NAU: eng522 syllabus

nau | english | rothfork | teaching | eng522 syllabus

College:        Arts and Sciences
Dept.:            English
Course:         English 522: Rhetoric in Professional Communities
                          (Writing in Education, Government, and Business).
When:           Fall 2001
Credit:          3 hrs.
Instructor:     John Rothfork
Office:          BAA 319 (Babbit Academic Annex)
(:               928.523.0559
*:            john.rothfork@nau.edu
When:          11:30-12:20 MWF
Where:         LA310
Web:           jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jgr6
Course Prerequisites: None; graduate status

Notes on Foucault's The Archaeology of Knowledge:

Click on the chapter title:

	1: The unities of discourse
	2: Discursive formations
	3: The formation of objects
	4: The formation of enunciative modalities

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Course Description:

All writing is not the same. Creative writing differs from technical writing, which differs from business writing; and they all differ from scholarly writing. This course will help you recognize and define contexts, audiences, and “discourse communities”; such specific communities as:

a Catholic junior high school
an independent software company that sells via the Internet
a research oriented university hospital
an office of a federal agency, like the BIA

Such organizations are, in a sense, surrogate authors. Documents produced in such discourse communities are distinct in several ways that we will study.

Course Objectives:

After completing this course you will be:

more expert in recognizing and defining discourse communities
better able to infer characteristic rhetorical patterns and audience expectations
more competent to write for specific organizations and agencies
Because much of your writing will be oriented toward the Web or Internet, you will gain computer and Internet skills.

Texts:

1. The Archeology of Knowledge. Foucault, Michel. Pantheon Books, 1982: (ISBN) 0394711068: $13.60 at Amazon.

2. Arguing in Communities. Hatch, Gary Layne. Mayfield, 1996: 1-55934-382-6: Out of print; 12 used copies were available from Amazon when I looked, $7. I got my copy at Zubal books. When you follow the links for used copies at Amazon you will reach a page that lists various bookstores.

3. New Media Technologies: Cultural and Commercial Perspectives, 2nd. ed. Pavlik, John. Allyn and Bacon, 1998: 0-205-27093-x: $37 ($17 used) at Amazon.

4. Web Design for Dummies. Lopuck, Lisa. Hungry Minds, 2001: 0764508237: $25 at Amazon.

5. Structures of Scientific Revolutions. Thomas S. Kuhn, third ed. 1996. U. Chicago: 0226458083: $12 ($3 used at Amazon).

The first two books are required. We will work through them in class. The remaining three books are optional.

If you know nothing about Web building, you will probably want text #4. If you are an old hand at web building, you may only want to skim through someone else’s copy to consider design advice, rather than rely on it to learn how to perform Web tasks.

Text #3 offers similar choices. If you read computer magazines every month, you may find the descriptions in the text to be familiar and not detailed enough. Pavlik, a prof. at Columbia University, will have an academic view in contrast to the commercial and entertainment views that you are likely to read in the trade magazines. If you are a “newbie” to computer technology, you may find Pavlik’s book a valuable reference.

If you are reading about the postmodern outlook (Foucault) for the first time, you may want to get another, more concrete view by reading Kuhn.

Course Structure:

            These texts illustrate a spectrum of interest from language theory to how-to-do-it practical directions for website design. The texts might be categorized as:
            1. theory
            2. concrete illustration of the theory
            3. an inventory of electronic communication media
            4. practical help on creating websites
            5. social construction theory applied to the discourse community of physics

In the eighteenth century philosophy sought to discover how the mind works (e.g., Kant). Psychology, biochemistry, and medicine reduced the philosophic program so that by the twentieth c. the project was limited to a study of how the mind uses language. Pragmatism further limited interest to how the mind uses a specific language within specific discourse communities. For example, in various social situations -- suggested by the courthouse, the art museum, the science laboratory, the basketball court, and the church -- everyone speaks English, but the same words mean very different things in each situation. Discourse communities influence what is said, how it is said, and what it means. Foucault is one of the prominent thinkers who defined this theory of the social construction of reality. The Archeology of Knowledge presents his theoretical understanding of how writing and communication are shaped by discourse communities.

