General Information
Instructor: Jim Ridolfo
Class Location: Monday, Wednesday, Friday - 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM, 112 Ernst
Bessey Hall, Thursday, 12:40 - 2:30 in 12 Olds Hall
Office: Bessey Hall Room 295
Office hours: TBA
E-mail: ridolfo@gmail.com
In this course we will be looking at how writing is conceived of (invented), composed (produced) and distributed (delivered) in 'radical' political contexts. Simply put, we will be looking at the ways political writings function as public writing. This sort of public writing includes a number of genres: press advisories, posters, digital films, position statements, leaflets etc. In this sense we will be examing the rhetoric and rhetorical contexts of writing. By the end if this class you will have a better understanding of how writing, research, and rhetorical theory are interrelated.
To study the recent past we will be using the tools of rhetorical analysis to investigate the essays, manifestos, flyers, leaflets, posters, documentary films and new media from the turn of the century to present. Many of our public texts we will be examining are located in the MSU Library's American Radicalism archive, which over the course of the semester, in addition to the library as a whole, you will become cloely acquainted. This archive provides us with a unique local opportunity to look first hand at and engage a range of documents from a wide variety of organizations.
We will be investigating how radical writings work by looking at how these writings function rhetorically. Together we will attempt to understand how writing is composed with a purpose and audience in mind, and how these texts are strategized in terms of their delivery.
Some of the questions guiding our discussions this semester include:
How is the writing composed with a consideration of delivery? How is the writing arranged for the purposes of delivery? How is the writing invented with specific sites of delivery in mind? How does the writing relate to other writings? What is the rhetorical context of composing? What is the rhetorical context of delivery? How do we document writing? How does the documentation of writing change in different mediums, institutions, and places?
This course is designed to help better prepare you for future college and professional writing contexts. Much of the writing we will be doing in this course, such as press advisories and releases, are materials well suited for a professional writing portfolio. Leaving this course, you will gain a have a broad range of writing strategies to help you, if you choose, begin to put your knowledge into practice.
Course Materials & Requirements
Course materials:
1) Wallack et all, News for a Change: An Activist's Guide to Working With the Media. -- also available on reserve at the MSU library main branch.
2) Crowley and Hawhee's Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, 3 rd ed. -- also available on reserve at the MSU Library's main branch.
3) Ability to read online articles available in HTML & PDF (University computing account).
4) A three-ring binder or online portfolio for keeping track of your work.
Course requirements:
Reading. Reading is an important part of learning in this class. You must--both to enable your own learning, as well as to contribute to the learning environment of others--come to class having done the assigned reading.
Conferences. You are required to meet with me for two conferences during the semester--one at_______ and one at _______. The function of these conferences is advisory (we'll talk about how you're doing) and developmental (I'll help you with projects you're currently working on). Further instructions to follow.
Peer workshops. Since this course assumes that good writing develops with revision, we well spend time in class working on drafts of essays. On days when you see "workshops" on the syllabus, be sure to bring a draft of your essay for revision work, along with enough copies for everybody in your group. We will be having local activists coming into the class to workshop with you on your work.
Online postings. You will be required to respond to the readings on the online message board for this class. Posts responding to the reading are due the same day the readings are due. So, for example: if a reading is assigned for next Monday, the post responding to the reading is also due that Monday.
Class participation. In order for the course to sustain energy and remain interesting and useful to all, everybody needs to participate. Participation includes many forms of engagement from taking part in class discussions to arriving at class on time. The ideal participant (someone who would earn a 4.0) speaks often, is always prepared for class, is helpful to others, listens attentively to what's going on, comes to class on time, and is generally a good citizen of the group.
Attendance. Attendance is critical to the learning environment of the course, so you should try to attend every class if possible. Because this isn't always possible (in other words, because S.H.) you may take up to 6 days off without penalty, no questions asked. After you use your S.H. allowance, however, you'll have .5 shaved off your final grade (so, for example, a 3.5 will become a 3.0). This means that you'll have to plan your time carefully--for instance, save absences for days when you're really sick or when you know you'll have other commitments.
Tardiness. Coming to class late is distracting to your fellow students and really annoys your instructor. Excessive and/or disruptive tardiness will be treated as absences at the discretion of the instructor. Do not test this policy.
Papers. All paper writing done in this class is to be shared with the class, both conceptually and physically, throughout the semester. This sharing will occur in peer revision exercises and talking about the paper structurally with the rest of the class. Therefore, topics that (to you) warrant a high degree of privacy are probably not appropriate writing subjects for this particular class.
Late papers. Because S.H., you may submit one paper (except for the final project, which is due during Exam Week) up to one week late with no questions asked. After you submit a paper late, though, you will receive a penalty on each additional late paper half a letter grade per week.
Revision. You can submit revisions to papers one two after they've been returned with grades--within certain constraints. 1. Opportunities for revision will be time-limited--that is, you must submit rewrites for papers 1-2 on or before the last month of the semester, and for short writing assignments you will have one week to submit your revisions; and 2. You must discuss your plan for revision with me before you proceed; and 3. You must include your graded and commented-on original version of the paper along with your revision.
