Major Assignments:
1. Midterm covering lectures on Inaugurals, Convention Speeches,
and candidates debates from present to founding of nation. Also included
strategies of persuasion from Clinton Inaugural Bush back through Franklin
Roosevelt. 2. Five page paper on persuasive strategies in single speech
to be assigned from the Reid text. (Due eighth week of class.)
3. Simulation in which class become U.S. Senate during major crisis of
1850. (Due when we reach it; see schedule of units below. But you'll be
given at least one class period to organize your groups. 5. Multiple
Choice final on readings and lectures from Herbert Hoover back to however
far we get. (Check schedule of classes for day and time.)
Grading:
I will give you the benefit of the doubt, so please don't argue
about a grade unless I have miscounted or made an obvious objective error.
Midterm will count for 20% of final grade. Paper will count for 20%
of final grade. (Papers turned in a week before due date may be rewritten
and resubmitted on due day.) Simulation will count for 20% of final
grade. Final will count for 30% of grade. Attendance will count
for 10% of final grade based on this system: you start with a 4.0 in attendance,
each unexcused absence drops that number by .5; therefore, two unexcused
absences drop your 4.0 to a 3.0. Grades will be given on 0 to 4.0
basis: a total average of 0 to .4 is an F; .5 to 1.4 is a D; 1.5 to 2.4
is a C; 2.5 to 3.4 is a B; 3.5 to 4.0 is an A. Each assignment will
be given a numerical assignment and multiplied by the percentage above.
All grades are cumulative and computed at the end of the semester; but
by averaging your grades, you can tell where you stand as the class progresses.
All tests and papers will be class curved at the discretion of the professor.
Major Assignments:
This class requires a good deal of participation, particularly
during simulation. That's why unexcused absences will count against
final grade. Should you need to miss a class, please notify me in
advance in writing only; do not call. Should you miss a class due
to unforeseen circumstances, explain in writing with appropriate documentation.
Books:
Purchase Ronald F. Reid, Three Centuries of American Rhetorical
Discourse (paperback). If you need a quick brushing up on critical
methods, you might want to read my Orientations to Speech Criticism, on
reserve reading list.
Introduction:
Speech Communication 300 and 301 are pre-requisites
to this class, which should give you a unique and, I hope, invaluable observation
of American history as it is influenced by great speakers and as it influences
them. No other art form looks at American history from the perspective
of the audience. The composer of classical music, for example, is
concerned with universal themes and usually works in relative isolation,
attempting, at best, to elevate the few elite who hear his or her work.
Thus, the analysis of the best music a society produces will not give you
much insight about that society. This is not the case with public
persuasion. If it is effective, it must be attuned to the audience.
Thus, it follows, that analysis of effective persuasive discourse will
tell us something about the speaker's audience. Furthermore, historians
often underrate the impact of persuasive speech in shaping history.
They are not familiar with rhetorical strategies and therefore, tend to
overlook important aspects of speeches that changed history. This
class will fill that void by teaching how certain speeches have affected
history and how the effect was achieved. As we progress through the
class, my job will be to analyze the strategies of great speakers, provide
historic background and to review what you've learned about persuasive
strategies in other classes.
One of the goals of an undergraduate education is to learn to
think in new patterns. The more patterns you know, the more adaptable
your mind becomes. Adaptation will not only serve you well in whatever
career you choose, it will make you more tolerant of the thinking of others
and more appreciative of the creative process. By getting inside
the thinking of major speakers, I hope you to show new thinking patterns
and give you a better understanding of how the American political system
works. In order to make this course as relevant as possible, I shall
teach it in reverse chronological order. That is, we will begin with
President Clinton and move back through time and other great speakers such
as the Roosevelts, Bryan, Lincoln, Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Hamilton, Henry,
and Edwards. All of these speakers are covered in your text and you'll
be assigned one of them for your paper.
