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Fall 2012 3030 SYLLABUS SCIENCE WRITINGDr. David Williams
[email protected] [email protected]
WRTG-3030-016
Writing/Science-Society
MW 03:00 PM - 04:15 PM
DUAN G1B25
-
WRTG-3030-019
Writing/Science-Society
MW 04:30 PM - 05:45 PM
DUAN G1B35
-
WEBSITES FOR THE CLASS YOUTUBEYour password is [email protected]= 100elephants
Rhetoric websiteswriting@CSU (http://writing.colostate.edu/index.cfm); Silva Rhetoricae (http://rhetoric.byu.edu/); the Purdue OWL (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/)
BRINGING THE HUMANITIES INTO THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDScientific and literary cultures have existed side-by-side but most often in parallel universes with little connection. This has led to the humanities proceeding as if Darwin never lived, DNA was not discovered, and Neuroscience never came to fruition. As E.O. Wilson states, this “polarization promotes . . . the perpetual recycling of the nature-nurture controversy, spinning off mostly sterile debates on gender, sexual preferences, ethnicity, and human nature itself.” From the social science’s denial of a “universal human nature” to theoretical theories spun from armchair speculation, the humanities have spun numerous webs that have little or no relation to empirical evidence. At the same time, many theorists in the humanities have tried to be “scientific,” from Jung, to Frye, to Chomsky (though failing), while others have denied the validity of science altogether.
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This class will begin by examining the history of science and the humanities, while trying to find ways to bring them together. To do so, we will be exploring human evolution, evolutionary psychology, and neuroscience—utilizing these disciplines as a base from which to interpret literature.
In addition, we will examine how the pressing scientific issues of the day are often obscured because few scientists have developed effective communication skills. As a class, we will work to create rhetorical strategies that allow some of the recent findings of science to be heard by a public often ignorant of even the most basic scientific paradigms and findings.
Writing for this class will involve numerous genres for interpreting science and literature and for propelling scientific ideas through the art of writing.
SCIENCE WRITINGScience writing can consist of many different genres and styles, from the nature writing of Gary Snyder, to technical scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, to the kind of writing done by working scientists such as E. O. Wilson, who attempts to communicate ideas to the larger world as well as write papers for fellow scientists. In the world of science, the only thing that counts is discovery: those who discover new things are rewarded, not those who write about discoveries. This may help to explain why most scientists are not good communicators when it comes to getting the news of their work to the public. Yet, scientific work depends upon funding, so it is essential that scientists become better at promoting themselves to raise money to do their work. It is also extremely important as we move into the growing environmental dangers on the planet that science leads the way by bringing us the news. We need scientific news instead of economic and political propaganda. If we do not face the facts of species extinction, global warming, and energy depletion—we will pay a huge price in terms of quality of life on this planet. Much is at stake.
Many scientists have begun to realize that scientific ideas can quickly lose ground in the media and that public opinion can be shaped by money interests and loud voices not trained in science or critical thinking. The way people vote and the policies that elected leaders enact will determine what happens in the next few years, as we live in what National Geographic has called “The Sixth Great Extinction,” one caused by us. If we going to save what’s left of “nature” (here meaning the earth rather untouched by humans) it must be done soon, for there is no time to waste. Scientists cannot do the job of changing public opinion. It is up to those of us who work in the media as writers, filmmakers, singers, and poets to get the work done. The raison d'être of rhetoric is to persuade, and we need all the tricks of rhetoric at our disposal.
The ancient Greeks, of course, set the foundation for rhetorical studies over 2,000 years ago, and the teaching of the Sophists (those employed to teach the arts of persuasion) set the foundation for rhetorical studies today. We have all studied the Greek terms: pathos, ethos, enthymeme, logos, and learned how to employ these ideas in writing and argument. Of course, what the Greek teachers came upon were just names for explaining the kind of things we all do everyday. To be a social animal we must know how to behave and interact, and the human mind has evolved over the course of the last few hundred thousand years to be attentive to others. Neuroscience has allowed us to scientifically examine the way the brain works for the very first time, due to advances in technology. Questions that heretofore were answered through armchair speculation are now being answered through scientific analysis, as we learn that many old assumptions were wrong. Theory of Mind is one of the new discoveries about how we think—showing we evolved to know how others think and feel—though we don’t always get things right. It is also the force at work that makes us see intent in the natural world. Confirmation Bias is another aspect of the human mind that gives us the tendency to see what we want and not what evidence might provide.
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All this shows that the brain is flawed, an instrument of survival for the whole body, and not something separate from it. Hence, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio’s title for his famed book, DesCartes’ Error. Mind and body are not split. As a matter of fact, everything we think has a component of emotion. There is no such thing as pure logic. For example, the long-held assumption, on which much economic theory rests, that we are logical in our decision making, is wrong. We usually act on emotional impulse, whether it comes to purchasing a product, voting for a politician, or believing or disbelieving what the state of the world really is.
