Duke TIP Summer Studies Program 2016

Words That Matter: Rhetoric and Persuasion

Duke University, East Campus Term 2
July 10 July 30, 2016
Instructor: John Davis
TA:
The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert
Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs,
Silence that spoke and eloquence of eyes.
Homer
It is not the position, but the disposition.
Susan Sontag

Course Description
Delve into an advanced exploration of the power of the spoken word. Examine influential speeches and
debates, study the logic and structure of effective arguments, and research the reasoning behind
deliberate word choices. Create your own persuasive style, hone your skills of analysis and focus your
writing to articulate your message. Refine your speaking skills and debate delivery to illustrate points
of divergence instead of mere disagreement. After practicing these skills, apply them by preparing and
presenting in-class debates.
Required Texts (to be provided for each student)
Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric From Aristotle to Obama, Sam Leith
Thank You for Arguing, Jay Heinrichs
The Worlds Greatest Speeches, 4th Enlarged Edition, Copeland, Lamm, and McKenna (eds.)
Provided as supplement:
This is Water, David Foster-Wallace
Youre Not Special, David McCullough
Politics and the English Language, George Orwell
The Violence of the Lambs, John Jeremiah Sullivan
Unnatural Killers, John Grisham
Whats Next? A Movie Made Me Do It? Oliver Stone
Preface to Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Reading Comprehension: Text No. 1, Alejandro Zambra
Non-print:
The Great Debaters (feature film, 2007)
The Merchants of Cool (documentary film, 2001)
The Merchant of Venice (feature film, 2004)
Learning Objectives
This course is designed as a college level seminar discussing the merits, varieties, and effects of
rhetoric in our daily lives. Our investigation will allow us to examine and analyze a variety of

persuasive statements, as well as provide us with the conceptual knowledge and analytical vocabulary
necessary to make meaning from them. Throughout the course, students will:
Explore basic research principals required of college students and working professionals
Develop clarity and rhetorical strength in speech and writing
Strengthen negotiation skills through group activity, discussion, and debate
Gain confidence in personal expression, spoken and written
By the end of the term, participants in this course should be able to:
Recognize and critically assess elements of persuasions at work in the world
Discuss and describe fundamental concepts in rhetorical theory
Analyze different forms of argument, analysis, and appeal
Requirements
As a collaborative learning community, this course will depend on the active involvement of all
students. As the instructor, I will take time each day to contextualize our readings and discussion topics
and to provide a general framework for our conversations, but your participation is vital to the quality
and productivity of your learning. Above all, this course should be a space of open inquiry. You should
feel free to challenge or disagree with any ideas presented here including mine. Our goal should be to
create an environment of lively and respectful intellectual exchange, and we should expect that
disagreements and debate are vital components of such an atmosphere. Arguments that amicably attend
to factual or philosophical disputes present an excellent opportunity not only for refining your thoughts,
but also for learning to communicate your ideas with confidence. Along the same lines, questioning the
conclusions of the readings, and of each other, can be a great way to evaluate the consequences of our
beliefs and to produce well-informed analyses. The key is to practice formulating constructive
questions, rather than arbitrary queries about life, the universe, and everything.
You will be expected to actively engage with the assigned readings, the instructor, your classmates, and
your own intellectual development. Instructional time will include:
Informal and formal pieces of writing responding to a given prompt
individual and/or collective reading
lecture and discussion
group exercises and activities
In addition, there will be three assignments for formal evaluation:
1. Historical Speech Presentation: students will select a speech from The Worlds Greatest
Speeches, 4th Enlarged Edition to research, rehearse, and perform for the class, accompanied by
a short essay on the historical context of the speech and a rhetorical analysis of its appeals.
2. Researched Team Debate: Students will work in small groups to research an assigned issue in
current affairs and prepare an annotated bibliography of the sources used; the team will then
stage a debate of the issue.
3. Personal Persuasive Speech Delivery: a 3-4 minute speech on a subject of the students
choosing
More detailed explanations of these assignments will be provided each week.
Define rhetoric:

Define persuasion:

Daily Schedule
Monday, July 11

Course Overview
Introductions and peer interviews
Syllabus discussion
Ground rules, expectations, classroom citizenship
Lifeboat debate
Heinrichs, Teach a child to argue
Words Like Loaded Pistols, Introduction

Tuesday, July 12

Words and Wordsmiths

A brief history of Rhetoric
On argumentation and persuasion: Introducing Aristotles rhetorical
triangle
George Orwell, Politics & the English Language
Orwells rules for rhetoric
Sky Mall pitches: what are we buying?

Wednesday, July 13

Everybodys a Critic
Horace Miner, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema & Satire
The Danger of a Single Story TED talk: Chimamanda Adichie,
single stories, and controlling the terms
Critical lenses; terms for analysis
Words, Five Parts of Rhetoric
Historical speeches group analysis & Paper Slide video presentation

Thursday, July 14

Speech Acts
Contd group speech analysis and video presentations
Individual historic speech selection and preparation
Controlling tone and creating perspective: Malcolm X, Martin
Luther King, Jr. & Civil Rights
Thinking like Miss America: speech and the modern medium

Friday, July 15

Closing the Sale

Library research workshop
Disposing with common wisdom
Style and voice: YouTube clip analysis
Independent preparation
Deliver historic speeches

Saturday, July 16

Of Life and Art: Debate as a Human Condition

Film screening: The Great Debaters (2007)

Monday, July 18

Keep Them on Their Toes

Debaters debrief: Sight, sound, and symbol; popular film as
rhetoric; and the basis of debate
Adapting strategies, approaching debate
Student conferences

Tuesday, July 19

That Dog Just Dont Hunt

Logical fallacies
Relevance, scale, and drama
Words contd

Debate teams announced

Topics discuss and determine team debate resolution
Wednesday, July 20

Sharpening Our Analytical Tools

David McCullough, Youre Not Special
Differing Points of View: Open Letter from a Millennial
Team debate research and preparation
Spontaneous Argumentation (SPAR)
Dispute, diffuse, dispel

Thursday, July 21

A Debaters Life for Me

Dynamics of debate in everyday life: analyzing popular headlines
Bringing the debate public: Grisham vs. Stone; Natural Born
Killers
Team debate preparation
SPAR
Six words that matter: discourse of memoir

Friday, July 22

Evidentiary Techniques
Team Debate tournament and debrief
John Jeremiah Sullivan, The Violence of the Lambs

Saturday, July 23

Consuming Other Peoples Arguments

Documentary: Merchants of Cool (2001)
Rhetoric, Millennials, & the marketing of what we should care
about

Monday, July 25

Power in the word

Words contd.: Churchill vs. Hitler
Rhetorical devices
Merchant of Venice: Literature as propaganda as subversion

Tuesday, July 26

Devils in the details

Final persuasive speech research at (Perkins Library?)
David Foster Wallace, This is Water
Vocabulary and concepts review

Wednesday, July 27

Language, vision, ideology, and the avant-garde

Reading ads and images: Rhetoric in the Digital Age
(tbd) Class trip to Nasher Museum: The Art of Interpretation

Thursday, July 28

Never Let Them See You Sweat

Final persuasive speech practice and prep
Personal speech presentations

Friday, July 29

Once More, With Feeling

Course wrap-up
Program evaluations
Telephone Pictionary
SPAR
Student conferences