Rhetoric is the counterpart of Dialectic. Both alike are concerned with such things as come, more or less, within the general ken of all men and belong to no definite science. Accordingly all men make use, more or less, of both; for to a certain extent all men attempt to discuss statements and to maintain them, to defend themselves and to attack others. Ordinary people do this either at random or through practice and from acquired habit. Both ways being possible, the subject can plainly be handled systematically, for it is possible to inquire the reason why some speakers succeed through practice and others spontaneously; and every one will at once agree that such an inquiry is the function of an art. Aristotle

May 8, 2008 (Thursday, finals week): Portfolio due by noon. We do not meet for a final. Portfolios are due by email or in my office, 322g Minard.

May 6, 2008 (Tuesday, finals week): Position Statement due by noon. We do not meet for a final. Papers are due by email.

May 1, 2008: Last panel day: Ethanol group; GMO group

April 29, 2008: First draft of position statement due (hard copy to be handed in during class). First panel day: Animal Confinement group; Organic vs. Conventional Farming Group

April 24, 2008: How to prepare your portfolio. Student evaluation of class.

April 22, 2008: Review of a position statement. Generation of panel discussion questions. How to develop a brief message that states your position. Scheduling of panels. Assignment: Post to the blog; finish the first draft of your position and bring it as a hard copy to class on Thursday; write a shortened version of your position as a statement for your presentation on the panel.

April 17, 2008: Profiles Due. Bring list of sources and your thesis statement for your position statement. Also have list of subissues you think need to be addressed. Discussion of strategies for writing position statements: range of positions; determining issues; determining falacies, determining your position, possible patterns. For next time, do more work on the position statement and post to the blog.

April 15, 2008: Conferences in my office, 322 G, Minard, see Conference Schedule, here and in "materials" section

April 10, 2008: Conferences in my office, 322 G, Minard, see Conference Schedule, here and in "materials" section

April 8, 2008

• Topic: Profiles and Position Statements
• Activities: Class discussion on how the interviews and writing are going on the profiles. Introduction of position-statement assignment. Sign up for conferences.
• Assignment: Come to your assigned conference (schedule of conferences will be posted in the "materials" section of this website). Bring your profile and be prepared to read it and show it to me. After meeting with me, prepare your final draft of the profile and submit it to me no later than April 17 at 2:00. Also be prepared to tell me what you are going to write your position statement about and what texts you have been able to find in your preliminary research. Bring your list of sources to class on Thursday, April 17, along with a tentative thesis (or statement about your position).

April 3, 2008: Research for and writing of profile, no class. See assignment in March 27.

April 1, 2008: Research for and writing of profile, no class

March 27, 2008

• Topic: Profiles and Interview questions. Bring your interview questions to class.
• Activities: A new profile to analyze and practice interviewing.
• Assignment: Next week Dr. Sullivan is out of town, so class doesn't meet. However, during this time you should interview your profile subject, get pictures, write up a first draft of the profile and share it with your profile subject, asking for feedback. Also finish reading All Over Creation and post comments on the class blog about it. Read chapters 19, 20, 21 in Dinner at the New Gene Cafe and post comments about them on the class blog. The first complete draft of the profile, which should have also been reviewed by your profile subject, is due in class on Thursday, April 10. On Tuesday, April 8, we begin discussing the last assignment, the position statement.

March 25, 2008

• Topic: Profiles (bring DNGC to class)
• Activities: Review of profile assignment (a copy is now available in the materials section of this website). Assignment of profile subjects (come with at least two people in mind whom you would like to profile). Comparison of chapters 6, 9, 10 in DNGC as profiles.
• Assignment: Contact your profile subject and make arrangements for interview. Create a planning document that includes 1) the name of your profile subject, 2) the time and arrangements for interview, 3) answers to the planning questions at the bottom of the profile assignment page, 4) a list of questions for the interview. Send a copy of this document to me as an email attachment and bring a hard copy to class on Thursday. Continue reading AOC and post to the blog if you have time (not required for Thursday, however).

