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200Spring2018
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last edited
by Chris Werry 5 years, 6 months ago

RWS200 Course Reader Spring 2018
The reader contains commonly used handouts, teaching materials, and the main texts for the semester.
Sample Syllabi, Schedule and Assignments
Syllabi, Schedules and Assignments from Spring 2017
Overview and Descriptions of Teaching Activities from Spring 2017
First Weeks: Introducing the Course & Applying Concepts to Short texts
- Powerpoint that introduces rhetoric, why writing classes and argument are important, and gives an overview of 200 (Chris) and the 2018 orientation powerpoint slides (can be adapted to introduce RWS200)
- Overview of entire semester plus detailed description of classroom activities, exercises and homework assignments for weeks 1-4.
- See the large collection of material on the wiki discussing things to do in class in the first 2-3 weeks.
- Advice on ways of managing the first 2 weeks of class, using short texts to introduce key concepts,and organizing the first unit (Chris)
- 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.
- Note: in the first few weeks, before you start unit 1, you can practice analyzing an argument using Johann Hari's short text, "The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think"
There is also a 12 minute video you can show of Hari's talk, and Teaching notes for Hari. Also a group work exercise (for evaluating strengths and weaknesses in Hari and locate the conversation the text participates in
- Some close reading tips
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"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.
- "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.
Evaluating a text Evaluation exercise: play Elbow's "doubting and believing" game, where you interpret one of the short texts above generously vs. playing devil's advocate.
There is some useful material in the reader on evaluation. As a quick rule of thumb, you may want to direct students to 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 be analyzed in relation to the author's audience, context and purpose.
Unit 1: Arguments about Civil War Monuments
Teaching Materials
Background
- PBS News hour video, “Why America is wrestling with Confederate monuments." This is an overview of the issues and features a mini debate. 13 minutes,
(Also worth considering, 5 minute PBS video on the shifting history of Confederate monuments, short Chris Hayes video on the history of the Confederate flag, as aspects of that debate overlap. These vodeos are also very interesting: a 2 minute video from the History Channel; BBC mini-debate on removing the statues, (5 mins); Vox video (5 min) on how the "lost cause" narrative has become so powerful, and shapes debates on memorials.
- Video excerpts of arguments by citizens at New Orleans City Council hearing on removal of monuments.
- The National Parks Service has provided short, simple guides to help understand the historical context of civil war monuments. This text, "Confronting Slavery and Revealing the 'Lost Cause'"
by professor James Oliver Horton, could be given to students to read before they analyze the texts on confederate memorials. (They could also look at "Slavery: Cause and Catalyst of the Civil War," published by the National Parks Service.
- American Historical Association: Historians on the Confederate Monument Debate
- New York Times: Right, Left and Center on Removal of Confederate Statues
- Historynet.com (publisher of history magazines) has provided a compilation of short arguments by historians on what should be done with the monuments: “Empty Pedestals: What should be done with civic monuments to the Confederacy and its leaders?” http://www.historynet.com/empty-pedestals-civic-monuments-confederacy-leaders.htm
- Buder, Emily. “The Painful History of a Confederate Monument Tells Itself.” This Atlantic Monthly article describes Sierra Pettengill’s short film, Graven Image. The 10 minute film was created in response to the debate over Confederate monuments in 2017. The film uses only archival materials (there is no narrator) to establish a context for understanding the Stone Mountain monument in Atlanta Georgia. Graven Image “relies solely on archival record to tell the story of Georgia’s Stone Mountain monument, which depicts Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis engraved in the mountain face.” Stone Mountain was chosen as the “site of the rebirth of the KKK in 1915,” and In 2001, “Georgia state law passed a mandate that the monument never be removed or altered.”
Texts Students Will Analyze
Students will select texts from the following list and compare the way they persuade their audiences. They may choose to compare how two different texts argue for the same (or similar) position, or they may examine opposing texts.
- Transcript of Mitch Landrieu’s Speech on the Removal of Confederate Monuments in New Orleans, May 23, 2017
- Notes on remembering and memorializing (general cultural purposes of commemoration)
- Some questions for analzying Landrieu's speech
- Brophy, By Alfred L. “Why Northerners should support Confederate monuments.” Washington Post, July 14, 2015.
- Kytle, Ethan, and Blain Roberts. “Take Down the Confederate Flags, but Not the Monuments” The Atlantic Monthly, June 25, 2015. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/-confederate-monuments-flags-south-carolina/396836/ “Instead of sanitizing the past, communities need to strike a balance between confronting history and respecting the needs of the present.”
- Davidson, John Daniel. "Why We Should Keep The Confederate Monuments Right Where They Are." The Federalist, August 18, 2017. http://thefederalist.com/2017/08/18/in-defense-of-the-monuments/
- Applebaum, Yoni. “Take the Statues Down.” The Atlantic, Aug 13, 2017. “A multi-ethnic democracy requires grappling honestly with the past—and recognizing the symbols of the Confederacy for what they are.” https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/take-the-statues-down/536727/
- Christian, Jack, and Warren Christian. “The Monuments Must Go: An open letter from the great-great-grandsons of Stonewall Jackson.” Slate, August 16, 2017. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/08/stonewall_jackson_s_grandsons_the_monuments_must_go.html
- Levin, Kevin. “Why I Changed My Mind About Confederate Monuments.” The Atlantic Monthly August 19, 2017.)
