Syllabi

Henry Adams’s first teaching experience, at Harvard, fall term, 1870: “I am to teach medieval history, of which, as you are aware, I am utterly and grossly ignorant. I gave the college fair warning of my ignorance, and the answer was that I knew just as much as anyone else in America knew on the subject, and I could teach better than anyone that could be had. I have nine hours a week in the lecture room, and am absolutely free to teach what I please within the dates 800-1649.”

1870

Visual Rhetoric

2011

Moving beyond the printing press. . . .

Trading Cards( )

Multiple Purposes *

• A contract• A communication device• A plan• A cognitive map of the journey to come• A presentation of your work

* Matejka, Ken, and Lance B. Kurke. “Designing a Great Syllabus.” College Teaching 42.3 (Summer 1994): 115-17.

Information

ENGL 2212: Rhetorical Theory

“Language and the Definition of (Hu)Man(kind)”Manget Building, 309 • TR • 2:40 p.m.- 4:10 p.m.

Dr. Justin ThurmanOffice: Manget 205 • Office Hours: MWF 8-10:30 a.m.; TR 10-11:15 a.m. and

by appointment706.880.8198 • jthurman@lagrange.edu

More Information

• Course information– Title, credit hours, prerequisites– Description from the Bulletin or– Elaborated, detailed description

• Required (and optional) Texts or Supplies• Mentor Information• Honor Code statement• ADA compliance statement• Policies regarding absences, late work, etc.• Daily calendar

Objectives / Learning Outcomes / Goals

• Construct an explicit list of expectations regarding what students will have done or be able to do by the end of the class and what they can demonstrate that they know.

• Also, consider how they might demonstrate and reflect on what the class has done to affect their opinions about the subject(s).

• Include an explicit list of tools that will be used to gauge whether expectations have been met – exams, essays, presentations, performance tasks, clinical practice, etc.

• Provide an explicit connection between tools and expectations.

Sample Expectations for Student Achievement

The objectives of this course are to tease out the laws of electromagnetism from our everyday experience by specific examples of how electromagnetic phenomena manifest themselves. We want to be able to accomplish the following:

• to describe, in words, the ways in which various concepts in electromagnetism come into play in particular situations;

• to represent these electromagnetic phenomena and fields mathematically in those situations;

• to predict outcomes in other similar situations.• The overall goal is to use the scientific method to come to understand

the enormous variety of electromagnetic phenomena in terms of a few relatively simple laws.

Performances will be readings we do in class, aloud, taking on the role of particular characters. Everyone is expected to participate, with gusto and élan. Part of the work of this class – and any literature class – is the work of becoming better at the performance of texts. Quizzes will deal with the fine points of reading, using multiple-choice, short-answer, and fill-in-the blank questions. The mid-term exam will contain several quotations from material we’ve read prior to 26 February; you’ll be expected to choose five of those quotations, name the text from which each comes, and briefly discuss its importance (or what it illustrates). The final exam will be a two-hour exam asking you to develop an essay in response to two of five possible “problems” in the study of Shakespeare. The shorter paper will be a conventional interpretive essay of 5 pages. The longer paper may be a conventional interpretative essay, a critical essay, a creative essay, a digital hyper-link study, or a deep reflection. A version of the longer paper will be presented at the end of the semester. The recitation will be you reciting before the class from memory 10 to 20 lines (or more) from a poem or play. We will discuss each of these assignments in class. Nothing substitutes for reading and rereading. As with any course in the study of literary texts, excellence is tied closely to reading, re-reading, and actively studying – at least 9 hours a week of active study are typically necessary for successful work.

Another Way to Describe the Work

Activity Percentage of Course Grade

Class participation and performance 5

Recitation 5Six quizzes (best 5); 15Shorter Paper 10Longer Paper 20Presentation (of longer paper) 10

Mid-Term Exam 15Final Exam 20

100

Grade Allocation

Caveat

“The more you let yourself be distracted from where you are going, the more you are the person that you are. It's not so much like getting lost as it is like getting found.”

- William Stafford (1917-1993)

Caveat, Part Two

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”

- Lao Tzu (ca. 575 BCE)

Audience and Tone• The syllabus is (probably) the first example students will see of your

professional writing – make it polished, coherent, visually effective – aim for excellence in content, writing, and presentation. The syllabus is the first model of what written work in the course should look like. Don’t distribute a syllabus that looks like it was typed up the night before the first class – unless that’s the kind of work you expect from students.

• Use language and design that convey your engagement with the discipline and the course; i.e., don’t settle for boilerplate.

• Illustrate in your syllabus how to quote sources and cite sources.• Use language that’s respectful of your audience – the use of “we” is

an effective way to signal the collaborative work of teaching and learning. Avoid negative statements; don’t dwell on behavioral expectations; grant the respect you wish to receive.

• As Emerson put it, “The secret of education is respecting the pupil.”

Classroom kindness

The classroom is a small community. In order for that community to function well, certain “rules” by which WE ALL abide can be helpful. Here are a few. I apply these rules to myself; I hope you will apply them to yourself as well:

(1) Be present. Make attendance at this class a top priority. (2) Be on time. Expect class to start at 9:30 and end at 10:45; arrive

before 9:30, not after.(3) Be prepared.(4) Turn off cell phones and other devices before class begins.*(5) Remain alert and nimble; rising from your desk for impromptu

exercise is encouraged.(6) Consider the classroom a cliché-free zone.

* Unless, of course, you’ve found a way to employ them in teaching!

Continuous Improvement

Each time you teach the class, revise one or two things to improve the syllabus – and, of course, the class.