March 20, 2008

• Topic: Proposals and Profiles
• Activities: Discuss page 356 ff. in AOC as a proposal. Discuss DNGC, chapters 9, 10, and 6, as profiles.
• Assignment: Review examples of proposals (Card Reader) and profile (Patty Murray), both contained in the "materials" section of this webiste. Read 365-398 in AOC. Post a comment on the readings on the class blog. Finish your proposal and send it to dr.sullivan@sullivanfiles.net. Be prepared on Tuesday to decide whom you would like to profile. If you have a suggestion besides someone on the list I hand out today, be prepared to explain why you want to profile that person. Bring DNGC to class. We will look at chapters 6, 9, 10 as profiles. Also, today in class we decided that the first draft of the profile will be due April 10, and the final draft on April 15.

March 18, 2008

• Topic: Peer review of proposals, perspective, profiles
• Activities: Peer reviews, in-class writing of profile
• Assignment: Read chapter 9 in DNGC (think of it as a profile). Read 344 to 365 in AOC and comment on the class blog. Continue work on your proposal. Final draft due next Tuesday.

March 13, 2008

• Topic: Considering naysayers and drafting a proposal
• Activities: TSIS review on naysayers. Sharing proposal outlines with peers. Lecture on shifting from outline to draft. Viewing section of "Ripe for Change."
• Assignment: Write a complete draft of your proposal, print it, and bring it to class on Tuesday. Read AOC, 324-344.

March 11, 2008

Welcome back from break.

• Topic: Proposals: templates and content
• Activities: dicte, outlining a fictitious proposal
• Assignment: Read DNGC chapter 16 and TSIS chapter 6; bring an outline of your proposal with a brief description of contents under each part. Post something to the blog about agriculture, food, activism, etc. (anything you think is relevant to the class's discussion).

February 28, 2008

• Topic: More on proposals and on our readings in AOC and DNGC
• Activities: Analysis of a proposal; in-class writing or quiz
• Assignment for March 11: Read AOC, 275-323. Post a message to the class blog about your reading. Send me an email telling me what you think you would like to write your proposal about and whether you want to work alone or in a group. If you have a particular partner in mind, both of you can send me an email requesting permission to work as a team. The first draft of the proposal will be due one week later (March 18).

February 26, 2008

• Topic: Next project: proposals
• Class Activities: Quiz over DNGC. Introduction to proposals. Brainstorming.
• Assignment for Februry 28: read AOC 255-274; DNGC ch. 15. Join the blog and post a comment on something interesting in your reading.

• Topics: creative writing and documentary writing (briefly, if there is time)
• Activities: Groups present their evaluation projects to class. If there is time, we will view a small portion of The Future of Food and compare it to a section from AOC.
• Assignment for February 26: Send final version of evaluation project to me before class on Tuesday. Make sure all team members' names are listed. Acceptable files include .doc .ppt .pdf (contact me if you have questions). Read AOC 235-255; DNGC, ch. 14. Read the following two letters from Fargo Forum and try to figure out the "conversational engagement" relationship between the two.
  • Bruce Freitag writes about farmers' need for genetic tools
  • Dean Hulse writes about beef recall.

• Topics: Review and continuation of rhetorical analysis.
• Activities: Summary lecture on artistic and inartistic arguments; in-class writing (analysis of a letter to the editor); group work on evaluation project.
• Assignment for February 21: Read AOC 214-234; DNGC ch. 13. Bring complete evaluation project to class and be ready to present it to the class to get feedback. Final draft due as email attachment on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

• Topics: Rhetorical Arguments: Definition, comparison, cause & effect, circumstances.
• Activities: Analysis of arguments in chapter 18 of DNGC and Vasilikiotis' paper. Reports by each group on their project: what are you evaluating? what are the alternatives and the criteria? what is your audience? your medium? your genre? where would it appear? what research needs to be done, and how do you plan to do it? what have you done already? what is left to be done?
• Assignment for February 19: Continue work on your evaluation project (first draft due to show to class on Thursday, February 21; final draft due Tuesday, Feb. 26); read AOC 191-214 and DNGC ch. 12.

