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Administration Home Course info Syllabus Course policies E-mail & listserv Articles Notes & Forms Course Overview Advertising Cults Conspiracies Unit Schedules Unit 1 schedule Unit 2 schedule Unit 3 schedule Assignments Essay 1 Essay 2 Essay 3 Essay 4 Workshops |
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Course Description"No matter how paranoid you are, you aren't paranoid enough." This line, from an episode of The X-Files, could easily have been penned by any number of American novelists, screenwriters, and advertising copywriters over the last fifty years. Just as the fictional FBI agents of TV's The X-Files investigate alien abductions, mind control, genetic mutations, and government cover-ups, American writers and filmmakers in the past decades explored related fears about identity, science, and politics. In this course we will not only examine how different texts employ (and justify) the rhetoric of paranoia, but through our writing we will also explore our own anxieties about technology, religion, government, and identity. Much of the material will come from today's newspapers, magazines, television, and the internet. However, our approach towards the readings will always be "rhetorical": that is, we will examine how each discourse is a writer's calculated response to a rhetorical situation. We will focus on techniques of sound analysis and the rules of evidence, and learn how to recognize propaganda, hate literature, half-truths, hype, and emotional appeals; in other words, to sort out trash from truth. Because this is first and foremost a writing course, our primary purpose will be to hone your critical reading and writing abilities and to prepare you for the writing demands of the university. Thus we will have frequent reviews of grammar and punctuation, learn basic research skills and proper methods of citation, and complete writing assignments designed to help you produce essays of the caliber required for your success at the university. Finally, this course emphasizes the process of revision and provides ample opportunities for individual conferences and peer review. This is not a course that wallows in conspiracy theories and extraterrestrial sightings. Quite the opposite. This is a writing course that uses the study of paranoia as a useful exercise to promote sound thinking and clear communication. |
Contact InfoCourse Number: ENG104 (Spring 2008) |
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