Transcript Slide 1

Session 1: Welcome
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9.30: Intro to RWS100 and the lower
division writing program
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TA Introductions; photo session
(program of assimilation and mind control revealed)
Overview of RWS100
 10.00:
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Overview of RWS100
The program, RWS100, ICT, Spring
students, the course theme, etc.
RWS 100 and the lower division
writing program
 See
the orientation handout for
contact info and resources for new
TAs.
 Argument is at the center of the
program and 100.
 We mostly focus on non fiction,
argumentative texts.
RWS 100 and the lower division
writing program
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We ask students to interpret, analyze, and
produce written arguments, because this is central
to academic literacy, critical thinking, and civic life
- Lasch: “argument is the essence of education,”
and “central to democratic culture”;
- Norgaard: Universities are “houses of argument.”
- Graff: “Argument literacy” is key to higher
education.
- argument and interpretation = big part of
academic work/literacy
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We want students to be able to identify claims,
evaluate evidence and reasons, locate
assumptions, identify argumentative moves, pose
critical questions, produce sophisticated
arguments, etc.
We do this not just because we think it’s good for
their souls, critical thinking, ability to reason,
deliberate, be engaged citizens, etc. But also
because it’s key to their professional futures –
every gateway requires it.
Why We Fight!
(4 your right to write, argue & analyze well)
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The ability to interpret arguments, locate claims and
evidence, analyze moves and strategies, and evaluate
arguments are crucial skills.
They are central to business, law, professional life, and
to academic study (including graduate school).
Students tested for these skills in the WPA, the LSAT,
GMAT, and GRE – all the gateways to professional life.
Consider the GRE…
Analytical Writing Tasks
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Present Your Views on an Issue (45 minutes,
choice of 2 topics)
Analyze an Argument (30 minutes)
Each essay is scored on a 0-6 scale using
holistic scoring
 Two scores for each essay
GRE Website presents directions, actual
topics, scoring guide, and sample essays for
both the Issue and Argument tasks
(www.gre.org/gentest.html)
Rhetorical self-consciousness & understanding
of moves = academic literacy
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We aim to improve academic literacy – equip students with
transferable skills that will help them in the disciplinary
communities they are part of; help students become more
rhetorically sophisticated and self reflective producers and
consumers of texts, help students become critical, engaged
writers.
We want to help students read and interpret texts rhetorically, to
develop rhetorical self consciousness – to look “at” as well as
through language. So we also focus on moves, strategies and
choices – what the author is doing with words, how she is doing
it, and why.
Revealing the rhetorical moves that writers make is an important
part of achieving academic literacy, and of acculturation into
disciplinary communities. When you recognize the moves, you
not only understand the disciplinary conversation better, you are
better equipped to join it.
You will (not) be assimilated…
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You need to work within the course framework and
assignment sequence, but you can be creative and adapt
it – we’re interested in hearing your ideas (esp. for the
start and end of the semester). Also, we focus on
PACES – but you can go beyond this if you wish
(assumptions, implications, counterexamples, fallacies).
Just don’t let argument overshadow student writing
RWS100 represents just one way to design a writing
course – many others are possible (genre, critical
literacy, cultural studies, personal reflection, literary texts,
etc.)
Writing programs often serve many masters, since
general education programs are collaborative
enterprises. Had we world enough and time (and money
and control) I like the idea of a hybrid WID-based
approach.
You will (not) be assimilated…
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But even so, your experience in this program will be
valuable as a) it’s an influential model, b) the trend is
toward aligning k-12 and higher ed. around argument,
and c) SDSU’s program is regionally influential.
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In other words, in the future, you may go on to teach
writing in an entirely different way – and that’s great.
But it will be useful to have familiarity with a program
like this, which is very large, multi-leveled,
comprehensive and tightly designed. Many other TAs
will work in programs where there is one semester of
freshman comp, and that’s it.
Expectations
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ITC = an important part of your work. You are
expected to attend. You get credit for it
More importantly, it’s part of collaboration, professional
development, and networking. The dialogue matters.
