COMM 170 Rhetoric & Public Issues

Spring 2021
TuTh 11-12:15pm. [mostly asynchronous recorded lectures; live Zoom meetings at this
time]
Instructors:
Dr. Eric King Watts: ekwatts@email.unc.edu
Khari Johnson: khari@email.unc.edu
Dafna Kaufman: dafnak@live.unc.edu

Sean McEwan: smce@live.unc.edu

Cristiana McFarland: cmcfar@live.unc.edu

Zari Taylor: zari@live.unc.edu

Ian Williams: igwillia@live.unc.edu

Robin Wilson: rblountwilson@unc.edu

Office Hours: Zoom appointments only. For all meetings, contact your assigned Instructor.

Course Information and Objectives

COMM 170 explores basic theoretical concepts in rhetoric and their use in understanding,
analyzing, and evaluating verbal, visual, and material symbols in public life. The study of
rhetoric has been committed over the course of its very long history to the proposition that
communication is central to the political life of a collective (whether the ancient Greek polis or
the contemporary nation-state). Rhetorical education has long been understood as crucial to
citizenship, not only because of the skills it offers in advocacy but also because of its capacity for
critical analysis of political communication and its influences. COMM 170 is the core course in
the Rhetorical Studies concentration of Communication, intended as an introduction that
prepares you for more advanced courses in the concentration (or that familiarizes you with a
basic understanding of rhetoric, as a supplement to other concentrations in Communication or to
other areas of the humanities and social sciences). Thus, in addition to its principal focus on
theoretical concepts in rhetoric, it is an entry point to the culture of inquiry and argument that
constitutes rhetorical studies. In this course, the goals are for you to:

 understand rhetoric’s relationships to public culture and citizenship

 learn various theories of rhetoric and their conceptual, practical, and critical implications
 acquire an understanding of contingency and contexts as they give rise to rhetoric
 develop facility in using a basic vocabulary of traditional and contemporary rhetorical
concepts
 cultivate your ability to analyze and critique rhetorical practice by placing them in
“conversation” with theoretical concepts
 improve your critical reading of academic research literature (in rhetoric, but applicable
beyond)
 further your ability to construct and write critical/analytical arguments based in theory and to
follow the guidelines of a standard style manual (in rhetoric, but applicable beyond)

Whatever your future goals may be, research skills, critical/analytic proficiency, and writing
excellence are ever more crucial determinants of success. New technologies have emerged with
information and messages, and thus our abilities to locate the kinds of information we need and
to evaluate messages are more important than they’ve ever been. Equally challenging are the
ethical and political responsibilities that accompany the work of research, rhetorical analysis, and
informed advocacy in a time of change and contingency. Today, as in antiquity, rhetoric offers us
ways to take up those challenges and others successfully and responsibly.

Course Materials

All Reading and Viewing Materials

Required readings in addition to the texts may be added to Sakai and/or emailed to you. Some
are book chapters from works on rhetoric, some are scholarly journal articles, and others may be
speeches, websites, photos, or video clips.

Asynchronous Recorded Lectures

You are responsible for the substance of lectures as well as reading materials. PowerPoint
presentations will be uploaded to Sakai so you may review them for homework assignments and
exams.

Small Group Discussion

You will be randomly assigned to a small group of approximately 15 students. One of the
course’s Instructors will facilitate your small group meetings. There will be FIVE (5) small
group meetings (see syllabus). Each meeting will be a LIVE ZOOM meeting at the scheduled
class time. Zoom links will be supplied. These meetings will accomplish the following:
a. Allow students to apply concepts to texts and events
b. Allow students to practice using vocabulary and modes of thinking required to do well on
homework assignments and exams
c. Allow students to develop intellectual community with one another and an Instructor
 d. Allow students to seek assistance from the Instructor assigned to small group (or to have
questions passed along to Dr. Watts).
e. Allow students to satisfy the participation requirement for the course.