For these reasons it is extremely important that those of us who write about the condition of the planet know something about how the brain works. To be effective communicators, it is time we embrace science ourselves, integrating the lessons of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology, which must form the basis of a new rhetoric. The humanities and sciences have been divorced from each other for too long, but in this age such a division cannot be sustained. In the following weeks we will learn about and write on aspects of science and draw scientific analysis into the study of literature and human behavior. We will also try to take the lessons of neuroscience to become better at communicating scientific findings.
The syllabus is subject to changes, as I assign various new readings, or special events and speakers become available.
COMMUNICATION POLICY1. My preferred method of contact is through this email address: [email protected]. My cell phone number is 720-308-09153. You should expect a response from me within 24 hours.4. If no response is received within the suggested time frame please send a text message to the above phone number.
5. Office hours:
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIESThis course will require students to read various articles and books, watch videos, and write a variety of papers and one public service advertisement.
AFTER TAKING THIS COURSE, YOU SHOULD:-have a better background regarding the nature of science.-know how the humanities and science have diverged and remained split.-know something about recent findings in neuroscience and evolutionary psychology.-be able to use new scientific ideas to analyze human behavior (and literature).-be much more aware of environmental problems, such as global warming.-see the relationship between the environment and the economy.
REQUIRED TEXTS.
The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human by V.S Ramachandran· Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (2011)· ISBN-10: 0393077829
Why We Love by Helen Fisher· Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (2004)
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· ISBN-10: 0801873304
The Trickster Brain: Neuroscience, Evolution, and Narrative by David Williams· Publisher: Lexington Books (2012)· ISBN-10: 0739143972
DOCUMENTATION & RHETORIC WEBSITESwriting@CSU (http://writing.colostate.edu/index.cfm); Silva Rhetoricae (http://rhetoric.byu.edu/); the Purdue OWL (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/)
READINGS & ASSIGNMENTSTake a look at the whole syllabus and pay attention to the readings. It would be very wise to begin the readings as soon as you can so that you do not get behind. All papers must be posted or handed in on time, typed and double-spaced. Be aware of the due dates for assignments!
PLAGIARISMCopying or adopting the scientific, literary, musical, or artistic composition or work of another and producing or publishing it as one's own original composition or work. To be liable for 'plagiarism' it is not necessary to exactly duplicate another's work: it is sufficient if unfair use of such work is made by lifting of substantial portion thereof, but even an exact counterpart of another's work does not constitute 'plagiarism' if such counterpart was arrived at independently.
The plagiarism policy requires that:For a first offense, the student may receive an F for the paper or in the course at the instructor's discretion, and the Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students will be notified. The incident will become a permanent part of your student record.
GRADING AND ASSIGNMENTSGRADING AND ASSIGNMENTSThere are 13 writing assignments and 4 Projects. Assignments Count for—1=2 points2= 23=24=25=26=37=38=29=210=1011=1012=813=7PROJECTS count for—1=102=153=54=15
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CLASS PARCITIPATION CAN BOOST YOUR GRADE BY 10%
PROJECT 1 PERSONAL VIDEO DUE OCT. 3.We will begin working on a Personal Video Essay and imovie. I will be asking David Underwood to come in for a guest appearance on how to put together an imovie. Project 1 involves creating a 1-minute presentation in imovie, a personal statement about you and your interest in science. This is to be a collage of photos, voice-overs, writings, video clips, and music that you put together to make a personal statement. We will watch a number of these from last semester as models. You might also want to take a look at the “Must Reads” about graphic design at http://graphicdesign.about.com/GOAL AND RUBRIC: the goal of this assignment is to use mixed media to tell a story to a wide audience that reveals something of about you and your view of science. The class will help to develop the grading rubric for this assignment.
Project 2—INTERVIEW VIDEO DUE NOV. 28.For this project you are going to interview someone who works in the sciences (in the manner that DeMichele does), creating a video presentation that explores that persons’ life. Find out what was required from that individual to become a scientist (school, money, time, etc). How did he or she make the decision to go into their particular field, and does this person feel satisfied with his or her choice? Also, ask the scientist about the kind of writing they do, and what do they think scientists should be taught in school about writing. In addition, ask about bringing scientific information to the larger public—what that takes and is it being done well. You will create a video presentation of about 2 minutes. The video presentation will consist of you writing a script that tells something about the scientist and his or her work. You will read the script while inserting excerpts of the actual interview here and there. For the video you might include photos of the scientist, examples of his or her work, pictures of their articles, books, and video footage of the scientist. The class will develop a rubric for grading this project, and you will all be involved in the grading process. In the end, you must turn in the script as well as an explanation of the various rhetorical choices you made in putting the video together. You will be posting the video to YouTube, so make sure and get consent from the scientist you are working with for release of this to the web.GOAL AND RUBRIC: the goal of this assignment is to take information from a professional source and translate that into a presentation that gives the audience a true sense of the scientist and his or her work and concerns regarding scientific writing and communication. You will be making numerous rhetorical decisions in which you will have to wisely choose video clips, photos, text, and audio to make the project successful. The class will create the grading rubric and have a hand in assessing the projects.
