Introduction to College Writing/Participating in the Electronic Democracy Project
Composition
English Composition II - Academic Writing
Advanced Expository Writing: Rhetoric and Culture in an Electronic Democracy
Civic Discourse
Political Rhetoric and the Media

Introduction to College Writing/Participating in the Electronic Democracy Project
Deborah Burns, Merrimack College

Required Texts:

Branscomb, H. Eric. Casting Your Net: A Student's Guide to Research on the Internet. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998 (CN).

Hatch, Gary Layne. Arguing in Communities. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1999.

Intercollegiate Democracy Project Web site: http://www.trincoll.edu/writcent/edproject.html

Course Description:

This course is affiliated with the Intercollegiate Electronic Democracy Project, a collaborative project that links students and faculty interested in public writing, political rhetoric, and civic argument in courses across the curriculum. The course provides students with the opportunity to use electronic tools and rhetorical techniques to study the  discourse of democracy and to participate interactively in political discussion and debate. This En 105 section is a course in border-crossing. It should help you to recognize and cross disciplinary borders as well as the perceived border that separates academia from the larger public sphere. The  operative metaphor for the course is "conversation"; the central concept is "discourse," or the ways of writing and speaking that comprise "the conversations" whose purpose is to carry out the work of communities, in this case the various disciplinary communities of academia and the primarily deliberative communities of the civic public sphere. Given this metaphor and concept, you will learn about academic and public discourses by participating in them (through both writing and speaking). You will increase your understanding of those discourses by sharing in the work of both the academic and deliberative communities.

In this course you will develop your research, writing, and deliberation skills as you interact with your peers at Merrimack College, the University of Rhode Island, Worcester State College, Bristol Community College, Wellesley College, Cal State Hayward, Texas Christian University and other colleges and universities over topics of public concern. Your active participation in this course will include "keeping up" with the issues (and potential political candidates?) through various media (TV, radio, print Internet); analyzing those issues and the rhetoric through which they are "constructed," argued, and discussed; and discussing and debating the issues yourself. In the process, you will increase your awareness of and develop a critical perspective toward the issues and arguments; develop and practice a rhetorical perspective toward argument and public discourse, using the issues and arguments as a focal point; learn about and engage in "deliberative discourse," especially with regard to politics and issues of public concern; and develop a "cultural perspective" on public discourse, contextualizing its issues and personalities as well as your own position within it. In addition, you will join in and study the rhetoric of e-mail discussion--both listserve rhetoric and the language and logic of collaboration via e-mail; explore and critically evaluate information on the World Wide Web; and compare the rhetoric of the Internet with other information sources, particularly television and print media.

The primary aim of this course is to enable students to become more active and effective participants in our democratic culture through rhetorical action, and thereby to contribute to the improvement of civic discourse in our society. To achieve this overarching goal, students in the course will be expected to meet the following objectives:

Required Activities and Formal Assignments (with percent of grade):

1. Join two web discussion forums established for this course: (1) a forum on a topic about which initially you have strong opinions, and (2) a forum on a topic in which you're interested but about which initially you're "undecided." You may join additional forum if you wish. You must contribute thoughtfully to lists 1 & 2 at least once each week. (20%) (See handout for instructions on rules for constructing messages on e-mail).

2. Compose two annotated bibliographies of web sources, both to be associated with a forum topic. Each annotated bibliography must consist of at least 10 items. (10% + 10%)

3. Write a documented research paper (minimum 5 pages) in which you inform your readers about some aspect of the rhetorical context of an issue about which you deliberate on one of the e-mail lists. Example "aspects" include history; multicultural perspectives; and various "obstacles" deriving from audience, subject, or purpose. (20%)

4. Write a documented paper (minimum 5 pages) in which you try to persuade a political candidate or ordinary citizen in your community to take a  particular position on one of the issues about which you deliberate on one of the e-mail lists. (20%)

5. Collaborate with student(s) in our class to construct a Web Page on a topic we have discussed this semester. This Web Page should concern a public issue, imply a target audience(s), and embody a clear rhetorical purpose. (10%)

6. An oral presentation at our face-to-face conference at the University of Rhode Island on Friday April 28th, 2000. This oral presentation must be on specified issues decided on during the semester. The presentations may incorporate PowerPoint, overheads or handouts. You might also want to include audience discussion. (10%)

Composition
Linda K. Shamoon, University of Rhode Island

TEXTS: J. Trimbur, CALL TO WRITE

Anson & Schwegler, LONGMAN HANDBOOK, 2nd edition

N. Reynolds, PORTFOLIO KEEPING

This class has several aims: (1) to give you practice in writing so that you may improve your writing; (2) to explore aspects of communication on the Internet and, particularly, communication in the public sphere; (3) to explore the rhetoric of several kinds of computer-generated documents and publications.

