Attendance and Participation (10%)
Regular attendance, participation in conversations, reading the day’s material, and asking questions of myself and others will contribute to 10% of your final grade. Students who keep up with the work, come to class, and talk regularly will earn an A for this assignment. Students who attend regularly, but do not talk in class are likely to earn something in the B range. Students who skip class once or twice each week and don’t engage the material may earn a C or D. If you come to class the first week and then return only to hand in an assignment, you are likely to receive an F for this portion of your grade. Your participation grade can make the difference between a B and B- or between a B- and a C+.
Presidential Journalism–101 (30% of Total Grade)
During the semester you will submit 5 reports about a recent communication event by President Obama. These reports can take several forms and you are welcome to do more than one type:
- A 500 word (1 page, single spaced) newspaper article that reports on a communication event performed by the president.
- A 500 word press release (1 page, single spaced) as if published by the White House Communication Office about a specific issue, problem or policy.
- A 500 word (1 page, single spaced) “editorial” that analyzes some aspect of the administration’s communications efforts.
- A video report, from the (fake) field, describing a presidential appearance and speech. The video should be at least three minutes long and contain substantive information about the event. You will upload the video to the YouTube channel CAS297A.
You can submit these reports at any time, but I encourage you to spread them out over the course of the semester. Filing a report every other week would be a great idea.
I will grade each report with one of four grades: Exceptional (95%), Good (85%), OK (75%), Poor (65%). Students will earn the exceptional grade if their report contains an original argument or thesis, demonstrates thorough research, creativity, excellent writing and/or production values of the highest quality. Students will earn a good grade if their report contains a little research, describes the event with some detail, and is produced with some attention to effort and polish. Students will receive an OK grade if it meets the formal requirements of the assignment, is mostly descriptive, and looks like it was recorded with little preparation in one take. Students will receive a Poor grade if the report does not meet the requirements in word length/time or if the report contains false or misleading information.
Your final letter grade for this assignment will be the average of the grades you receive throughout the semester. Any report that is not submitted will receive a zero and impact the average accordingly.
Major Project (40% of Total Grade)
On December 5, students will turn in a major class project. This project can be one of the following:
- An act of rhetorical criticism that analyzes a speech by any US president.
Students who choose this option must write a full eight page critical analysis of a presidential address. The speech should be an example of a “genre” discussed in Presidents Creating the Presidency, and the critical method applied to the text should come directly from the relevant chapter in that book. Some additional research on the occasion of the speech is necessary, but this is not a research paper; it is an act of “criticism.”
- An inaugural, state of the union address, veto message or national eulogy given in 2013 by you, the next president of the United States.
This project presumes that you have just been elected POTUS. It is now 2013 and you must give a speech to the American public. If you choose this option, I will help you create the speaking situation, but you must write the speech yourself, conforming to the audience and genre expectations for that type of address. The speech should run 16 to 20 minutes, and you are required to videotape yourself giving the speech. I will grade the written text of your speech (7 to 8 pages) and the video performance together.
- A project of your own design that I approve. I am willing to entertain a written proposal from you that identifies a third project. The project you propose must take approximately the same amount of time, research, and energy as the two projects described above. Only proposals received before Monday of Week 5 will be considered.
Detailed information about each option will be distributed in class and on the blog later in the semester.
Take Home Exam (20% of Total Grade)
On the final day of class, I will give everyone with a take home examination. The exam questions can be answered using notes and readings, but each member of the class must complete the exam alone. The answer must be uploaded to ANGEL by Wednesday of exam week. The exam, itself, should take no more than two hours; I am NOT going to ask for another major project. I simply want to give you the opportunity to reflect on what you have learned over the course of our semester together.
Kirt H. Wilson