Modest home work is assigned but it’s all to prepare
for your class.
Your contribution is important and most welcome. We
provide a lot of support, but you are welcome to adapt
& remix, or add your own materials. We encourage
you to suggest new ideas/ways of teaching the course
Teaching in a time of crisis…
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The budget crisis, class size increases, the
furloughs etc. have/continue to cause
disruption, uncertainty and change
 We can't provide quite as much support as
usual, and jobs are harder to come by.
 You may well have to teach RWS200 next
semester, where learning curve is steeper.
 So using ITC and your fellow TAs is especially
important this semester.
Teaching in a time of crisis…
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Class sizes will be 30 (yay...?)
 Most major academic organizations (including
the WPA) have shown that university writing
classes should have at most 20 students.
 Our pedagogies aren’t really designed for
classes this big. We may wish to share coping
strategies.
 In fact, we may want to “jigsaw” the work of
preparing class plans, etc.
Meet your audience
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Spring semester students are often ‘developmental’
writers. Many will have just completed 92A and 92B.
(You’ll be able to tell - roster will say level “1,” as
opposed to “0”).
Many will have done 92a/b over summer as college
prep. They tend to be serious, hard working students
Some may be fairly sophisticated readers and writers,
but you’ll be presenting them with a different way of
approaching texts, and they’ll find this challenging at
first. Some are “L 1.5”
You may have some ESL/international students. You
can refer them to LING100 if you think they’ll struggle.
The “R” in RWS = Rhetoric
Some students will assume they are in
an English class, and will bring
expectations from high school English.
 You may need to remind them this is a
Rhetoric and Writing class so they don't
keep reaching for familiar strategies from
high school English.
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Spring 2011 Course theme
We’re part of the GE common theme:
“Sustainability, Social Justice & Environmental
Integrity”
 We’ll read 3 main texts
1) Friedman, “The Power of Green”
 2) Gladwell, Outliers: the Story of Success
 3) Kenner’s Food Inc.
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Assignment Sequence
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1. produce an account and analysis of a single
argument (Friedman)
2. gather sources, situate an argument within a field of
other texts, map out and analyze relationships between
them (extend, complicate, illustrate, etc.) (Gladwell)
3. identify, analyze and evaluate rhetorical strategies
(Food Inc.)
4. an optional 4th assignment
Assignment 4: Portfolio/Contract Grading/Group
Project/Lens/Contribution or Evaluation paper
■ For the final assignment, you can select from a
number of options. We recommend one of the following,
although you are welcome to suggest alternatives.
■ Last semester a number of TAs chose to extend the
strategies assignment – in essence, have students do 3
& ½ major assignments. They did a formal written
strategies assignment, plus a presentation (sometimes in
groups) and self analysis of rhetorical choices.
Managing the Final Paper
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1. Portfolio: Students have done small writing
assignments over the semester. You can
assign further short writing assignments in the
final part of the course, and give students an
aggregate grade for the completed portfolio.
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2. Reflection essay – have students write a
paper that asks them to reflect on the writing
work they have done, what they have learned,
the way they approach writing, the things they
still need to work on, etc.
Managing the Final Paper
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3. Group projects/presentations where students get to
make an argument that draws from one of the issues raised
in the class, or which focuses on one of the texts covered. If
you choose this option, we suggest you construct a group
assignment with clearly defined roles for each student, so
that individual grades can be assigned and you minimize
“free riding” and conflict.
 4. Lens paper: if you would like to stick to “traditional” way
in the 4th assignment has been taught, you can use the
“lens assignment” (see past 100 syllabi, assignments,
materials etc. for details.) This paper involves taking one of
the texts we’ve read and using it as a “lens” through which
to analyze another text or a contemporary issue. The
student can present an original argument, interpretation or
analysis. (E.g. Gladwell as lens on Chua’s “tiger mother,” or
Food Inc. on recently passed food safety bill.)
Supplementary texts
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Roll your own asignment
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For the 4th assignment, you can assign
no text, select your own text, or let
students choose a text(s), but you’ll need
to work with them and provide guidance.