Additional Texts for consideration
- Sarah Vowell, "America’s Statue Wars Are a Family Feud." New York Times, November 16, 2017.
- Gerald Warner, "Hoist It High And Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims A Glorious Heritage." Breitbart News, July 1, 2015.
Unit 2: The Rhetoric of Demagoguery (Lens Assignment)
Unit 2 Main Teaching Materials
Unit 2 Assignments
Unit 2 Texts
- Roberts-Miller on Characteristics of Demagoguery - a short, edited version of her argument and her full article, "Democracy, Demagoguery, and Critical Rhetoric." There is also a transcript of a short speech RM gave at Denver that gives a really nice overview of her most recent thinking on demagoguery. It is accessible and clear, and could help students with their analysis. We suggest you assign either the full article, or the short, edited version and the Denver speech.
- Two minute video of Roberts Miller talking about demagoguery. (There is also a long lecture where RM presents a full account of recent research, but this is just for your viewing, or to share snippets with students).
- 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
- Videos suggested by TAs that can be used to introduce demagoguery: "Don't be a Sucker!" (PSA from 1947 warning against authoritarian populism), Alex Jones Clip Compilation President Snow's Panem Address #1 (echoes George Wallace)
The Opposition w/ Jordan Klepper - You're Welcome, NRA
- Amy E. Mendes, "Digital Demagogue: The Critical Candidacy of Donald J. Trump." This short article essay "catalogs 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.
- 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
Using Roberts Miller to Explore Contemporary Figures
- Speech by Richard Spencer, a leader of the "Alt-Right," on November 21, 2016. Spencer is editor of Radix Journal. Video excepts are available here.
- Background on the alt-right from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Some prominent alt-right websites are Radix Journal, The Unz Review, Taki Mag, The Right Stuff, and Red Ice.
- Alt Right Style Guides: Feinberg, "The Daily Stormers Playbook" (scroll to bottom to see a copy of the actual Daily Stormer text). New Yorker article on the Daily Stormer's Style Guide
- Extremist Watch, "The Daily Stormer Style Guide Reveals the True Intentions of the Alt-Right."
- The Propaganda strategies used by Russians before and after the 2016 Election could be interesting https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/16/us/politics/russia-propaganda-election-2016.html
- The Daily Stormer "Normies Guide to the Alt Right" second link in case it disappears
- A compilation of headlines from Alex Jones (Inforwars). This is scary and hilarious. https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/02/08/104-typical-headlines-alex-jones-infowars/215218
- Charlottesville Posters "Unite the Right
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The rhetoric of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones could be analyzed in terms of RM's framework. Here is some background on Jones from the New York Times. You could start with Alex Jones' Twitter feed, including his retweets of Russian groups. These could be used for an analysis of demagoguery, and in particular the strategy of demonization. Sample video, plus collection of videos and excerpts. Some sample speeches by Alex Jones from Infowars. 1. "Secede from the New World Order," Jones suggests Obama is Beelzebub Consider whether such statements fit Roberts-Miller's definition.
- Breitbart News. Some have claimed this journal supports alt-right ideas, and contains some examples of demagoguery. You could explore whether you think the evidence is strong or weak.
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Stormfront - this is a "white nationalist, white supremacist and neo-Nazi internet forum that was the internet's first major racial hate site." (wikipedia) http://www.stormfront.org/forum/
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Louis Farrakhan http://blog.adl.org/anti-semitism/farrakhan-continues-his-anti-semitic-saviours-day-message-in-chicago and http://archive.adl.org/special_reports/farrakhan_own_words2/on_jews.html#.Uxj9ZPmwJcQ
- Amy Mendes "Digital Demagogue: The Critical Candidacy of Donald J. Trump." You could critically analyze Mendes' argument and decide whether you think she
makes a strong or weak case based on your own reading of texts by Trump.
- VDare and Stormfront, two of the largest racist, white nationalist sites.
- "The flight 93 election" - an article written by Publius Decius Mus (pen name for Michael Anton, former Bush speechwriter and Trump advisor). September 5, 2016
Other Target Texts for Unit 2
Unit 3 Anger, Outrage and Civility in the Age of Twitter
Videos to Introduce the Topic, Positions and Authors
- WSJ video: “How YouTube Drives People to the Internet’s Darkest Corners” (5 minutes) https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-youtube-drives-viewers-to-the-internets-darkest-corners-1518020478
- Eli Pariser, "Online Filter Bubbles" (10 minute TED Talk). Pariser’s widely-shared talk argues that our social media tools and platforms have created “filter bubbles” that lead to myopic, insular, on-sided perspectives, and make it hard to understand or empathize with people who disagree with us.