PROJECT 3—ADVERTISEMENT FOR A MAGAZINE DUE OCT. 24. After listening to a clip of Jim White, it will be clear that scientists are not communicating the truth about climate change to the general public. In Communicating Nature, the themes of miscommunication (and deliberate falsehood) are shown as often being linked to special and moneyed interests. With this in mind, you will take the important elements of Jim White’s talk, summarize. Now, try to get this message out to a larger audience by way of a print ad that would appear in a magazine you choose. Design a public service advertisement that uses images and text to create a message that will wake the readers of the magazine you choose up to the dangers of global warming. This should be submitted as a jpeg file. You cannot use stock photos for this advertisement. You must take your own photos or create your own images (drawings, pictures, Photoshopped photos). For this project you will work in groups of two.GOAL AND RUBRIC: Rhetoric, or the Art of Persuasion, makes use of numerous elements to affect change. However, Confirmation Bias makes it difficult for a person to be convinced of something they do not already believe. In addition, as we have seen from Damasio’s work, “We are feeling machines that think, not thinking machines that feel.” To move an audience, to affect change, we must think of emotion and feeling, for we will not convince the general public through statistics. The summary is intended to
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help the mind consolidate ideas and pick out the most important features: the print ad is intended as an exercise to take ideas and translate them into images and text to move a particular audience. The ad will be graded on creativity, effectiveness, design, and professionalism. The class will create the rubric and help grade the projects.
PROJECT 4 NPR RADIO BROADCAST DUE DEC. 10.The final writing assignment, due near the end of the semester, will be to take an article from a reputable scientific publication dealing with neuroscience and rewrite it as a two-minute story for NPR. For this, you must take immaculate care to get the story right, not to embellish, ad editorial commentary, though you may talk about the implications of what this new scientific finding might mean for the world or the scientific community. Find an article and begin working on this. Record your performance on an mp3. and submit that on the due date. The class will grade these based upon the rubric we create.
ASSIGNMENTS WILL COUNT AS FOLLOWS
“A” level work reflects excellence in all areas. An “A” suggests that work is not only thought provoking and structurally polished, but that assignments are completed with a high level of stylistic and critical independence. “A” level work presents the reader with fresh and independent thinking, logical organization, and excellent control over mechanics and style.
“B” level work is very good, well above average. This work explores difficult questions in a way that is creative, critical and thought provoking. “B” level work is critically and organizationally sound, is stylistically competent, and contains few errors.
“C” level work indicates that assignments are completed adequately, meeting minimum requirements. This grade indicates that the work is functional at a college level and that all aspects of the assignment have been addressed. However, the work may be hindered by a lack of sufficient critical inquiry, organizational clarity, and control over mechanics and style. “D” level work is substandard at the college-level. It is usually completed in haste and reflects little thought or attention to detail. A “D” indicates that major portions of the assignment are completed poorly.
“F” level work is incomplete or inadequate. An “F” will also be given if plagiarism has occurred.
ATTENDANCEClass attendance is mandatory. If you miss more than 4 classes without good reason your overall grade will drop a point, 6 and it will drop two points. 8 missed classes and you will not pass. If you have trouble making it to class on time because of where your previous class is located, let me know right away so that I will not count you as absent.
ACADEMIC CALENDAR
Housing Move-in Aug. 23 (Thurs.)
Chancellor's Convocation Aug. 24 (Fri.)
First Day of Classes Aug. 27 (Mon.)
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Labor Day(campus closed) Sept. 3 (Mon.)
Tuition Due Sept. 5 (Wed.)
Fall Convocation Sept. 28 (Fri.)
Family Weekend Sept. 28 - 30 (Fri.-Sun.)
Fall Break Nov. 19-21 (Mon.-Wed.)
Thanksgiving(campus closed) Nov. 22-23 (Thurs.-Fri.)
Last Day of Classes Dec. 14 (Fri.)
Final Exams(There are no exams on Sunday) Dec. 15-20 (Sat.-Thurs.)
Commencement Dec. 21 (Fri.)
The Writing Center: All students are invited to bring their writing to the Writing Center in Norlin Library for feedback and advice. Students are welcome to bring writing from any discipline at any stage of the writing process. Fifty-minute consultations with experienced writing consultants are available by appointment at no charge to CU students. Because the Writing Center is a very popular campus resource, please plan to make reservations at least one week in advance. Reservations can be made through the Writing Center website or in person. § Improve your planning, logic, and organization § Refine your clarity, style, citation, and grammar § Prevent procrastination and writing anxiety Find more information at: http://www.colorado.edu/pwr/writingcenter.html
CLASSROOM BEHAVIORStudents and faculty each have a responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Students who fail to adhere to behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Faculty have the professional responsibility to treat students with understanding, dignity, and respect, to guide classroom discussion, and to set reasonable limits on the manner in which students express opinions. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, and nationalities. See www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code.