Main Texts
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Friedman, Gladwell, Kenner (Food Inc.)
Short texts, incl. Bleich, Kristof, Rifkin, and any others you select to introduce
the course, and the major texts. Short texts in Praxis, on the wiki,
FrankenReader.
Various short texts for unit 2 and 4th assignment (Some can be used
repeatedly. E.g. you may wish to consider Parry’s “The Art of Branding a
Condition” for introducing rhetoric, setting up Friedman, and in the strategies
unit. You can talk to us for recommendations).
Praxis: A Brief Rhetoric
RWS Custom reader
Graff et al. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.
NO MORE Raimes Keys for Writing – we’ll need to work around.
BUT - in a sense the “central” text in the class = the students’ texts. (Your
fabulous teaching performance vs. their written performance)
You may want to delve deep into the issues raised in texts.
You may want to perform brilliantly, and may be tempted to model your teaching on
the last class you took (a grad class). New teachers tend to prepare to teach
the classes they’ve just been in, just as armies prepare to fight the last war.
Try to resist this.
Overview of RWS100
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Sample syllabi, schedules and
assignment sequences are on the wiki
(and will be on Blackboard later).
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We’ll talk more about syllabi later today.
10.30 The First Week(s):
Introducing rhetoric, the course,
and working with short texts
Common Class Activities & Patterns
[See p. 3 of handout]
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Pre-reading and “pre-discussion” work (questionnaires to get at
assumptions, surveys, etc.)
“Jig saw” work (students share researching key parts of text and share in
class)
Class discussion, group work
Critical reading/rhetorical reading – posing questions, interrogating
assumptions, reading actively and critically (modeling qns to ask)
Charting – what is the text doing; what/how/why moves are made
PACES (project, argument, claims, evidence, strategies)
Pre-writing exercises
Templates, rhetorical precis, metadiscourse, transitions, mechanics
Drafting, peer review, student “read alouds,” conferencing
Assessment and response
Analysis (single argument, relationship between texts, strategies, “lens”
work, evaluation of arguments) and presentation of student arguments
Reflection and reflective practice (applying concepts to students own
writing – e.g. charting, analyzing students’ moves and strategies, etc.)
Example: pre-reading exercises
1. In Class test
“Careful, you might run out of planet: SUVs and the
exploitation of the American myth,” by Goewey.
Questions:
1. Is Goewey critical or complimentary of SUVs?
2. Does the author believe that there is time to make a
change?
3. Does the author put more emphasis on car quality or
social issues in assessing the value of SUVs?
4. Is the author likely to be a supporter of major oil
companies?
5. Was this essay written in 1979, 1989, or 1999?
Pre-reading
2. Examining Titles Carefully: Chua
- Chua’s article “A World on the Edge” is part of her book
World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds
Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability.
3. Headings you can find out a lot by going through the section and
chapter headings. For example, you can find out a lot by looking at
section headings in Food Inc. (1. Introduction 2. Fast Food to All
Food 3. Illusion of diversity 4. Unintended Consequences…
7. Hidden Costs…9. The Veil 10. Shocks to the System.
11. The Power of the Consumer)
Or Gladwell – book divided into 2 parts, Opportunity, Legacies, and
within each part, aspects of the these concepts are explored via
case studies.
Friedman– pre-reading, survey questions, jig saw
Assign students to research key words, or research
key concepts and references.
Vocabulary for Friedman: Geostrategic, Dan Pink,
Mullah Omar, Muezzin, Ottoman Turkey, Sunni, Shiite,
Sufi Islam, Mecca, the Saudi Royal family, Wahhabis,
Imams, Putin, NGOs, IPCC, McKinsey Global Institute,
Earth Policy Institute, G.E., New Deal, Common
Cause, the Greatest Generation, etc.
Pre-reading: the power of (re)naming – Parry, Kansas
& global warming, naming debt/bailouts, etc.
Surveys/Questionnaires
Food Inc.
■ Warm-up: What factors influence me/my family’s choices about what to eat?