Prof. Hatch’s book provides illustration of how discourse communities shape institutional identities, define professional methods, and establish power or protocols, both within a community and among the ecology of multiple communities. His book focuses on writing in specific institutional settings.
Prof. Pavlik’s book illustrates how new electronic media influences writing. He claims to review “not only the technologies themselves, but the ways they are affecting how people live, work, and communicate” (xiii). A book like this can never be entirely up-to-date; nor can it span the range of computer skills possessed by the students in classes that are likely to use this book. It is not theoretical, nor is it really illustrative in the sense Pavlik claims. It is a fairly comprehensive, non-technical overview of electronic communication media that you are likely to use as a professional writer.

Try not be offended by the “for dummies” title of Prof. Lopuck’s book. Here is review from the Amazon Website: “What I found most insightful was the way Lisa covers the entire web design workflow – showing you the entire creative process, even user testing. This book is a must read for any designer!”

I hope that you already know Thomas Kuhn’s book. It is the most famous application of social construction theory or postmodernism. Kuhn was a Ph.D. physics student when he became interested in the social process through which a person becomes a scientist. If you find Foucault’s book too abstract or fuzzy, Kuhn offers specific illustration. I have to warn you that this is one of the worst written classics you will read.

Course Outline:

After we study some of the Hatch book (in which he assesses writing to identify discourse community traits), you will assess writing to identify discourse communities that are, in a sense, surrogate authors. You will then identify professional values, characteristic rhetorical patterns, and institutional behavior. You will find this writing outside our textbooks. The easiest places to look for it are institutions you are already involved with (schools, hospitals, etc.) or Websites. Look for such things as mission statements, objectives, standards or methods, disclaimers, product support, manuals, FAQs, and even such documents as forms to be filled in. This is part of “class participation.” You will make a presentation to the class.
After doing the above in class, you will write a document that analyzes a specific community (i.e., a business, government agency, etc.) to identify explicit and implicit rhetorical rules that govern communication in that discourse community. You will study the training and education through which one becomes a member of a professional community. In addition to a document, you will also make a presentation to the class.
You will do an organizational audit to assess document effectiveness, both within the community and from outside the community.
You will use computers and the Internet to write html files, upload and download files, organize files into a coherent website, and develop other skills typically possessed by Webmasters.
You will develop training and/or teaching units suitable for business, education, health care, the law, or some other discourse community.

Assignments:

(25%) Class participation. "Participation" means that you make apt comments & judgments about both the text readings & students papers or projects.
(15%) An audit of an organization relying on the organization’s documents and purpose or mission.
(30%) An in-depth analysis of an organization relying on texts 1 and 2, including a presentation to the class.
(30%) Build a website. Your site can be personal or professional (possibly simulating a business or agency site). A major component will probably be the training or teaching unit you develop. If you have not created a Website, don’t worry. It is not much more difficult than using word-processing programs. We will spend some class time Web building; and we have a Web design book “for dummies”!

Grades:

Assignments will receive a letter grade. The final grade will be derived from the scale given above in “Assignments.”
     A: 90% or above
     B: 80%-89%
     C: 70%-79%
     D: 60%-69%
     F: 59% or lower

Attendance:

In writing classes like this one, students sometimes become concerned only to produce their own documents or make their own presentations. Once they finish their papers, Website, or presentation, they mistakenly think they have fulfilled all the class requirements. This outlook ignores several important principles of professional writing. Class involvement offers you valuable opportunities to:

practice audience analysis
improve your speaking and presentation skills
practice discourse community role playing
test your documents for usability
do collaborative study and writing

Missing classes can diminish your grade. Professional writers have rigid deadlines for their work. As an aspiring professional writer, you are expected to demonstrate professional dedication by actively participating in each scheduled class. 5 unexplained absences may reduce your grade by a letter, e.g., from a "B" to a "C."

Drop Dates:

The last day to drop this course with no record on your transcript is 21 Sept. 01.
The last day to drop this course with a W on your transcript is 26 Oct. 01.

The College of Arts & Sciences will only allow you to withdraw from a class after the deadline for circumstances beyond your control. A poor grade will not be considered sufficient reason to make an exception to the scheduled deadlines. To petition to drop a class after the deadline you must provide written justification & obtain the approving signatures of:

the course instructor
your advisor
the chair of the dept. offering the course
the Dean of the College (Arts & Sciences)

The petition can be denied by any of these authorities.

