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, 6th
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 1/5th
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
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)
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