Course Syllabus
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BUSINESS RHETORIC—EXPO E-34 (14801)—Section 3—Fall 2015 Tuesdays 7:40p to 9:40p ET via web conference Instructor: Ellen Gandt: rhetoricgandt@gmail.com Syllabus subject to change Course summary: In this course we will study the rules and techniques of effective business communication with particular focus on writing and oral presentation. Each student will create written projects and oral presentations based on his or her knowledge and experience in order to receive tailored writing feedback. The online classroom community will give students the opportunity for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and peer review. Writing projects will include a variety of forms (including memos, cover letters, proposals, and slide presentations) as well as pre-writing exercises and written responses to classmates’ work. During the drafting and revision process, students will work to create clear sentences, coherent paragraphs, and well-organized documents. Successful completion of this course will mean that students understand writing in different business genres; understand the importance of audience and context; follow appropriate grammar, spelling, syntactical, and citation conventions; and exhibit facility with the revision of written work through practice, reflection, and collaboration with fellow students. Students should strive to complete the course with the strong rhetorical, analytical, and stylistic writing skills necessary to achieve their educational and professional goals.
--REQUIRED TEXTS: Available via the Harvard Coop or Amazon.com Business Communication, Harvard Business Review Press, ISBN 978-159139-113-5 The Elements of Style, Strunk & White, ISBN 978-020530-902-3 --ONLINE TEXTS: Available via course web site Harvard Guide to Using Sources (HGUS) http://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl Purdue OWL Grammar Guide https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/5/ Oxford English Dictionary Harvard Libraries http://www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/libraries --ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READINGS and reference material will be distributed online via our course home page.
Other helpful, interesting but NOT required texts: HBR Guide to Better Business Writing, Bryan A. Garner, ISBN 978-142218-403-5 Practical English Handbook, Floyd Watkins & William Dillingham, ISBN 978-049589-974-7
COURSE DESIGN AND REQUIREMENTS Prerequisites: This is a writing intensive course and to complete it successfully, it is important that you have the basic skills to meet the core requirements. On the first day of class, you will complete an in-class writing exercise designed to assure me that you are prepared to write at the level required for this course. If I have concerns about your ability to succeed in the course based on this writing sample, I will communicate that to you privately via email. If English is not your first language, you are required to meet the Harvard Extension School’s English proficiency requirements. Please see the registration guidelines for more information.
Expo E-34 is an online course via WEB CONFERENCE: The Harvard Extension School's web site offers an overview of online courses at: http://www .extension.harvard.edu/courses/course-formats/web-conference-courses Because this class is taught in a participatory seminar format, there will be no lecture videos. To attend class, you must log in to our virtual classroom at the specified time each week. Before registering and attending our first class, students are expected to be familiar with Harvard Extension School's distance education policies. More information about the web conferencing software we will use is forthcoming. Because of the participatory nature of this class, it is REQUIRED that you have a headset with working audio and a microphone. If you have questions about the technical aspects of the course, need help with downloading the appropriate software, or accessing our classroom web site link, please call:
and Sundays, noon to 10pm ET.
Assignments, quizzes, and homework: Major assignments: --Rhetorical Analysis of a business-related TED talk (3-5 pages)—Write an analysis of the rhetorical patterns of a TED speaker. --Business Proposal (7-10 pages)—Write a proposal for funding and resources to achieve a goal, secure funding, pursue a business venture, or enact an initiative. --5-slide PowerPoint presentation based on Business Proposal
Shorter assignments: --Email and Memo --Cover letter --Quizzes --Online Discussions
Evaluation & grades: Each assignment has the following weight within the final, overall grade:
Each assignment receives a letter grade. These letters have the following values: A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, B = 3.0, B- = 2.7, C+ = 2.3, C = 2.0, C- = 1.7.
A range: mastery B range: good C range: average D range: deficient work F: no credit
When computing grades, I will use the criteria outlined by the Harvard Extension School: http://www.extension.harvard.edu/exams-grades-policies/grades
Revision of work: In this course you will receive substantial feedback and commentary from me on your writing. I will respond extensively to each of your drafts, focusing on structure, mechanics, and strength of expression. This feedback—and that which you receive through peer review—will figure prominently in your revisions of your drafts.
Feedback and private conferences: Each member of the class will have two, 30-minute, individual conferences with me during the semester.
Format for writing assignments: All of your work must be typed and proofread for errors. Use margins of 1 inch on 8.5 x 11 inch (letter-size) paper and 12-point Times New Roman font. Submit all work as Microsoft Word .doc or .docx files.
Writing Center: The Extension School Writing Center supports students via face-to-face meetings and online. If you are taking a course via web conference, you may request a Skype conference or an email conference with a member of the Writing Center staff by sending a message to writing_center@dcemail.harvard.edu. Please see http://www.extension.harvard.edu/resources/writing-center for full information. The services of the Writing Center are free and highly recommended.
Attendance, deadlines, and participation: Class and 1:1 conference attendance are mandatory. Class participation is also mandatory. It is the policy of the Harvard Extension School Writing Program that students who miss more than two class meetings risk failing the course. Arriving late to class by more than 15 minutes will count as a half-class miss on the second occurrence. Failure to participate in class during web conference sessions will result in the lowering of your final grade from one-third of a grade letter to a full grade letter. Because of the sequential nature of the course, all deadlines are firm. If you turn in an assignment without an approved extension, your grade will be marked down by one-third of a letter grade for each late day.
Academic honesty and plagiarism You are responsible for understanding Harvard Extension School policies on academic integrity (www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/student-conduct/academic-integrity) and how to use sources responsibly. Not knowing the rules, misunderstanding the rules, running out of time, submitting "the wrong draft", or being overwhelmed with multiple demands are not acceptable excuses. There are no excuses for failure to uphold academic integrity. To support your learning about academic citation rules, please visit the Harvard Extension School Tips to Avoid Plagiarism (www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/tips-avoid-plagiarism), where you'll find links to the Harvard Guide to Using Sources and two, free, online 15-minute tutorials to test your knowledge of academic citation policy. The tutorials are anonymous open-learning tools.
CLASS-BY-CLASS SCHEDULE (subject to change) Important note: Readings are listed on the day they are due to be discussed in class. Draft writing assignments (apart from noted rare exceptions and final documents) are due at 5pm ET on the Sunday before our Tuesday class session. Final documents are generally due at class time on the date specified.
Syllabus subject to change. |
Course Summary:
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