Ethos Story

Project One  Ethos Story 

This assignment asks you to write out a true story from your past, using that story to establish a positive ethos for yourself.

Ethos, as we'll discuss a lot more thoroughly, is one of the three primary tools of rhetoric. It is persuasion by means of by means of credibility, by who the speaker is. So to establish a positive ethos with an audience, you'll need to determine

1. what characteristics that audience is likely to find admirable or interesting; and

2. which of these characteristics you can emphasize in yourself without setting off the audience's b.s. meter (see illustration below).

As preparation for this paper, we will read a large number of samples in which various writers establish various ethoi for themselves. We will also use this paper to model a large number of critical thinking strategies, and invention strategies for developing written material, so that you will be able to work from an excess of material and choose to include only the best things you think of, not the only things you think of.

Final draft will be due Wednesday, September 28. Length: approximately 3 typed, double spaced pages (750 words).

My grading criteria for this project are here. Make sure you understand what they are.

Project Schedule

8/24 Syllabus review. Informal writing: Second day writing, Intro to a friend. Introduction to rhetoric. Advertising and Ethos. Invention work on Project 2: Talk/write, Freewriting. Rhetorical Challenge 1. HOMEWORK: Read Brief Sample Ethos Stories. Be ready to discuss: What ethos does this writer establish for her/himself? What evidence does she/he give for this ethos being accurate?

8/29 Discussion of readings. Rhetorical analysis of sample readings: what ethos is the story creating for the character? HOW does it do this? What EVIDENCE does it give that the character has this ethos? Invention work on Ethos Story: C lustering . Informal writing: Intro to a friend. HOMEWORK: Read Satrapi, including page left out.

8/31 Invention work on Ethos Story: Pass Around Topics, Looping. Critical thinking exercise: 1, 2. Discussion of Satrapi: Ethos, Structure. Vonnegut story structure. Rhetorical outline how-to. HOMEWORK: Read Walker.

9/5 No class -- Happy Labor Day. If you don't know anything about how we got things like overtime pay, and lost things like child labor, this is a good day to learn some things about that.

9/7 Discussion of Walker. Questioning: Parts 1 and 2. Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test. HOMEWORK: Read Saknussemm.

9/12 Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test scoring. In-class reading/writing: Vitiello's "Attic". Discussion of readings. Reporter's Questions/the Pentad. Questioning, con't. HOMEWORK: Reread this assignment sheet and the grading criteria for this project. Make sure you write down any questions you have about what you're supposed to be doing in this paper, and how it's going to be evaluated. Read sample papers and assign them each a grade, consulting the grading criteria for this project. Justify the grade you give each of them. When you look at the sample papers, think of them in terms of a rhetorical outline. Think about:

What’s this writer trying to DO in this paragraph? Is this a good thing to try to do for this assignment (and if it is, can I try to do something similar in my paper)?
Does the writer actually accomplish what she/he’s trying to do in this paragraph? If he/she doesn’t, what’s the reason why?

9/14 Discussion of sample papers. Discovery draft. HOMEWORK: Do Loop Writing for your paper. Omit #6, since you're basically telling a story in the paper as a whole. You MUST DO numbers 4, 8, 9, and -- at least TWO (rough, first-draft) paragraphs apiece. Choose three other activities to do.

9/19 Work/conferencing period. Playing with your ideas.

9/21 WORKSHOP.

9/26 Work/conferencing period.

9/28 Project 1 due. Proofreading. Reflective memo.

	Freshman Composition I English 110
	Fall 2016 Syllabus
	Project One  Ethos Story  This assignment asks you to write out a true story from your past, using that story to establish a positive ethos for yourself. Ethos, as we'll discuss a lot more thoroughly, is one of the three primary tools of rhetoric. It is persuasion by means of by means of credibility, by who the speaker is. So to establish a positive ethos with an audience, you'll need to determine 1. what characteristics that audience is likely to find admirable or interesting; and 2. which of these characteristics you can emphasize in yourself without setting off the audience's b.s. meter (see illustration below). As preparation for this paper, we will read a large number of samples in which various writers establish various ethoi for themselves. We will also use this paper to model a large number of critical thinking strategies, and invention strategies for developing written material, so that you will be able to work from an excess of material and choose to include only the best things you think of, not the only things you think of. Final draft will be due Wednesday, September 28. Length: approximately 3 typed, double spaced pages (750 words). My grading criteria for this project are here. Make sure you understand what they are. Project Schedule 8/24 Syllabus review. Informal writing: Second day writing, Intro to a friend. Introduction to rhetoric. Advertising and Ethos. Invention work on Project 2: Talk/write, Freewriting. Rhetorical Challenge 1. HOMEWORK: Read Brief Sample Ethos Stories. Be ready to discuss: What ethos does this writer establish for her/himself? What evidence does she/he give for this ethos being accurate? 8/29 Discussion of readings. Rhetorical analysis of sample readings: what ethos is the story creating for the character? HOW does it do this? What EVIDENCE does it give that the character has this ethos? Invention work on Ethos Story: C lustering . Informal writing: Intro to a friend. HOMEWORK: Read Satrapi, including page left out. 8/31 Invention work on Ethos Story: Pass Around Topics, Looping. Critical thinking exercise: 1, 2. Discussion of Satrapi: Ethos, Structure. Vonnegut story structure. Rhetorical outline how-to. HOMEWORK: Read Walker. 9/5 No class -- Happy Labor Day. If you don't know anything about how we got things like overtime pay, and lost things like child labor, this is a good day to learn some things about that. 9/7 Discussion of Walker. Questioning: Parts 1 and 2. Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test. HOMEWORK: Read Saknussemm. 9/12 Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test scoring. In-class reading/writing: Vitiello's "Attic". Discussion of readings. Reporter's Questions/the Pentad. Questioning, con't. HOMEWORK: Reread this assignment sheet and the grading criteria for this project. Make sure you write down any questions you have about what you're supposed to be doing in this paper, and how it's going to be evaluated. Read sample papers and assign them each a grade, consulting the grading criteria for this project. Justify the grade you give each of them. When you look at the sample papers, think of them in terms of a rhetorical outline. Think about: What’s this writer trying to DO in this paragraph? Is this a good thing to try to do for this assignment (and if it is, can I try to do something similar in my paper)? Does the writer actually accomplish what she/he’s trying to do in this paragraph? If he/she doesn’t, what’s the reason why? 9/14 Discussion of sample papers. Discovery draft. HOMEWORK: Do Loop Writing for your paper. Omit #6, since you're basically telling a story in the paper as a whole. You MUST DO numbers 4, 8, 9, and -- at least TWO (rough, first-draft) paragraphs apiece. Choose three other activities to do. 9/19 Work/conferencing period. Playing with your ideas. 9/21 WORKSHOP. 9/26 Work/conferencing period. 9/28 Project 1 due. Proofreading. Reflective memo.