Schedule

Burke Bibliography Project

Primary Bibliography in .pdf Format

Secondary Bibliography in .pdf. Format

Course Objectives: (1) to gain a general understanding of the utility and goals of Kenneth Burke's theoretical perspective; (2) to locate and examine several ways Burke's ideas have been taken up into rhetoric theory; (3) to enact a preliminary research project that engages Burke's thinking in terms of its implications for rhetorical analysis

Grading and Assignments
Grading Scale

Grading Scale in Percents of Total Possible Earned Points

 

A : 100 - 93%

AB: 92 - 88%

B: 87 - 83%

BC: 82 - 78%

C: 77 - 70%

D: 69-60%

F: below 60%

Individual Assignments with Weights
Undergraduate & Graduate Students

10%: discussion participation

The instructor will base this grade on attendance and discussion participation.

15%: response papers

Each week that the seminar covers a writing by Burke, approximately 3 students must volunteer to write and submit a 500-1000 word informal email to the class list by noon the day of the seminar meeting dealing with that reading. Please simply write in the email instead of attaching a .pdf or .doc file. Do not worry about using italics or other formal formatting correctly. Clearly title your email with (at least) the words "Response Paper." Each response paper should engage the reading for that week by applying a specific idea or passage from the readings to some particular problem that is (or should be) of interest the whole seminar. All seminar participants should read at least the first 1000 words of each response paper. Please keep these papers at 1000 words or less. They will be graded on a check, plus, or minus basis. Each student must complete 2 response papers on or before the last Burke reading (Please note: the last four weeks will have no Burke readings). Short comments or questions on the email list in reply to these papers are encouraged. Engaging in email-list discussions will be calculated at the end of the semester as participation in the course. Completing the two response papers with a plus will receive the full 15% for this part of the course. Checks and minuses will garner less.

 

10%: final paper presentation

Each student will give a short presentation to the rest of the class on their final paper during the last two weeks of the course.
This will be graded based on the clarity and thoroughness of the presentation.

 

65%: final paper

The paper must include all components as outlined in the assignment below. A paper prospectus must be approved by the instructor via email or face-to-face by the due date. The prospectus should be a formal abstract of the proposed paper topic of between 250 and 500 words (about one or two pages including any notes or bibliographic information).

Attendance

Full attendance is required of all students. Because the ideas and meanings in a course such as this emerge in the interaction between the instructors and students, students missing more than 3 meetings shall not have participated at an acceptable level and may fail the course. Students not attending will miss material not otherwise available and are obligated to seek out that material from classmates. To avoid duplication and reserve both office hours and class time for students attending course meetings, please do not ask the instructors to recapitulate material missed or not understood as a result of not attending lectures.

Final Paper Requirements

1. Prospectus emailed to rgh@rghoward.com by due date. (A 250 to 500 word "abstract" of your proposed topic and approach. This should be about one or two pages including any notes or bibliographic information).
2. Clearly written first draft essay directed at the audience of a major rhetoric journal (QJS, CSMC, RSQ, Etc.) including full bibliographic citations (APA Style or similar) for document(s) and secondary sources. This paper should be emailed as an attachment in .doc, .rtf., or.pdf format to rgh@rghoward.com on or before the due date. For credit, the paper must be 6000 words (including bibliography, about 24 pages) to 40 10,000 words (about 40 pages). If you are not able to email the paper by the due date, email the instructor in order to avoid failing the course.

3. Paper Topic Options:

A. A case study of primary documents using "Burkian" analysis (broadly defined): "Burke this!"
B. A discussion of Kenneth Burke's theory within the context of Kenneth Burke's theory: "Burking Burke."
C. A discussion of Burke's theory from the perspective of another theoretical perspective or particular theorist(s): "Femming, Kanting, Deconstructing (etc.) Burke."

4. Presentation of project to the class at the designated time.
5. Participation in discussion during your and other presentations.

Required Texts:

Burke, Kenneth. 1968 [1931]. Counter Statement. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- - -. 1969 [1945]. A Grammar of Motives. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- - -. 1962 [1950]. A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- - -. 1970 [1961]. The Rhetoric of Religion: Studies in Logology. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- - -. 1966. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: University of California Press.
(Available for purchase at the Underground Campus Textbook Exchange.)

Individual Seminar Readings.
(Available online through links on the schedule page.)