• Topics: Rhetorical situation and judging bias and credibility in sources
• Activities: Quiz over Borlaug interview in context of chapter 17 of DNGC and analysis of Center for Global Issues; lecture on rhetorical situation, bias, quotations; group work figuring out the rhetorical dimensions of the group evaluation project.
• Assignment for February 14: Read Vasilikiotis' Paper about whether or not organic farming can feed the world; find out everything you can about Christos Vasilikiotis (use the internet) to determine his authority. Read AOC 171-190 and DNGC chapter 18. Open and look through (too long to read) the transcript of the congressional debate discussed in chapter 18 of DNGC so that you see the original.

• Topics: Comparisons and evaluations; next assignment
• Activities: Review of chapter 3 in TSIS, quiz over schematization, view patches of Fast Food Nation, group assignments: diagram comparisons of farmers in chapters 6 & 10 of DNGC; brainstorm ideas for evaluation assignment.
• Assignment for Feb. 12: Read TSIS, ch. 7; AOC 153-68; DNGC ch 17. Read Interview with Norman Borlaug. Find out as much as you can about "Center for Global Food Issues," the organization that sponsored the Borlaug interview. Exchange emails with your team partners to brainstorm your topic for evaluation. Be prepared to report to class on Tuesday.

• Springboard essay due as Word 97-2003 attachment before class.
• Today's topics: schematizing sentences; analyzing themes, comparisons, and analogies in All Over Creation; introduction to evaluation as a mode of discourse.
• Activities: Board work with schematizing sentences; group work analyzing AOC; lecture on evaluation.
• Assignment for Thursday, February 7. Read TSIS, ch 3, Read AOC 131-153. Read DNGC, ch 10. Think about contrasts between the farmer profiled in chapter 10 and the farmer profiled in chapter 6. Review How to Schematize Sentences and practice schematizing sentences in preparation for in-class quiz on Thursday.

• Bring a print out of your springboard essay to class today.
• Today's Topic: Peer Reiews and Interacting with Texts.
• Activities: Group work on play or brochures or comparisons; peer review session with partner.
• Assignment for Tuesday, February 4:
  • Revise your springboard essay in a Word 1997-2003 document and send it to me as an attachment. Be sure to reference your sources. The paper should have your name at the top, a title for your essay, an introductory summary, a transition, and your response (as discussed today on springboards). The paper should be in 12 point Times New Roman and should double spaced with one-inch margins.

  • Read AOC 111-131 and DNGC chapter 6.

• Today's Topic: Springboard essays.
• Activities: Role, Dicte from AOC, How to read Sullivan's comments, quiz, a look at a summary paragraph, a look at a springboard essay.
• Assignment for January 31: Compose a springboard essay, print it off, and bring it to class on Thursday for peer review. The springboard should be in response to Mellon or Mcgloughlin or both of them. You may rely on Lambrecht's summary of their views in DNGC, but I would recommend that you also use material from an interview with Mcgloughlin and an interview with Mellon to supplement your discussion. Be sure to reference your sources. The paper should have your name at the top, a title for your essay, an introductory summary, a transition, and your response (as discussed today on springboards). The paper should be in 12 point Times New Roman and should double spaced with one-inch margins. For more information about springboards, read a description of springboard essays and this example of a springboard essay.

  Read AOC 85-107 and DNGC chapter 8. Begin exploring http://fargolocalfoods.net/, a website where some of your documents will be published (if the editor accepts them).

  For your interest, I have posted Michael Pollan's Plagying God in the Garden online. It is the essay referred to on pages 84 and 85 of AOC.

