Homework for 1-30

On Thursday, we will be discussing effective speech. As a warm-up exercise for our discussion, I'd like everyone to find and analyze what they think is a successful speech. A great resource for online speeches examples is TED Talks. Watch a few TED Talks, and pick your favorite video. Link it to your blog, and write 250-400 words about why you think the speaker was effective. Pay attention to elements like tone, projection, body language, and use of visuals. What is the speaker's pace or cadence? Is there anything you found ineffective? Come to class prepared to talk about the speech you chose.

Homework for 1-28

For Tuesday, please read and respond to "Detroit vs. Everybody." This article is a form of place description, and closely resembles the type of ethnographic research process you'll be doing for your final project. Pay close attention to how he relates his personal experience to the larger scenery, how he attempts to present an honest and objective portrait of the place, and how his own viewpoints are shaped or disrupted by the reality of his experience.

Shark Tank Example

This is the example we watched in class today. I'll leave it up here for those who missed class, or for those who want to revisit the video to get a better sense of what we're doing.

"Bodies of the Year" homework

For next class, please read Wesley Morris' article "My Bodies of the Year" and respond with a 350-500 word blog post. In your post, please do not summarize the article; instead, engage with the ideas. Do you find Morris' argument compelling? Can you think of more/better examples? Can you think of counter-examples? Why do bodies matter? Do bodies matter more or less in 2014 than they did 10 years ago? If you don't want to talk about the content, focus on the formal elements. Do you think his essay balanced ethos, pathos, and logos? Was his use of the personal story of his mother effective or not? Remember that blogs are multimodal forms of communication, so feel free to link pictures, videos, and other websites to your post.

Would you rather? Feet-Wet Speeches

In class, you will be performing instant, unprepared one-minute speeches on various low-stakes topics. The goal of this assignment is not to deliver a perfect speech, but to understand where you strengths and weaknesses lie in regards to public speaking.

Spring 2014 Syllabus

WRD 111 Spring 2014

Composition and Communication II

Instructor: Owen Horton

Office Location: 1322 POT

Office Hours: 12:30-2:00pm TR

Email: owen.horton@uky.edu

Semester                                              Time                                        Location

Spring 2014                                         TR 2-3:15pm                           CB 239

Overview

Composition and Communication II is the second of two general education courses focused on integrated oral, written, and visual communication skill development emphasizing critical inquiry and research.  In this course, students will explore issues of public concern using rhetorical analysis, engage in deliberation over those issues, and ultimately propose solutions based on well-developed arguments.  Students will sharpen their ability to conduct research; compose and communicate in written, oral, and visual modalities; and work effectively in groups (dyads and small groups).  To learn to analyze a public issue using rhetorical analysis, the entire class will explore together one contemporary social issue and related texts about it.  Students will then be grouped in teams, each of which will explore a different public controversy with a local face (e.g., the use of renewable energy vs. fossil fuels--local angle:  coal mining practices in Eastern Kentucky).  For the first two-thirds of the class, students will decide on their team focus and conduct significant primary and secondary research on the issue, culminating in a series of reports and a group speech.  In the last third of the class, teams will develop digital projects to communicate their well-argued solutions to audiences beyond the classroom.  A significant component of the class will consist of learning to use visual and digital resources, first to enhance written and oral presentations and later to communicate mass mediated messages to various public audiences.  Over the course of the semester, class members can expect to work independently, with a partner, and in a small group (team) to investigate, share findings, and compose and deliver presentations, as well as to practice and evaluate interpersonal and team dynamics in action.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the semester, students will be able to:

• Compose in writing and deliver orally with visuals (in a face-to-face or digital environment) at least one major project grounded in scholarly research in a manner that is appropriate and effective for the audience, purpose, and occasion. (The development of one or more major research projects is the course’s primary educational focus).
• Conduct significant research on a subject, using the resources of the UK Libraries
• Employ advanced strategies for developing ideas and analyzing arguments, with greater emphasis on addressing and mediating issues of public interest, and with evidence of critical thinking in both the conception and the development of the thesis.
• Refine their speaking, writing, and visual communication skills, focusing on matters of construction, design, and delivery style.
• Critique the work of peers and professionals.
• Revise their written and oral presentations, in collaboration with peers, instructor, librarians, and pertinent members of the public.
• Employ and evaluate interpersonal and small group communication skills.

Required Materials

·         Award Winning Essays Reader (available only in bookstore)

·         Everything’s an Argument, 6^th ed., University of Kentucky Edition

·         Pocket Style Manual: University of Kentucky Edition and Pocket Guide to Public Speaking

(Note: these are the handbooks from WRD 110 and will be bundled together at the bookstore.)