Ask students to name some of these factors. Possible responses might include
price, convenience, what types of food are readily available, taste preferences,
nutritional content, habits, cultural influences etc.
■ Do you know which agricultural products are subsidized, whether that makes
a difference to what people eat, and what is in most foods?
■ Do you know which groups of people in the U.S. have the highest rates or
diabetes? Of obesity?
■ What role should the government play in a) regulating what people eat, b)
informing people about what goes into their food, c) taxing, subsidizing, or
incentivizing people to eat some things and not others? Examples: NYC bans
hydrogenated oils; soda taxes – should taxes be added to sodas the way taxes
are to cigarettes, to discourage consumption, and help pay for the health
costs?
■ etc.
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See 3-12 of the handout for a detailed
account of each of these major activities.
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There are handouts, class exercises,
and class plans based on each of these
key activities (see wiki or Blackboard).
Some Roadmaps for RWS100
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Overview of RWS100 Overview of RWS
100, Assignments, Classroom Activities,
Coursework, and Detailed Description of
First 3 Weeks
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Gives you multiple views – broad
overview, to detailed description of 4
units, to class-by-class description of first
three weeks.
Introducing rhetoric
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We ask that you tell students that RWS 100 is a rhetoric
class. Many will base their expectations on high school
English classes – literary texts and writing assignments, etc.
You’ll need to emphasize that the interpretation, analysis and
production of argument is central, that they will be reading
non-fiction texts, and producing a lot of analysis.
 You may find “Content is king” - locate, remember and deliver
content. You may encounter a “textbook mentality” in the
reading practices of many of your students, and an
“information processor” model of writing.
 Textbooks are often “anti-rhetorical” - presenting knowledge in
terms of a decontextualized, disembodied voice of authority, a
“view from nowhere,” and of knowledge as “settled,” unified
and authoritative
 The contested, contingent, contextual, community-centered,
argument-driven…in short, the RHETORICAL dimensions of
knowledge – of academic discourse, are largely absent.
Nudging students toward a
rhetorical stance…
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We want to move students from a focus on what texts say
(content) to what they do and how they do it (rhetoric). Rhetorical
self consciousness = achieving a kind of double vision – of
looking “at” as well as through language.
Rhetorical self consciousness – understanding what texts do - is
an important skill for students. Revealing the rhetorical moves
that writers make, the strategies they draw on, is part of achieving
academic literacy, and of acculturation into disciplinary
communities. When you recognize the moves you not only
understand the disciplinary conversation better, you are better
equipped to join it.
In the first week of class we’d like you to introduce key concepts
through the analysis of some short texts. There is a folder on
Blackboard to help you with this.
Focusing on strategies and what texts do = good ways of
introducing rhetoric.
Basic Rhetorical Strategies
How do texts position readers?
 What point of view do they adopt?
 From what perspective do they invite us
to view the world?
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Consider these chewing gum ads:
Rhetoric Is “Everywhere” & an “Everyday” Thing
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When a politician tries to get you to vote for them, they are using
rhetoric.
When a lawyer tries to move a jury, they are using rhetoric.
When a government produces propaganda, they are using rhetoric.
When an advertisement tries to get you to buy something, it is using
rhetoric.
When the president gives a speech, he is using rhetoric.
But rhetoric can be much subtler (and quite positive) as well:
 When someone writes an office memo, they are using rhetoric.
 When a newspaper offers their depiction of what happened last night,
they are using rhetoric.
 When a scientist presents theories or results, they are using rhetoric.
 When you write your mom or dad an email, you are using rhetoric.
 Thought itself is rhetorical - when you think, you engage in “inner
argument,” or “inner persuasion” in order to reach a decision or
act.
