Due to the speaking and listening nature of this course, attendance is essential. This course is considered to be a laboratory in nature and therefore attendance is required.

It is the policy of this course that after two undocumented absences a deduction is subtracted from your final average for the course for each absence. Excessive absences will result in automatic failure of the course. 5+ total absences is excessive.

If you are absent on your scheduled speaking day you must present a MEDICAL excuse in order to be eligible for a makeup. The excuse must be validated by the health center or your personal doctor. Undocumented absences on speaking days will result in a grade of 0% for that assignment.

Speaking Assignment #1 25%

Speaking Assignment #2 25%

Speaking Assignment #3 25%

Quizzes 25% all quizzes will be averaged

The following policies are to be observed and followed in Mrs. McClure's sections of public speaking. They are designed to promote a supportive and calming atmosphere for beginning speakers.

1. Be prepared for class with writing utensil, textbook and notebook every day. On speaking days you still need all of your materials

2. You must be prompt to each class and attend each class. To skip or miss is done at your own peril.

3. All electronic equipment that makes noise must be turned off prior to entering the classroom. The includes watches that go off on the hour, especially. It does not include lap top computers used for note taking however, but please turn down volume controls. Use your best sense of courtesy.

4. Please wear appropriate clothing for speechmaking. Each class tends to culturally define its own dress code. We may discuss this in class as an example of audience analysis.

5. A supportive and helpful atmosphere is a goal of this course. Only kindness and courtesy to teachers and fellow students is acceptable. We will however, be encouraged to debate issues with passion and excitement.

6. No WHINING

Chapter titles//Reading assignments correspond to the following chapters.

The communication Process Chapter One

Nervousness Chapter One

Ethics Chapter Two

Listening Chapter Three

Selecting a purpose/topic Chapter Four

Informative speaking Chapter FOURTEEN

Audience Analysis Chapter Five

How to gather materials Chapter Six

Supporting Ideas Chapter Seven

Organizing the body Chapter Eight

Beginning and Ending the Speech Chapter Nine

***Outlining Chapter Ten

Language Chapter Eleven

Delivery Chapter Twelve

Visual Aids Chapter Thirteen

**remember 14 came earlier

Persuasion Chapters 15&16

Students: please note that the attached calendar indicates when each reading is due. Consider a minimum of two chapters per week to be typical. I also ask that you address the outlining chapter prior to the FIRST SPEAKING ASSIGNMENT. I will not be able to cover this in class prior to the assigned speaking days. I will give you several examples to model, but you must read the chapter on your own and follow instructions for outlining from LUCAS without a lecture in class. You may of course ask questions in class and in office hours if the chapter is not clear to you.

Speaking Assignments:

Assignment #1 Your first assignment is an object speech. You have 4 minutes to speak. Prepare a speech that describes an object of importance to you. You may bring in the object if possible, but do not bring in snapshots (see chapter 13 on visual aids to answer why snapshots are ineffective). The speech should be organized in a topical pattern, a spatial pattern, or a chronological pattern (see chapter eight for help on these concepts). Somehow in your chosen organizational pattern, you should indicate the reason for the importance of the object in addition to describing it. You should also hand in a 2 page full sentence outline for this assignment. ALL OUTLINES IN THE COURSE SHOULD BE HANDED IN WITH A TITLE PAGE THAT HAS YOUR SPEECH TITLE, THE DATE AND YOUR NAME.

Examples: car keys/car, poster of a sports figure, a teddy bear, a lucky shirt or football etc., an acceptance letter to URI, I ask you don't get too silly and bring in embarrassing personal items--use your best sense of decorum.

Assignment #2

Your second speaking assignment is also an informative assignment, and asks you to explain to the class a concept that you are learning in another class.

You should use two sources (one can be the textbook from the other class).You have 6 minutes to speak. You should hand in a 3-4 page full sentence outline, following text guidelines.

Some examples students have used in the past are: explaining the concept of hegemony, infanticide in Chinese culture, photosynthesis, fermentation, the concept of supply and demand, the basics of fluid dynamics, the basics of nutrition, etc. . .

Assignment #3

This speech is a persuasive speech. It should be 10 minutes in length. And it should have a 3-4 page full sentence outline, following text guidelines. A minimum of 4 outside sources must be used. You should seek to persuade the audience on a question of fact. This type of speech is distinct from questions of value and policy. This speech should be prepared with a strong use of citation and sound argumentation--concepts covered in text and lecture.

Some examples include: the first human's origin, the seriousness of poaching wild animals, and testing of animal for science, standardized achievement tests are biased against racial and ethnic minorities, advertising promotes underage use of tobacco and alcohol.