• Today's Topics: TSIS chapters 8, 1, 2: coherence, starting with others, summarizing. Chapter 5 of DNGC.
• Activities: Review of analysis pattern. Lecture on TSIS advice and on summarizing. In-class writing based on DNGC chapter 5.
• Assignment for January 29: Send me a summary of the views expressed by Martina Mcgloughlin in this interview with Mcgloughlin or of the views expressed by Margaret Mellon in this interview with Mellon. You will use this summary for the beginning of a springboard essay next week, so pick one that you want to respond to.For more on summaries, read chapter 2 in TSIS again and this description of how to summarize. Read TSIS, chapter 4; AOC 72-85; and DNGC chapter 7. Review BSPs and punctuation--quiz likely over this material. If you have time come to the open forum on local foods at Communiversity class on local food networks this Sunday, January 27, 2:00, at Concordia College, Ivers Science Building, Room 210. It is open to the public. The forum opens with short presentations from panel members, local producers and local food activists, followed by open discussion. You may find someone to write about later in the semester.

• Today's Topics: Punctuation and Analysis Pattern. AOC 47-72; DNGC chapters 3 & 4.
• Activities: Lecture on punctuation and analysis pattern. Group work on DNGC.
• Assignment for January 24: Read TSIS chapters 1, 2, & 8, and DNGC chapter 5. Send me, inside an email message (NOT as an attachment), an analysis-style paragraph in which you describe major issues associated with GM food/crops based on your reading of Dinner at the New Gene Cafe so far. Limit your paragraph to no more than four issues.

• Today's topics: Relative clauses, absolutes, parallel and subordinate sequences. AOC 28-44; DNGC chapter 3.
• Activities: Lecture on stylistics and grammar. In-class writing based on AOC and/or DNGC; discussion on in-class writing.
• Homework for January 22: Send me 6 sentences, 3 with relative clauses and 3 with absolutes. Send me a letter written in the voice of Lloyd or Momoko in response to one of the letters on pages 37-44 of AOC. Tell me which letter it follows (date). Read AOC 47-72; DNGC ch. 4. Listen to News Hour Story and Interview on Local Food and read the transcript. Print off the transcript and bring it to class. Also, print off and read this short analysis-style paragraph. Bring it to class.

• Today's topics: Free modifiers (SC, VC, NC, AdjC, RC, ABS). AOC 14-28; DNGC chapter 2.
• Activities: Lecture on FM, reading quiz, in-class writing based on AOC, discussion of in-class writing.
• Homework for January 17: Read 28-44 in AOC and chapter 3 in DNGC. Send me (dr.sullivan@sullivanfiles.net) an email containing 12 sentences that you have composed: 3 containing subordinate clauses, 3 containing verb clusters, 3 containing noun clusters, 3 containing adjective clusters. I prefer that the sentences be in the message of the email rather than in an attachment. Make sure your subject line says something like engl 120 free modifiers. This email is due by noon on January 17.

• Today's topics: Basic sentence patterns review; intro to passive voice, bound modifiers, main clauses; discussion of AOC 3-14, DNGC chapter 1.
• Activities: quiz, dictation, discussion of 2 scenes in AOC, lecture on sentence structures.
• Homework for Jan 15: Read AOC 14-28; DNGC ch. 2, Memorize sentence structure concepts from today's lecture.
• Send me an email at dr.sullivan@sullivanfiles.net so that I have your preferred email address. I had hopped to set up separate subdirectories for each of you on this website, but it turns out that I'm not going to be able to set up enough password protected subdirectories to do what I wanted. My web storage provider limits me to 10 password protected subdirectories, so we'll have to rely on email to shuttle things back and forth.

• Today's topics in class: class syllabus, class policies, basic sentence patterns, and passive voice sentences.
• In-class activities: introductions; composing sentences to imitate patterns.
• Reading assignment for Thursday: All Over Creation (AOC), pgs 3-14 and Dinner at the New Gene Cafe (DNGC), ch. 1.
• Other homework: Memorize the four basic sentence patterns covered in class today, and be sure to know how to make passive voice constructions. For online help with BSPs and passive voice, to to http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/dasulliv/style/bsp_review.htm