English 12A — Rhetoric and Argument: The Public Conversation is the first semester of a two-semester, college-preparatory Grade 12 English course aligned to the California Common Core State Standards (grades 11-12) and built to UC A-G Subject Area B expectations. It follows the expository reading and writing approach: read rhetorically, then argue.
Four units: Reading Rhetorically (Swift’s A Modest Proposal and Franklin’s satires of 1773), Liberty of Thought and Discussion (Mill’s On Liberty complete, with the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and the Holmes and Brandeis free-speech opinions), The Speech as Public Argument (Burke, Bryan and Mary Church Terrell, and a speech of the student’s own), and What Is Education For? (Newman, Huxley, Anna Julia Cooper and Dewey, and a researched argument).
Full-length work: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859). Credits: all readings are public domain; Supreme Court opinions and federal education data are U.S. government works; composition instruction adapted from Writing for Success (BCcampus OpenEd, CC BY 4.0).
Curriculum
- 4 Sections
- 20 Lessons
- Lifetime
- Unit 1: Reading Rhetorically — Satire and the Rhetorical Situation5
- 1.1The Rhetorical Situation — Reading A Modest Proposal50 mins
- 1.2Language Lab — Diction, Connotation and Tone in Swift45 mins
- 1.3Listening Lab — Franklin’s Satires of 177350 mins
- 1.4Writing Workshop — The Rhetorical Précis and the Analytical Thesis50 mins
- 1.5Key Assignment — Rhetorical Analysis Essay150 mins
- Unit 2: Liberty of Thought and Discussion — Mill’s On Liberty and the American Free-Speech Tradition5
- 2.1Mapping a Long Argument — On Liberty, Chapters 1 and 255 mins
- 2.2Language Lab — Syntax as Logic: Mill’s Sentences and Academic Hyphenation45 mins
- 2.3Seminar — Mill and the Court: Where Should Speech Stop?55 mins
- 2.4Writing Workshop — Claims, Counterclaims and the Steelman50 mins
- 2.5Key Assignment — Argument Essay on the Limits of Free Expression150 mins
- Unit 3: The Speech as Public Argument — Burke, Bryan and Terrell5
- 3.1Three Speeches in Crisis — Reading Burke, Bryan and Terrell55 mins
- 3.2Language Lab — Figures of Speech and the Changing Language of Oratory45 mins
- 3.3Listening Lab — Text, Delivery and Occasion50 mins
- 3.4Writing Workshop — Writing for the Ear50 mins
- 3.5Key Assignment — Persuasive Speech and Rhetorical Rationale150 mins
- Unit 4: What Is Education For? — The Researched Argument5
- 4.1Four Answers and the Data — Newman, Huxley, Cooper and Dewey55 mins
- 4.2Language Lab — Defining Contested Terms and Using Academic Vocabulary45 mins
- 4.3Research Circle — Testing Questions and Sources Together50 mins
- 4.4Writing Workshop — From Question to Annotated Bibliography100 mins
- 4.5Key Assignment — Researched Argument: What Is Education For?200 mins
Instructor
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