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Writing Assignments will be turned in through Google docs and in hardcopy upon request.
WEEK ONE—The Mythic MindMonday, August 27
Introduction. WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1 DUE AUG. 29 Have read Carneiros’ essay at http://library.thinkquest.org/C005854/text/types.htm.Write a one-page (no more than one page), double-spaced essay on your view about myth and science—answering these questions—“What makes science “science,” and how is it different from myth? Do we need both or not?” This should be entirely in your own words. GOAL AND RUBRIC: the goal of this assignment is to understand the nature of science and how it differs from other forms of human inquiry. You should be able to sort through the important elements of the argument, summarize the argument briefly, and give your own opinion on the issues of science and myth.Take a look at these—timeline of earth--http://www.alloftimeonline.com/timeline of human evolution--http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-evolution-timeline-interactivepopulation over last 2,000 years--http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/global-population-growth.html .
Wednesday, August 29
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 2 for next Wed. We will examine this website during class: http://redschoolhouse.org/drupal/node/381. Read the essay, “Billy and the Ball and do one paragraph in imitation, making sure to link sentences together. GOAL AND RUBRIC: the goal of this assignment is to understand how sentences are stitched together with old and new information to form paragraphs.
BILLY AND THE BALL
Billy took the new ball. The ball was bright red and made of rubber. When Billy threw the rubber ball onto the cement it bounced. It bounced over the house of Mrs. Robins. Mrs. Robins looked out her window just as the ball was bouncing and thought for a moment that the sun had fallen from the sky. The red ball she thought was the sun landed on the head of Mr. Robins who was out in the garden tending his tomatoes. Being hit by the ball
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so stunned Mr. Robins that he imagined it to be the largest tomato in the world. "What tomato sauce we will make!" he exclaimed. When Mrs. Robins heard him she came running down the stairs, but as she ran toward the garden where her husband was, she accidentally stepped on the bright red ball and went sprawling into the mud. "What are you doing in the mud?" Mr. Robins said, looking at her covered in filth. "I am in the mud because I slipped on that blasted ball I thought was the sun!" Mrs. Robins exclaimed. Meanwhile the bright red ball that was really not the sun at all had rolled onto the sidewalk where Billy picked it up to bounce it once again.
CLASSWe will also talk about the art of rhetoric and look at a video clip: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/394777/august-16-2011/colbert-super-pac---frank-luntz-commits-to-the-pac .
READING ASSIGNMENTHave read chapter 12 of The Trickster Brain for some examples of ancient mythic tales and what they may uncover about the human mind.
WEEK TWO—THE TRICKSTER BRAINMonday, September 3 = LABOR DAY—NO CLASS
Evolution and the BrainWednesday, September 5
READING ASSIGNMENTHave read chapters 1-5, and chapter 10 of The Trickster Brain. We will talk about the brain and evolution.
CLASSTurn in Writing Assignment 2.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 3Type out two questions you have from the readings and bring them to class for today.
WEEK THREE—Making an imovieMonday, September 10
READING and PRESENTATION ASSIGNMENTBring in one recent story (within the last year) from the news about evolution—and be prepared to talk about it. The story can deal with politics, education, science, or medicine.
Wednesday, September 12PROJECT 1 DUE OCT. 3.We will begin working on a Personal Video Essay and imovie. I will be asking David Underwood to come in for a guest appearance on how to put together an imovie. Project 1 involves creating a 1-minute presentation in imovie, a personal statement about you and your interest in science. This is to be a collage of photos, voice-overs, writings, video clips, and music that you put together to make a personal statement. We will watch a number of these from last semester as models. You might also want to take a look at the “Must Reads” about graphic design at http://graphicdesign.about.com/
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GOAL AND RUBRIC: the goal of this assignment is to use mixed media to tell a story to a wide audience that reveals something of about you and your view of science. The class will help to develop the grading rubric for this assignment.
VIEWING ASSIGNMENTOver the weekend, watch Evolution on Trial at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/intelligent-design-trial.htmlWRITING ASSIGNMENT 4Write a one-page double-spaced reaction paper dealing with your take on the film. You can talk about the ideas presented as well as the production itself. What did you learn about American culture and science from watching the film?
WEEK FOUR—What is Right & Wrong, and who says?
Monday, September 17CLASSWe will go over the Evolution on Trial papers in class.