COURSE OUTLINE
Unit One:
1. A sweeping look at the role of persuasion in American history.
2. Writing a paper; giving a report. The difference between
analysis and description. Deductive writing. 3. The evolution
and importance of the First Amendment in promoting strategic persuasion.
Unit Two:
1. What are communication strategies? Upon which strategies
will we focus:
A. Audience analysis; from re-creative criticism to polling.
B. Analysis of rhetorical forms from Aristotle to basic symmetry.
C. Strategies of style from Cicero's decorum to Burke's dichotomy
of image.
D. Strategies of delivery and media use.
E. Strategies of credibility building.
F. Strategies of emotional appeal.
G. Strategies of argumentation.
Unit Three:
1. Strategic appeals in Inaugural Addresses
2. Strategic appeals in Convention Speeches
3. Strategic appeals in candidate debates
Unit Four:
1. The contemporary era:
A. The role of electronic media (McLuhan)
B. Ronald Reagan: The best trained
C. Richard Nixon: The brightest rhetor
D. Speechwriting: Whose words are these?
E. Martin Luther King: I have been to the mountain
F. John Kennedy: Style in language
G. Harry Truman: Finding your style
H. FDR: Hitting all the notes
I. Huey Long: The Kingfish of Populism
2. Midterm, 50 multiple choice questions covering first four
units.
Unit Five:
1. Early twentieth century:
A. The Republicans Return to Normalcy
B. Woodrow Wilson: Inflexibility Incarnate
C. Theodore Roosevelt: The Bully Pulpit
D. Populism, Social Darwinism, Imperialism, Progressivism and
William Jennings Bryan
E. The Rise of the New South and the Demagogues
Unit Six:
1. The Civil War Era
A. Radical Reconstruction
B. Abraham Lincoln: A Civil Saint
C. Stephen A. Douglas
D. Charles Sumner
Unit Seven:
1. The great triumvirate and the 1850 compromise
A. Clay
B. Calhoun
C. Webster
2. Simulation of the Compromise of 1850. Each student becomes a Senator, learns his or her role, and debates the Compromise. Legislation is presented and attacked; groups plot strategy; legislative debate ensues.
Unit Eight:
The New Nation
A. Madison
B. Jefferson
C. Hamilton
D. The ratification of the Constitution
Unit Nine:
The Revolution
A. Patrick Henry
B. The Adams Boys
C. Thomas Payne
Unit Ten:
Preaching in America
A. Jonathan Mayhew
B. Jonathan Edwards
C. Roger Williams
D. Whitefield
E. Stoddard and Mathers
F. John Winthrop
G. Puritan roots in Europe
I. Guidelines for writing paper:
1. Write deductively and directly. Do not mystify or lead me
along. Tell me what you are trying to prove, then prove it.
2. Use speller (e.g., Webster's Instant Word Guide) to correct your
spelling. And then proof read. The spell check on your computer usually
cannot contextualize.
3. Put your name on a title page that includes course number; number
your pages.
4. Organization:
INTRODUCTION:
Statement of purpose
Statement of thesis
Why is this thesis important or significant?
Define terms
Historical background relevant to rhetorical strategies [I don't
care how many brothers a speaker has unless she mentions them in a speech
for a purpose.]
Preview the organization of the paper which follows
DEVELOPMENT OF MAIN SECTION (BODY)
Use numbering and organize points clearly
Support each point with sufficient evidence
Use MLA endnote form (NOT APA) to cite source of evidence
as follows:
For article: Craig Smith, "How's Your Writing," Los Angeles
Post (November 8, 1988), p. A1.
OR
For book: Theodore H. White, The Making of the President (New
York: Random House, 1965), pp. 5-6.
The second time you cite the same source all you need is the
last name and page number, e.g.:
White, p. 10.
CONCLUSION:
Summarize main points.
Draw conclusion or conclusions in terms why speaker was effective
or ineffective with audience. Rise above to description to analysis.