Spring 2010: MW 3:30-4:45 pm, Jac 113
Click here for the policies and course description.
M: introductions, rhetorical term lottery
W: Atwan's Foreword, Oates' Introduction, Hurston's "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," King's "Letter From Birmingham Jail," Hardwick's "The Apotheosis of Martin Luther King" (Essays x-xxvii, 28-44, 114-117, 263-279, 319-326)
M: no class for MLK Day
T: MLK Convocation (11:10 am, Whited Room, required)
W: Discuss the rhetoric of MLK Day, Vitto's Introduction with Chapters 1 and 12, Rodriguez's "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" (Essays 447-466), bring at least 2 options for your personal essay topic, Incognito at MLP (7 pm)
M: Vitto Chapter 2, Du Bois' "Of the Coming of John" and Bourne's "The Handicapped" (Essays 6-19, 57-70)
W: Williams' Lesson 1 (Understanding Style), Mencken's "The Hills of Zion" and Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son" (Essays 107-113, 220-238)
R: Founders' Day (11:10 am convocation, Brown Chapel, required), personal essay due via email by midnight
M: Vitto Chapter 3, Wright's "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch" (Essays 159-170), discuss the rhetoric of Founders' Day
W: Williams' Lesson 2 (Correctness), Welty's "A Sweet Devouring" and Kingston's "No Name Woman" (Essays 246-251, 383-394)
M: Vitto Chapter 4, Early's "Life with Daughters: Watching the Miss America Pageant" (Essays 532-548)
W: Williams' Lesson 3 (Actions), Muir's "Stickeen" and White's "Once More to the Lake" (Essays 28-44, 179-185)
Mardi Gras break
M: Vitto Chapter 5, Hemingway's "Pamplona in July" (Essays 98-106)
W: Williams' Lesson 4 (Characters), Freeland's "Blood and Beauty" (pdf), and Sontag's "Notes on 'Camp'" (Essays 288-302)
M: Vitto Chapter 6, Porter's "The Future Is Now" (Essays 193-198), The Forum (Part I)
W: Williams' Lesson 5 (Cohesion and Coherence), Plumly (TBA), Frost's "The Figure a Poem Makes" (Essays 176-178)
M: Vitto Chapter 7, Plumly 1-50, The Forum (Part II)
W: Williams' Lesson 6 (Emphasis), Plumly 51-95, Ehrlich's "The Solace of Open Spaces" (Essays 467-476)
M: Chat with Plumly in Jackson 304
T: Corrington Award ceremony (7 pm, Whited Room, required)
W: Vitto Chapter 8, Williams' Lesson 7 (Concision), Plumly poems revisited, Stein's "What Are Master-pieces and Why Are There So Few of Them" (Essays 131-138)
M: Vitto Chapter 9, Chapman's "Coatesville" and Gould's "The Creation Myths of Cooperstown" (Essays 71-74, 520-531)
W: Williams' Lesson 8 (Shape), Hughes' "Bop" and Thurber's "Sex Ex Machina" (Essays 190-192, 153-158)
M: Vitto Chapter 10, Bellow's "Graven Images" (Essays, 564-568)
W: Williams' Lesson 9 (Elegance), McPhee's "The Search for Marvin Gardens" and Dillard's "Total Eclipse" (Essays 361-372, 477-489)
M: Vitto Chapter 11, Fitzgerald's "The Crack-Up" and Hall's "A Hundred Thousand Straightened Nails" (Essays 139-152, 252-262)
W: Williams' Lesson 10 (The Ethics of Style), bring an original copy (demonstrating magazine/online layout) of the essay you have selected for your stylistic analysis
R: Presidential inauguration (2 pm, Gold Dome, required)
M: Vitto Chapter 12, Wolfe's "Putting Daddy On" (Essays 280-287)
W: Updike's "The Disposable Rocket" and Oates' "They All Just Went Away" (Essays 549-552, 553-563), workshop on stylistic analysis essay
R: Stylistic analysis due via email by midnight
M: Vitto Chapter 13, Carson's "The Marginal World" and Eiseley's "The Brown Wasps" (Essays 214-219, 239-245)
W: Earth Day articles (TBA)
R: Earth Day, Honors Convocation (5 pm, Brown Chapel)
F: Student Research Forum
M: Walker's "Looking for Zora" and Ozick's "A Drugstore in Winter" (Essays 395-411, 490-496), bring rhetorical analysis draft (at least half) for in-class workshop
W: Workshop on rhetorical analysis
Rhetorical analysis due by the end of our final exam period: Wednesday, May 5 at 7 pm
Click here for the policies and course description.