Wednesday, September 19WEEK FOUR—September 24What is Right & Wrong, and who says? READING AND LISTENING ASSIGNMENTHave read chapter 8 of The Trickster Brain on Ethics. Post on Discussion a paragraph on where you think ethics derive. Are we ethical by nature? Are we altruistic by nature? Or are we just selfish? Read and comment on 5 posts of fellow classmates. Also read the following article: Hierarchy Wired Into the BrainAlso, listen to this song of mine about our human nature, which actually ties into some very interesting debates in neuroscience, as it turns out that heirarchy is wired into us: Human/Inhuman a song by David Williams CLASSWork on your video project and consult with me if you need help.
WEEK FIVE—Communicating Minds and Bias
Monday, September 24WRITING ASSIGNMENT 5Have read each of the first 6 chapters of Tell-Tale Brain, writing a short summary of each. Read the following article on how to write a summary: http://homepage.smc.edu/reading_lab/writing_a_summary.htm. We will discuss the book in class and watch a brief video on Antonio Damasio video from PBS that challenges age-old ideas of Western culture: http://youtu.be/T_-2IAHvfxE.
Wednesday, September 26READING AND WRITING ASSIGNMENT 6
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Write a summary on each chapter—7-9—of Tell-Tale Brain, due Wednesday.
THEORY OF MIND—COMMUNICATING—We will watch Episode One of The Human Spark, from PBS and a YouTube talk about Theory of Mind: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/humanspark/episodes/program-three-brain-matters/video-full-episode/418/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDtjLSa50uk.
READING ASSIGNMENTHave read the following for today’s class: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/23/confirmation-bias/ and http://www.skepdic.com/confirmbias.html.Have read the following article from the New York Times, “Next Big Thing in English: Knowing They Know That You Know.”:: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/books/01lit.html
WEEK SIX—FIRST VIDEO DUEMonday, October 1
READING ASSIGNMENTBefore class, have read chapter 9 of The Trickster Brain, and more about Theory of Mind at http://cogweb.ucla.edu/CogSci/ToMM.html CONFIRMATION BIAS, ANCHOR BIAS, IMPRINTING—HOW THE BRAIN MAKES THINGS UP AND BELIEVES WHAT IT WANTS TO.
CLASSWe will watch some video clips on Theory of Mind.
LET YOUR ACTORS ACT—SENTENCES ARE STORIES—we will read parts of the following in class, from THE LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE:http://redschoolhouse.org/drupal/?q=style/storytelling/see-ithttp://redschoolhouse.org/drupal/?q=style/storytelling/basic-principle
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 7 DUE OCT. 8.Write a two-page story and put it in Google docs in which you tell a personal story of adamantly believing something to be true that you later discovered to be false when the evidence overrode your original instincts.GOAL AND RUBRIC: the goal of this assignment is to examine the way our brains hold onto beliefs even though evidence contradicts our belief.
Wednesday, October 3CLASSWe will view the PROJECT 1 videos and comment upon the quality of each.
WEEK SEVEN—SPREADING INFORMATIONMonday, October 8
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 7 DUE.
READING ASSIGNMENT
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We will read Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” and talk about his Iceberg Theory (available at http://www.has.vcu.edu/eng/webtext/hills/hills.htm).
Have read Helen Fisher’s book, Why We Love, chapters 1-3 and post a short summary of each chapter.
Wednesday October 10Have read “Why Scientists Do Science: A Trek For Answers,” by Jennifer DeMichele athttp://www.jyi.org/volumes/volume6/issue1/features/demichele.html .
Project 2—INTERVIEW & VIDEO PRESENTATION—DUE NOV. 28.For this project you are going to interview someone who works in the sciences (in the manner that DeMichele does), creating a video presentation that explores that persons’ life. Find out what was required from that individual to become a scientist (school, money, time, etc). How did he or she make the decision to go into their particular field, and does this person feel satisfied with his or her choice? Also, ask the scientist about the kind of writing they do, and what do they think scientists should be taught in school about writing. In addition, ask about bringing scientific information to the larger public—what that takes and is it being done well. You will create a video presentation of about 2 minutes. The video presentation will consist of you writing a script that tells something about the scientist and his or her work. You will read the script while inserting excerpts of the actual interview here and there. For the video you might include photos of the scientist, examples of his or her work, pictures of their articles, books, and video footage of the scientist. The class will develop a rubric for grading this project, and you will all be involved in the grading process. In the end, you must turn in the script as well as an explanation of the various rhetorical choices you made in putting the video together. You will be posting the video to YouTube, so make sure and get consent from the scientist you are working with for release of this to the web.GOAL AND RUBRIC: the goal of this assignment is to take information from a professional source and translate that into a presentation that gives the audience a true sense of the scientist and his or her work and concerns regarding scientific writing and communication. You will be making numerous rhetorical decisions in which you will have to wisely choose video clips, photos, text, and audio to make the project successful. The class will create the grading rubric and have a hand in assessing the projects.
READING ASSIGNMENTMisinformation and the Media—Fair and Balanced? Have read Chapter 8 of Communicating Nature (which will be posted on DESIRE TO LEARN).
