Studies in Rhetorical Theory and Practice:
Contemporary Intersections with Rhetorical Theory
Monday 6:30-9:20pm
McIver 227

Instructor:

Stephen R. Yarbrough
Professor
200A Foust
334-3280 (Office)
292-1186 (Home)
sryarbro@uncg.edu

Office Hours: TTh 12:30-1:45 and by appointment.

Texts:

Davidson, Donald. Subjective, Intersubjective, Objective. Oxford and New York: Oxford UP, 2001.

Gergen, Kenneth J. Realities and Relationships: Soundings in Social Construction. Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard UP, 1994.

Harré, Rom, and Grant Gillett. The Discursive Mind. Thousand Oaks, CA, London, and New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1994.

Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 3rd ed. Chicago and London: U of Chicago P, 1996.

Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago and London. U of Chicago P, 1980.

Turner, Mark. The Literary Mind. New York and Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996.

Course Requirements:

1. You will write two brief (approximately 10 typed pages) research papers or one full-length (approximately 20 page) research paper. You should think of these as being on-the-way to publication: they should be forays into new turf of some sort—new material, new methods applied to old material, new questions about old issues, a new perspective on old or current arguments, etc. Especially since this is a course on invention, some inventiveness is to be expected.

These papers should be well written and documented appropriately in either MLA or Chicago style. At least two weeks prior to their due dates, you should submit to me a one-page description of your project for approval. (Short papers, 25% of your total grade, each; long paper, 50% of your final grade.)

Note: Master’s students (only) may substitute one 8-10 page annotated bibliography on some aspect of invention theory for one of the short papers.

2. This is a seminar. The students will be primarily responsible for the class discussion. This is your chance to tailor the topic to your own special interests and concerns. Think of me as a “co-facilitator” only, or maybe as an unusually long-winded student who has taken this course before that you can count on to fill the “dead space.” Better yet, I’d like to think of this as a workshop where we are all helping each other pursue our personal scholarly interests. I hope to be able to write each of you excellent teaching recommendations, as well as scholarly recommendations, as a result of your participation in this class. (Discussion leadership, 25% of your total grade.)

3. Class participation is very important. The success of a course like this one depends upon everyone’s informed involvement. (Participation, 25% of your total grade.)

4. We’ll use Blackboard’s discussion panel. Every week by noon Saturday before the seminar, you should post the issues raised by that week’s readings that you would like the class to discuss. On a separate panel you should bring up issues that came up during the previous class that you would like the current week’s class to return to.

5. If you find something outside the normal bounds of rhetorical studies that you would like us all to discuss, I can probably scan it and put it on Blackboard for us all to read. The schedule below is meant to be fluid. We can add and subtract readings, spend two or three weeks on something that the schedule says we spend a week on—or whatever.

Schedule:

Week 1 (Jan. 10): Introduction to the course

Week 2 (Jan. 24):

Readings:

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, pp. 3-96

Week 3 (Jan. 31):

Readings:

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, pp. 97-238

Week 4 (Feb. 7):

Readings:

Kenneth Gergen, pp. 1-116

Week 5 (Feb. 14)

Readings:

Kenneth Gergen, pp. 117-184

Week 6 (Feb. 21)

Readings:

Kenneth Gergen, pp. 185-290

Week 7 (Feb. 28):

Readings:

Rom Harré and Grant Gillett, pp. 1-96

Week 8 (Mar. 7)

Readings:

Rom Harré and Grant Gillett, pp. 97-180

Week 9 (Mar. 21)

Readings:

Mark Turner (all)

Week 10 (Mar. 28)

Readings:

Thomas Kuhn, pp. 10-76

Week 11 (April 4)

Readings:

Thomas Kuhn, pp. 77-210

Week 12 (April 11):

Readings:

Donald Davidson, pp. 3-52; “What Metaphors Mean” HANDOUT

Week 13 (April 18):

Readings:

Donald Davidson, pp. 107-135; “A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs” HANDOUT

Week 14 (April 25):

Readings:

OPEN

Week 15 (May 2): Review