HEADLINES DESCRIBING MEDICAL MARIJUANA DECISION
 Salon Magazine “Court rules against pot for sick people”
 New York Times: “High Court Allows Prosecution of Medical
Marijuana Users”
 USA Today: “MEDICAL MARIJUANA BAN UPHELD”
 San Diego Union Tribune: “Court OKs Marijuana Crackdown”
 L.A. Times: “Justices Give Feds Last Word on Medical Marijuana”
 Christian Science Monitor: “US Court Rules Against Pot For Sick
People”
 Christian News Source: “Medical Marijuana Laws Don't Shield
Users From Prosecution”
Telemarketing Strategies Script
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Pre-introduction: (Ask to speak to the decision-maker)
Introduction: (Introduce yourself and the reason for your call)
Attention Getter: (Mention the key features of the offer and qualify them
for eligibility)
Probing Questions: (Always ask for information that will be useful for
rebuttals)
Offer: (Explain the product/service and terms of commitment)
Close: (ALWAYS ASK FOR THE SALE)
Rebuttal (deal with objections)
Sales Continuation: (Agree, use rebuttals, sell benefits, CLOSE)
Up/down/cross-sell: (If there is another product of less-price this is the
time to sell it.)
Confirmation Close: (Review the terms of the offer to reduce buyer
remorse)
Final Close: (End on a positive note. Thank the customer and leave a
dial free number for customer support)
Everyday words, names, definitions, categories – how
they are selected or constructed = rhetorical. Consider:
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Cash advance (vs. high interest loan)
Second Mortgage vs. Home equity loan
“War on terror,” vs. “war against Islamic extremists,” vs. “fight against
Al Queda” (scope, agents involved, action)
“War on drugs”’ “Axis of Evil”;
“Body bags” vs. “transfer tubes”
“Doctor assisted suicide” vs. “death with dignity”
“Defense of marriage” vs. “marriage equality”
“French Fries/Freedom fries”
“Death Tax/Estate Tax”
“Habit forming” vs. “addictive”
“Erectile dysfunction” vs. “impotence”
“Halitosis” vs. “bad breath”
“Male pattern baldness” vs. “losing your hair”
“Viagra!”
When ads used a lot of logos
Today’s ads often use different
appeals
WE CAN READ MATERIAL
CULTURE RHETORICALLY
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“By reading…we mean something more than simply
lifting information out of books and articles. To read a
text or event is to do something to it, to make sense
out of its signals and clues…Reading is thus not
something we do to books alone. Or, to put it another
way, books and other printed surfaces are not the only
texts we read. Rather, a ‘text’ is anything that can
be interpreted, that we can make meaning out of or
assign value to. In this sense, all culture is a text
and all culture can be read.” Joseph Harris and Jay
Rosen.
Strategies in Sculpture: Maya Lin’s Vietnam War
Memorial
Why these choices for a memorial – what
strategies might they represent?
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The Vietnam war memorial is black
It is made of reflective black granite. When a visitor looks at the
wall, she will see the engraved names and her own reflection
The monument is built along a pathway that requires people to
move along the small corridor of space
Unlike many monuments, it lists all the names of U.S. soldiers
who died, and it does so in chronological rather than alphabetic
order (Lin has she wanted the wall to read “‘like an epic Greek
poem’ and ‘return the vets to the time frame of the war’)
Information about rank, unit, and decorations are not given
The wall is V-shaped, with one side pointing to the Lincoln
Memorial and the other to the Washington Monument. Lin's
conception was to create an opening or a wound in the earth to
symbolize the gravity of the loss of the soldiers
The rise of the “bum-proof” bench in
Los Angeles
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"One of the most common, but mindnumbing, of these deterrents is the [L.A.]
Rapid Transit District’s new barrelshaped
bus bench that offers a minimal surface for
uncomfortable sitting, while making
sleeping utterly impossible. Such
‘bumproof’ benches are being widely
introduced on the periphery of Skid Row.
Another invention...is the aggressive
deployment of outdoor sprinklers. Several
years ago the city opened a ‘Skid Row
Park’ along lower Fifth Street, on a corner
of Hell. To ensure that the park was not
used for sleeping--that is, to guarantee
that it was mainly utilized for drug dealing
and prostitution--the city installed an
elaborate overhead sprinkler system
programmed to drench unsuspecting
sleepers at random times during the night.