PROJECT 3—ADVERTISEMENT FOR A MAGAZINE. GROUP PROJECT (2 IN A GROUP). DUE OCT. 24. After listening to a clip of Jim White, it will be clear that scientists are not communicating the truth about climate change to the general public. In Communicating Nature, the themes of miscommunication (and deliberate falsehood) are shown as often being linked to special and moneyed interests. With this in mind, you will take the important elements of Jim White’s talk, summarize. Now, try to get this message out to a larger audience by way of a print ad that would appear in a magazine you choose. Design a public service advertisement that uses images and text to create a message that will wake the readers of the magazine you choose up to the dangers of global warming. This should be submitted as a jpeg file. You cannot use stock photos for this advertisement. You must take your own photos or create your own images (drawings, pictures, Photoshopped photos). For this project you will work in groups of two.GOAL AND RUBRIC: Rhetoric, or the Art of Persuasion, makes use of numerous elements to affect change. However, Confirmation Bias makes it difficult for a person to be convinced of something they do not already believe. In addition, as we have seen from Damasio’s work, “We are feeling machines that think, not thinking machines that feel.” To move an audience, to affect change, we must think of emotion
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and feeling, for we will not convince the general public through statistics. The summary is intended to help the mind consolidate ideas and pick out the most important features: the print ad is intended as an exercise to take ideas and translate them into images and text to move a particular audience. The ad will be graded on creativity, effectiveness, design, and professionalism. The class will create the rubric and help grade the projects.CLASSWe will begin working on Project 3 and 4.
PROJECT 4 DUE DEC. 10.The final writing assignment, due near the end of the semester, will be to take an article from a reputable scientific publication dealing with neuroscience and rewrite it as a two-minute story for NPR. For this, you must take immaculate care to get the story right, not to embellish, ad editorial commentary, though you may talk about the implications of what this new scientific finding might mean for the world or the scientific community. Find an article and begin working on this. Record your performance on an mp3. and submit that on the due date. The class will grade these based upon the rubric we create.
READING AND WRITING ASSIGNMENT 8Over the weekend, read chapters 5-7 of Why We Love and post a short summary of each chapter.
WEEK EIGHT—THE SCIENCE OF LOVE Monday, October 15
CLASSWe will discuss ideas related to Evolution and how Love might have evolved in our species. In addition, we will watch video clips from Desmond Morris and Helen Fisher: The Biology Of Love (1994, Part Four) http://www.gendernetwork.com/humananimal.html and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYfoGTIG7pY
READING ASSIGNMENT—Have read chapters 6, 7, and 13 of The Trickster Brain.
Wednesday, October 17READING AND WRITING ASSIGNMENT 9Have read chapters 8-9 of Why We Love and post a short summary of each chapter.
For Monday, read Minot’s short story, “Lust,” and analyze it from an evolutionary and/or cognitive narrative (neuroscience) perspective in one paragraph.
WEEK NINE—CREATIVE NON-FICTION—LOVE PAPERMonday, October 22
CLASSWe will go over the paragraphs regarding“Lust.”
Wednesday, October 24CLASSADS FOR GLOBAL WARMING DUE.We will go over the advertisements on Global Warming and then talk about the next assignment.
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WRITING ASSIGNMENT 10 DUE NOV. 5, FIRST DRAFT OF FIRST TWO PAGES, SECOND PART DUE ON NOV. 11.This assignment will be a creative non-fiction essay of four pages in length (double-spaced), in which you tell the story of love in your life. This involves using creative writing to make your tale come across to the audience in the first two pages. In the second two pages you must analyze your own story from a scientific point of view, talking about the process of your own love life from an evolutionary and neurochemical perspective.RUBRIC: This paper challenges you to write with the tools of a fiction writer—creating character, place, conflict, while keeping it true to life. It also makes you think as a scientist, analyzing human behavior from a point of view that takes into consideration how the brain evolved and why we humans go through similar patterns when it comes to love.
Post a first page for everyone in the class for Monday.
WEEK TEN—WORKSHOPPING OF PAPERS & PROJECT 3Monday, November 5
CLASSWe will workshop the first drafts of the initial two pages of the paper.
WEEK ELEVEN—WORKSHOPPING PAPERSMonday, November 12
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 11 DUE TODAY, FIRST DRAFT OF SECOND TWO PAGES OF THE LOVE PAPERCLASSWe will workshop through online tutoring the second two pages—this is the part where you analyze your own story through neuroscience, biology, and evolution.
READING ASSIGNMENTBegin reading the chapters from15-20 of The Trickster Brain.
Wednesday, November 14We will workshop through online tutoring the second two pages—this is the part where you analyze your own story through neuroscience, biology, and evolution.
