Multimedia Writing & Rhetoric (WR 13300-04)

Spring 2015
Jeffrey L. Bain-Conkin
MWF 9:25-10:15
Coleman-Morse 201
Office: 300 OShaughnessy Hall
Office Hours: Friday 10:30-1:30, before and after class, and other times (by appointment)
E-mail: jconkin@nd.edu
Course Description
Because researching and composing arguments is increasingly linked to technological
tools, multimedia sections of Writing and Rhetoric teach students how to make the most
of a wide array of resources. From standard tools, such as Microsoft Word, to more
powerful Web sites and software, students in multimedia sections use composition
technology to its fullest while exploring the unique opportunities and challenges of
composing in the 21st century. While students do not need any prior technological skills,
they should be ready to learn many of these skills over the course of the semester.
Students should have access to computers and the Interweb.
Course Objectives
1) Recognize the narratives that surround us in media every day.
a) Examine myriad sources.
b) Evaluate the goals of these narratives.
c) Determine intended audiences.
2) Articulate what makes narratives effective.
a) Appreciate various forms.
b) Understand appropriate content.
c) Comprehend ethics of Writing and Rhetoric.
3) Form narratives using a variety of media.
a) Craft theses and appreciate rhetorical situations.
b) Research others narratives.
c) Support claims using evidence.
d) Anticipate objections and alternatives.
e) Make appropriate conclusions for imagined audiences.
4) Understand the creative process and its component steps.
a) Brainstorm well.
b) Freewrite and Draft.
c) Rewrite.
d) Edit and Format.

Course Materials
The Craft of Research (Third Edition)
Wayne C. Booth; Gregory G. Colomb; Joseph M. Williams
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
ISBN: 978-0-226-06566-3
Fresh Writing (Volume 14)
https://freshwriting.nd.edu/
A laptop (with wireless capability) or tablet is strongly recommended
Notre Dame email account (checked daily)
Recommended:
A Pocket Style Manual with 2009 MLA and 2010 APA Updates (Fifth Edition)
Diana Hacker
Bedford/St. Martins
ISBN: 978-0-312-66480-0
Participation and Attendance Policy:
I expect students to attend every class, but understand that sicknesses and other
obligations occur. Therefore, students can miss three (3) class meetings with no penalty
to their participation grade (see below). Officially-excused absences do not count for the
three class meetings. One (1) point will disappear from a students participation grade
(still below) for each additional absence.
Participation comprises the subjective aspect of grading. Coming to class, asking
questions, giving evidence of reading the assigned materials, will make borderline grades
more likely to go up. Tardiness, sulking, surliness, lack of preparation, sleeping in class,
will make borderline grades more likely to remain fixed.
Regarding assignments and examinations, providing excuses for absences is the
responsibility of the student, as is obtaining any material covered during the missed class.
A list of acceptable excuses appears somewhere official, Im sure. Please let me know in
advance if you will miss an examination or assignment because of an excused absence.
Due dates for assignments remain as posted for students with unexcused absences. Each
weekday late will result in the loss of one-third of one letter grade for the assignment.
(For example, a paper due on Friday that would have received an A- automatically
becomes a B+ before Monday at 11:59 pm) These late penalties remain in effect even
after the student submits a revised draft.
Course Cancellation Policy:
In the unlikely event that the instructor needs to cancel class, he will notify students via
email (or, in emergencies, someone will post a notice on the door). Ultimately, students

