Main Content
Syllabus
CAS 100C Effective Speech (3): Principles of communication, implemented through analysis and evaluation of messages, with some attention to formal speaking and group discussion.
Overview
In this course, you will learn the fundamentals of effective communication through the study of public-speaking principles and the analysis and evaluation of examples of public address and other forms of communication. The course consists of both written activities, in which you will analyze and evaluate messages using the concepts taught in the course, and speaking activities, in which you will develop your own individual presentations to practice the skills you will learn in the course.
There is no prerequisite for this course, although an understanding of American history and politics is helpful. Perhaps most importantly, the ability to observe and think critically about the world around you and draw from life experience is both relevant and useful when analyzing messages.
This course will have no exams. Evaluation will come in the form of written activities as well as two major speaking activities (both of which must be submitted to pass the course), which you will prepare and deliver to the instructor. You will also prepare and deliver a Criticism of Criticism speech that will be graded; the Criticism of Criticism speech will also be viewed by other students enrolled in the course and used for audience analysis activities and serve as a speech of introduction. The written activities are generally in essay format and require you to apply the concepts from the textbook in the analysis and evaluation of specific speeches that you have read or viewed online. In addition to assigned reading in the textbook, you will also be given landmark essays in the theory, method, and practice of rhetorical criticism. You will refer to these essays in your written activities submissions (and cite them properly). Lesson submissions that do not refer to and cite the additional assigned readings, the textbook, and other articles found in student research reflect below-average engagement with course materials and will be graded accordingly. In written activities, you are expected to follow the basic rules of grammar, syntax, punctuation and spelling. Further, you will be expected to cite all outside material consulted for written activities through the style you are most familiar with (such as APA, MLA, or Chicago). Individual instructors for this course could require, specifically and exclusively, the use of only one of the acceptable citation styles; the instructor will inform students enrolled in that section of special requirements for citations. Scholarly sources (and any others) used in your required speeches will be cited orally in the speech, in the speech outline where they are used, and in the Bibliography/Works Cited page.
CAS 100C, offered online by Penn State, is equivalent to resident instruction in CAS 100C (and equivalent to CAS 100A). Both online and resident instruction rely on a standard syllabus that is used by the various instructors for the course. Students can expect the same workload in all 3-credit courses: three hours of work per credit per week. (In resident instruction, this is three hours of classroom instruction per week and six hours of out-of-class preparation; in an online class, all nine hours per week are achieved through out-of-class instruction.) The academic rigor, scholarly achievement, and effort is the same for any course, no matter where it is in the course-numbering system: a 100-level course is no easier than a 200-level course. Only the scope is different: a 100-level course is an introduction to a broad field, and a 200-level course is more precisely focused on a sub-field. A consistent workload and a coordinated lesson plan across sections of CAS 100 maintains equivalency, but individual instructors have the prerogative to direct students, in advance and by Canvas Conversations, Announcements, or Discussions, to meet particular stylistic and scheduling requirements for the common activities. Instructors can also add or drop an activity depending on the instructor’s understanding of the needs and performance of the students who are assigned to that particular section. The several instructors for the course are supervised by Amber Walker, Ph.D., CAS Online Instruction Supervisor, and by David Dzikowski, Ph.D., CAS 100C Supervisor. You should, of course, contact the instructor assigned to your section about matters pertaining to the course, but you can also contact Dr. Dzikowski at dxd4@psu.edu.
All attachments submitted to assignment drop boxes should be typed in 12-point font in a document formatted in Microsoft Word. If you use Word Perfect or word-processing software other than Microsoft Word, please save the document in a Word format prior to submission. Note that the Apple pages format cannot be accepted. If you are unable to use Word or save as a Word document, contact the instructor, as you may be asked to submit your work directly to the assignment drop box instead of as an attachment.
Weekly lesson submissions will be in the form of essays. Essays are different from Research Reports that summarize information clearly or themes that divide a topic into three parts; essays defend original ideas with arguments. The supporting material in an essay can be used to bolster the original idea, as in the case when published scholarship agrees with one of the claims in an argument or clarifies the original idea. Other supporting material can be cited if it contradicts some part of the argument, but it can be refuted. Supporting material can also be used and cited in cases where the supporting material forms a premise within the larger original argument in your essay. Supporting material must also be clearly cited in the proper format. Additional style sheet information is available at the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) OWL MLA Citation.
Course Objectives
On successful completion of this course, you should be able to do the following things:
- Improve your listening and critical thinking skills, especially as they apply to effective communication.
- Gain a basic understanding of the rhetorical situation and of rhetorical criticism.
- Improve your understanding and practice of the fundamental skills of effective public speaking, including
- basic research skills (choosing and developing a topic, using resources from the library and Internet, identifying credible research, choosing timely and relevant sources, and citing sources),
- the effective use of reasoning and evidence to support your arguments,
- the basic organization skills necessary to develop a unified presentation (introductions, conclusions, transitions, and signposting),
- the effective use of language through stylistic devices and proper attribution of sources,
- the effective use of memory and rehearsal, and
- basic delivery skills (eye contact, vocal variety, and projection).
