John J Ruszkiewicz

RHE 368C is a course designed to prepare undergraduates to serve as peer tutors in the Undergraduate Writing Center (UWC). During the first part of the term, students will study issues related to writing center theory and practice. They will analyze the goals and practices of writing centers, examine elements of contemporary rhetorical and composition theory (including the writing process), survey typical course syllabi and assignments, and review basics of grammar, mechanics, and usage. Later in the term, they will work under supervision for six hours a week as a consultant in the Undergraduate Writing Center.

Course Requirements

Coursework includes a variety of writing assignments (including a literacy biography and an argument), quizzes on grammar and mechanics, observations of UWC tutoring sessions, participation in mock UWC tutorials, midterm and final self evaluations, and supervised tutoring in the UWC itself. Students will download all written assignments to the Blackboard course site or course where classmates may read and comment on them. Instructor's permission is required for registration in RHE 368C.

Grading Policy

Literacy Biography: 5%

Argument: 20%

Midterm self-assessment: 15%

Grammar quizzes: 20%

UWC Observation reports: 15%

Mock Tutorial report: 5%

Class participation and attendance: 5%

Final self-assessment: 15%

Texts

Gillespie and Lerner, The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring / 2nd edition

Ruszkiewicz, Friend, Hairston, The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers, 8th edition

Rhetoric 325M is an advanced-level workshop in writing and editing. Its goal is to make already skilled writers more polished and publishable. The standards are high: the course will focus intensely on editing individual projects with everyone in the class having access to the drafts of their colleagues' work.

Course Requirements

Members of the class will write three short papers and three longer ones. Many course sessions will focus on drafts, with students in the class routinely showcasing their work-in-progress.

Grading Policy

Literacy biography / 5%; 
Book review / 10%; 
Grammar and mechanics project / 5%; 
Major Project 1 / 25%; Major Project 2 / 25%; 
Major Project 3 / 25%; Editing / 5%. This formula presumes satisfactory attendance and the completion of all assignments (including reading assignments) on time; participating in group work; editing classmates' materials regularly, and so on

Texts

John Trimble, Writing With Style / 2nd edition

Scott Foresman Handbook for Writers / 8th edition

Andrea Lunsford and John Ruszkiewicz, The Presence of Others / 5th edition

This course will survey the history of rhetoric, one of the original seven liberal arts, exploring its impact on political, religious, and literary discourse in the West from antiquity to (almost) modern times.                

 In "The Rhetorical Tradition," we will examine the theorists and practitioners who shaped the arts of speaking and writing in Europe and America.  We will read several classical texts (including Phaedrus, the Rhetoric of Aristotle, selections from Cicero and Quintilian) to understand how rhetoric was taught and practiced in antiquity and where it stood in relationship to the other arts of the trivium—, that is, logic and grammar.  The influence of rhetoric in the Medieval and Renaissance periods will be presented chiefly through literary and religious texts--for example, selected English sermons, "The Pardoner's Tale," Julius Caesar, Areopagitica, and so on.  We will also examine the influence of rhetoric on English prose style and the on the development of scientific and philosophical writing. 

 In the modern period, the course will examine British/Scottish neo-classical and belletristic rhetorics, particularly as they shaped systems of education and literary tastes in England and America.  The decline, near disappearance, and renewal of the rhetorical tradition in the last century will be chronicled through the work of major theorists, including I.A. Richards, Kenneth Burke, Richard Weaver, and Chaim Perelman. 

 Our focus throughout the semester will be both theoretical and practical: we will read the theory and then examine cultural and political applications.  Anyone with a general interest in language or literary studies will probably find this course of interest.  It will be especially helpful to rhetoric and English majors going on to graduate school, most of whom will teach courses in rhetoric/composition as part of their graduate programs. 

Grades

Grades will be calculated according to the following formula:

30%: Midterm

30%: Final

10%: Oral Report

30%: Portfolio of Position Papers

Textbook

Bizzell, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition.

Rhetoric 325 is an advanced-level workshop in writing and editing. Its goal is to make already skilled writers more polished and publishable. The standards are high: the course will focus intensely on editing individual projects with everyone in the class having access to the drafts of their colleagues' work.

Course Requirements

Members of the class will write three short papers and three longer ones. Many course sessions will focus on drafts, with students in the class routinely showcasing their work-in-progress.

Grading Policy

Literacy biography / 5%;

Book review / 10%;

Grammar and mechanics project / 5%;

Major Project 1 / 25%;

Major Project 2 / 25%;

Major Project 3 / 25%;

Editing / 5%. This formula presumes satisfactory attendance and the completion of all assignments (including reading assignments) on time; participating in group work; editing classmates' materials regularly, and so on

Texts

John Trimble, Writing With Style / 2nd edition

Scott Foresman Handbook for Writers / 8th edition

Andrea Lunsford and John Ruszkiewicz, The Presence of Others / 5th edition

RHE 315 is a course designed to teach students to analyze and explore visual and non-verbal forms of rhetoric. It remains, first and foremost, a writing class, but one immersed in daily issues of culture, design, and visual literacy. Following a general introduction to reading and composing in various media, the class will focus on four themes, each leading to a major writing project:

1.    Picturing Ourselves: Expressing Identity.  The unit examines American visual icons, issues of self-expression, and devices for fashioning identity.    Project: Writing the profile of an artist, explaining how his or her work responds to issues of identity and culture.

