Each student is expected to produce two research papers during the course of the semester. Papers may be submitted at any time before our Final Exam (May 8). If you turn in a paper at any point during the semester before April 30, I will provide comments on it that you may use to revise. (The paper will be graded when it is submitted the second time.) Papers submitted after April 30 will not receive revision comments because of the turn-around time involved.

The options for research papers are as follows (please select two different options; do not select the same option twice):

• Comparison paper: Compare and contrast the rhetorical theories of at least two of the thinkers we encounter in class. Your goal should be to demonstrate where they diverge and cohere by putting their work in conversation.


• Application paper: Apply the rhetoric of one or more thinkers we encounter in class to a contemporary text. Your goal should be to use the rhetoric as a tool to provide insight into the text.


• Thematic Development paper: Trace how a particular theme in rhetorical theory (the author, invention, oral vs. written communication, technology, etc.) has changed over a defined period. You goal should be to explicate how people, situations, and/or events have changed the nature of this concept and what the implications of those changes have been.


• Profile paper: Profile a figure in rhetoric history who we do not cover in class. You likely will be required to include some biographical information, but your goal is to analyze this person's rhetorical theory, demonstrating its implications and how it connects to or differs from other rhetorical theories.


• Disputation paper: Reject the assertions of a thinker we cover in class through an evidenced counterargument. Your goal here is not to showcase the criticisms of others, but to make your own contribution to the discourse.

The parameters for all research papers are as follows:

• Papers should be ~2,000 words (not including bibliography).
• Papers should incorporate at least two secondary sources.
• Papers should be in a standard citation format.