Communication 4
Persuasion
Spring 2012

Instructor: Anna Martinez, M.A.
Office #: Annex 3 (southeast end of campus)
Office hours: Wed & Fri 9:30-11:00 (and by appointment)
Phone #: 638-3641 ext. 3680    Email: anna.martinez@reedleycollege.edu
Class web address: http://blackboard.reedleycollege.edu 

Course description and rationale:

In this class you will get a chance to study and practice persuasive communication.  This course was designed to create an understanding of the constant persuasive messages that continually bombard us in modern life. This course covers both theory of persuasion and the application of persuasive techniques in personal and professional communication. Opportunities are provided for students to present and analyze persuasive materials orally and in writing as a way of developing communication and critical abilities.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

•	Construct, present and evaluate persuasive messages.
•	Construct and deliver dynamic and competent presentations that are adapted to the purpose and audience
•	Utilize research materials that incorporate sufficient, credible, and relevant evidence.
•	Choose appropriate organizational patterns. 
•	Analyze the effectiveness of communication through constructive critique.

Course Advisory (good advice!):
It is recommended that you be eligible to take English 1A (already completed English 125) at the time you take this course.  This course involves research and organization skills that may be a challenge for you if you are not eligible for this English level.  Several people have not passed this class in the past for this very reason.

Textbook:  
Borchers, Timothy A. Persuasion in the Media Age.  2nd ed.  Long Grove: Waveland Press, 2005.

Assignments:					
(For due dates, see attached Proposed Schedule.)	

•	Speeches					

Speech #1	Culture speech				0 points

Speech #2	Value speech				100 points
 
Speech #3	Marketing speech			200 points

Speech #4	Law speech				260 points
										Speeches total 560

•	Papers

o	Television Commercial Analysis
	Each student will turn in a 2-3 page typed essay analyzing a TV commercial of his/her choice.  The essay should address the messages presented in the advertisement, the claims put forth, the reasoning behind the claims, any fallacies that may appear, and the overall effectiveness of the commercial.  You may even want to suggest ways to make the commercial more persuasive.
 								Self-analysis total 40

o	Persuasive Interpersonal Analysis					
	You will explore your own interpersonal persuasive characteristics. Assess your own strengths/weaknesses using the vast array of techniques discussed in lecture and your text while providing several specific examples from your experiences.  You will assess their effectiveness or lack thereof, and finally provide alternatives that will help you manage persuasive situations better in your relationships with others.  This is a 2-3 page paper, double-spaced and typed.   
						Persuasive Interpersonal Analysis total 50

•	Quizzes								
	The procedure for quiz-taking will be as follows: 1) Each student will take a brief quiz (10 questions) which will be turned in to me, then 2) in groups of 4-5 students, a second quiz will be taken (15 questions – the same 10 from the individual quiz plus 5 more) and the group decides which are the “correct” answers, then 3) group members then complete and sign a single answer sheet.  A student’s score is the total of the correct answers on her/his individual quiz plus the total number of correct answers on the group sheet.  Due to this system, there can be NO make-ups of the group part of quizzes – please be on time on quiz day in order to have a chance at the total number of points.   

Quiz #1		Chapter 1, 2 plus lecture/discussion/handout material		50
	
Quiz #2		Chapters 3, 4, 5 plus lecture/discussion/handout material	50

Quiz #3		Chapters 6, 7, 15 plus lecture/discussion/handout material	50

Quiz #4		Chapters 8, 9, 13 plus lecture/discussion/handout material	50

Quiz #5		Chapters 10, 14 plus lecture/discussion/handout material		50

Quiz #6		Chapters 11, 12 plus lecture/discussion/handout material		50												Quizzes total 300

•	Peer speech evaluations								
	Throughout the semester, you will periodically be asked to give written and/or verbal critiques of your classmates’ speeches.  This is a mandatory part of the class.  Unlike other classes you may take at the college level, this class has a hard time functioning unless all students are present to give suggestions, offer praise, and get help/advice from other classmates throughout the semester.  You are expected to attend class and be on time in order to reap these benefits yourself as well as provide help to your peers.  Missing classes (regardless of reason), especially when others are giving speeches, WILL hurt this section of your grade.
										Peer Evals total 50
										
GRAND TOTAL 1000

•	Additional points						   Optional – Max. total of 50	 
	You will be given the opportunity to do ONE additional point assignment for your grade.  At least four assignment options will be given to you, and you may choose any one of them.  The assignments will be due toward the end of the semester.  I would advise that you do one even if you don’t think you’ll need it because I will not be offering any additional assignments later or extended due dates in this area.  Additional points are privileges given to students by instructors, not rights.      

Grades:
Final grades will be based on the following scale:

900 & above=A, 899-800=B, 799-700=C, 699-600=D, 599 & below=F.

I will post frequent grade updates on Blackboard so you can ALWAYS check your current grade in the class.  To log in, go to http://blackboard.reedleycollege.edu and use your college ID# as your username.  Your password is likely your college ID# as well unless you’ve changed it in another class. 

