Sample Syllabi, Assignment Sequence, Schedule & Course Reader Main Texts Used in Assignments  Overviews and Descriptions of Teaching Activities First Weeks: Introducing the Course & Applying Concepts to Short texts Unit 1: Analyzing & Evaluating Hari Evaluating Hari Unit 2: The Rhetoric of Demagoguery (Lens Assignment) Demagoguery - some possible examples from social media  Unit 3: "Fake" News & Critical Digital Literacy End of Semester Resources & the WPA

Sample Syllabi, Assignment Sequence, Schedule & Course Reader

• Sample syllabus and assignment sequence and prompts for unit 1 and 2. 
• Sample schedule for entire semester, and class activities for first two weeks (just one way to organize your schedule/teach your class)
• Jenny's RWS200 syllabus & schedule
  
• Pietera's RWS200 syllabus & schedule & RWS 200 Unit 1 Prompt.pdf
• Cam's RWS 200 syllabus and schedule  Cam'sPrompt 1.docx
• The RWS 200 Reader. Contains commonly used handouts, teaching materials and the main texts for the semester. 
• Short readings and notes on syllabus design: 
• Summary notes
• Slattery, Jeanne M. and Janet F. Carlson. "Preparing an Effective Syllabus." College Teaching 53.4 (2004): 159-164.
• Sinor, Jennifer and Matt Kaplan “Creating Your Syllabus” University of Michigan GSI Handbook. 

• Matejka, Ken and Lance B. Kurke. “Designing a Great Syllabus.” College Teaching 42.3 (1994): 115-122.

• Powerpoint from orientation

 

Main Texts Used in Assignments 

• The RWS 200 Reader. Contains commonly used handouts, teaching materials and the main texts for the semester.  
• Unit 1: Johann Hari's "The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think" 
• Unit 2: Patricia Roberts-Miller's article, "Democracy, Demagoguery, and Critical Rhetoric" (can use a handout that summarizes her work as an alternative) and George Wallace's Inaugural Address as governor (can also consider Wayne Lapierre's Speech after Sandyhook or contemporary texts - talk radio, web sites, political speeches, etc.)
• Units 3 and 4: a selection of short texts on the topic of fake news and critical digital literacy (students and teachers can select other texts as part of both assignments) 

 

Overviews and Descriptions of Teaching Activities

• Sample schedule for entire semester, and class activities for first two weeks  
• Overview of teaching schedules and teaching activities for entire semester, plus more detailed accounts of possible activities for first 2 weeks and for entire units.
• List of homework activities from some past sections of RWS100 and RWS200. Can be adapted for current semester.  
• See this list of slightly sexier, more fun homework actities put together by some TAs from fall 2016: Scott B, Caro, and Andrea K
• The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies
• 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half
• Infographics on the rhetorical situation and a evaluating website's (or any text's) credibility
• Pietera's writing workshops: RWS 200 Outline Guide 1.pdf & Outline Workshop.pdf; Rhetorical Connections 1.pdf; Peer Review WS 1(1).pdf; Writing Meditation Workshop.pdf 
• Kellie- Peer Review Workshop Question Guide: Peer Review Workshop.docx
• Neil Gorsuch on the role of writing (from Senate Hearing on Supreme Court Nomination- 5 minutes)

 

First Weeks: Introducing the Course & Applying Concepts to Short texts

• Advice on ways of managing the first 2 weeks of class, using short texts to introduce key concepts,and organizing the first unit (Chris)
• See the large collection of material on the wiki discussing things to do in class in the first 2-3 weeks.
• Kristof, Teaching Notes “Do We Have the Courage to Stop This?” and “Some Inconvenient Gun Facts for Liberals” and powerpoint with discussion of context, genre, and audience.  
• Some close reading tips 

• "Compared to what? One thing I know is that contexts matter." By Claude S. Fischer Contexts, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 84 This short text can be used to introduce why context matters.

• Article on the meaning of the word "jihad" by SDSU professor of Religious Studies Khaleel Mohammed. The article insists on the importance of context when examining how "jihad" should be understood. 

• "When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?" could be used at the start of the semester to begin discussion of the importance of context. It takes a look at how color and dress are used in the construction of gender norms. The text begins with a picture of FDR wearing a dress as an infant, and points out that for centuries young boys wore dresses. It also looks at the way pink only recently became associated with femininity. 

 

Unit 1: Analyzing & Evaluating Hari

• Johann Hari's "The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think" 
• Video of Hari's TED talk that presents an argument very close to the written text. There is a transcript, and you could also have students examine the comments section. 
• The site for his book Chasing the Scream has many useful resources, videos, interviews and links. Students could research a section of the site in order to investigate the rhetorical situation and begin evaluating Hari's argument. 
• Background on Hari: see the bio on his publisher's page, his twitter feed, Wikipedia page, and facebook page. 
• The web site for Hari's book has a quiz that students can take. The quiz explores what people know and assume about addiction and the war on drugs.  
• Animated version of Hari's argument. Comic book exploration of the rat park experiment by Stuart McMillen. 
• "4 Things Johann Hari Gets Wrong about Addition- Updated with a Response from Hari" The Fix
• "Chasing the Scream"- New York Times Review of Books
• "Stop Telling Me 'Everything You Think You Know about Addiction is Wrong'" Addiction and Mental Health Blog
• "Johann Hari: 'The Opposite of Addicition Isn't Sobriety- It's Connection'"- The Guardian
• Response to Huff Post Article: The Likely Cause of Addiction has Been Discovered, and It’s Not what You Think – Dr. Simon Says Science
• "The Portuguese Puzzle: Decriminalization of Drugs and Drug Usage" David Henderson, Library of Economics and Liberty  
• Naomi Klein interview with Hari that largely supports and extends his argument. The title is, "Does Capitalism Drive Drug Addiction?" 