2.    Seeing Places: Describing Landscapes and Environments.  The unit explores the different ways we represent the landscapes of our lives: the places we live, the places we go, the places we remember.   Projects: Analyzing the visual representations of a particular place or observing and assessing a public space.

3.    Exploring Design: Analyzing Objects.  The unit examines the design of everyday things (from chairs to iPods), the intersection of car culture and social values, and the politics of design.  Project: Researching a design in its historical and cultural contexts.

4.    Debating Culture: Writing to Advocate and Persuade.  The unit considers the visual elements of arguments made routinely in our culture, from the strategies of advertisers and politicians to our traditions for memorializing heroes.  Projects:  Analyzing or composing a visual argument.

At least once during the term, students will have an opportunity to showcase the draft of one of their projects in class. They will also receive online feedback on topic proposals and drafts from classmates. They’ll have conferences with the instructor to discuss drafts of three of the four projects. Texts:

Ruszkiewicz, Anderson, and Friend. Beyond Words: Reading and Writing in a Visual Age

Students also should own a college-level composition handbook that covers mechanics, usage, and documentation.

Grading:

To pass the course, students must attend regularly and participate in online forums, peer editing sessions, and other class activities. Assignments not turned in on time will be penalized.  The final grade will be calculated in the following way:

Class activities, including online forums and attendance: 5%

Project #1: 20%

Project #2: 20%

Project #3 (with research component): 30%

Project #4: 25%

This course will survey the history of rhetoric, one of the original seven liberal arts, exploring its impact on political, religious, and literary discourse in the West from antiquity to (almost) modern times.            

In "The Rhetorical Tradition," we will examine the theorists and practitioners who shaped the arts of speaking and writing in Europe and America.  We will read several classical texts (including Phaedrus, the Rhetoric of Aristotle, selections from Cicero and Quintilian) to understand how rhetoric was taught and practiced in antiquity and where it stood in relationship to the other arts of the trivium—, that is, logic and grammar.  The influence of rhetoric in the Medieval and Renaissance periods will be presented chiefly through literary and religious texts--for example, selected English sermons, "The Pardoner's Tale," Julius Caesar, Areopagitica, and so on.  We will also examine the influence of rhetoric on English prose style and the on the development of scientific and philosophical writing.  

In the modern period, the course will examine British/Scottish neo-classical and belletristic rhetorics, particularly as they shaped systems of education and literary tastes in England and America.  The decline, near disappearance, and renewal of the rhetorical tradition in the last century will be chronicled through the work of major theorists, including I.A. Richards, Kenneth Burke, Richard Weaver, and Chaim Perelman.  

Our focus throughout the semester will be both theoretical and practical: we will read the theory and then examine cultural and political applications.  Anyone with a general interest in language or literary studies will probably find this course of interest.  It will be especially helpful to rhetoric and English majors going on to graduate school, most of whom will teach courses in rhetoric/composition as part of their graduate programs.  

Grades

Grades will be calculated according to the following formula:

30%: Midterm

30%: Final

10%: Oral Report

30%: Portfolio of Position Papers

Textbook

Bizzell, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition.

Rhetoric 325 is an advanced-level workshop in writing and editing. Its goal is to make already skilled writers more polished and publishable. The standards are high: the course will focus intensely on editing individual projects with everyone in the class having access to the drafts of their colleagues' work.

Course Requirements

Members of the class will write three short papers and three longer ones. Many course sessions will focus on drafts, with students in the class routinely showcasing their work-in-progress.

Grading Policy

Literacy biography 5%
Book review 10%
Grammar and mechanics project 5%
Major Project 1 / 25%
Major Project 2 / 25%
Major Project 3 / 25%
Editing 5%

This formula presumes satisfactory attendance and the completion of all assignments (including reading assignments) on time; participating in group work; editing classmates' materials regularly, and so on

Texts

John Trimble, Writing With Style / 2nd edition
Scott Foresman Handbook for Writers / 8th edition
Andrea Lunsford and John Ruszkiewicz, The Presence of Others / 5th edition

RHE 368C is a course designed to prepare undergraduates to serve as peer tutors in the Undergraduate Writing Center (UWC). During the first part of the term, students will study issues related to writing center theory and practice. They will analyze the goals and practices of writing centers, examine elements of contemporary rhetorical and composition theory (including the writing process), survey typical course syllabi and assignments, and review basics of grammar, mechanics, and usage. Later in the term, they will work under supervision for six hours a week as a consultant in the Undergraduate Writing Center.

