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Syllabus
Glossary of Rhetorical Terms
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First draft of compare & contrast paper due (Tuesday, Nov 30 @ 11:55 pm)
November 30, 2021: Conference Time!
We will not hold class on Thursday, December 2. Instead, you will meet me on Zoom (link to the left) for a 20-minute conference. Please go here to sign up for a slot.
November 23, 2021: Compare & Contrast Paper Prompt
The submission box is open on BrightSpace. Please make sure you upload your paper there by the due date.
Here’s an example of a good essay. It’s old, longer than it needs to be, and is formatted in MLA, not APA, so keep that in mind, please.
Aaron Eckhart, as Nick Naylor (from Reddit) Also, here are links to the video clips showed tonight in class, from Thank You for Smoking (2005):
- The Lobbyist: “I get paid to talk.”
- The Mod Squad: “Deformed kids are tough.”
- The Classroom Scene: “I speak on behalf of cigarettes.”
- “Why is the American Government the Greatest Government in the World?” (great example of a begged question)
- Media and Health: “The health element.”
- Ice Cream Politics: “I’m never wrong. When it’s your job to be right, you’re never wrong.”
- Briefcase: “You can’t denounce us AND keep the money.” (either/or)
Craycray GIFfrom Weird Al GIFs
Tuesday, October 19, 2021: Rhetorical Strategies: hyperbole, slippery slope
Exaggeration is fun to read, but it’s easy to get addicted to sensationalism. This ain’t good for critical thinking. Here’s a short clip that talks about how critical thinkers can quickly spot a conspiracy theory.
- Coronavirus: A Wildly Exaggerated Threat, Deccan Herald (India), 5/16/20
- Don’t Buy China’s Story: The Coronavirus may have Leaked from a Lab, New York Post, 2/22/2020
Oh yeah, if you come down with Covid, don’t buy this!
Thursday, October 14, 2021: Rhetorical Strategies: Demonization, Straw Men and Ad hominem
A meme posted by House candidate Anthony Bouchard advocating for White House Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci to be executed. (Screenshot/Facebook)1.
Tuesday, October 12, 2021: Rhetorical strategies–Authority
- Article 1. Arguments from science
2. Article 2. Argument from history
3. Article 3. Argument from nature
4. Robert di Niro says to stay home!
6. So does Gal Gadot
Tuesday, September 23, 2021
***Ad presentations for the next three class sessions***
Quiz #2
Today’s Terms:
Authorizing tropes: history, logic, nature, science, statistics
inductive & deductive arguments
accommodation vs. assertion
Today’s ads:
assertive argument argument from science slippery slope accommodating argument Ad presentation assigned: Sign-up sheet here.
Presentation dates: 9/30-10/7 (three class periods)
Directions: Find a partner and exchange contact information. Choose an internet advertisement together and send a link to jchisholm@csum.edu. Plan a 15-minute presentation in which the two of you discuss the following:
- Overt vs. implied vs. covert theses
- Overall rhetorical strategy (e.g. assertive vs. accommodating?)
- Visual vs. written rhetoric
- Loaded words
- Target audience
You’re going to want to argue inductively: work from smaller details like loaded words to larger, overarching claims like author/thesis/target audience.
Be sure to support all of your claims with evidence from the text!
Thursday, September 23, 2021
We’ll start the class with Terms Quiz 1.
Then, we’ll look at these ads.
Can you find a covert thesis? A little hard talk from the U.K. Today’s terms:
ad baculum
allusion
begging the question
buzz word
demonize
existential import
fact
hot button
buzz word
metaphor
naming
proof
Rogerian argument
slippery slope
synecdoche
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Hey folks! Where did you fall on the political spectrum? Anything surprise you?
Today we’re going to start talking about rhetorical terms. Here’s a list of terms that you’ll need to know.
Let’s first, though, get our bearings by looking at the rhetorical situation
Today, we’ll look at:
accommodate
ad populum
absolute
argument from anecdote
argument from authority
assertion
diction
ethos
exaggeration
implied thesis
irony
persona
negatively loaded diction
rhetorical analysis
target audience
Let’s see some examples of Covid-19 messaging in public service announcements, in different American states:
And who can leave out the “viral” hand washing video from Vietnam?
Homework: study these terms for quiz one on Thursday!
Tuesday, September 14 and Thursday, September 16, 2021: Deconstructing the Self
Homework: Take a bias quiz at Harvard’s Project Implicit. Take another at Political Compass and bring your plotted dot to class.
Ever wondered what the two major American political parties are all about? Here’s a handy infographic.