The system was immediately copied by
some local businessmen in order to drive
the homeless away from adjacent public
sidewalks.“Mike Davis, City of Quartz:
Excavating the Future in Los Angeles, p.
233.
Why design seats this way? How does this
shape/constrain behavior, & whose behavior is
targeted?
Why design walls & curbs this way?
2003: One of the greatest acts of
“political stagecraft”
“Going far beyond the foundations in stagecraft set by the Reagan White House, [the Bush administration] is using the
powers of television and technology to promote a presidency like never before.” ELISABETH BUMILLER, NYT, 2003.
For more on the history of political image making see http://www.pbs.org/30secondcandidate/index.html
Introducing rhetoric
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You may wish to use short texts, visual texts,
advertisements, op-eds and other texts that
students are probably familiar with in order to
introduce rhetoric.
 Email communication is a good place to start –
students are familiar with the genre, and may
find it easier to recognize strategies, acts of
persuasion, positioning, performance, etc.
 This YouTube animation is a good text to start
a discussion about rhetoric – about audience,
purpose, persuasion, strategies, genre, ethos,
rhetorical situation, etc.
Using a YouTube Animation to
introduce rhetorical concepts
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SubText – animation showing a guy composing an email to a
girl he likes. The man “thinks aloud” as he writes, and we
glimpse what goes on “in his head” as he composes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=400w4XnjElI
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Examine how this trivial act is full of rhetorical issues. The
character is asking, how does this language present me? What
persona does it construct? What tactic will be most effective?
What moves should I make, how will this make me seem? How
should I think of my audience? What is my purpose? How do I
avoid embarrassment?
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Have students take the concepts of rhetorical situation,
persuasion, construction of ethos, strategies, etc., and apply to
this visual text.
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Using Email exercises to introduce rhetoric – handout, p.17 - 20
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Ideas on short texts + introducing class/concepts?
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The new Praxis text to introduce argument & rhetorical analysis
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Different approaches to introducing/pacing argument concepts
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Charting, templates, rhetorical reading questions, argument map.
See 21-25 of handout.
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Charting & Analyzing Sample Short Texts
Kristof/Bleich/Rifkin/Friedman
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Managing the 4th assignment – ideas?
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Sample syllabi, schedules and assignment sequences
are on the wiki (and will be on Blackboard soon).
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Drafting your syllabus - TA drafts?
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Reader contains plagiarism “agreement” – should also
include section in syllabus.
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Schedule some evaluation/feedback fairly early
Learning Outcomes: What they are, why they
matter, how to use them to your advantage.
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Outcomes should be listed on your syllabus, and it’s useful to
include them in your assignments (see p. 25 of handout).
They can be used as part of student reflections, and to help prime
students for evaluations.
If things get ugly, the outcomes and syllabus provide you with
backup. In disputes, they matter.
Recent change: our outcomes are now explicitly framed in terms
of the general education program and its “capacities” and goals
(meta-outcomes)
This new language adds a certain amount of institutional authority
to our courses. You can point students to the section that states
how important our courses and outcomes are to the educational
mission of the university (then go back to berating them for
sending text messages in class). If questioned, you can also say,
“look, the course goals aren’t my arbitrary whim designed to
torture you, but the university’s carefully researched conclusion
as to what constitutes essential undergraduate academic skills.”
Discussion & Participation
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Prime with a questionnaire, survey or questions
 Call by name
 Put in groups and assign responsibility
 Jig saw work
 “Pyramids” (alone, in pairs, 4s, etc.)
 Freewrite (give students time to assemble thoughts, so
they feel more confidant contributing
 Wait….at least 7 seconds. Try not to get stuck in the
habit of answering your own questions.
 Have students post responses and homework to
Blackboard, so you can bring to class and use to get
discussion going.
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Author Interview, Panel or Role-Playing
One student assumes the role of the writer and answers question
from the audience about the article’s main claim, choices
regarding supporting evidence, and the writer’s view of his/her
audience at the time of writing.