First, the aim is to help you improve your writing. With this in mind, we will complete seven projects:

(1) a public letter formatted for readability

(2) thoughtful submissions to The Intercollegiate Electronic Democracy Project discussion lists;

(3) a review of websites on an issue under debate in your forum

(4) an information paper addressed to members of the IEDP discussion list;

(5) a problem solution paper addressed to members of the IEDP discussion list;

(6) a collaboratively created presentation on an IEDP forum topic;

(7) a final portfolio of selected documents, fully revised and carefully introduced.

Each of these projects will call for a variety of homework activities and drafting assignments--such as reading, library searches, web searches, critical summaries, e-mail correspondence, and drafting--which will help you complete the overall project. In each case you will be practicing a variety of writing skills, and the quality of the writing will be an important part of the evaluation of each assignment.

Second, in this class we aim to explore aspects of communication on the Internet and, particularly, on listserves, MOOs and the WWW. Writing via e-mail, listserves and newsgroups are changing the way we participate in the public life of our country, affecting everything from the way we shop, to the way we learn about people's opinions, to the way we vote in local and national elections. Communication via the Internet, therefore, is becoming centrally important to us as a society, but effective writing on the Internet is not quite the same as writing on paper. Effective writing on the Internet calls for its own set of conventions and skills. We will study the features of written communication via the Internet and work to improve our communications skills in this venue.

Third, we will explore the rhetoric of text and screen design. Since the computer enables us to produce text in a staggering variety of modes and output styles, we must understand its underlying rhetoric, and we must understand how the appearance of the document and screen helps or hinders effective communication. Room 308 has the technology to support a variety of desktop publications, including posters, pamphlets, pictures, newsletters and other text/graphic documents. The projects will challenge you to produce visually effective documents. You will have time and support to learn to use the appropriate software to generate these documents, but our emphasis will be on the elements of text and graphic design that enhance the impact of your documents and presentations.

This semester we have the opportunity to participate in a special project that is being hailed as a model for the future. Classes at four other colleges will be studying and writing about the same issues we are studying, and they will be completing several of the same assignments. By the fourth week of the semester we will begin WWW discussions with the students and instructors in these classes. Eventually, we will challenge you to find students on our listserves who might serve as co-authors for a project. Finally, on -----, we will meet our e-mail partners face-to-face at a convention where you will present your co-authored project.

This exciting intercollegiate project gives us the opportunity to study and write in a manner similar to real world writing and communicating. Computers, e-mail, the world wide web, and other electronic technologies are beginning to dominate communications. In this class you are starting on a communications pathway to the future. The purpose of this class is to help you proceed with skill and critical awareness.

PROJECT #1 PUBLIC LETTERS

A letter to a publication that responds fully to an event, article, feature, editorial or column; or a letter of appeal to take an action or make a contribution.

Project #2 INTERCOLLEGIATE DEMOCRACY PROJECT

Participation in public deliberation via the Internet - using an electronic forum to debate issues of public and social importance.

Project #3 EVALUATING WEB SITES

A document that establishes criteria for evaluation of web sites, and that describes and analyzes five websites on a topic under discussion in your forum.

Project #4 THE INFORMATIVE REPORT

A researched statement about an issue that is under debate in your forum. The report should provide brief background information about the issue. The main portion of the report should provide clear and thorough information about recent developments relevant to the issue and possible future directions. The report should be written in a manner that would capture the interest of members of your forum.

Project #5 FORMULATING AND SOLVING PROBLEMS

A document that addresses a specific, tangible problem being discussed in your forum (as opposed to an issue). The document should analyze the problem, consider alternatives solutions, and argue for a "best" solution. The report should be written in a manner that would capture the interest of members of your forum.

Project #6

COLLABORATIVE PROJECT FOR CONFERENCE PRESENTATION

A poster, web site, pamphlet or persuasive essay, created collaboratively with students in your IEDP forum that urges a specific action on an issue or theme under debate in your forum.