Websites:
These are minimal formal requirements for your Website:

Website Requirements:

Website or homepage hosted at an Internet site: Geocities, Yahoo, Go, etc. These are free services. If your site is located at a stable commercial site, you can “take it with you” when you graduate.
An Internet e-mail account/address at go.com, yahoo.com, etc. Again, this is free.
An entry page (a file called: index.htm) that offers links to the 2^nd level of your Website.
At least five 2^nd level Web pages. These are not remote pages (i.e., pages that someone else posted and that you simply provide links to reach). Each page is your own creation. Of course, you will have links to other sites on the Net.
Every page must be linked back to the index page. They are likely to be linked to each other on the 2^nd level as well. You may wish to create a navigation device, such as a table you use on all 2^nd & lower order pages. You may use frames.
An e-mail link that accurately generates and sends e-mail to you.
A background image for at least one of your web pages. This may be a theme that visually defines or implies a level. For example, each of the 2^nd level pages may have the same background image, which visually indicates that we are at the same site, on the same level, etc. Ask a fellow student if your background or colors are appropriate, look good, & are readable.
Each page must have at least one scaled graphic. Don’t go overboard on animated gifs.
Each page must use a divider or otherwise indicate a concern for composition.
At least one table, visible or invisible.
At least six links to relevant remote Web sites. These are somewhat comparable to bibliographic sources and illustrate both your audience analysis skills and Internet search engine skills.
Spelling, grammar, & usage must be correct (including an appropriate diction level).
All links work.
All graphics load.

Northern Arizona University

Policy Statements:

1. Safe environment policy

NAU’s Safe Working and Learning Environment Policy seeks to prohibit discrimination and promote the safety of all individuals within the university. The goal of this policy is to prevent the occurrence of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status and to prevent sexual harassment, sexual assault or retaliation by anyone at this university.
You may obtain a copy of this policy from the college dean’s office. If you have concerns about this policy, it is important that you contact the departmental chair, dean’s office, the Office of Student Life (523-5181), the academic ombudsperson (523-9368), or NAU’s Office of Affirmative Action (523-3312).

2. Students with disabilities

     If you have a learning and/or physical disability, you are encouraged to make arrangements for class assignments/exams so your academic performance will not suffer because of the disability or handicap. If you have questions about special provisions for students with disabilities, contact the Counseling and Testing Center (523-2261).
     It is your responsibility to register with the Counseling and Testing Center. Application for services should be made at least eight weeks before the start of the semester.
     If the Counseling and Testing Center verifies your eligibility for special services, you should consult with your instructor during the first week in the semester so appropriate arrangements can be made. Concerns related to noncompliance with appropriate provisions should be directed to the Disabilities Support Services coordinator in the Counseling and Testing Center.

3. Institutional review board

     Any study involving observation of or interaction with human subjects that originates at NAU-including a course project, report, or research paper-must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the protection of human subjects in research and research-related activities.
     The IRB meets once each month.   Proposals must be submitted for review at least fifteen working days before the monthly meeting. You should consult with your course instructor early in the course to ascertain if your project needs to be reviewed by the IRB and/or to secure information or appropriate forms and procedures for the IRB review. Your instructor and department chair or college dean must sign the application for approval by the IRB. The IRB categorizes projects into three levels depending on the nature of the project: exempt from further review, expedited review, or full board review. If the IRB certifies that a project is exempt from further review, you need not resubmit the project for continuing IRB review as long as there are no modifications in the exempted procedures.
     A copy of the IRB Policy and Procedures Manual is available in each department’s administrative office and each college dean’s office. If you have questions, contact Carey Conover, Office of Grant and Contract Services, at 523-4889.

4. Academic integrity

The university takes an extremely serious view of violations of academic integrity. As members of the academic community, NAU’s administration, faculty, staff, and students are dedicated to promoting an atmosphere of honesty and are committed to maintaining the academic integrity essential to the education process. Inherent in this commitment is the belief that academic dishonesty in all forms violates the basic principles of integrity and impedes learning. Students are therefore responsible for conducting themselves in an academically honest manner.
Individual students and faculty members are responsible for identifying instances of academic dishonesty. Faculty members then recommend penalties to the department chair or college dean in keeping with the severity of the violation. The complete policy on academic integrity is in Appendix F of NAU’s Student Handbook.

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Email: john.rothfork@nau.edu

09.05.01