Students assigned to play role of author for 10-15 minutes. You
may choose to let that student greet the class “in character,” and
provide a brief summary of the argument that he/she wrote, which
everyone else in class has read. After that, the exercise consists
of class members asking the “writer” questions about the
argument itself.
CAN ALSO be used with assignment 2 (sources) in which
students are responsible to assume the role of different authors,
and you can set up a debate with Chua.
Note that there are discussion guides for both Food Inc and
Confessions.
Seth’s Seven Tips for Discussion
(RWS 296)
1)
Beware of cold starts. Consider
directed freewriting, journaling, or the
“Brain Dump” at the start of class.
Quick responses can both kickstart
discussions, and eventually help
students question where their
responses come from.
Seth Taylor: Seven Tips for
Discussion (RWS 296)
2)
Be wary of asking the BIG questions
first:
“So… what do you think about the
reading?”
“So what’s the point of the chapter?”
Active Learning: Seven Tips for
Discussion
3) Let your first question be easy, possibly about their
reading process:
“How long did it take to read this?”
“Where does it get interesting (or boring)?”
Were there any passages you found difficult,
interesting or unusual?
4) Open-ended questions will require students to think.
Yes/No questions require very little of them, and can
often shut down discussion before it starts.
Active Learning: Seven Tips for
Discussion
5)
Encourage students to explain,
support, their responses to a text.
Almost every answer can be followed
up with a “Why?” question from the
instructor.
Active Learning: Seven Tips for
Discussion
6) Encourage students to talk to each
other, rather than simply fire answers
back to you:
 Re-directing students to respond to
each others ideas
 Group breakout exercises
 Let students teach
Active Learning: Seven Tips for
Discussion
7)
At the end of class, try to re-cap or
summarize the ground that was
covered. You do not need the
discussion to come to a grand
conclusion, but some sort of review
will help increase retention.
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12.45
See Jo Serrano, Shea Pacleb, Jamie
Madden and Karen Keene in AH3138 for
office info, keys, etc.
2.00 – 3.00 p.m.
Rhetorical Reading of Friedman
Glen McClish
3.00 Blackboard, the Wiki &
Finding things
3. Blackboard & Tech Tools
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The order of things (in a hierarchical, inflexible, old “new
media” warehouse/content management system).
At first it will seem like a black hole. After a while it’s merely
confusing.
How to contribute (you have the power – use it carefully!!
Don’t delete things)
How to copy things to your course
Making your Blackboard class visible to your students
How to post on the discussion board in order to hand in
homework
Exercise: post a bio sketch to the TA discussion board.
Blackboard's SafeAssign

SafeAssign Tutorial in Blackboard - UNC demonstrates how an
instructor creates a SafeAssign Assignment, interprets the SA
report, and how students submit their papers to SA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gWf3pPVJ3k
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Blackboard SafeAssign Tutorial – presentation on the use of
Blackboard's new Safe Assign - drag the timeline bar to 30
minutes to start the section on SA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLMGP6rlOj0&feature=related

ITS has a page on SafeAssign and plagiarism
http://its.sdsu.edu/tech/plagiarism/
Blackboard has a “grade center” tool.
■ It’s useful if you want your students to be able
to track their grades on assignments,
exercises and homework.
■ You may wish to attend a Blackboard training
session (see Jon Rizzo @ ITS)
■ Grade center (and other Bb) instructional
materials are online at:
http://its.sdsu.edu/blackboard/instructor/index.
html
■ Grade center may be worth investing time in
for the future (it’s less helpful for one class)
■ Grade center does not transfer to web portal –
so you have to re-enter grades at the end of
the semester.
■ If you know how to use a spreadsheet, you
can download student info from Web portal
and enter grades there (if you want electronic
copy).
■ You can always go old school and use a
gradebook…
Blackboard & Technology Tools
 If
you feel ambitious, consider
alternatives – wikis, CSMs, hosted
sites, etc. I suggest we use the wiki
this semester for planning.
4.00 Surviving the First Day
• Classroom Dynamics
• What to do on the First Day
• The inside scoop from your fellow TAs