Here you will find brief descriptions of every assignment, deadlines, and links to all the course materials and instructions you will need for each assignment. If you have any questions after you explore the instructions for each assignment, please feel free to talk to me during office hours or via e-mail.
Definition Argument
Grade weight: 25%
Deadlines:
Topic Proposal: February 11, Wednesday -- use the topic proposal form (MS Word document)
Research Report: February 16, Monday -- use the research report form (MS Word document)
Rough Draft: February 23, Monday -- due as an MS Word file in the beginning of class
Final Draft: March 1, Monday-- due as an MS Word file in the beginning of class
Brief Description:
You are expected to defend a position in which the key issue turns on a definition. You may write on a controversial issue of your choice. As discussed in Everything's an Argument (p. 109-128), your claim must be an issue of definition, rather than any of the other stases, and it must be controversial (or a borderline case). more...
Materials:
- Assignment Sheet -- includes detailed instructions for this assignment as well as some suggestions related to topics.
- Topic proposal form (MS Word): Outline your topic of choice in as much detail as possible. This will allow me not only to approve/reject your topic, but to give you constructive suggestions for research.
- Research report form (MS Word): You will need to create an annotated bibliography of the sources you intend to use for your paper.
- Peer Review Guidelines (MS Word): You need to print this document before our peer review.
Causal Argument
Grade weight: 25%
Deadlines:
Topic Proposal: March 3, Wednesday -- use the topic proposal form (MS Word document)
Research Report: March 8, Monday -- use the research report form (MS Word document)
Rough Draft: March 22, Monday -- due as an MS Word file in the beginning of class
Final Draft: March 29, Monday -- due as an MS Word file in the beginning of class
Brief Description:
For this paper, you will construct a causal argument on a controversial issue of your choice. Your central claim must be an issue of cause, rather than any of the other stases and it must be arguable. more...
Materials:
- Assignment Sheet -- instructions, suggestions, and guidelines.
- Topic Proposal Form (MS Word) -- topic details.
- Research Report Form (MS Word) -- annotated bibliography.
- Peer Review Guidelines (MS Word) -- print before peer review.
Proposal Argument
Grade weight: 15%
Deadlines:
Topic Proposal: March 31, Wednesday -- use the topic proposal form (MS Word document)
Research Report: April 5, Monday -- use the research report form (MS Word document)
Rough Draft: April 12, Monday -- due as an MS Word file in the beginning of class
Final Draft: April 19, Monday -- due as an MS Word file in the beginning of class
Brief Description:
A proposal argument answers the question, "What should we do?" You will probably argue for an action that a group or person should take, but you might also argue against taking a particular action. To prepare for this paper, you will first identify a problem. more...
Materials:
- Assignment Sheet -- instructions, suggestions, and guidelines.
- Topic Proposal Form (MS Word) -- topic details.
- Research Report Form (MS Word) -- annotated bibliography.
- Peer Review Guidelines (MS Word) -- print before peer review class.
Rhetorical Analysis
Grade weight: 15%
Deadlines:
Topic Proposal: April 21, Wednesday -- use the topic proposal form (MS Word document)
Rough Draft: April 30, Friday -- due as a public Web site by class time
Final Draft: May 7, Friday -- due as a public Web site by class time
Brief Description:
Using the principles of argumentation that we have been studying, you will need to analyze an argumentative article. Then you will construct an argument evaluating the success of that article's strategies for persuading the author's intended audience. more...
Materials:
- Assignment Sheet -- instructions, suggestions, and guidelines.
- Topic Proposal Form (MS Word) -- topic details.
- Peer Review Guidelines (MS Word) -- print before peer review class.
Discussions
Grade weight: 7% (Discussions contribute to your participation grade.)
Deadlines:
One hour before class time for the online discussions in Blackboard.
During class for our in-class discussions.
Description:
You will be expected to make substantial contributions in response to discussion questions. Responding to your classmates' comments will be greatly appreciated as well.
Materials:
You will need to do your readings in a timely manner: look at our calendar for the specific readings for every class period. Then, you will need to access the "discussion board" on Blackboard to post your comments on the reading. Also, come to class prepared to respond to any questions on the readings.
Quizzes
Grade weight: 10%
Deadlines:
By noon on various due dates. Check below or in our calendar for the deadline of each quiz.
Description:
During the course of the semester, you will be expected to complete 10 quizzes on grammatical concerns. We will cover the necessary material in class. If you want to expand your grammar practice, you are welcome to use the interactive grammar Web sites.
Materials:
All quizzes should be completed online by noon on the due date. You will need your UT EID and password to access a quiz. Feel free to e-mail me if you are having any technical difficulties.
- Quiz 1: Sentence Structure -- Monday, February 9.
- Quiz 2: Fragments/Comma Splices-Run-ons -- Thursday, February 19.
- Quiz 3: Modifiers -- Friday, February 27.
- Quiz 4: Connectives -- Friday, March 5.
- Quiz 5: Word Order -- Wednesday, March 10.
- Quiz 6: Articles -- Wednesday, March 24.
- Quiz 7: Prepositions -- Friday, March 26.
- Quiz 8: Conditionals -- Thursday, April 15.
- Quiz 9: Vocabulary I -- Wednesday, May 5.
- Quiz 10: Vocabulary II -- Friday, May 7.