Required Course Materials
Most World Campus courses require that students purchase materials (e.g., textbooks, specific software, etc.). To learn about how to order materials, please see the Course Materials page. You should check LionPATH approximately 3–4 weeks before the course begins for a list of required materials.Other course materials, including readings and videos, will be available through the course page on Canvas, Penn State’s course management site. Individual instructors can provide additional supplemental readings (within reasonable workload expectations).
Library Resources
Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a distance. Through the Libraries website, you can
- access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
- borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your desktop;
- get research help via email, chat, or phone using the Ask a Librarian service; and
- much more.
You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the Libraries' resources and service. The Off-Campus Users page has additional information about these free services.
Software
One of the benefits of being a registered Penn State student is that you are eligible to receive educational discounts on many software titles. If you are interested in learning more about purchasing software through our affiliate vendor, please visit the Buying Software section of the Course Materials page.
Technical Specifications
For this course, we recommend the minimum World Campus technical requirements listed below.
| Operating System | Canvas, Penn State's Learning Management System (LMS), supports most recent versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac operating systems. To determine if your operating system is supported, please review Canvas' computer specifications. |
|---|---|
| Browser | Canvas supports the last two versions of every major browser release. It is highly recommended that you update to the newest version of whatever browser you are using. Note: Cookies must be enabled, and pop-up blockers should be configured to permit new windows from Penn State websites. |
| Additional Canvas Requirements | For a list of software, hardware, and computer settings specifically required by the Canvas LMS, please review Canvas' computer specifications. |
| Additional Software | All Penn State students have access to Microsoft Office 365, including Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. |
| Hardware | Monitor: Monitor capable of at least 1024 x 768 resolution |
| Mobile Device (optional) | The Canvas mobile app is available for versions of iOS and Android. To determine if your device is capable of using the Canvas Mobile App, please review the Canvas Mobile App Requirements. |
If you need technical assistance at any point during the course, please contact the Service Desk.
For registration, advising, disability services, help with materials, exams, general problem solving, visit World Campus Student Services!
Course Schedule
Activities are due by 11:59 p.m. (ET) Sunday of the designated week.
identifies readings that are available on E-Reserves through the library.
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Note: If you are planning to graduate this semester, please communicate your intent to graduate to your instructor. This will alert your instructor to the need to submit your final grade in time to meet the published graduation deadlines. For more information about graduation policies and deadlines, please go to the Graduation Information on the My Penn State Online Student Portal.
Formal instruction will end on the last day of class. Provided that you have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password, you will continue to be able to access the course materials for one year, starting from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered (with the exception of library reserves and other external resources that may have a shorter archival period). After one year, you might be able to access the course based on the policies of the program or department offering the course material, up to a maximum of three years from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered. For more information, please review the University Course Archival Policy.
Course Requirements and Grading
Activity Point Values
All lessons are due on the date indicated by the Lesson Schedule tables (typically a Sunday) by 11:59 p.m. (ET).
| Lesson Activities | Point value |
|---|---|
| Getting Started | (20, as follows) |
| Canvas Conversations Tool Practice | 5 |
| Criticism of Criticism Speech Video | 15 |
| Lesson 1: Civic Engagement and Public Speaking | 40 |
| Lesson 2: Understanding Rhetorical Situation | 60 |
| Lesson 3: Audience, Occasion, and Rhetorical Situation | (60, as follows) |
| Essay | 40 |
| Analyzing Our Audience Discussion | 20 |
| Lesson 4: Supporting Material and Public Persuasion | 60 |
| Lesson 5: Reasoning | 60 |
| Lesson 6: Organization and Outlining | 80 |
| Lesson 7: Style, Memory, and Delivery | 20 |
| Rhetorical Situation Speech and Peer Review | (140, as follows) |
| Speech | 100 |
| Outline | 20 |
| Peer Review | 20 |
| Lesson 8: Cultural Commonplaces | 20 |
| Lesson 9a: Cultural Artifacts as Rhetoric | 60 |
| Lesson 9b: Rhetorical Criticism | 40 |
| Lesson 10: Style | 60 |
| Cultural Commonplace Speech and Peer Review | (240, as follows) |
| Speech | 160 |
| Outline | 40 |
| Peer Review | 40 |
| Lesson 11: Course Review and Conclusion | 40 |
| Total | 1000 |
Both the Rhetorical Situation and Cultural Commonplaces speech presentations must be submitted to receive a passing grade for this course.
Grading Scale
Grades are determined as follows.
| Grade | Points | Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 950–1000 | 95.0 to 100.0 | Excellent or superior achievement |
| A- | 900–949 | 90.0 to 94.9 | Excellent, but with some room for improvement |
| B+ | 879–899 | 87.9 to 89.9 | Very good |
| B | 833–878 | 83.3 to 87.8 | Good |
| B- | 800–832 | 80.0 to 83.2 | Not quite as good |
| C+ | 750–799 | 75.0 to 79.9 | Somewhat above average |
| C | 700–749 | 70.0 to 74.9 | Average or satisfactory competence |
| D | 600–699 | 60.0 to 69.9 | Minimally competent, but still passing |
| F | 599 and below | 59.9 and below | Unsatisfactory/failing |
A Note on Grading Criteria
Please refer to the CAS Criteria for Evaluating Speeches. Speeches given in this course, in particular, will be graded in accordance with the departmental standards for all Effective Public Speaking courses given in CAS.