Course Assignments and Evaluation

 Homework Assignments

Three (3) assignments #1-15%, #2-10%, #3-15% 40%

 Exam 1 25%

 Exam 2 25%

 Participation (attendance & discussion) 10%

Grading Scale 100-95= A; 94-90=A-; 89-87=B+; 86-84=B; 83-80=B-; 79-77=C+
76-74=C; 73-70=C-; 69-67=D+; 66-64=D; 63-60=D-; below = F
Course Policies
The Learning Environment
Our goal in small group discussion is to facilitate a positive, supportive, and interactive learning
environment. In an effort to do so, we encourage active exchange. The majority of our time in
small group will be spent in activities and discussions in which we apply principles from the
readings and lectures. Therefore, we should all commit to participating fully and creating a safe
and supportive environment for analysis and argument. The latter does not mean
contentiousness, but thoughtful, reasoned inquiry and exchange.

Attendance and Participation

We expect you to attend small group. Learning is about engaging, not just about listening and
reading. So, it’s important that you be present and that you participate in discussions. It is also
important that you be prepared to do so knowledgeably, having completed the reading and
viewing assignments. It is far more likely that you will do well in the course, if you heed this
advice. We recognize that it’s sometimes difficult for some people to participate in discussions.
But it’s important to try because it will aid your learning process.

If you must miss a small group session, especially in these COVID times, please notify your
small group instructor. If need be we can make appointments to address missed work in small
group. You cannot make up the missed session.

Written Assignments
Written assignments are due on the due date designated on the syllabus. We will accept written
work early. Late written work will be subject to a per-day grade reduction. All written work must
meet the following specifications in order to receive a passing grade: be typed, double-spaced, 12
point font, with margins no greater than one inch (including top and bottom margins). You will
upload to Sakai all assignments to your Small Group Discussion Instructor as a Word.doc.

The overall quality of your submitted work, as well as grammar, punctuation, proper
citation format, etc., is considered in each of our grading rubrics. Work that does not
reflect such quality is subject to a minimum of one letter grade reduction.

Exams
There are TWO (2) exams required for this course. The second exam (the final) is NOT
comprehensive. Each exam will be made available on or near the date specified on the syllabus.
Each exam will include short answer questions and short essays. You CAN reference your
notes. You CANNOT collaborate with other students. You will be given a deadline to send your
exam to your Small Group Instructor via Sakai. Unless there is a verifiable emergency, late
exams will not be accepted.

Appointments
We are eager to meet with you to discuss anything related to the course. Your first point of
contact is with the Small Group Instructor to whom you are assigned. If you still need or want to
speak with Dr. Watts, an appointment will be arranged. If you make an appointment, please keep
it or let us know at least 24 hours in advance that you will not be able to make it.

Equipment
Turn off your phone or mobile device before small group sessions begin. Please no texting or
calls. If you have an emergency and need to use your phone or other device, leave the Zoom
meeting to do so. Electronic distractions are tempting in remote learning, but will harm your
capacity to thrive in small group. Please be advised that taking notes is not about transcribing
lectures or discussions—it’s about notes. You can take notes and participate, and you will be
best served if you do both.

Incompletes
A grade of Incomplete may be assigned only if the following conditions are met: (1) you have
completed at least 70% of the graded work for the course, (2) you have consulted with us about
this option, and (3) there is an unanticipated emergency and/or an insurmountable obstacle to
completing any unfinished work by the day of the final exam. You have the right to request a
“CV” designation. Also, please note that deductions for late work will still apply, unless
otherwise negotiated (with any negotiation being predicated upon exceptional and unexpected
circumstances).

Academic Integrity
In completing assignments, you are expected to follow the University Honor Code, as described
in the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Undergraduate Bulletin or online.

Full acknowledgment must be made when you quote, paraphrase, or use the work of
others. This is not optional. It is illegal, unprofessional, and unethical to represent the
intellectual labor of others as your own. It is illegal because most such work is copyrighted.
It is unprofessional because your reader should be able to easily find your sources by
tracking your citations of them. It is unethical because it is exploitative of someone else’s
work, and because it misrepresents it as your own. Whether you’re quoting or even just
summarizing or paraphrasing a newspaper, a scholarly journal article, a film, a blog, or a
book (or any other source), you are responsible for making sure that you have cited it
properly.

