For students of English Language and Cultures the year 2008 is an exciting one. In November the American voters will decide who becomes the world’s most powerful man, or woman – for the first time in history – when they elect their president. We have the opportunity to study the events in the largest Anglophone country as they unfold. In this course we are going to study the 2008 US presidential election from a legal, political, cultural and linguistic point of view. In the first weeks of the course we will look at what the United States Constitution says about the election of the president and vice-president. We will then study the political circumstances in which this election takes place. We will try to get an idea of what the election means to ordinary Americans. Throughout, we will draw comparisons with the Dutch electoral system. But our focus will be on how the presidential candidates use language to persuade people to vote for them. Our tool will be classical rhetoric, the art of speaking well and of persuasion, and stylistics. We will learn how to analyse the debates that we will see on TV. We will study speech writing and examine campaign speeches. Finally, we will ourselves try to write speeches and hold debates.
Rooster
The timetable will be available from June 1st on the Internet.
Onderwijsvorm
One two-hour seminar per week.
Leerdoelen
*Understanding the electoral system of the United States and the role of the presidency and vice-presidency in the American Constitution. *Understanding the role of politics and political rhetoric in American culture. *Knowledge of rhetoric, speech-writing, and debating in theory and practice. *Improving students\’ spoken and written English.
Literatuur
*Ellis, R.J. & Nelson, M. (2006). (Eds.). Debating the presidency: conflicting perspectives on the American executive. Washington DC: CQ Press. *Milkis, S.M. & Nelson M. (2008). _The American presidency: origins and developments 1776-2002. _Washington DC: CQ Press. *Ritter, K.W. (2003). Presidential speech-writing: from the New Deal to the Reagan revolution and beyond. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. *Texts and recordings on Blackboard.
Toetsing
Class participation (discussions, short writing assignments and presentations, speech writing and debate): 40%; test (essay questions): 60%.
Informatie
English Department, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102c, tel. 071-5272144.
English@let.leidenuniv.nl
Blackboard/webpagina
No Blackboard is available.