·         Other content for reading and/or viewing on Blackboard.

Assignments

Course Blog

As part of your participation in this class you will be maintaining a blog of your writing throughout the term. I will give you writing assignments most nights that will ask you to do a bit of research and to then post your responses to your blog. During class I will refer to the assignments and will periodically ask students to share their responses with the class as a way to begin (or sometimes continue) our conversations. You will need to set up a Blogger (www.blogger.com) blog for this semester and you must email me your URL within the first few days of class. We will spend some time in class introducing the role of blogs.

“Shark Tank” Proposal

Students will write a 600 word (approximately two pages) proposal that presents background and history related to the topic and will show why the topic is one worthy of further research. Students will then deliver a brief, 2-4 minute pitch for their project proposal. Using visuals and props, each student will attempt to “sell” the class on the value and interest of his or her project. Audience will then conduct a brief Q & A will the presenter regarding the merits of the project. Pitches, unlike speeches, have only a small rehearsed portion, and will rely just as much on a student’s ability to answer questions from the audience.

Annotated Bibliography

Students will write three-page (minimum) annotated bibliography that summarizes the research they have completed in the archives, online, and in other sources.

First Cuts Presentation

Students will deliver a formal 4-6 minute speech summarizing and presenting their final project for classmates. This speech should be done with only a minimal outline, and it must include visuals.

Semester Project: Documentary

Our major project is an investigative documentary on a specific group or organization on campus. The goal of this documentary is to investigate what makes this community so interesting to the members, and present your findings to an audience that may have never encountered this group otherwise. The documentary will be a minimum of four minutes long, but shouldn’t be more than six minutes long. Your film will use primary research (from archives and interviews) and secondary resources (from journals or newspapers). You will submit a supplementary bibliography with your film using MLA or APA.

Grading

“Shark Tank” Proposal           15%                            A                     90% and above

Annotated Bibliography          20%                             B                     80% to 90%

First Cuts Presentation            20%                            C                     70% to 80%

Documentary Final Cut           35%                             D                     60% to 70%

Blog and Participation             10%                             E                      59% and below

Mid-Term Grade

Mid-term grades will be posted in myUK by the deadline established in the Academic Calendar (http://www.uky.edu/Registrar/AcademicCalendar.htm)

Course Policies

On-Time Attendance and Participation

Since discussion will be an integral part of the course, you must be prepared for class, on time, and offer productive comments based on the assigned readings.  Preparation involves not only reading but also making notes about the reading so that you are prepared to discuss issues in depth.  I reserve the right to add quizzes to the class agenda if too many class members appear to be unprepared.

You can accrue three unexcused absences without penalty on a MWF schedule or two unexcused absences on a TTh schedule, but your final course grade will be reduced by a half letter grade for each unexcused absence thereafter.  To receive an excused absence, you must provide official documentation; if for a sponsored University activity (such as intercollegiate athletics), documentation must be provided in advance. The University Senate and the Division of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Media set a limit on total absences—both excused and unexcused—at 1/5^th of the total class meetings.

Students who are at least 10 minutes late will be marked as late.  Each late day will be counted against your participation grade for the day. If a quiz occurs, you can only make it up if you have a valid, documented excuse for your tardiness.  So be prepared and on time!

Late Assignments

Your assignments for this course, including speeches, essays, journals, and informal assignments, are due on the dates indicated in the class outline below or as indicated in class. Late assignments are not accepted.  All assignments must be posted on Blackboard, which applies a date/time stamp to them.  They must be posted BEFORE class in order to be marked as “on time.” If you are absent on a day when an assignment is due, your speech is scheduled, or an exam is given, you will be allowed to hand in or make-up that work only if the absence is officially excused.

Plagiarism

Part II of Student Rights and Responsibilities states that all academic work‚ written or otherwise‚ submitted by students to their instructors or other academic supervisors‚ is expected to be the result of their own thought‚ research‚ or self–expression. See section 6.3.1; online at

http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/Code/Section%20VI.pdf

In cases where students feel unsure about a question of plagiarism involving their work‚ they are obliged to consult their instructors on the matter before submission. When students submit work purporting to be their own‚ but which in any way borrows ideas‚ organization‚ wording or anything else from another source without appropriate acknowledgment of the fact‚ the students are guilty of plagiarism.

Plagiarism includes reproducing someone else's work‚ whether it be published article‚ chapter of a book‚ a paper from a friend or some file‚ or another source, including the Internet. Plagiarism also includes the practice of employing or allowing another person to alter or revise the work which a student submits as his/her own‚ whoever that other person may be. Plagiarism also includes using someone else’s work during an oral presentation without properly citing that work in the form of an oral footnote.

