{"id":126,"date":"2016-01-14T03:07:55","date_gmt":"2016-01-14T03:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/zacks\/?page_id=126"},"modified":"2016-01-18T20:15:37","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T20:15:37","slug":"laughter-syllabus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/zacks\/rhetoric-of-laughter-sp16\/laughter-syllabus\/","title":{"rendered":"Laughter Syllabus"},"content":{"rendered":"

RHE 309K: Rhetoric of Laughter\u00a0SP16<\/p>\n

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Unique: 43245<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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M\/W 12:30-2:00pm, PAR 104<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Instructor: Dr. Aaron Zacks<\/p>\n

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Email: aaron.zacks@utexas.edu<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Office\/Hours: PAR 19\/T 3:30-5, W 11-12:30<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Resources:<\/b><\/div>\n
Course website:\u00a0https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/zacks\/rhetoric-of-laughter-sp16\/<\/a><\/div>\n
Canvas:\u00a0https:\/\/utexas.instructure.com\/courses\/1164919<\/a><\/div>\n
UT Box:\u00a0https:\/\/utexas.app.box.com\/login<\/a><\/div>\n
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Translations & Abbreviations<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
DRW Policy Statement<\/a><\/div>\n
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Required Texts:<\/b><\/div>\n
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Everything\u2019s An Argument. 6th or 7th Ed. Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz. Bedford\/St. Martin\u2019s, 2012\/16. (Amazon<\/a>)<\/div>\n
Easy Writer (EW). 5th Ed. Lunsford. Longman, 2014.\u00a0(Amazon<\/a>)<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
All\u00a0other\u00a0course\u00a0content\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0made\u00a0available\u00a0via\u00a0Canvas\u00a0and UT\u00a0Libraries.<\/b><\/div>\n
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RHE 309K\u00a0Course Description:<\/b><\/div>\n

As with all classes taught in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing, the primary aim of Rhetoric of Satire is to improve our ability to interpret and participate in the world around us. We achieve this by learning about and practicing the arts of communication and argument\u00admaking. The skills learned in this class are applicable to all of your academic and professional endeavors. This class will teach you to:<\/p>\n

\u25cf read critically;<\/div>\n
\u25cf identify, evaluate, construct, and organize effective arguments;<\/div>\n
\u25cf revise your own writing<\/div>\n
\u25cf advocate a specific position responsibly;<\/div>\n
\u25cf conduct library and web-\u00adbased research and document sources;<\/div>\n
\u25cf produce a clean, efficient writing style and adapt it to various rhetorical situations; and<\/div>\n
\u25cf edit and proofread formal prose.<\/div>\n

RHE 309K carries the Writing Flag and this class will require you to write texts of all kinds from
\nformal papers to Forum comments and Tweets. This class puts an emphasis on the art of revision and, over the course of the semester, you will receive constructive feedback on your writing from your instructor and classmates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This section of RHE 309K is taught within the Digital Writing and Research Lab (DWRL) of the
\nDepartment of Rhetoric and Writing (DRW). Therefore, this class seeks to foster digital literacy and
\nwill require you to leverage technology in service to making arguments.<\/p>\n

This course requires active participation both in and out of class. Students are expected to come to class
\nready to engage with assigned materials and classmates. Students will present to the class on multiple
\noccasions.<\/p>\n

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Rhetoric of Laughter Course Description:<\/b><\/p>\n

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Laughter\u00a0can\u00a0be\u00a0a\u00a0powerful,\u00a0rhetorical\u00a0tool,\u00a0but\u00a0intentionally\u00a0harnessing\u00a0and\u00a0leveraging\u00a0its\u00a0power\u00a0to\u00a0make\u00a0clear,\u00a0persuasive\u00a0arguments\u00a0\u2013\u00a0this\u00a0is\u00a0tricky\u00a0business.<\/div>\n
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What makes us laugh? What doesn’t make us laugh? How do we laugh? How does our laughter sound? When do we laugh, and when do we hold laughter back? Why do we laugh? What does it mean when we laugh, or don’t laugh? From a rhetorical standpoint, what work can laughter perform in conversations about issues both trivial and important? Also, why does laughing make us feel good? (Is that feeling, itself, an argument?! To whom? From who?)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In\u00a0Rhetoric\u00a0of\u00a0Laughter,\u00a0we\u00a0will\u00a0address\u00a0these\u00a0and\u00a0other\u00a0questions\u00a0through\u00a0personal\u00a0reflection\u00a0on\u00a0contemporary,\u00a0laughter-inducing\u00a0texts\u00a0before\u00a0mulling\u00a0over\u00a0laughter’s\u00a0role\u00a0in\u00a0public\u00a0discourse.<\/div>\n
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Digital Literacy:<\/b><\/div>\n
The\u00a0DRW\u00a0is\u00a0committed\u00a0to\u00a0developing\u00a0digital\u00a0literacy\u00a0throughout\u00a0its\u00a0curriculum.\u00a0My\u00a0classes\u00a0require\u00a0students\u00a0to learn and leverage\u00a0tools\u00a0like\u00a0Google\u00a0Drive,\u00a0Evernote, Flipboard, and Skitch.<\/div>\n
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Submission Instructions:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Many assignments will require you to work in more than one application or computer program. For example, you might compose some text in Drive or Word and revise it with a partner before pasting the final text into a graphics editor like pixlr or Skitch. In this sense, such assignments are multi-layered and, therefore, will lead inevitably to file format conversion problems. To avoid such annoyances, you\u2019ll submit all of your work in this course \u2014 with the possible exceptions of audio-visual projects \u2014 as PDFs.<\/div>\n
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Grading:<\/b><\/div>\n
Unless otherwise indicated in the prompt, Exercises (EX) will be evaluated on a 10-point scale divided equally between two criteria: Depth of Intellectual Engagement and Thoroughness of Completion.\u00a0FWs will be scored out of 100 points according to the rubrics attached to their prompts.<\/div>\n
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This\u00a0class\u00a0uses\u00a0Plus\/Minus\u00a0grading\u00a0according\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0following\u00a0scheme:<\/b><\/div>\n
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Letter<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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%<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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GPA<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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A<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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94-100<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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4.00<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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A-<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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90-93<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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3.67<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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B+<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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87-89<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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3.33<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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B<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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84-86<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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3.00<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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B-<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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80-83<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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2.67<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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C+<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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77-79<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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2.33<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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C<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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74-76<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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2.00<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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D+<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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67-69<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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1.33<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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D<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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64-66<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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1.00<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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D-<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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60-63<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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0.67<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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F<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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0-60<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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0.00<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Grade Breakdown:<\/b><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Exercises (EX)<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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40%<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Formal Writing (FW)<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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60%<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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FW Breakdown:<\/b><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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WAILA 1st submission<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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10%<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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WAILA 2nd submission<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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20%<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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WAYLA 1st submission<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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10%<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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WAYLA 2nd submission<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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20%<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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WAWLA 1st submission<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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10%<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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WAWLA 2nd submission<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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30%<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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Also see:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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