Course Goals
RHE 306: Rhetoric and Composition is a course in argumentation that will enhance your understand-ing of writing and reading arguments and give you practice in producing them. You will learn the fol-lowing:
• Rhetoric: Communicating effectively for your particular purposes and audiences.
• Critical Reading and Research: Gathering and organizing relevant information from different sources. Evaluating those sources. Using sources to improve your argument’s effectiveness.
• Collaboration: Your active participation, by way of response and interest, in your peers’ work. Your positive engagement in class discussion.
• Revision: Attention to actual feedback from your audience—your peers and your instructor—and your anticipation of potential feedback and objections from your intended audience.

Textbooks (Abbreviations indicate how text is listed on syllabus.)
Lunsford, Andrea, and John Ruszkiewicz. Everything’s an Argument. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. (EA)
Faigley, Lester. The Brief Penguin Handbook. New York: Pearson-Longman, 1999. (BP)
Glassner, Barry. The Culture of Fear. New York: Basic Books, 1999. (CF)

Additional Requirements
• Access to a computer and a photocopier. We will heavily use Blackboard. We will also exchange email regularly. You should check your email each class day, allowing yourself sufficient time to accommodate any announcements I email to the class.
• Your UT EID, in order to access the course website. If you don't know your UT EID, find it online at: https://utdirect.utexas.edu/nlogon/eid_suite/general/index.WBX.

Coursework
Recognizing how arguments are made—through reading—is linked to writing effective arguments. So much of our time in class will involve discussing readings from our syllabus. Your participation in class discussions is essential.

You will write and revise the following papers this term:
First Submission Due Second Submission Due
Paper I. Rhetorical Analysis 6/30 7/13
Paper II: Media/Fear-mongering Argument 7/20 7/28
Paper III: Boycott Proposal 8/3 8/11

You will also collaborate on your classmates’ work by peer-reviewing all three papers.

Grades
To pass the course, you must turn in on time a good faith first and second submission for each paper. Each first submission represents 10% of your grade. Your peers and/or I will look at and comment on the first drafts. To complete each final draft, you must thoughtfully consider the comments you received on your first draft, acting on them and going beyond them to improve your draft substantially. Each second submission will determine 20% of your final course grade. You must also make insightful and helpful comments on your peers’ work. Your work peer reviewing other students’ work will factor into the grade of each second submission. You will additionally be required to participate by posting questions or comments on the readings to our course site and discussing them in class.

RHE 306 Web offers a Student Guide to the course and answers frequently asked questions. See http://www.drc.utexas.edu/rhe306/ for more information.

Format of Papers
First and second submissions of all out-of-class papers must be typed and submitted to me in both hard copy and digital format—you will hand me a copy at the beginning of each class day when the paper is due, and you will have emailed me a copy of the paper before class. I strongly recommend that you use Microsoft Word for reasons of compatibility. We will discuss proper formatting procedures at a later date. But in general, you will be writing 5 to 7 double-spaced pages, using a 1-inch margin and a 12 pt. Times font. Unless you're told otherwise, your papers should have the same format as the sample MLA paper in The Brief Penguin Handbook.

Computer Use and Availability
Computers are available to you in the Student Microcomputer Facility (SMF) on the second floor of the Flawn Academic Center (FAC). You should plan to get your IF number for the SMF immediately if you have not already done so. Some departments also provide computer labs, so check with your advisor. Also check the list of computer locations in The Student Guide to First-year Writing:
http://www.drc.utexas.edu/rhe306/student_guide/chapter_8/3/

Attendance
You are expected to attend class daily, to arrive on time, to have prepared any assigned reading and writing, and to participate in all in-class editing, revising, and discussion sessions. We will move at a tremendously fast pace, so you will not have the luxury of missing class anyway. However, Division policy states: If you have six unexcused* absences you will fail the course. On your fourth unexcused ab-sence, your final grade will be reduced by one letter grade.

* The only excused absences are those taken for religious holidays and for official university business, and you are responsible for all work missed while you were absent.

Your attendance and participation are important. On days when we peer-review drafts, your absence can cause serious disruptions for the student expecting you to read his or her draft. I recommend you save any absences to use when you are sick, or when you have an emergency. If you find that an un-avoidable problem prevents you from attending class, please discuss the problem with me.

Late Assignments and Drafts
Papers, drafts, and other out-of-class assignments will be turned in at the time they are due. I will not accept late work. If you cannot attend class on the date an assignment is due, turn it in early, arrange something with me in advance (such as an electronic submission), or ask a classmate or friend to drop it off during scheduled class time. There is no makeup of in-class work.

Scholastic Honesty
Turning in work that is not your own, or any other form of scholastic dishonesty, will result in a major course penalty, possibly failure of the course. At the very least, you will almost certainly receive a Zero on the assignment. A report of the incident will also be made to the Office of the Dean of Students. Be sure you read and understand the Statement on Scholastic Responsibility in chapter 6 of The Student Guide to First-Year Writing (available at RHE 306 Web). I strongly encourage you to use services offered by the Undergraduate Writing Center (FAC 211, 471-6222) and the Learning Center (JES A332A, 471-3614). The consultants at these centers are trained to help you resolve your own problems so that all your writing reflects what you have learned.

We will be covering the use of sources extensively in class. In general, I will ask you to provide me with photocopies or printouts of all sources you use. I will explain the procedures for presenting this material later in the course. If you have any questions about the use you are making of sources for your assignments, see me before you turn in the project.

Students With Disabilities: The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate aca-demic adjustments for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TDD.