should not wait more than ten (10) minutes before leaving in the classroom. The
instructor will provide his completed discussion and reading notes from the missed class
as well as review missed materials upon students requests.
Assignments and Grade Breakdown
*All assignments will be individually completed unless instructor approves group work.
*Instructor will provide assignment sheets for Portfolio assignments detailing
expectations.
Exams: Zero examinations in this course (Youre welcome)
Participation: 5%
See above for attendance and participation requirements.
Workshops: 5%
1) Presenting at workshop.
2) Participating in others workshop (attending, contributing comments).
Informal Writing: 10%
1) Blog/discussion-board entries, of which students will choose three (3) for
grading. Grades determined by thoughtfulness and relevance to topic.
2) In-class exercises.
Portfolio: 80%
Narrative Essay: 20%
1000 words
Rhetorical Analysis: 20%
1200 words
Research Paper: 20%
2000 words
Visual Essay: 20%
Portfolio System and Deadlines
All grades under the Portfolio component of the grading breakdown are in pencil
until the final due date: 29 April at 11:59 pm. Deadlines for the initial drafts appear in the
Course Schedule (see below).
Students therefore have the opportunity to rewrite all assignments under the Portfolio
category and re-submit them for a new grade. Note: grades are not guaranteed to
improve, though rewrites using professorial, workshop, and peer-review comments
should raise grades. Also, late penalties for initial drafts remain in effect for later draft
grades. (For example, a paper that originally was one weekday late can only get an A-,
no matter how improved the newest draft is.)

Resubmission Process:
1. Revise the assignment, possibly using instructor and peer feedback.
*Note: due to the instructors grading style of prioritization, even
making all suggested changes will not guarantee an A.
*Note: there is a chance your resubmission could receive a lower grade.
2. Post the new assignment as a new entry on your Tumblr blog. Title it
something like revised assignment X.
3. Email the instructor with:
a. notice of resubmissions existence
b. list/description of changes made to the assignment
4. The instructor will respond with either a new grade, or encouragement to
change even more of the draft.
Required University Writing Center and Student-Teacher Conferences
Students must visit the Writing Center (Coleman-Morse 203) once over the course of the
semester. The Writing Center is most effective for larger issues of structure, organization,
transitions, et cetera. Although they accept drop-in students, it encourages scheduling
appointments. During a class session, a Writing Center tutor will come and explain the
appointment process.
The visit to the Writing Center must happen prior to the semester break. Bring your
assignment with you! (Or post it to the N: drive.) After visiting the Writing Center, post
a 120-word reaction to your experience. What did you expect? Did the visit change your
perception of the Writing Center? Will you go again?
Students must visit the instructors office hours twice during the semester: once before
the break, and once after the break. Students should schedule an appointment with the
instructor in advance. When scheduling an appointment, students should briefly state
what they hope to accomplish during the conference. For example, students may use
these conferences to improve essays for the portfolio submission or complain about the
instructors (lack of) fashion sense.
Academic Honesty Policy:
All Notre Dame students pledge the following at their matriculation and sign multiple
statements each semester, thoughdespite rumorsalmost never in blood:
As a Member of the Notre Dame community, I will not participate in or tolerate
academic dishonesty.
Depending on the nature of the offense and the extent of dishonesty within an
assignment/exam, penalties will range from a zero of the assignment/exam to failure of
the course.
(The following appears in an adapted form through permission from Professor Bill
Svelmoe of Saint Marys College):