For guidelines on proper documentation techniques, consult the MLA Handbook. Follow its
directions assiduously. If you need more help, consult websites on MLA documentation,
including the campus’ Writing Center site or the Library’s online guide to citations. If you do
so, however, please understand that some sites will not have been updated to the latest edition of
the MLA Handbook. Also, be aware that digital citation generators work well only if you already
know what information needs to be entered and within which categories. For that you simply
have to familiarize yourself with the style manual. Also, please note that some of citation
generators online have not been updated to the latest edition of the MLA Handbook. Those will
deliver incorrect citations.

Course Schedule

1/19 Introduction to Course, Readings, Assignments, & Instructors [Live Zoom]

1/21 Lecture: Defining Rhetoric
1/26 Origins of Rhetoric in Ancient Greek Society
READ: Bizzell & Herzberg, “Classical Rhetoric: Introduction” pp.19-25.
1/28 Plato’s Fear (and Love) of Rhetoric’s “Magic”
READ: “Plato on Rhetoric”; selected moments from Gorgias
at http://www.americanrhetoric.com (site search: Gorgias)
2/2 Aristotle’s Response to Plato
READ: Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Book 1, chapters 1-4.
2/4 Aristotle’s Means of Persuasion—Situations & Genres; Logos
Review: Aristotle’s Rhetoric; READ: Essential Guide to Rhetoric (EGR), pp. 35-39.
2/9 Small Group Discussion—Logos; text will be made available [Live Zoom]
2/11 Aristotle’s Means of Persuasion: Ethos and Pathos
READ: Hauser, “Ethos and the Habits of Life,” pp. 149-159; Review: EGR, pp. 35-39.

HW#1 distributed; Due Wednesday the 24th @11am

2/16 No Class—University Wellness Day
2/18 Rhetoric & Public Culture
READ: Jasinski, “Public Sphere,”; EGR, pp. 11-16.
2/23 Rhetoric & Public Argument

READ: “Toulmin Argument Model”

2/25 Small Group Discussion—Evaluating Public Arguments [Live Zoom]

3/2 Rhetoric, Language & Meaning

READ: EGR, pp. 62-69.

3/4 Language & Trope
READ: Hauser, “Metaphor” pp. 236-241; Review: EGR, pp. 62-69.
3/9 Dramatism & Symbolic Action
READ: EGR, pp. 50-54
3/11 No Class—University Wellness Day
3/16 Exam 1

3/18 Dramatism & Symbolic Action

Lecture: Burke’s “Four Master Tropes” HW#2 Distributed, Due Friday the 26th
@11am

3/23 Small Group Discussion—Dramatism [Live Zoom]

3/25 Semiotics & Culture

READ: http://www.signosemio.com/elements-of-semiotics.asp (parts 1 & 2)

3/30 Ideology & Power

READ: Lye, “Ideology: A Brief Guide” at http://academic.uprm.edu/laviles/id218.htm.

4/1 Ideology & Power

READ: Ohl, “Nothing to See or Fear”

4/6 Parody & Satire

READ: Hariman, “Political Parody”

4/8 Small Group Discussion—Parody & Satire [Live Zoom]

4/13 Post-Structuralism

READ: Mann:
https://philosophynow.org/issues/10/A_Gentle_Introduction_to_Structuralism_Postmode
rnism_And_All_That

4/15 Post-Structuralism

READ: Barthes, “The Death of the Author”

4/20 Material Rhetoric & Memory

READ: Blair, Jeppeson & Pucci, “Public Memorializing in Postmodernity”; HW#3

Distributed, Due Friday April 30th @11am

4/22 Rhetoric and Psychoanalysis

READ: Lundberg, “Enjoying God’s Death”

4/27 Rhetoric & Visuality

READ: Kaszynsky, “‘Look, a [picture]!”

4/29 Small Group Discussion—Exam Review [Live Zoom]

5/4 Wrap up & Exam review (if needed) [Live Zoom]

EXAM TWO: Friday May 7 scheduled by UNC @ 12pm [time frame TBD]