- Bad Behavior Online: Bullying, Trolling & Free Speech, PBS Digital Studios. 7 minutes long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVSAFhTjAdc
- Haidt, Jonathan. “Can a Divided America Heal?” TED talk. In this 20 minute interview social psychologist Jonathan Haidt makes an argument about the patterns of thinking and historical causes that have led to such sharp divisions in America and how the country might move forward https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_can_a_divided_america_heal/transcript
- Sally Kohn, 4 minute TED talk excerpt discussing incivility online and what people can do.
- “The dark side of Guardian comments.” Short videos by writers at the Guardian who discuss the angry comments they have received.
- Louis CK on Conan joking about online bullying and why he won't buy his kids cellphones and Jimmy Kimmel's celebrities read mean tweets
- CBS on the Russian meddling story, and how this involved inciting outrage and division: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/congress-releases-sample-of-russian-ads/
- 1 minute NBC news video on fake twitter user Jenna Abrams (from Russian agency dedicated to fomenting division and anger)
- “'Kill them all' -- Russian-linked Facebook accounts called for violence” http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/31/media/russia-facebook-violence/index.html
- Robert Reich, "Political Civility Should Not Be an Oxymoron.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqKh6IGXCv4 I will use 10 - 20 minutes, from minutes 9.00-11.00 and 17.00 – 35.00, or 17-40 (this includes his “solutions).
- Debate about online anonymity at Arizona State University Four Professors debate online anonymity as part of a series sponsored by the ASU Humanities Council.
Class Materials for Unit 3
- Sample RWS200 teaching materials on the topic from 2016 (scroll down the page to see them. The materials are in units 3 and 4)
- Handout with texts and class activities for unit 3
- A collection of readings that explore anger and civility in online contexts.
- Pdf of more readings on the topic.
- Roberts Miller's conclusion ("What is To Be Done") from her new book Democracy and Demagoguery. This is short and if students are interested in making connections between the units, this could be an option.
- Summary and notes on main unit 3 readings
- Sample research "angles" students could explore plus sample student drafts
- Powerpoint slides introducing fake news. A number of these slides are relevant to discussions of incivility (examples, causes, effects, solutions)
- CARS model handout to explain ways of making a contribution and positioning oneself in relation to other writers' work
- Some initial links on online (in)civility and class activities
- Unit 3 prompt (part 1) plus advice on how to structure your introduction, and two ways of structuring the paper's organization
- Louis CK on Conan joking about online bullying and why he won't buy his kids cellphones and celebrities read mean tweets
- There is a moving story from This American Life on a woman's experience of being attacked by a troll. The story is called "Ask Not For Whom The Bell Trolls; It Trolls for Thee."
The transcript is here. The story is 21 minutes long, and contains strong, possibly disturbing language.
- Handout with big collection of resources - examples of how synthesis works, sample texts and positions, prompt, etc.
- 1 page excerpt from Obama speech in which he talks about (in)civility - causes, definitions, solutions. Could be used in the introduction of your paper. Full speech is here.
- Opening questions
- Powerpoint: overview of the assignment and options
- Guidelines for Paper 3 plus rubric (for peer review and checklist)
- They Say templates - use for help making your argument.
- Some angles to consider when drafting paper
Ending the Semester
- A powerpoint reviewing some of the things covered in class, prompting students to reflect on their experience, and gving some WPA tips
- A handout asking students to reflect on the semester and help prep for evals (by Alicia)
- A powerpoint on the WPA, handout on the the difference between 8 and 10 (and how to get a 10).
- Main WPA site contains an explanation of the test, sample texts, the scoring criteria, a powerpoint that dissects the WPA, and some instructional videos. 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.
1. Brophy
, By Alfred L. “Why Northerners should support Confederate monuments.” Washington Post, July 14, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/07/14/why-northerners-should-support-the-preservation-of-conferederate-monuments/?utm_term=.09110e77f020
2. Kytle, Ethan, and Blain Roberts. “Take Down the Confederate Flags, but Not the Monuments” The Atlantic Monthly, June 25, 2015. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/-confederate-monuments-flags-south-carolina/396836/ “Instead of sanitizing the past, communities need to strike a balance between confronting history and respecting the needs of the present.”
3. Davidson, John Daniel. "Why We Should Keep The Confederate Monuments Right Where They Are." The Federalist, August 18, 2017. http://thefederalist.com/2017/08/18/in-defense-of-the-monuments/
4. Applebaum, Yoni. “Take the Statues Down.” The Atlantic, Aug 13, 2017. “A multi-ethnic democracy requires grappling honestly with the past—and recognizing the symbols of the Confederacy for what they are.” https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/take-the-statues-down/536727/
5. Christian, Jack, and Warren Christian. “The Monuments Must Go: An open letter from the great-great-grandsons of Stonewall Jackson.” Slate, August 16, 2017. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/08/stonewall_jackson_s_grandsons_the_monuments_must_go.html
6. Levin, Kevin. “Why I Changed My Mind About Confederate Monuments.” The Atlantic Monthly August 19, 2017.)
· VIDEO: Robert Reich, "Political Civility Should Not Be an Oxymoron.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqKh6IGXCv4 I plan on using just 10 – 20 minutes, from minutes 9.00-11.00 and 17.00 – 35.00, or 17-40 (this includes
his “solutions).
200Spring2018
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