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LSFY 101: Rhetoric and the Liberal Arts

Dr. Joseph McDowell
Old Main 114/ 794-7672
josephmcdowell@augustana.edu
Office Hours: MWF after class and by appointment


Course Objectives:
This course focuses on articulating your thoughts clearly, which is far trickier than it sounds. You
will learn to respond critically (which means responding with careful and intelligent consideration) to new
ideas, and to express yourself on the page in a thoughtful, persuasive, and engaging manner.
The skills we will focus on this term will constitute some of the fundamentals of any liberal arts
education; they will increase your capacity to understand, and foster your intellectual engagement with, the
world around you. We exist, for a significant portion of our lives in America, as consumers; one of the
goals of this class is to help you become more thoughtful, critical participants in your own culturenot just
consumers, but citizens.
The skills we will develop this term will serve you throughout your life, and we will develop them
with a variety of exercises, assignments, and discussions. You will learn the rules of good writing. You
will also learn about some of the resources Augustana provides to help you grow as a student, researcher,
thinker, and writer.

Assignments:

In accordance with federal policy, Augustana College defines a credit hour as the amount of work
represented in the achievement of learning outcomes (verified by evidence of student achievement) that
reasonably approximates one hour (50 minutes) of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum
of two hours of out-of-class student work.
This is a 3 credit course that meets 3 times per week for 75 minutes. It is designed to have class time,
learning opportunities and activities totaling approximately 130 hours over the 10 weeks of the course.
This estimate is for the typical undergraduate student.

Thats the legal part. What this means is that for every hour of class time, I need to require at least two
hours of work out of class. This work includes reading assignments, writing, researching, planning, and
studying. The typical student taking 3 courses per term will put in approximately 36 hours per week
devoted to school. Put another way: College is a full-time job.

Reading:
When you read texts for this class, you should make a list of questions or thoughts that occur to you. This
will help you with class participation, which is a part of your grade. I will never quiz you on minutia, but if
you encounter words that you dont know (like, perhaps, minutia), and thus have a hard time
understanding the reading, I expect you to grab a dictionary and look up those words. Some of our readings
will be challenging; I expect you to be active readers, invested in your own education and willing to put
forth the requisite effort to engage fully with the material.
Writing:
Writing assignments should reflect your commitment to your education, and your understanding of the
conventions of academic work. They must be typed in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, with standard
margins (1 on top and bottom, and 1.25 on sides). Papers should be double-spaced unless otherwise
indicated. Part of completing an assignment is leaving yourself enough time to proofread it before you
hand it in. Your computers spell-check and grammar-check are not sufficient, as theyre often crazy.
Please put a header at the top of the paper that includes your name, the name of the class, and
the date the paper is due. Also, please number all of your pages. When working on a computer
remember to back up your work frequently, especially on longer assignments.



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Moodle:
I will use the Moodle webpage (moodle.augustana.edu) to give you access to important class documents.
The course syllabus, weekly assignments, and many handouts will be posted there. If you have missed
class or do not know what has been assigned, check Moodle.

Texts and Supplies

Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic
Writing. 2
nd
ed. New York: Norton, 2010.
Hacker, Diana. A Writers Reference. 7
th
ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011.
Reserve readings on Moodle at http://moodle.augustana.edu*
*Please print reserve readings and bring a hard copy to class.
Louise Erdrech, Roundhouse
A notebook and writing implement
A folder or binder to keep your papers, drafts, and assignments (for your final portfolio)
You should also have access to a dictionary and thesaurus at home (an online version is fine).

Grading:
Papers, 20% each
Quizzes, 10%
In-class work, 15%
Final portfolio, 15%

Absences and Tardiness:
We meet three times per week, with a total of 29 class periods. I expect you to be at all of them. I
do not keep attendance, but instead make attendance count by in-class exercises and quizzes.
Late Work and Extensions:
The ability to meet a deadline is an important part of learning how to get along in the world, and
we will honor it in this class. Late papers will start at C and be graded down from there.

The Reading/Writing Center:
This class alone will not make you the best writer in the world; meeting with the good people at the RWC
will certainly be beneficial. From organizing your initial thoughts to polishing your final work, the Writing
Center is a wonderful resource.
You can drop in or (especially later in the semester), call first to schedule an appointment.
4
th
Floor, Tredway Library
Phone: 794-8987
Plagiarism

You will receive plenty of instruction in this class about how to appropriately use other peoples words and
ideas, and if you ever have any questions, just ask! In the meantime, I remind you of Augustanas
Statement on Academic Integrity:

Academic dishonesty (cheating and plagiarism) will not be tolerated in this class. All assignments
and examinations must be the work of the individual student unless the instructor specifically
directs otherwise. Work from other sources must be carefully and correctly attributed. (Please
consult the instructor if you have any doubts whatsoever about how to do that.) Cheating or
plagiarism will at the least result in an F for the assignment or test. Such offenses may also,
after the instructor and the Dean of Students consult, result in an F for the course.