In both your speaking and written activities, please provide the following things:
- a good, clear, well-developed, and well-supported argument: Even if you feel that something is obvious, remember that it might not be obvious to someone else, including your audience and your instructor, so it is your job to convince your audience to accept your claim(s).
- evidence that you have put adequate time and care into your activities: For speaking activities, you should develop a coherent argument and use an appropriate style that shows consideration of both your own abilities and your audience. Further, your delivery should show that you have taken time to practice the speech, that you know your material, and that you have considered the ways to best engage the audience. For written activities, this will include careful proofreading and scrutiny of your own writing and arguments. Simply writing a paper and sending it through a spelling and grammar check once will not suffice. Most of your written activities are relatively short; take time to read over them and ensure that your writing is clean and that your argument is coherent and easy to follow.
- a grasp of the concepts we have discussed in class and the ability to apply them to your own work
- all of the required elements of the activity
These requirements are very general and allow for much creativity in the details. At this point in your education, we can assume that you can recognize what is quality work and what is not. Please understand that A’s are not given; they are earned. You can earn an A if your work:
- includes all of the required elements of the activity,
- demonstrates an excellent grasp of the course concepts,
- makes a coherent and interesting argument,
- is delivered or written clearly and effectively,
- carefully considers the audience, and
- is creative and insightful.
If your work fails to do any of the above, or does them with average or below-average skill or effort, it will result in a lower grade—a B or C. Work that contains only some of the required elements or that demonstrates deficient skill will result in a D. If the work includes none of the required elements, shows no skill in presentation, or is simply not delivered when due, it fails to be effective at all and receives an F. In keeping with University guidelines, pluses and minuses are used to indicate finer degrees of evaluation.
Unfortunately, tutor.com is not available for CAS 100C.
Please refer to the University Grading Policy for Undergraduate Courses for additional information about University grading policies.
If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.
For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.
Late Policy
Late work will not be accepted unless arrangements have been made with the instructor prior to the due date. If an emergency arises that prevents you from completing your work on time, please let your instructor know as soon as possible before the due date so that arrangements can be made for you to keep up in the course. Note that if the instructor agrees to accept a late submission, it will receive at least a 10% grade reduction. The grade of any submissions received up to one week after the due date will be reduced by 10%. Each additional week late will result in an additional 10% grade reduction. Work more than three weeks late will not be accepted.
Plagiarism
Any of the following may be considered plagiarism, whether or not you intend to cheat (remember, this list is not comprehensive)1
- buying a speech from an Internet source or an individual;
- borrowing another person’s work and passing it off as your own;
- using another person’s work without his or her knowledge or permission;
- cutting and pasting directly from one or more sources to create an entire speech, section of a speech, essay, or section of an essay, even if copied material is set inside quotation marks and properly cited;
- using another person’s words or ideas without giving appropriate credit to the original author or source;
- changing only a few words from an original source and not indicating the direct use of the person’s words or ideas;
- using the same sentence structure as the original text;
- not indicating the source of charts, tables, or other visual aids; and
- using your own paper or speech from another class and passing that work off as an original submission for this course. Some instructors may allow you to modify a research paper from another class to present orally in this course, but only with the instructor’s knowledge and permission. Be sure to check with your instructor before attempting to use work from another class for speeches in this course.
Additional Information
- Library Learning Services: Plagiarism and You
- Instructional Module: Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, and Copyright
1 Christopher L. Johnstone, The Art of the Speaker (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University, 2011), 190. ↩
Academic Integrity
According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity , an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.
Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity ). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic outcomes, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes which may include ineligibility for Dean’s List, pass/fail elections, and grade forgiveness. Students may also face consequences from their home/major program and/or The Schreyer Honors College.
How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and
personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and
property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all
can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment
of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and
others, as well as a civil community.
In cases where academic integrity is questioned, the Policy on Academic Integrity indicates that procedure requires an instructor to inform the student of the allegation. Procedures allow a student to accept or contest a charge. If a student chooses to contest a charge, the case will then be managed by the respective college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. If that committee recommends an administrative sanction (Formal Warning, Conduct Probation, Suspension, Expulsion), the claim will be referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.
All Penn State colleges abide by this Penn State policy, but review procedures may vary by college when academic dishonesty is suspected. Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy and college review procedures is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us by going to the Contacts & Help page .
Accommodating Disabilities
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has resources for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources (SDR) website provides contacts for disability services at every Penn State campus. For further information, please visit the SDR website.
In order to apply for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability resources office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation based on the documentation guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability resources office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
Additional Policies
For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the World Campus Student Center website.
Disclaimer: Please note that the specifics of this course syllabus are subject to change; you will be responsible for abiding by any such changes. Your instructor will notify you of any changes.