Columbia University
English C1007.5
Logic & Rhetoric
Fall 2001
Tuesdays and Thursdays
4:10-5:25306
Hamilton Hall
Instructor: Shayne Aaron Legassie
Office Phone: 854-3886 (Composition Office)
Office Hours: Tuesday 5:30-6:30, Thursday 5:30-6:30,
310 Philosophy
E-mail: [email protected]
Course Objectives The aim of Cl007 is to teach Columbia students to write well organized, logically sound, rhetorically effective, and grammatically correct expository prose. The course introduces research techniques, includingthe use of the library, the conventions and principles of documentation, the art of synthesis and the analysis of sources. This course encourages the expression of original ideas that are directly related to the students' individual interests.
Required Text Diana Hacker. The Bedford Handbook for Writers. New York: St Manin's Press, 1998.
[Workbook, available at Bookstore, is optional]
*This course has a web page with a class bulletin board and several useful reference links.
Course Requirements
Students will be writing all the time. During the first half of the semester, two papers per week totaling ten essays (300-400 words) will be required, one of which will be revised; during the second half of the semester, a series of longer essays {700-900 words), which will be revised in full, will be required. In addition, there will be two in-class writing assignments: a mid-term exam and a final exam, as well as quizzes in grammar and mechanics. Late papers are strongly discouraged.
Essays are to be typed, double-spaced, with 1" margins and stapled. You must submit two copies of each paper at the beginning of class on the date due. Students are expected to follow the MLA standard, which will be discussed in class. Class Participation is mandatory. Much of the work that will be done in Logic & Rhetoric involves considering/analyzing student papers in class. Students should be aware that anything that they write is subject to class discussion. All students are expected to contribute frequently and constructively to class discussions. The quality and frequency of your contributions to class discussion will factor heavily into your final grade for the course (See grading, below).
Attendance
Attendance is required in all Composition courses. Students are encouraged to attend all classes, but they are allowed to miss three classes, which they are urged to save for religious observance, illness, etc. Students who exceed their three allowed absences will suffer increasingly severe grade penalties. It is the student���s responsibility to find out what was discussed and assigned in any class that he or she is unable to attend. You will be expected to submit anything that is assigned on a day that you were absent on time, barring a medical or personal emergency.
Logic & Rhetoric Writing Portfolio Students should keep a portfolio of all written work, including essays, in-class assignments, and quizzes. You are expected to bring this portfolio to class and to any conferences scheduled with me.
Conferences Students are required to attend at least two meetings with the instructor during office hours. These will be formally scheduled, and discussed later in the semester. Moreover, you are encouraged to see me during office hours at any time.
Grading Your final grade in the class will be based on your take-home essays and revisions, exams, participation in class discussion, and grammar quizzes. Due to the nature of the Logic and Rhetoric class, there is no precise numerical formula for arriving at a final grade. However, expect class participation to count for 20-25% of your final grade.
Plagiarism and Academic Integrity Edited from Columbia's Official Statement on Plagiarism: In making clear Columbia's policy on plagiarism, it is not feasible here to include the numerous forms that plagiarism might take. It is useful, however, to list several obvious varieties in order to dispel any confusion about what the College will not tolerate:
1. Submitting essays, or portions of essays, written by other people as one's own.
2. Failing to acknowledge, through proper footnotes and bibliographic entries, the sources of ideas essentially not one's own.
3. Failing to document paraphrases, ideas, or verbatim expressions not one's own.
4. Collaborating on an assignment or examination without specific permission from the faculty member to do so.
Plagiarism has become increasingly common with the increase in information available on the internet. Please be aware that borrowing even a phrase that is not your own from a book, newspaper, essay, magazine, or internet text without proper citation is considered plagiarism. Students who plagiarize receive a zero for the assignment in question and in most cases a failing grade for the course. Logic and Rhetoric instructors are required to contact the student's Dean if he or she is suspected of plagiarism.
Syllabus
Section I: Introduction to Logic & Rhetoric
Week I
9/4 Diagnostic Exercise
9/6 Assignment #1 due
Section II: Logical Techniques for Writing and Analyzing Essays
Week 2 Identification and Description
9/11 Assignment #2 due
9/13 Assignment #3 due
Week 3 Comparison and Contrast
9/18 Assignment #4 due
9/20 Assignment #5 due
Week 4 Cause and Effect
9/25 Assignment #6 due
9/27 Assignment #7 due
Week 5 Division and Classification
10/2 Assignment #8 due
10/4 Assignment #9 due
Week 6 Definition and Process
10/9 Assignment #10 due; Proposal for essay Revision due
10/11 Library Visit
Week 7 Induction and Deduction
10/16 Revision due
10/18 Midterm
Section Ill: Methods of Argument for Writing and Analyzing Student Essays
Week 8 Analogy
10/23 Assignment #11 due
10/25 Week 9 Thesis and Antithesis >
10/30 Revision of Assignment #11 due >
11/1 Week 10 Value and Judgment >
11/6 No classes University Holiday >
11/8 Assignment #12 due
Section IV: Rhetorical Considerations for Analyzing Essays
Week II Tone and Attitude 11/13
11/15 Revision of Assignment #12 due
Week 12 Bias and Usage
11/20 Assignment #13 due
11/22 No classes Thanksgiving
Week 13 Figurative Language-11/27
11/29 Revision of Assignment #13 due
Week 14 Irony, Wit, Humor
12/4 Final Exam
12/6 Last Class