WEEK TWELVE—PART TWO OF LOVE PAPER WORKSHOPPING
Monday, November 19WRITING ASSIGNMENTS 10 and 11 FINAL REVISIONS DUE TODAY.CLASSThe second part of the paper is due that deals with analyzing your life from a scientific perspective. We will continue workshopping the papers.
Wednesday, November 21We will continue workshopping the papers.
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CLASSWe will discuss the last few chapters of The Trickster Brain.WRITING ASSIGNMENT 12Write a two-page paper on the trickster character in myth and what you think he/she represents. Do you believe that these stories do show us something of the brain at work, or are they just weird narratives about a rather disgusting character, Trickster, that are only coincidentally found throughout all human societies? Do you think stories can tell us something about human nature or not? Can you see how a cognitive narrative approach to analyzing stories can lead to further interpretations of films and other elements of cultures? I am looking for your take on these ideas, wherever that train of thought might lead. RUBRIC: The task here is to examine the possibility that stories are ways of seeing into the unconscious mind, and to actually reveal something of human nature and evolution through a cognitive narrative critique.
WEEK THIRTEENMonday, November 26
CLASSWatch the following documentary: “The Ecological Footprint”: http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/about/documentarydvd.asp as well as http://youtu.be/4BbkQiQyaYc on population.
Wednesday, November 28
CLASSWatch the following documentary: “Mind Over Money”:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/mind-over-money.html
WEEK FOURTEENMonday, December 3
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 13 DUE DEC. 10.After watching both of the videos, write a two-age paper comparing the ways in which we use and manipulate money and the ways in which we use and manipulate the environment. As “The Ecological Footprint” makes clear, the economy and the environment are integrated, not separate entities. While classical economics states that humans make rational choices for their own best interests, neuroscience shows another story altogether. With the recent studies in neuroscience challenging the way we do business, what should we humans do to change? Can we create a sustainable world in light of the fact that we have ape brains that did not evolve to handle global issues?GOAL & RUBRIC: This paper requires one to synthesize information from neuroscience, the economy, and the environment in order to see a holistic view about the human condition. Write it like a critical paper, beginning with a thesis statement in the first paragraph.
WEEK FIFTEENMonday, December 10
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PROJECT 4 DUE.CLASSWe will listen to the NPR presentations and grade them according to the rubric.
Wednesday, December 12 LAST DAY OF CLASSCLASSWe will listen to the NPR presentations and grade them according to the rubric.
All Cartoons by David Williams ©David Williams’ bio at http://realdavidwilliams.com/
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Developing rhetorical awareness is the main learning goal of the class, given that it’s a class in the field of Composition and Rhetoric. You may not have known the name of the field, given that the course prefix WRTG doesn’t match the name of the department that offers the class: the Program for Writing and Rhetoric. (See the About WRTG 3020 page for more info.)
BUT WHAT IS IT?“Rhetorical awareness” is, in some ways, a fairly simple concept, and in other ways, a really difficult one. On a simple level, being “rhetorically aware” means being aware that any act of communication you engage in has an audience and a purpose, and that the success or failure of your communication is based almost entirely on how well it meets the needs of that audience and fulfills that purpose.Sounds easy enough, right? Some people have naturally good rhetorical awareness, or what is often called “good people skills,” meaning that they know how to read people and deliver messages to them in the format best suited to that particular group of people. They may not even be conscious of it, but they know which strategies to use to appeal to which audiences, and they’re keenly aware of how their message is impacting their audience.For example, a rhetorically aware teenager knows better than to beg her parents to pay for a trip to Cancun for Spring Break by pointing out that “all my friends are doing it.” As a persuasive strategy directed at parents, that one is a miserable failure. The rhetorically aware teenager would take a different approach, like pointing out that this is an
opportunity to learn responsibility or to explore other
cultures. But that would only work if the teenager was genuine in her reasoning. If she’s not genuine, then those are just
manipulative tactics that aren’t very rhetorically savvy.
WHY NOW?It’s actually somewhat rare for teenagers to be rhetorically aware, as such
awareness requires a focus on the “others” of one’s audience, rather than on one’s self. So that’s why you don’t start learning about rhetorical awareness until college, when you’ve matured to the point that you’re able to see things from other people’s perspectives more easily. And when you can see things from your audience’s perspective, you can make much better decisions as a writer than if you only focus on your perspective.
RHETORICAL AWARENESS GOALSIn order to help you develop rhetorical awareness, this class will ask you to engage in the following activities, with the hope that you’ll be able to apply what you learn to new rhetorical situations you encounter elsewhere. In other words, you might think of these as learning outcomes.BECOME A RHETORICALLY AWARE READERAlthough this is a writing class, I’ve put reading goals before writing goals because good reading skills are the basis for good writing skills. You can’t develop rhetorical awareness as a writer until you’ve developed rhetorical awareness as a reader.
