Texts:
Required Books:
Covino, William and David Jolliffe. Rhetoric: Concepts, Definitions,
Boundaries. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1995.
Hawisher, Gail, and Cynthia Selfe, eds. Passions, Pedagogies, and
Twenty-first Century Technologies. Logan, UT: Utah State U P, 1999.
Barthes, Roland. Camera Lucida. New York, Hill and Wang, 1981.
Ulmer, Gregory. Internet Invention: From Literacy to Electracy.
New York, NY: Pearson, 2003.
Suggested Web/HTML Guides:
Castro, Elizabeth. HTML for the WWW. 5th ed. Peachpit Press, 2003.
(The 5th edition you can find on Amazon used for 10 bucks, the 4th edition, which is all you really need,
you can find for 2 bucks used.)
Lynch, Patrick J. and Sarah Horton. Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating
Web Sites. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2001.
(You can find a used copy of the 2nd ed. at Amazon for under 10 bucks. The book is also available online for free if you don't
mind reading off of the web: http://www.webstyleguide.com/)
Betsy Bruce. Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 in 24
hours. Indianapolis, IN: Sams Publishing, 2004.
(There are used copies of this at Amazon and a version for MX.)
Towers, J. Tarin. Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 for Windows and
Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide. Peachpit Press, 2004.
(There is also a version for MX, which is also inexpensive used from Amazon.)
Weinmann, Elaine and Peter Lourekas. Photoshop 7 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide. Peachpit Press, 2002.
(This one you can find used on Amazon for about 10 bucks. There are also older versions on Amazon for as little as two bucks.)
Technology Responsibilities:
Since this course primarily focuses on rhetoric, only a limited amount of time will be spent in class on technical skills.
We will do brief introductions to help you establish your web space and get an initial web page up.
Depending on your level of technical knowledge entering the class, you may need to spend time each
week outside of class learning technologies on your own in addition to reading and doing
writing assignments. In order to develop new skills or enhance the ones you have,
you should take advantage of the workshops and labs available on campus.
Mason provides a number of workshops and labs for additional help with technology projects.
Students need to sign up for the workshops but are able to get individual, walk-in peer tutoring in the Star labs.
Topics, dates, and times for workshops can be found
from the workshop schedules below.
Attendance:
Each week we will read response papers, discuss the readings, do short assignments, give presentations, and have lab time to work on projects or technologies.
Consequently, attendance is extremely important and will count towards participation grades. It is also
vital that lab time in class be utilized. Others around you can help with your efforts. If you stop coming to class, it will
be your responsibility to drop. Failure to do so will result in an 'F'.
Office Hours:
I will have office hours in RobA 405D from 4:30 to 7:10 on Tuesdays. If you need to speak to me and cannot
make this time, then ask me to schedule a time that is convenient for both of us. I often spend time in the JC reading or grading.
If desperate, check the bay windows on the second floor. I check my e-mail
several times daily, so this will be the best way to contact me in a hurry if you have a question
or problem, especially about what is due that week. The only other option is to call and leave a phone
message, but I will not receive it immediately.
Grades:
Students in English 611 receive a final grade of A+ (4.0), A (4.0), A- (3.67), B+ (3.33), B (3.0),
B- (2.67), C+ (2.33), C (2.0), C- (1.67), D (1.0), or F (0.0).
Since both A+ and A have the
same GP, I make little or no distinction between them. Although
a B- is a satisfactory grade for a course, students must maintain a 3.0 average in their degree
program and present an overall 3.0 GPA on the courses listed on the graduation application.