Plagiarism is the most serious academic offense a student or faculty member can commit.
It is the passing off of anothers ideas or words as ones own; in effect, it is theft.
Plagiarism destroys the educational process itself, inasmuch as education requires that
students do the hard work of thinking and forming their own ideas and then sharing those
ideas with others. The plagiarist shows disrespect not only for those from whom she
steals and for those to whom she presents the plagiarized work, but also for herself. She
is, in effect, saying that she is incapable of doing her own work, or that she is too lazy to
give proper credit to those from whom she borrows.
Students plagiarize primarily as a failure of time management, not character. Therefore,
this course includes breaking assignments into component parts, requiring students to
plan ahead for what appear to be unwieldy and intimidating projects. Students who still
find themselves trawling the interweb at the eleventh hour angling to plagiarize should
politely request an extension. Nearly always granted, these new due dates and
accompanying penaltiesif anyemerge from an agreement between student and
instructor.
Plagiarism undercuts the trust that is essential in any community of learning. It will
destroy the relationship between instructors and students, making a semesters course feel
like an eternity. Post-plagiarism, the classroom experience becomes awkward for
everyone. Future encounters on campus require students flee the instructor by hiding in
garbage cans, nearby classrooms, or behind sculptures. Students wishing not to be
embarrassed by banana peels on their clothes, by interrupting random classes, or by
mocking squirrels should simply avoid plagiarism.
For all of these reasons, the University of Notre Dame maintains an academic honesty
policy. Accordingly, I treat incidents of plagiarism very seriously. At minimum, a student
whose work is discovered to be plagiarized will fail the assignment in question. If, in my
estimation, the student plagiarized with the deliberate intent to deceive, the student will
fail the course, not just the assignment. In keeping with the official policy, I will report
instances of plagiarism to appropriate administrators.
It is every students responsibility to be aware of what plagiarism is and to learn how to
document their work correctly. I will go over these procedures in class and am always
available to answer questions. Never let the pressures of academia lead you into
dishonesty. Character is more important than what may seem more obvious measures of
success.
Statement on Students with Disabilities:
The University of Notre Dame does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national
or ethnic origin, sex, disability, veteran status or age in the administration of any of its
educational programs, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic and
other school-administered programs or in employment.
The University has designated the Director of its Office of Institutional Equity to handle
all inquiries regarding its efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under

Title IX and under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Title IX and
Section 504 coordinator may be contacted as follows: Director Office of Institutional
Equity 414 Grace Hall (574) 631-0444
Course Schedule
Note: Due Dates (**) apply to 11:59 pm (South Bend time) of the noted date, even for
those students with unexcused absences. The student is responsible for posting her/his
materials (and double-checking availability).
Week One: Beginnings
14 January
16 January

Syllabus
How to Read

Week Two: Audiences and Situations (Work on Narrative Essays)

19 January
Audiences
21 January
Situations
23 January
Narrative Examples
Week Three: Introductions
26 January
28 January
30 January

Introductions
Audio Narrative Examples
Technologies
**Narrative Script due 11:59 pm

Week Four: Arguments, Theses, Topics

2 February
Peer Review (Narrative Script)
4 February
Dissecting Arguments
6 February
Good Topics
Week Five: Organization
9 February
11 February
13 February

Organization and signposts

**Narrative Essay due 11:59 pm
Claim/Reason/Evidence
Rhetorical Analysis Samples

Week Six: Reading Multimedia and Rhetorical Analysis

16 February
Literacies
18 February
Literacies
20 February
Literacies
**Topic/thesis for research paper due 11:59 pm
Week Seven: Library Visit
23 February
25 February

Library Visit
Library Visit
**Rhetorical Analysis Due 11:59 pm

27 February
Week Eight: Evidence
2 March
4 March
6 March

Annotated Bibliography
Evaluating Evidence
Using Evidence
??
**Research bibliography due 11:59 pm

Fall Break (9-13 March)

Week Nine: Visual Essays
16 March
18 March
20 March
Week Ten: Visual Essays
23 March
25 March
27 March

Samples
Technologies
**Proposal (Visual Essay) due 11:59 pm
Quotes
Work on Visual Essay
Work on Visual Essay
Research Paper

Week Eleven: Research Paper

30 March
Research Paper Samples
1 April
Research Paper
**Visual Essay due 11:59 pm
3 April
NO CLASS
Week Twelve: Research Paper
6 April
NO CLASS
8 April
Research Paper
10 April
Research Paper
Weeks Thirteen and Fourteen: Nothing but Workshops
13 April
Revision Process
**Research Paper due 11:59 pm
15 April
Practice Workshops
17 April
Workshops
20 April
22 April
24 April

Workshops
Workshops
Workshops

Week Fifteen: Teary Farewells

27 April
Workshops
29 April
**Portfolios Due 11:59 pm