list— what are the most significant or most common ways to improve your writing, as reflected in evaluation of your earlier work?
s
Week 13-14. Dec. 05-Dec. 22:
 
In our next section, you will develop and deepen your skills in evaluation argument. For that purpose, read Faigley, 153–167. In class, show your peers:
 
For Gable and Handler,
1.  What is the central claim of the article? What is the authors’ purpose for making this argument?
2.  What criteria do they use to evaluate Colonial Williamsburg? Are these criteria aesthetic, practical, moral, or a combination of the three?
3.  Does this article contain an implicit or an explicit evaluative argument? Why might Gable and Handler have chosen to present their argument in this way?
4.  This article appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, a journal with an audience of academic and educational professionals. What criteria might Gable and Handler have used instead if they were writing this article for a popular travel magazine?
 
 
For Pocek,
1.  What is the central claim of Pocek’s argument? What is her purpose for making this argument?
2.  What criteria does Pocek use in her evaluation? Are these criteria aesthetic, practical, moral, or a combination of the three?
3.  What other type of argument is Pocek making? Where and how does she incorporate this other type of argument? Does this strategy add to or detract from her central claim?
4.  How is Pocek’s ethos different from that of Gable and Handler? Is her ethos effective for the type of argument she is making and for her rhetorical situation? Why or why not? (Lupfer 36–37)
 
Week 15. Jan. 3-Jan. 6:
We will use class time to devise a poll on a topic that might — or might not — have significance. Where can you find the best pizza? The best barbecue? The best local band? The most friendly computer system? The best sports team? The best movie? We will probably work on this in several stages: devise a poll, administer it, make sure of what criteria the respondents used, revise the poll, administer it again. Identify to the class what rhetorical matters we have to consider in this exercise.
 
You will follow up this exercise by following the directions in Faigley, 166–167. We will decide when this is due.
 
Weeks 16-20: the research paper (1000 word minimum).
This project will include work with the DCS librarian and a trip to CCC’s library. I will provide a more detailed schedule for due dates of various stages of progress with this culminating project.
 
You will notice that this schedule leaves very little time for flexibility. For that reason, and because each assignment builds on the preceding, you need to turn in your work on time.
 

 

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