Each student is expected to produce two research papers during the course of the semester. Paper 1 is due on March 13; Paper 2 is due on May 8. Papers should be submitted electronically as file attachments. The parameters for all research papers are:

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

The options for research papers are (please pursue a different option for each paper):

• 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 his or her rhetoric as a tool to provide insight into the text.


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


• Profile paper: Profile a figure in rhetoric history not covered 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 its connections to or differences 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 criticisms of the thinker by others but to make your own contribution to this discourse.