Q. How is 309K different from 306?

A. RHE 306 is a required course for many students at UT--those who do not test out of it via test scores. RHE 309K is an elective. If students are lined up outside your room on the first day of class saying that they NEED your class, they are lying! They may need a substantial writing component, but that can be filled by other courses. Don't feel like you have to let them in!

A. The 2 courses also differ with respect to the kind of writing that students do. 306 is a course on argumentation and public discourse; 309k can focus on very different writing skills. To be sure, it's a rhetoric course; make sure you are teaching writing above all else. But rhetoric can be defined in various ways. You need not focus on stasis theory if you don't want to. (Vimala Pasupathi, May 21, 2001 11:40 AM)

Q. What kind of students take 309?

A. Your students in 309K will be somewhat different from those in 306. Many of them will have tested out of 306, which doesn't mean that they will be better writers, but rather that you'll probably have to go over some of the same writing instruction that you did in 306 because of it. Still, most instructors find that their 309 students are more critical thinkers because they're usually more advanced in their college careers. You get a mixed bag, basically. Regardless of your student demographic, you'll want 309K to be a little more challenging in every way for students--it's a second-level writing course, unlike 306. At the same time, it's lower division. Keep it comprehensible and avoid grad-student speak-ese. (Vimala Pasupathi, May 21, 2001 11:40 AM)

A. Last Fall, I discovered that I had several misconceptions about E309K, some of which really threw me for a loop at first. I'm listing them here in the hopes that they might help other AI's approaching the course for the first time:

1. Students will come into the course with stronger writing skills: I waited too long my first semester to explicitly cover basic writing principles (i.e., thesis, topic sentences, support) because I naively assumed that students would have a grasp on these concepts (or at least be aware that an instructor expects such things). Sadly, this was not the case. My experience may have been complicated by the tendency of my course (The Rhetoric of Cyborgs) to attract several very bright and articulate RTF students who strongly felt that any assignment requiring them to clearly articulate a stance on an issue and support it with evidence was an insult to their creativity. My Spring semester has proved much less frustrating although I still have students (sadly, some of which have taken 306) who are struggling with argumentation basics.

2. Students will take the course because of the topic. Some do, but most take it because of the time slot. I have students show up in my Rhetoric of Cyborgs class who have *never* seen an episode of Star Trek or have not seen either of the Terminator films. I still find this just wierd. Many of the students who wander into the class without any awareness of the topic are the ones who enjoy it the most (and add a lot to the class discussions).

3. Students should be older and hence more responsible. Perhaps. But this is also off-set by the number of students who have work and other significant time commitments in a way that I just never saw in 306. Overall, I'd say that a large number of students are less willing to commit time to the course than the freshmen I had in 306. (Joanna Wolfe, Mar 22, 1999 02:17 PM)

A. This is good advice. Point #2 is especially worth considering when designing your class. You can't assume that in your 309 you'll be preaching to the choir. Maybe three or four of my students this semester came in to my class knowing what in the world I meant by "nature writing." The rest were just psyched to be enrolled in a class that will satisfy requirements for their degree. If they pass. (Eric Lupfer, Mar 22, 1999 04:38 PM)

My 309K experience was slightly different from yours, Joanna...I did end up with a lot of people who were there cause they were interested in the subject matter (disability/disease and rhetoric), and I was pretty impressed with the writing skills of many of the students. I think it was luck of the draw-- either that or the time slot-- 8 am. That said, my 309L this semester drew a lot of students who were just taking it cause it was open and in the middle of the day-- this in a class which is an "intensive workshop on style." Some of these guys are weak writers, don't care, and are probably horrified by the course they've gotten themselves into. So: it depends? (Julie Garbus, Mar 23, 1999 08:32 AM)

Q. How do you plan out a syllabus?

A. Went to the CWRL course sites of 5 instructors who also had taught 309 on a MWF schedule in the last several years and downloaded their syllabi. I had decided on three papers and grading percentages when I wrote my course proposal and I stuck with that...split the semester into 5-week units and just started spreading out the reading. I front-load my courses pretty heavily, and I went through the style manual as quickly as possible so they had actually read something about writing conclusions before paper 3 was due. I'm pretty sure I swiped and modified a lot of my materials. I did ask for permission if the instructor was still around and if I was basically putting her page up on my website. So I guess I totally endorse the borrowing method of course construction. Unlike in 306 I didn't make drafts mandatory but did bug the students to turn optional ones in on specific days. This made my life a lot easier since I wasn't reading papers all the time. It also dropped the semester average an entire letter grade, as the majority of students didn't turn in drafts and did poorly.

A. In 398T you planned your units, so hopefully you have a trajectory with some continuity and culmination. On the other hand, you can change this--no one in the DRC is looking or cares, so do your tinkering now. You are not really locked down until you hand out your syllabus in class. Planning the syllabus is all about the papers, so make a list of all the scheduled days on the calendar (so you can think about specific days of the week (like weekends) and times of the semester (like vacations etc.) and then try to figure out your due dates. Start at the beginning--topic proposal, rough draft, final draft. Each of these needs a certain amount of time. The key things to think about are giving yourself enough time to comment on drafts and giving them enough time to write and revise after each stage. Be reasonable about the time it will take you to comment--weekend or T-TH turnarounds will make you hate your life. Then readings--all the advice about limiting the amount of text you assign is true; be reasonable with this as well or your discussions and class morale will suffer. I chose to back off on readings when writing is due. In fact, those days are difficult ones for heavy discussion, so think about less demanding or more "fun" things on the days drafts are turned in.