  

Teaching Materials for Hari

• Teaching notes for Hari
• Collected teaching materials for unit 1 (parts of this document refer not to Hari but to a different text, however most of the teaching material can be adapted for use with Hari) 
  Sample homework for a past section of 200 and 100 (both sets of homework can be adapted for use with Hari).
• Group work/presentation on responses/challenges to Hari.  Each group is assigned to summarize and synthesize a set of responses to Hari’s argument in order to examine the conversation the text participates in, and also to look for critical questions, objections, counterexamples, absences, etc. 
• Hypothesis commenting group for annotating Hari. Cam has created a group. We could annotate together.  
• Evaluation exercise: play Elbow's "doubting and believing" game, where you interpret Hari's article generously vs. playing devil's advocate. Groups could be assigned to do this using a short text that A) extends, clarifies and supports Hari, as for example this interview with Hari, Gabor (an expert Hari draws) and Amy Goodman. Or, you could play devil's advocate drawing on  this challenge to Hari. In both cases, students could evaluate the quality of the support or critique.

 

Evaluating Hari

Evaluation exercise: play Elbow's "doubting and believing" game, where you interpret Hari's article generously vs. playing devil's advocate. Groups can do this using a short text that A) extends, clarifies and supports Hari, as for example this interview with Hari, Gabor (an expert Hari draws) and Amy Goodman. Or, we could play devil's advocate drawing on  this challenge to Hari. In both cases, we will evaluate the quality of the support or critique.

 

There is some useful material in the reader on evaluation on page 37-47.  As a rule of thumb, you may want to consider the following areas:

• Reasoning - how are claims organized and constructed? (chains of reasoning; GASCAP) 
• Support - how are claims supported? 
• Source selection, representation and fact-checking 
• How are strategies used?  (For example, how effectively and fairly are opposing views represented? How well are appeals - ethos, pathos, logos - established given the rhetorical situation?)
• Frames - how are definitions, categories, narratives and metaphors used to establish a frame
• Assumptions and implications
• Vulnerability to counterexamples, counterarguments and objections
• What is left out of the argument? 

These criteria (and others) should always be analyzed in relation to the author's audience, context and purpose. 

 

 

Unit 2: The Rhetoric of Demagoguery (Lens Assignment)

• Roberts-Miller on Characteristics of Demagoguery - a short, edited version of her argument and her full article, "Democracy, Demagoguery, and Critical Rhetoric." (Depending on how much time you wish to explore on RM, you can choose to use either version)
• Summary handout of rhetorical characteristics of demagoguery 
  
• Short 3 minute introduction to Wallace from the History channel. One minute video excerpt from Wallace speech ("segregation today..." section) VIDEO OF FULL WALLACE SPEECH (prepared remarks begin about 4.14 minutes in) 
• Wallace Inaugural Address (Word document) and as .pdf   
• Video of LaPierre Speech  and text of Lapierre Speech  
• Collected Teaching notes for unit 2 (uses Wallace and LaPierre) 
• Teaching Notes - strategies in Wallace
• Amy E. Mendes, "Digital Demagogue: The Critical Candidacy of Donald J. Trump." This short article essay "catalogues the existing definitions of demagoguery, examines how Trump’s rhetoric may qualify, and outlines some ways in which demagogues may function differently in a digital world." It could be used as an example of a scholar using Roberts-Miller's lens. or as part of a project a student may be interested in investigating.
• "What History Teaches Us about Demagogues Like Donald Trump"
  
• Fallacies powerpoint 
• Common fallacies handout 
• Kellie: Hitler Speech from April12th 1922 (This is the section of the speech I'm using but I've also included a link in the document to the site featuring various translated speeches): Hitler Speech April 12th 1922.docx
• Lion King "Be Prepared" (Features a marching scene that was modeled after the marching scenes in Hitler's film Triumph of the Will):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkU23m6yX04 

 

Demagoguery - some possible examples from social media 

• Alex Jones' Twitter feed, including his retweets of Russian groups, could be used for an analysis of demagoguery, and in particular the strategy of demonization (see Jones & Trump - "We'll be speaking a lot": http://www.infowars.com/trump-tells-alex-jones-well-be-speaking-a-lot/) 

• Jones suggests Obama is Beelzebub http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/alex-jones-flies-landing-on-obama-prove-hes-satanic/

 

 

Unit 3: "Fake" News & Critical Digital Literacy

• Fake news texts and teaching resources
• Handout with texts and class activities for unit 3  (parts of this document use a different topic but can be adapted)
• Unit 3 prompt plus advice on how to structure your introduction, and two ways of structuring the paper's organization  
• Handout with big collection of resources - examples of how synthesis works, sample texts and positions, prompt, etc.
• Powerpoint: overview of the assignment and options
• Peer review form and sample student synthesis drafts 
• Guidelines for Paper 4, plus rubric (for peer review and checklist)
•  They Say templates - use for help making your argument. 
• Some angles to consider when drafting paper 4   (parts of this document use a different topic but can be adapted)

 

 

End of Semester Resources & the WPA

• Main WPA site  contains an explanation of the test, sample texts, the scoring criteria, a powerpoint that dissects the WPA, and some instructional videos.  
• Ending the class and organizing evaluations, etc.
• The WPA (preparing students for WPA). Here's a file of information that I've used for a final unit on the WPA that could work for 100 or 200, it includes info on the WPA, an outline on the lesson plan, sample article, essay and WPA evaluation. Here's an evaluation assignment (students respond to a classmate's essay) that partners with the unit. 
• An in-class assignment I've used either on the last day of class or on final's day so students can reflect on their progress and I can receive feedback apart from evaluations. (Alicia)
• Please also see these links and resources for some ideas on ways of ending the semester.