ENGL 151-12, Polemics and the Presidency, Fall 2008

Abstract

All politics is born of rhetoric. The language of political persuasion, past and present, will be this class’ focus, with an emphasis on the ’08 Presidential campaign. But your first task will be grappling with the politics of the classroom. After a practical, collaborative exploration of how learning is evaluated and those evaluations are experienced, you will negotiate a consensus on assessment and collaboratively write a self-constituting document for the class. The insights gained from that process will then be applied as we read commentary on the ’08 campaign as it unfolds, as well as speeches of the candidates themselves, comparing conservative and liberal perspectives and analyzing how the rhetoric of persuasion works. We will also look back in time to the campaigns of 1972 (Nixon/McGovern) and 1992 (Bush/Clinton). It will come as no surprise that the work of a writing course is writing, so most of this class will be devoted to considering just that—your writing and your classmates’, as well as the work of published authors. You will be responsible for completing a number of “final draft” assignments, as well as several other writing assignments (including rough drafts) leading up to the final draft. Expect to have some sort of written assignment due for EVERY class. These assignments might be in the form of questions based on the current reading, summaries of the reading, reactions to discussions, or preliminary drafts of final papers. (We’ll talk about each assignment in class.) As you write more, you may become aware of recurring “trouble spots” that come up in your work. I will help you identify these patterns of problems and help you work on them. I will not make a practice of editing your work; that is up to you and your classmates. But I can assure you that you won’t get it right the first time, the second time, or possibly even the tenth time. Like many human activities, writing rewards practice.