Course Requirements

Coursework includes a variety of writing assignments (including a literacy biography and an argument), quizzes on grammar and mechanics, observations of UWC tutoring sessions, participation in mock UWC tutorials, midterm and final self evaluations, and supervised tutoring in the UWC itself. Students will download all written assignments to the Blackboard course site or course where classmates may read and comment on them. Instructor's permission is required for registration in RHE 368C.

Grading Policy

Literacy Biography: 5%
Argument: 20%
Midterm self-assessment: 15%
Grammar quizzes: 20%
UWC Observation reports: 15%
Mock Tutorial report: 5%
Class participation and attendance: 5%
Final self-assessment: 15%

Texts

Gillespie and Lerner, The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring / 2nd edition
Ruszkiewicz, Friend, Hairston, The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers, 8th edition

RHE 315 is a course designed to teach students to analyze and explore visual and non-verbal forms of rhetoric. It remains, first and foremost, a writing class, but one immersed in daily issues of culture, design, and visual literacy. Following a general introduction to reading and composing in various media, the class will focus on four themes, each leading to a major writing project:

1.    Picturing Ourselves: Expressing Identity.  The unit examines American visual icons, issues of self-expression, and devices for fashioning identity.   
Project: Writing the profile of an artist, explaining how his or her work responds to issues of identity and culture.

2.    Seeing Places: Describing Landscapes and Environments.  The unit explores the different ways we represent the landscapes of our lives: the places we live, the places we go, the places we remember.  
Projects: Analyzing the visual representations of a particular place or observing and assessing a public space.

3.    Exploring Design: Analyzing Objects.  The unit examines the design of everyday things (from chairs to iPods), the intersection of car culture and social values, and the politics of design.  
Project: Researching a design in its historical and cultural contexts.

4.    Debating Culture: Writing to Advocate and Persuade.  The unit considers the visual elements of arguments made routinely in our culture, from the strategies of advertisers and politicians to our traditions for memorializing heroes.  
Projects:  Analyzing or composing a visual argument.

At least once during the term, students will have an opportunity to showcase the draft of one of their projects in class. They will also receive online feedback on topic proposals and drafts from classmates. They’ll have conferences with the instructor to discuss drafts of three of the four projects.

Texts:
Ruszkiewicz, Anderson, and Friend. Beyond Words: Reading and Writing in a Visual Age
Students also should own a college-level composition handbook that covers mechanics, usage, and documentation.

Grading:
To pass the course, students must attend regularly and participate in online forums, peer editing sessions, and other class activities. Assignments not turned in on time will be penalized.  The final grade will be calculated in the following way:
Class activities, including online forums and attendance: 5%
Project #1: 20%
Project #2: 20%
Project #3 (with research component): 30%
Project #4: 25%

This course will survey the history of rhetoric, one of the original seven liberal arts, exploring its impact on political, religious, and literary discourse in the West from antiquity to (almost) modern times.                 

In "The Rhetorical Tradition," we will examine the theorists and practitioners who shaped the arts of speaking and writing in Europe and America.  We will read several classical texts (including Phaedrus, the Rhetoric of Aristotle, selections from Cicero and Quintilian) to understand how rhetoric was taught and practiced in antiquity and where it stood in relationship to the other arts of the trivium—, that is, logic and grammar.  The influence of rhetoric in the Medieval and Renaissance periods will be presented chiefly through literary and religious texts--for example, selected English sermons, "The Pardoner's Tale," Julius Caesar, Areopagitica, and so on.  We will also examine the influence of rhetoric on English prose style and the on the development of scientific and philosophical writing.  

In the modern period, the course will examine British/Scottish neo-classical and belletristic rhetorics, particularly as they shaped systems of education and literary tastes in England and America.  The decline, near disappearance, and renewal of the rhetorical tradition in the last century will be chronicled through the work of major theorists, including I.A. Richards, Kenneth Burke, Richard Weaver, and Chaim Perelman.  

Our focus throughout the semester will be both theoretical and practical: we will read the theory and then examine cultural and political applications.  Anyone with a general interest in language or literary studies will probably find this course of interest.  It will be especially helpful to rhetoric and English majors going on to graduate school, most of whom will teach courses in rhetoric/composition as part of their graduate programs.  

Grades
Grades will be calculated according to the following formula:
30%: Midterm
30%: Final
10%: Oral Report
30%: Portfolio of Position Papers

Textbook
Bizzell, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition.

Since the early decades of the nineteenth century, when advances in printing, paper manufacture, and engraving made cheap, mass-produced images broadly available, Western culture has been characterized as a visual culture. During the twentieth century visual technologies proliferated, especially in new electronic forms. In the last decade the World Wide Web has made it possible for individuals to publish multimedia texts that formerly required entire production departments and studios.

In spite of the proliferation of images in our culture and the ease of producing and publishing them, they remain a neglected area of study within the humanities. In the first half of the course, students will examine the modern history of visual culture. In the second half, they will focus more particularly on the combination of text, images, and other graphics, both in print and in multimedia formats. They will explore a range of scholarship that extends from the rise of illustrated newspapers and new image technologies in the nineteenth century to digital imaging and the multimedia Web.