Late Assignments:
	MY LATE ASSIGNMENT POLICY IS A STRICT ONE!  I do not waste valuable time dealing with reasons or excuses for late work.  Good news: I will accept late work.  Bad news: Regardless of reason, late work will be given a penalty.  In other words: even if you are sick, on a college-sponsored trip, or dealing with hard times at work or home, you WILL receive a penalty if any of your work is late.  Specifically:
•	Written assignments (TV Commercial Analysis or Persuasive Interpersonal Analysis) -- late ones will be lowered one full letter grade (10%).  
•	Quizzes -- miss these and you lose your opportunity to participate in the group portion of the quiz.  You can still make up a different format of the quiz, but your score may be significantly lower than if you had taken it with the class (since you will not reap the benefit of group help).   
•	Peer evaluations -- if you miss days when others are doing speeches, you will miss out on some of these points.  These cannot be made up.
•	Speeches -- here’s the big one: If you do not do your speech on the day it is due, you will receive a 20% grade dock on the speech!  This is a huge penalty and could make or break your grade in this class.  Due to the nature of the class, I MUST enforce this or it will put everyone behind.  You must not waste my or any of your classmates’ valuable time with lateness on these speeches.  Period. 
	I do not search you out for make-ups if you miss an assignment.  It is your responsibility to approach me and schedule an appointment.

Drop Policy:
	If you miss more than two consecutive weeks of class within the first nine weeks without notifying me that you still desire to be in the class, I will drop you from the course.

Please Note:
The college’s policies regarding student conduct in classes, including cheating and plagiarism, are located in the college catalogue and the schedule of courses.  You should be aware of these policies and abide by them.  Also, students with disabilities are reminded that it is your responsibility to identify yourself to the Reedley College Disabled Students Services and to your instructor(s) so reasonable accommodation for learning and evaluation within the course can be made.

***Extra help:
	Please feel free to visit our Tutorial Center located in the library for extra help with your speeches and papers.  The Writing Center (located in Hum 59) can also help!  I have special tutors in both places who have taken my classes and can give you great advice.
The Blackboard site will include lots of help for you throughout the semester.  Not only will you be able to check your grades anytime, but you will also find:
•	the course syllabus
•	copies of handouts (in case you miss a day or need an extra copy of anything)
•	further details on assignments
•	evaluation forms I will use to grade your presentations
•	example “A” assignments from previous students
•	speech topic suggestions
•	quiz reviews
•	links to helpful research sites
•	…and much more!
Please use this web site – it is there for YOU.  If you do not have Internet access, I highly encourage you to get it.  Please make use of the computer labs here on campus if you do not have access at home, as I will not always have extra copies of handouts, etc. in class.  It will make your experience in this class MUCH easier!

A Note on My Teaching Style:
I cannot and will not re-teach a class you miss. A student who misses a class must assume total responsibility of informing themselves of class notes, announcements, and assignments.  It is also your responsibility to monitor your progress in this class.  I do not search out students to inform them of their grades—I expect that they are watching Blackboard or keeping track of it themselves.  It is a good idea to keep all graded assignments that I pass back to you as proof of your status, at least until you receive your final grade at the end of the semester (that’s good advice for all of your classes).

PROPOSED SCHEDULE – Communication 4 – Spring 2012

You are expected to have the read/scanned the unit in the text before we analyze it in class.

Date		ACTIVITY				     	     SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS DUE

T 	1-10	Course introduction -- icebreakers
Th 	1-12	Chapter 1						Must have syllabus read
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	1-17	Chapter 2	
Th	1-19	Quiz 1 & Chapter 3
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	1-24	Culture Speeches	
Th	1-26	Culture Speeches, Chapter 4, & Sign-ups for Value speeches
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T 	1-31	Chapter 5
Th	2-2	Quiz 2 & Chapter 15
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T 	2-7	Chapter 6						
Th	2-9	Chapter 7						Value topics DUE
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T 	2-14	Quiz 3 & Chapter 8					
Th	2-16	Chapter 9 & Sign-ups for Marketing speeches					 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	2-21	Value Speeches						Speech outline DUE
Th	2-23	Value Speeches						Speech outline DUE
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	2-28	Value Speeches						Speech outline DUE
Th	3-1	Value Speeches						Speech outline DUE		
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	3-6	Chapter 13			
Th	3-8	Quiz 4 & Chapter 10	(Last day to drop Fri 3-9)	Marketing topics DUE	
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	3-13	Chapter 10						TV Commercial paper DUE
Th	3-15	Chapter 14 & Sign-ups for Law speeches		
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	3-20	Marketing speeches					Speech outline DUE 
Th 	3-22	Marketing speeches					Speech outline DUE	
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	3-27	Marketing speeches					Speech outline DUE
Th 	3-29	Marketing speeches					Speech outline DUE	
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	4-3	Spring Break – no school
Th	4-5	Spring Break – no school
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	4-10	Chapter 14
Th	4-12	Quiz 5
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________	
T	4-17	Chapter 11
Th	4-19	Chapter 11					Interpersonal Analysis paper DUE
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	4-24	Chapter 12						Law topics DUE
Th 	4-26	Chapter 12
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	5-1	Law speeches						Speech outline DUE 
Th 	5-3	Law speeches						Speech outline DUE
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T	5-8	Law speeches						Speech outline DUE
Th 	5-10	Law speeches			   	         Speech outline & Additional points DUE
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* T	5-15	Quiz #6 – final 					Meet 12:00-1:50
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* We only meet one day during finals week.