Accurately identify the rhetorical situation (audience, author, purpose, genre, occasion, conversation) for messages and analyze how each element contributes to the meaning of the message
Accurately identify the rhetorical strategies (appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos) used to support the claims made in the message and critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each strategy
Analyze how the rhetorical situation and rhetorical strategies of a message impact the extent to which you allow the message to influence your own thinking on the topic
Analyze how those elements impact where a message falls on established scales of reliability Identify the rhetorical moves common to different discourses, genres, and communication mediums and understand the role
those moves play in influencing audiences Recognize the difference between claims and evidence provided by academics or journalists and claims made by non-
specialists, as well as why the source of the claims matters Understand the variety of factors that go into producing and distributing the wide range of messages we receive on a daily
basis, across different discourses and communication mediums, and analyze how these factors impact how influential the message is on particular audiences
Compare and evaluate the knowledge we gain about gender identity and sexual orientation from different discourses, including personal experience, popular culture, news and mass media, educational, activist, public policy, and academic
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An important part of the process of becoming educated is placing what you read in its larger context — its rhetorical context — so that you better understand how the message fits into the broad scope of human knowledge. For example, because you understand that the rhetorical context (audience, purpose, genre) for Glamour magazine is rather different from that of, say, Scientific American, you (hopefully!) don’t put equal weight on the kind of information you find in either magazine.You know that, in the broad scope of human knowledge, one carries much greater authority, although you may not yet have given some serious thought to why that is. Understanding why that is, and how different types of messages construct different types of knowledge, is part of the process of becoming more rhetorically aware.BECOME A RHETORICALLY AWARE WRITER
Make decisions about how to compose messages, including which genre and communication medium to use, what content to cover, and how to format the content, based on the demands of the rhetorical situation for each message
Employ appropriate rhetorical strategies to connect with real audiences, accomplish a specific purpose, establish credibility, and communicate meaningful messages
Approach writing as a design art that draws on multiple factors beyond the content in order to communicate a message Identify and follow the communication customs of the discourse community or communities that serve as your target
audience Select sources of evidence your target audience will deem trustworthy Document your sources using MLA or APA style citations (or the equivalent for multimodal compositions) Use layout and presentation strategies that make your message as easy to read as possible, based on research into how
readers process information in the genre and medium you’re usingNearly all of your class activities ask you to address a particular audience, for a particular purpose, using genres and rhetorical appeals appropriate to that rhetorical situation. You’ll practice writing different kinds of messages to your classmates, your instructor, other CU students, other college students in general, and other audiences you select for your projects.And to help you better understand what you’re learning in the process, you’ll also write reflections or “rhetorical rationales” that explain the choices you made based on the particular characteristics of your audience and purpose.DEEPEN CRITICAL READING SKILLSA learning goal that is closely related to rhetorical awareness is critical thinking. Below is my adaptation of the learning outcomes for critical thinking and critical reading as defined by the CCHE.
Recognize the nature and purpose of different genres Identify the main claim, supporting points, evidence, and other forms of support in texts from a variety of text and multimodal
genres Read closely and carefully, creating a conversation with the text on both intellectual and personal levels Approach differing perspectives and experiences with empathy and an open mind Critically evaluate texts, paying special attention to underlying assumptions, credibility of the source, the nature and quality
of evidence, and rhetorical strategies the writer uses to persuade his or her audience Seek out new readings and resources beyond those required in order to follow your own curiosity in the subject
ADDITIONAL RESOURCESRead this handout to learn more about rhetorical appeals and rhetorical situation, both of which are key concepts you’ll need to understand in order to successfully complete the course: What is Rhetoric?I will also discuss rhetorical awareness throughout course materials, in paper assignments, calendar entries, and class discussions, as a way of helping you better understand the concepts. But it’s worth keeping in mind that rhetorical awareness is the sort of skill that takes many years as well as a certain degree of emotional maturity to learn, given that it requires that you think empathetically about the need and expectations of your audience, rather than about your own needs and wants. In other words, it requires that you step outside of your own perspective and see your messages from the perspectives of people who may be very different from you.In fact, the concept of rhetorical awareness — and why it’s so important — may not really start to sink in until you’ve graduated from college and find yourself having to produce writing on the job whose worth will be determined entirely by whether it meets the needs and expectations of your target audience — i.e., your rhetorical situation. Then you’ll be glad you learned about these concepts
in this class!
KEY TERMSAs a result of studying the concept of rhetorical awareness and practicing developing your skills in this area, you should be able to define these key terms:
rhetorical context rhetorical strategies (or moves) primary and secondary audiences genre discourse claim and evidence knowledge vs. belief credibility
This page has been borrowed with permission from Amy Goodloe
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PROJECT 4The final writing assignment, due near the end of the semester, will be to take an article from a reputable scientific publication and rewrite it as a two-minute story for NPR. For this, you must take immaculate care to get the story right, not to embellish, ad editorial commentary, though you may talk about the implications of what this new scientific finding might mean for the world or the scientific community. Find an article and begin working on this.
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