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Papers

You will write 3 papers for grades.


Unit I: Deepening our understanding of the liberal arts

This unit involves case-making, persuasive writing. You will choose an issue in liberal arts education, one
that interests you, from a variety of readings that we will encounter together. You may, but are not
required to, find other readings on your own.

Here are some questions that might lead to good essays:
How do we know that a liberal arts education is better than some other kind of model, such as
intense career training?
What is education for? Should you study to become morally good, or to become effective at
some marketable skills? Can, or should, the two be considered separately?
How can a liberal arts education prepare you to be a valuable citizen in a free society? To be
a world citizen?
What are some underlying assumptions of the liberal arts education model? On what bases
are these assumptions valid and/or invalid?

Many other questions and issues will arise out of our discussions, and of course you are welcome to use my
office hours to discuss your plans for this paper.

Rough drafts of this 3-4 page essay will be assessed in group conferences in class. Prepare for our meeting
in this way:
1. Come to this conference with a list of specific questions or concerns about how your essay is
working. Trust your own sense of how the essay needs to be improved, and be ready to talk
about that sense.
2. Highlight or underline the papers thesis and the key transitional statements that guide your
reader through your argument. How do these sentences provide the guidance your reader
needs?
3. Where are the weakest parts of your argument, and why are they weak? What kind of
evidence or illustrations would make those parts stronger?

Unit II: Liberal Arts and Ethical Thinking

This unit involves case-making, persuasive writing. You will choose an issue of becoming a world citizen,
one that interests you, from a variety of readings that we will encounter together. You may, but are not
required to, find other readings on your own. Consider the following questions as a starting point:

Would you walk away from Omelas? Why? What ethical questions are raised by this question?
Take a ride on the local bus system and observe your fellow travellersor spend time at the local
supermarket and pay attention to the variety of people you see. Imagine their lives, their social
status, their income levels. Write a character profile of one person you see.
Imagine the world without some of the things Golding proposes doing away withmarriage,
armies, big business. Analyze his idea and write an essay about the improvements this will bring
to the world.

Rough drafts of this 3-4 page essay will be assessed in group conferences in class. Prepare for our meeting
in this way:
1. Come to this conference with a list of specific questions or concerns about how your essay is working.
Trust your own sense of how the essay needs to be improved, and be ready to talk about that sense.
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2. Highlight or underline the papers thesis and the key transitional statements that guide your
reader through your argument. How do these sentences provide the guidance your reader
needs?
3. Where are the weakest parts of your argument, and why are they weak? What kind of
evidence or illustrations would make those parts stronger?


Unit III: Writing and Revising at the Library

This 4-5 page essay will be a revision of your Roundhouse essay from the Summer. And by revision I
mean a complete re-write. Using library resources to develop your initial insights and arguments, you will
re-see your essay from approach to final product.

1. Do you still agree with your original papers point of view? Have any of the essays we read for
this class changed your perspective?
2. Do you still agree with your basic approach to writing this essay? Are there parts of the essay that
no longer seem strong? Is there a better way to begin the essay?
3. Can you find any problems with your argument, such as logical fallacies, faulty structure, lack of
evidence? How would a smart person who disagreed with you respond to your essay?
4. What evidence or information could strengthen your essay? Begin to think strategically about our
next trip to the library.

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Calendar
M=Moodle

Date Mon Wed Fri
Week I
August 25-29
Introduction and course
policies
Golding, Thinking As A
Hobby
Library I
Hacker, R1
Week II
Sept. 1-5
Labor Day, No Class

Logic and Argument
Hacker, C1 and C2
Workshop
Deadly Sin #1
Hacker, W2, W3
Week III
Sept. 8-12
Cronon, Only Connect Logic and Argument
Graff, Intro
Hacker, W1
Deadly Sin #2
Hacker, B3
Paper One Due
Week IV
Sept. 15-19
David Foster Wallace,
Commencement Address
Logic and Argument
Fallacies
Deadly Sin #3
Hacker, P1, P2
Week V
Sept. 22-26
The Ones Who Walk
Away from Omelas
Hacker, Sentence Style Sentences: from old to
new
Hacker, S6 and S7
Week VI
Sept. 29-Oct. 3
Berry, The Loss of the
University
Hacker, C4 Paper Two Due
Graff, Ch. 8
Week VII
Oct.. 6-10
Plato, Allegory of the
Cave
Cardinal Newman, The Idea
of the University
Workshop
Deadly Sins 4-6
Week VIII
Oct. 13-17
Graff, Ch. 12
Preparing for the Library
Hacker R2 and R3
Using Sources
Library II

Week IX
Oct. 20-24
Bronowski, The Creative
Mind
Hacker, W4 and W5
7
th
Deadly Sin
Paper Three Workshop
Week X
Oct. 27- 31
Bronowski, The Habit of
Truth
Summary and Workshop Paper Three Due
Finals Study Group?
Finals Week
Nov. 3-6
Wednesday 9-11:00