Communication Arts 969:
Seminar in Rhetorical Theory on Kenneth Burke

4:00 - 6:50; Wednesdays in 6041 Vilas
Professor Robert Howard
rgh[NOSPAM]rghoward.com
http://rghoward.com
6170 Vilas Communication Hall
OH: By Appointment

  

 

Course Objectives:
(1) to gain a general understanding of the utility and goals of Kenneth Burke's theoretical perspective; (2) to enact a preliminary research project that engages Burke's thinking in terms of its implications for rhetorical analysis
 
Grading and Assignments:
 
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

1. 25%: participation including:

Discussion Participation

Regular attendance and active contribution to discussions

Discussion Questions

Responsibility for summarizing and crafting a short series of discussion questions for the seminar to explore as decided at the previous seminar meeting

2. 75%: final paper

Please note: all written assignments must be submitted by email attachment as RichText Format, MS Word, WordPerfect, or PDF documents.
 
 
Required Texts:
Burke, Kenneth. 1968 [1931]. Counter Statement. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- - -. 1968 [1932]. Towards a Better Life: A Series of Epistles, or Declamations. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- - -. 1984 [1935]. Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- - -. 1984 [1937]. Attitudes Toward History. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- - -. 1973 [1941]. The Philosophy of Literary Form. 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.


Please note: all texts are available for purchase at the University Book Store.