A. Group projects and presentations are great for many reasons at the end of the semester, but you have to allow some in-class time for them. You will love this as an instructor--no prep, plus you can help individuals and groups in a very meaningful way by circulating on those days. If you are in a CWRL classroom, you also have to write off days for tech instruction and allow time for tech issues on turn-in and peer review days. Web projects eat a lot of late semester time as well. Students need time and hands-on practice if they will be doing web projects. Content should be limited at that point.

Q. What kinds and amounts of reading really work?

A. Eric Lupfer stressed to me that you should always think about your course in terms of your pedagogical goals. Define these to yourself explicitly now if you haven't already. What questions do you want them to answer? What questions do you want them to ask? What knowledge or skills do you want them to come away with from your class? Don't forget this is essentially a writing class, and a lot of classtime you have will be spent attending to this. Your content is to spur critical thinking and writing--it's secondary, however important it is to you. This means you won't have time to teach your topic as if it was a content course, so don't overweight it or overestimate the time you will have available.

A. As for the readings themselves, you chose them while doing lots of other crap and were probably not able to think concretely about how teachable they were. You will be able to minimally adjust once the semester starts, but re-read these things now with an eye to your pedagogical goals, length, how you will teach them, how they will be enjoyed or annoy or oppress your students. Two-thirds of your students will be pretty earnest--some won't care but screw them--the course is for the majority who will be taking college seriously. Think about these earnest students as you re-read and the problems they will face with each text. Find new ones if your first choices now seem unsuitable. Find clean copies of your articles/stories etc and gather your books and take them to Jenns/Abels/Paradigm etc. You can do this yourslef, or do it late of course but you will be sweating. I recommend early August. Don't forget--you will have long hours in orientation in August in which you WON'T be able to do stuff--so do it during the summer or you will begin to age rapidly.

A. Just like the old jewelry bit (put on jewelry, turn around in mirror, take one piece off), write your syllabus, and then remove at least one major reading/viewing assignment. I'm not sure where you turn around, though... maybe in front of a bookcase? Oh, and never have students read Society of the Spectacle.

A. This semester, in addition to a couple of short articles discussed in the first week of class, I have 10 readings, 1 film viewed in class, 1 Star Trek episode viewed outside of class (see message below) and 1 very easy novel. The readings are generally 10-15 page articles (or excerpts) though I do have one longish excerpt from Ellison's Invisible Man in my packet. This seems about right, though I don't think it would be a bad idea to drop one more reading. (Joanna Wolfe, Mar 23, 1999 01:00 AM)

Q. How do you use films?

A. As someone who uses film as a major component of my curriculum (we watch 3 films during the semester, and students are required to write on two of them), I was forewarned by some wise veterans that students will probably need some instruction in film analysis. After a two semesters of teaching E309K, I'd definitely pass on the advice. Most students are just used to "passively" watching a film, and usually only pay attention to the plot and characters. Just like we often have to teach students to do close readings, I've found that students also need some instruction on how to think critically about how films are constructed, and what the directors might be saying by making certain choices. The book I used was Timothy Corrigan's _A Short Guide to Writing about Film_, which introduces students to types of shots, editing, mise-en-scene, sound, etc. It also contains some excellent sample student essays, and tips on how to incorporate close readings of scenes into the students' papers.
(Susan Somers-Willett, Feb 10, 2000 10:27 AM)
I also recommend getting your movies set up early, with dates (once you have planned your syllabus). Go to the UGL AV Library and fill out the forms--they are a little high-strung there, but very reliable in my experience, so this will ease your stress once the semester gets going. Mid to late August is fine. They have rooms you can reserve, and will order movies they don't have. You can also reserve videos to screen in your classroom.

Q. What handbook do you use?

A. In case anyone is interested in a good style/grammar handbook that is both readable and is concerned with rhetoric, I would recommend Right Words, Right Places . It provides Erasmus examples of each of the grammatical constructions it addresses, as well as many real-text examples of the constructions in use. I find the layout especially navigable for those who need a "handbook" approach, but its real strength is the narrative it provides on the effects of the stylistic choices one makes. And I agree with Joanna and Eric that it's important to teach grammar/style from the beginning, because your students won't think that knowing it is expected of them unless you expect it of them. A further rec: if you are teaching an E 309K-ca section, you might consider Anderson, Benjamin, and Paredes-Holt's Connections , which neatly addresses many of the basics of rhetoric that such courses will want to include, in addition to plenty of information on electronic environments and composition. (No, they didn't pay me for that plug.) (David B$, Mar 22, 1999 05:19 PM)

A. You do not need to include both a Rhetoric *and* a Style book in your syllabus. I'm not sure where I got this misconception, but it's just wrong. The official DRC word is that it's either one or the other. Personally, I found it very difficult to fit both books into my syllabus and I think I'm much better off for having dropped the style book. When I want to work on style, I either use examples from student drafts, find materials online at the Purdue OWL or photocopy a random section from a book. (Joanna Wolfe, Mar 22, 1999 02:17 PM)

Q. Do you give quizzes?

A. To get my students to do the readings, which was a real problem last semester despite giving them quizzes, I have them turn in 5 one-page argument analyses on any of the readings or films (they chose which ones they analyse) and one close reading from a passage in the novel. This ensures they read about half the material.

Q. How do I decide which books to use, and how do I get exam copies of those books?

RHE 309 instructors have a great deal of freedom when it comes to choosing rhetoric textbooks and the other texts used in their class. For more information about ordering books and getting free examination copies, see the eFiles page about ordering textbooks.