Whenever you use outside sources or information‚ you must carefully acknowledge exactly what‚ where and how you have employed them. If the words of someone else are used‚ you must put quotation marks around the passage in question and add an appropriate indication of its origin. Plagiarism also includes making simple changes while leaving the organization‚ content and phrasing intact. However‚ nothing in these Rules shall apply to those ideas which are so generally and freely circulated as to be a part of the public domain.

You may discuss assignments among yourselves or with me or a tutor‚ but when the actual work is done‚ it must be done by you‚ and you alone unless the assignment has been designed to be conducted with a partner or small group of classmates. All work submitted must be new, original work; you may not submit work you have produced for another purpose or class, including a previous CIS or WRD 110 course.

Class Conduct

Students are expected to:

• come to class prepared (do all reading and come prepared to discuss it; do all homework) and take pride in the work you do,
• offer support and encouragement to your classmates,
• listen to others carefully before offering your opinion,
• talk to me outside of class if anything that happens during class bothers you.

In order to maintain a productive work environment, I expect you to turn off your cell phone before each class period and refrain from eating, sleeping, reading irrelevant materials, talking once class is in session unless asked to do so, and entering the classroom late or leaving early without permission. Students who engage in behavior so disruptive that it is impossible to conduct class may be directed to leave for the remainder of the class period.

Peer Groups

Because most writers, educators, and other professionals must learn to work collaboratively, you will collaborate—cheerfully—with your peers both in and out of class. I will ask you to form groups early in the semester. You will work with this group often in class as well. Treat everyone in this class as a valued colleague, and you will have few problems. That means that you will honor all deadlines agreed to by your classmates as though I were the one who set them and in general be respectful. Consequences for "slacking" may result in anything ranging from a full letter grade deduction for the assignment to a zero (determined on a case-by-case basis).  

Writing Center / Multimodal Communication Lab

The Writing Center is located in W. T. Young Library, Thomas D. Clark Study, Basement, West Wing (phone: 257-1368).  You can walk in or make an appointment online (http://web.as.uky.edu/oxford/). The staff can help you identify and correct problems with all aspects of your writing as well as work with you on visual design. If you have additional problems with your speaking, you may also go to the Multimodal Communication Lab in 106 Grehan (phone: 859-257-8370).  I recommend that you consider going to either location if you feel stuck at any stage of the communication process.

Students with Special Needs

If you are registered with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) and require special accommodations to complete the work for this course, you must produce a letter from the DRC that details what you need before I can grant you these accommodations.  Special accommodations cannot be granted retroactively.  This is a non-negotiable class policy.  Please contact the DRC at 257-2754 if you have questions about your eligibility for special accommodations.

Tentative Schedule

9 weeks, then spring break, then classes end May 2 (14 weeks)

Week 1

Introduction to the Course—syllabus, ice breaker

Week 2

Set up course blog, along with avatar

“Feet Wet” speeches (would you rather?)

Discuss “2013 Bodies”

Review Major Assignment

Week 3

Discuss “Are Video Games Art?”

Discuss Ignite Speech examples

Research and exploration

Examine “No, THIS is Detroit” and/or “Humans of New York”

Photoblog of campus adventure

Introduce “Shark Tank” proposals

Discuss brainstorming and invention ideas

Discuss proposals

Week 4

Proposals Due

Discuss “Detroit vs. Everybody”

Peer Revision and discussion of proposals

Begin “Shark Tank” presentations

Week 5

Conclude “Shark Tank” presentations

Week 6

Discuss “Understanding Film Terms”

Watch and discuss Dark Days

Discuss “The Archive” and “Royce White” (together)

Introduce Annotated Bibliographies

Week 7

Discuss “Born Into Coal”

Visuals in Presentations

Discuss “Philographics” and visual rhetoric

Discuss “Cultural Colors” and why the small things matter

Week 8

Library Trip

Discuss Storyboarding (what is it?)

In-class Brainstorming work on storyboards

Annotated Bibliography Due

Week 9

Watch and Discuss student documentaries

Emailing etiquette

Students should begin filming by this week at the latest

Media Depot trip

Week 10

Filming week

Discuss framing and filming strategies

Discuss interviewing strategies

Week 11

In-class editing week (bring your laptop and come prepared to work)

Week 12

In-class editing week (bring your laptop and come prepared to work)

Week 13

First Cuts Presentations

Week 14

Finish First Cuts

Revision workshops (time to work on your projects)

Week 15

Reflection essay

Teaching Evaluations

Doughnut or Pizza Party?

Final Cut of Documentary Due Friday of Finals Week (we have no exam and will not meet during finals week)