I’m considering using two quotes as epigraphs for the course:
- “Democracy begins in conversation.” -philosopher John Dewey
- “Go f— yourself.” -Vice President Dick Cheney
Course Description
The theme of this course is “American Dialogues,” and we will focus our attention on political discourse in the contemporary American public sphere. Some fear that American citizens are not well served by the prevailing political discourse, that it is more focused upon butting heads and scoring quick points with the media than it is with thoughtful consideration of the issues. We will use a variety of critical tools to consider the messages of political campaigns, the information published by news outlets, and the commentary provided by a wide range of individuals.
In this course, you will develop your skills as a careful, thoughtful, and effective reader and writer. You will become better at the kinds of reading and writing expected of you as a college student, in your professional career, and as an American citizen. You will learn what it means to identify or construct an issue to write about, to consider and reconsider that issue as you investigate it further, and to craft the best available means of support and expression given your audience and your purpose. You will learn a set of language- and logic-based concepts and a vocabulary of language analysis and rhetorical strategy. As you learn more about how language and persuasion work, and as you learn to recognize and use more features of style and argument, you have a greater range of choices to make in crafting your own writing.
Of course what Cheney actually said was “Go f-u-c-k* yourself.” I mention it because the question of how to represent his remarks in print (and on the airwaves) is apropos of the construction of political dialogue.
* When I typed the original four-letter word I got the following:
“Your comment could not be submitted due to questionable content: f=u=c=k*
* When I typed the original four-letter word I got the following:
“Your comment could not be submitted due to questionable content . . . [and so on, a recursive loop].
Just a picky kind of note: Proper occupational title when followed by a proper name must be capitalized (Brief Penguin Handbook p. 475). When you are discussing the national titles of President and Vice President, the name of the title is always capitalized out of respect for the office.
Good point, Matt. Different papers, I think, chose to handle it differently. We might consider some of the reasons why.
CJ, I fixed the entry.
“You gotta cross-post this to Palimpsest, yo! Let’s clear out the cobwebs on that site.”
:-)
Done!
american dialogues: composition course
I have a working syllabus for my fall composition course, which is the second in our series of two courses here at UMKC. Course Title: American Dialogues “Democracy begins in conversation.” -philosopher John Dewey “Go f— yourself.” -Vice President Di…
Course website.
evaluating student blogging
Those teachers who require their students to blog for class might take a look at Dennis Jerz’s brief entry titled “Framework for a Weblog Portfolio.” For the first time in a long time, I’m teaching a writing class, and this…