Plagiarism. Plagiarism is the act using language and ideas from published sources without proper attribution (see your Spartan Student Handbook for policies on Academic Honesty, pp. 76-77). I expect that the work that you will be doing in this course is your own work. If you are working on a project with a classmate, you should be prepared to tell me what you've contributed to the group project. We will also be talking in class about what counts as plagiarism, why it's considered inappropriate, and how best to avoid it.
Major Due Dates:
Grading and Policies
Grading. All work will be assigned a grade consistent with MSU's 4-point grading system: 4.0 (A); 3.5 (A/B); 3.0, (B); 2.5 (B/C); 2.0 (C); 1.5 (C/D); 1.0 (D). Grades will be tallied as follows:
Major writing projects:
(20%). MP One: Rhetorical Analysis of Historical Documents (5 pgs)
(25%). MP Two: Final Project (5 pgs)
Writing modules:
(35%). There will be a short writing assignment due every two weeks. These will be a minimum of 2 pages and a maximum of three pages and will include composing press advisories, flyers, short annotated bibliographies, and responses to readings and/or class discussion. (12 pgs)
Writing modules willl be due exactly two weeks from their assigned date.
(10%). Class presentations (two total - 5% each).
(10%). Class and online participation.
---------------------------------
(100%). Total points.
Grading will be based on completion of the assignment criteria. Each major project assignment sheet will include a grading criteria rubric. The grading of class presentations and short writing modules will also be be explained at the time of their assignment.
P1. Rhetorical Analysis of Historical Documents. Due: Monday, October 18th (Rough draft due: Monday, September 26)
Your second project of the semester will be based on your original research into the under-utilized radical collections archive here at Michigan State. You will be doing an analysis of a major period from one of the collections, looking at how the posters, flyers, leaflets or documents are intended to function rhetorically. What is the audience of the documents? How effective are the texts? What is not effective about the texts? How do the texts utilize printing technologies and visual images?
Your second objective for the first project will be to, after developing a rhetorical understanding of the documents you have selected, find a range of supporting historical materials outside the collection to contextualize your work. If you are looking at the flyers for the Communist Party USA in the 1920's, you will be required to do a thorough rhetorical analysis of the documents based on our assigned class readings from Crawley-Hawhee's third edition of Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students.
Class presentations will be scheduled the week of Oct. 10-14.
P2. Final Project. Due: Monday, December 5th
For your final project this semester, you will be addressing the question of how network technologies, the emergence of the digital, are changing the ways certain activists organize, work, and communicate their documents and materials. Specifically, I want you to relate your arguments back to a place, space, and a struggle: in this sense, I want a rhetorical analysis of how a particular technology changes considerations of rhetorical composition and delivery.
Class presentations will be scheduled the last week of November.
Weekly Schedule
Week One (of Tues. A29): What is Rhetoric? What is Writing?
Week Two (of Mon. S5): What is Kairos? Press advisories.
Week Three (of Mon. S12): Stencils, Commonplaces, What is the Internet? Special Collections.
Week Four (of S19): Research Methods: WHOIS, Traceroute, Library, Google. State News Exercise. Module #1 due.
Week Five (of S26) Research Methods: Web.Archive, Print.Google Er. Lib, ARIN, Press releases. MW-1 drafts due.
Week Six (of O3): News Summaries, Rhetorical Delivery, Press Releases Cont. In-class peer review.
Week Seven (of O10): Module #3 due. Arrangement. Module #4 assigned (resume!)
Week Eight (of O17): Overview of resume writing. MW-1 due. Module #5 (Prospectus) assigned.
Week Nine (of O24): Testimonial Evidence. Film, Shattered Glass. Media Ethics & Writing. Plagiarism?!? Oral Presentations. Module #4 Due.
Week Ten (of O31): Module #4 due. Module #5 copies in class.
Week Eleven (of N7): Film Stone Reader. Rhetorical delivery & circulation. MW-2 Preparation. MLA. End of week Peer review of MW-2 prospectus.
Week Twelve (of N14): Conferences, feedback on final paper topics. Bibliographies due.
Week Thirteen (of N21): Peer review workshops. Revised prospectus due in class.
Week Fourteen (of N28): In-class peer review, World War Two propaganda films, discussion on technology rhetoric and persuasion.
Week Fifteen (of D5): Peer review, extended office hours, course wrap-up,
Major Writing #2 due Dec 11!
Resources for Writers:
Professional Writing Program:
Department of Writing, Rhetric and American Cultures:
Revelle Humanities Grammar Handbook:
Purdue OWL Handout on Plagiarism:
Angel Online Course System:
Libraries (Main Branch):
http://www.lib.msu.edu/
Phone: 432-6123
Computer Labs:
For information about hours, locations, and facilities, go to:
http://microlabs.msu.edu
The MSU Writing Center:
http://writing.msu.edu
Phone: 432-3610
E-mail: writing@msu.edu
The Writing Center is a free program available to all student writers at MSU. It offers individualized help on any kind of writing project, at any stage in its development. In addition to the tutorial assistance it provides, the Writing Center also houses instructional resources such as handouts, reference guides and technology instruction. The Writing Center is located in 300 Bessey Hall, and is open 5 days a week (M-Th 9-5; F9-2). There is also walk-in consulting at the Main Library (1 st floor, between the Cyber Café and the information desk); hours are 3-10 pm Monday through Thursday and on Sundays.