Syllabus
Course Description & Learning Outcomes
WRTG 150 is designed to introduce you to college-level writing, reading,
and research with an emphasis on argumentation and rhetorical analysis.
This course pays particular attention to the ways arguments work within
discourse communities (that is, groups of people who share common
values, interests, purposes, beliefs, and so forth). Our study of writing and
rhetoric will be structured around the impact of new media (for example,
the Internet, Facebook, and texting) on our culture and society, and will
require extensive writing, reading, and research in this topic area.
As a result of taking WRTG 150, you will be able to do the following:
1. Use rhetoric responsibly to compose arguments in a variety of
genres for specific audiences and purposes.
2. Critically read texts. This includes
a. analyzing how a text functions in a specific situation, community, or public;
b. analyzing the nuances of language (diction, figures of speech,
tone, etc.);
c. identifying and evaluating the elements of an argument—
claims, reasons, assumptions, and ethical, emotional, and
logical appeals
3. Write coherent and unified texts (effective introductions, clear
theses, supporting details, transitions, and strong conclusions)
using a flexible and effective writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing.
4. Use style—diction, figurative language, tone, grammar, punctuation, spelling, mechanics—genre, conventions, and document
design correctly and for rhetorical effect.
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WRTG 150: Writing and Rhetoric
5. Locate primary and secondary sources in libraries and on the
Internet, evaluate the appropriateness and credibility of those
sources, and effectively incorporate and accurately document
outside sources in a research paper.
Required Texts
Howard, Rebecca Moore. Writing Matters. Special Edition for Brigham
Young University. New York: McGraw Hill, 2011.
McInelly, Brett C. and Brian Jackson. Writing and Rhetoric. Plymouth,
MI: Hayden-McNeil, 2011.
McInelly, Brett C. and Brian Jackson. Writing and Rhetoric—Supplemental
Guide. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil, 2011.
Perspectives on New Media. Provo, UT: BYU Academic Publishing, 2011.
Course Organization
The course is divided into four units, with the culminating assignment
for each unit being one of the four portfolio assignments, though the final
draft for each paper may be required at the end of a lesson for the following
unit. The course includes a total of 15 lessons. The reading assignment for
each lesson should be completed before reading the discussion material
(unless otherwise indicated). All Speedback assignments are open-book.
Unit 1—Opinion Editorial
Lesson 1: Rhetoric and Rhetorical Situation
Lesson 2: The Writing Process
Lesson 3: What Makes an Argument? Claims, Reasons, and Assumptions
Lesson 4: Means of Persuasion: Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Lesson 5: Style
Unit 2—Rhetorical Analysis
Lesson 6: Critical Reading and Evaluating Arguments
Lesson 7: Reading Language: Diction, Figurative Language, and Tone
Lesson 8: Writing the Rhetorical Analysis
Unit 3—Issues Paper
Lesson 9: Research—Focusing and Planning
Lesson 10: Writing Research, Part I—Finding, Evaluating, and Creating
a Research Space
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Syllabus
Lesson 11: Writing Research, Part II—Incorporating Sources
Lesson 12: Completing Your Issues Paper Draft
Unit 4—Multimodal Argument
Lesson 13: Writing a Proposal
Lesson 14: Visual Rhetoric and Document Design
Lesson 15: Composing and Publishing Your Proposal
Final Exam
Open book, multiple-choice and essay questions
Course Requirements, Grading, and Assessment Methods
Assignments
You will complete four portfolio assignments and will be required to
turn in a rough draft of each: an opinion editorial, a rhetorical analysis,
an issues paper, and a multimodal proposal. The Supplemental Guide
provides details relating to each of these assignments and grading criteria. Review the assignment rubrics in the Supplemental Guide before
you submit your assignment.
A Note About Cover Sheets in the Supplemental Guide: All assignments will be submitted electronically through your course, so you DO
NOT need to submit a cover sheet or rubric for any portfolio assignment
from the Supplemental Guide – these are for your review only. Follow
the given directions for each assignment.
In addition, you will complete a number of computer graded or
Speedback assignments. These include five short response essay Speedback
assignments and five punctuation and sentence style Speedback assignments; a library SMART tutorial and library virtual tour quiz in lesson
10; an MLA quiz in lesson 11; and a design principles quiz in lesson 14.
You will also complete a number of prewriting and drafting assignments,
portfolio assignments, and a final exam. Prewriting assignments are not
graded but they are required and will need to be turned in with the portfolio assignments. Follow each lessons assignment instructions carefully.
You will submit your completed writing assignments to Independent
Study electronically throughout your course. To make sure that I can
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WRTG 150: Writing and Rhetoric
open and read your papers, please save it as an .RTF (rich text format)
file. Here’s how to do it:
1. Type your paper in a word-processing program (such as Microsoft
Word).
2. When you save the file, click the Save as type: drop-down list.
3. Select Rich Text Format (*.rtf).
4. Use the course number, your first and last name, and the
assignment name for the filename. For example, “WRTG150_
BrianJackson_DraftOpinionEditorial.rtf.”
5. Click Save.
6. Submit the lesson’s .RTF file through the lesson’s assignment
submission link for grading
Assignments by Lesson
Assignment
Points assigned
(1000 total)
1, 3, 4, 6, 7,
Response Essay Speedback Assignments
50
1, 2, 3, 4,
Punctuation and Style Speedback Assignments
50
Lesson(s)
4
Rough Draft of Opinion Editorial
5
5
Opinion Editorial Portfolio Assignment
100
8
Rough Draft of Rhetorical Analysis
5
10
SMART Tutorial and Library Tour Speedback
Assignments
50
Rhetorical Analysis Portfolio Assignment
200
11
MLA Speedback Assignment
10
12
Rough Draft of Issues Paper
15
14
15
Issues Paper Portfolio Assignment
300
Design Principles Speedback Assignment
10
Rough Draft of Multimodal Proposal
5
Multimodal Proposal Portfolio Assignment
100
Final Capstone Essay
40
Final Exam
60
Total Points:
1000
The Final Exam
The final exam for this course will be proctored and consists of ten multiple
choice questions and five short essay questions (open book: Writing and
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Syllabus
Rhetoric and Perspectives on New Media). The exam is worth 6 percent
of your grade and there is no time limit, but most students should finish
within two hours. You must pass the final exam with a 60 percent in
order to pass the course.
Grading Breakdown
The grade breakdown for the course will be as follows:
Points
Letter Grade
950–1000
A
900–949
A-
860–899
B+
830–859
B
800–829
B-
760–799
C+
730–759
C
700–729
C-
660–699
D+
630–659
D
600–629
D-
0–599
E
Grading Scale
A
100–95
A-
94–90
B+
89–86
B
85–83
B-
82–80
C+
79–76
C
75–73
C-
72–70
D+
69–66
D
65–63
D-
62–60
E
anything below 59
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