PROJECT #7 PORTFOLIO (replaces final exam)

A selection of documents from the semester’s projects that are revised and polished. The collection opens with an introductory essay or letter that previews the contents of the portfolio and presents evidence of the author’s learning, writing strengths, improvement and interests.

Bartholomae, David. "Inventing the University." From When a Writer Can't Write. Ed. Mike Rose. New York: Guilford Press, 1985. (on library reserve)

Freire, Paulo. "The 'Banking' Concept of Education." From Pedagogy of the Oppressed." New York: Continuum, 1993. (on library reserve)

Trimbur, John. The Call to Write (brief edition). New York: Longman, 1999.

English Composition II focuses primarily on formal academic discourse to give you a foundation for (and practice in) writing and research within academic disciplines. At the same time, English Composition II is a course in border-crossing. It should help you recognize and cross disciplinary borders as well as the perceived border that separates academia from the larger public sphere. The operative metaphor for the course is "conversation"; the central concept is "discourse," or the ways of writing and speaking that comprise "the conversations" whose purpose is to carry out the work of communities, in this case the various disciplinary communities of academia and the primarily deliberative communities of the civic public sphere. Given this metaphor and concept, you, along with your instructor, will learn about academic and public discourses by participating in them (through both writing and speaking); together, you will increase your understanding of those discourses by sharing in the work of the respective academic and deliberative communities.

The general aim of English Composition II is to improve your ability to research, write, and speak effectively as a participant in an academic community. To do so, however, you must understand that an academic community bears a dynamic, reflexive, and vital relationship to the so-called "real world" beyond the campus. You need to understand that many real-world questions find their answers in academic research, and that new knowledge emerging from academic research enlightens public discourse (i.e., it enlightens public writing and speaking). Therefore, an equally important aim of English Composition II is to instill you with an appreciation for this reflexive relationship, in light of which you should perceive your academic work (in this and other courses) as meaningful in and motivated by social context. To achieve these intertwining aims, you are expected to meet the following objectives:

Although your obligations include regular class attendance and participation in a variety of informal, class-related activities and exercises, you will be evaluated on the basis of six formal assignments:

During the next four-to-five weeks try to situate yourself within or with respect to various public and academic "discourse communities"--communities to which you either belong or seek entry. Attend to the political, economic, social, and cultural factors that determine or otherwise affect your positions within these communities, and pay particular attention to your position on the threshold of academia (i.e., as a Freshman at the beginning of your academic career at Worcester State College). Learn and begin to use rhetorical terminology that describes how you and others write and speak within these public and academic communities. Most importantly, consider and investigate the ways in which the academic community can be responsive to and support deliberation in the public sphere.

Reading: Freire, Bartholomae, and Trimbur (Chapters 1, 3, 14, 2, & 8)

Writing: Academic journal (begin)

Speaking: Informal classroom discussions plus talk to frame issues and identify research questions that emerge from IEDP debate about the issue

During the next six or seven weeks you will have to coordinate your efforts on a number of different "fronts." While (1) continuing to write in your academic journals and (2) continuing to monitor IEDP forum discussions and working on your "metadiscourse" summaries and essays, you will have to (3) devote most of your energy to your academic research and writing. Begin to follow up on your research questions using library and Web sources, especially (or almost exclusively) those that are considered academic or "scholarly" (e.g., academic journal articles). During this phase, also keep in mind the ways in which your research articulates with relevant IEDP deliberation threads.

Reading: Trimbur (Chapters 15, 16, & 17); additional reading in support of research projects

Writing: Academic journal (continue); "metadiscourse" summary; "metadiscourse" essay; academic research paper

Speaking: Informal classroom discussions plus "roundtable" discussions on academic research projects

During the next three weeks (for the rest of the semester), concentrate on academic discourse within specific disciplines (preferably your major discipline, if you have one), learning about its conventions, techniques, implied values, audiences, organizations, purposes, etc., and select a specific academic journal for close examination. All of this effort will be oriented toward your academic discourse panel presentation.

Reading: Depends on focus of your panel presentation

Writing: Evaluative essay (due on your official final exam day)

Speaking: Panel presentation

 Civic Discourse
Philip Burns, Worcester State College

Required Texts (read in the order presented):

William A. Covino, The Elements of Persuasion (Allyn & Bacon, 1998)

Gregory Clark, Dialogue, Dialectic, and Conversation: A Social Perspective on the Function of Writing (SIU Press, 1990)

James Bohman, Public Deliberation: Pluralism, Complexity, and Democracy (MIT Press, 1996)

The primary and most general aim of "Civic Discourse" is to enable students (both as students within the course and as citizens) to become more active and effective participants in our democratic culture through rhetorical action, and thereby to contribute to the improvement of civic discourse in our society. To achieve this overarching goal, students in the course will be expected to meet the following objectives:

Join a minimum of three e-mail lists established for this course: (1) the general list, (2) a list on a topic about which initially you have strong opinions, and (3) a list on a topic in which you’re interested but about which initially you’re "undecided." You may join additional lists if you wish, but one of the topical lists must be devoted to environmental issues. You must contribute thoughtfully to lists 2 & 3 at least once each week. (20%)

Formal Assignment 1. Write a 3-5 page rhetorical analysis of a political text (speech, debate, campaign ad, web page). (10%)

Formal Assignment 2. Write a 5-10 page documented research paper in which you inform your readers about some aspect of the rhetorical context of an issue about which you deliberate on one of the e-mail lists. (10%)

Formal Assignment 3. Write a 5-10 page documented paper in which you try to persuade a political candidate (or some other appropriate audience) to take a particular position on one of the issues about which you deliberate on one of the e-mail lists. (10%)

Formal Assignment 4. Prepare a brief collaborative report on selection from class bibliography, to be delivered orally in class. (10%)

Formal Assignment 5. Collaborate with student(s) from other institutions on a publication (e.g., brochure, pamphlet, web page) to be presented at a face-to-face conference. The publication should concern a public issue, imply a target audience(s), and embody a clear rhetorical purpose. (10%)

Participate in face-to-face deliberation with your collaborative group at the conference. (10%)

Formal Assignment 6. Write a 5-10 page analysis of one of the listserves on which you’ve participated during the semester. (10%)

Participate regularly in class discussions and exercises. (10%)

George Orwell called political language "the defense of the indefensible," and yet democracies need a lively public culture of argument and debate in order to come to terms with complex issues, define values, make decisions, and solve problems. This course will explore the contemporary state of political rhetoric in the United States, with a focus on the dynamic interactions of television, radio, print, and the Internet. Students will participate in electronic discussions with peers across the country as they debate current issues generated by national election campaigns.

This course is part of the Intercollegiate E-Democracy Project, a non-partisan grassroots collaborative for teachers and students interested in public writing, political argumentation and debate, and the civic traditions of rhetoric. For Fall 2000, over 700 college and university students across the U.S. will be connected via a multi-class on-line network operated by Trinity College.

To participate effectively in this class, you will need to: (1) have a functioning email address and be able to use a web browser; (2) keep up with current events and the Presidential campaign on a weekly basis; and (3) take part in the IEDP Regional Student Conference, to be held on Trinity’s campus on Friday, Nov. 17.

Texts

Orwell, 1984 (including Appendix: "The Principles of Newspeak")
Corbett and Eberly, The Elements of Reasoning, 2nd edition
Diamond and Silverman, White House to Your House: Media and Politics in Virtual America
Thompson, Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie
Other readings: selected webpages, photocopies, and video/audio clips

Recommended: one or two daily newspapers

Class Website: http://courses.trincoll.edu/courses/ENGL-338-01
Intercollegiate E-Democracy Project: http://courses.trincoll.edu/courses/IEDP

1. In-Class Participation / Informal Exercises (20%)

2. Multi-Class Network: On-line Discussions & Debates (40%)

3. Special Conference Project (20%)

4. Final Exam (Dec. 14, 3:00 PM) (20%)

Here are some basic questions that we will use to explore how political rhetoric works and how various contemporary media affect the nature, quality, and possibilities for citizens’ participation in civic life:

1. What are the public spaces in our civic culture? How do media function in these spaces?

2. Who participates? Who talks? Who listens? Who decides?

3. How is individual ethos constructed? Cultural ethos? Community ethos?

4. What kinds of questions or issues are considered worth examining and arguing about?

5. How do dramatic events or visual images focus attention on particular issues?

6. How are agendas framed and key terms defined? Why is this process important?

8. What counts as evidence? How do we decide what information is credible?

9. What constitutes persuasive language for specific audiences?

11. Who or what "wins," and how do we know it, in any given case?

12. What values are embedded in different styles of rhetoric and approaches to argument?