The catalog description for ENG 306 first mentions that the course will cover the “theory and practice of written argument.” Our theory will come from studying what ancient Greek and Latin rhetoricians taught their students about how to use language to persuade. We will, I hope, discover that–oddly enough–these millennia-old theories in fact do have striking relevance to writing produced today. Our practice will be producing informal and formal writing on contemporary issues: we will begin with issues arising from your participation as students in an institution of higher learning; then, in the latter part of the semester, you will be selecting, investigating, and writing about issues of your own choosing. Throughout the semester, you will be reprising what those classical rhetoricians taught their students to do: participate in debate about important (and often quite controversial) civic issues. (No lack of those these days.)
The second part of the catalog description for this course indicates that it will emphasize “the role of invention [finding things to say] in argumentative discourse” and “the nature of rhetorical proof.” The course text, a classic in the field, will help us with both of these tasks. We will also be looking at how others have found things to say and said it effectively (that’s what “rhetorical proof” means); and we will learn better how to do that ourselves.
Class Requirements and Procedures
Letters to the class, posted to the class’s Laulima site (20% of the course grade)
A portfolio based on the letters to the class (10%)
Two substantial rhetorical analyses (20%)
Two major argumentative essays (40%)
Class attendance (10%)
We will work our way through the course text, applying what we are learning to, first, writing about issues that involve where you are going to school: the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (I was recently the Faculty Administrator for the UH-Mānoa General Education Office; so I have lots of material from that nearly five-year experience to share); and, second, to issues that the class itself decides to investigate. This is decidedly not a lecture course, so be prepared to do some careful reading and thinking, a lot of writing, the taking of (and maybe even the abandonment of a few) positions, and what I hope will be productive collaboration with your classmates.
Since this class is writing intensive, we will also spend time in class talking about writing as a process: your four major pieces of writing will all go through a process of drafting, getting feedback, revising, and editing.
Course Text (available at the UH-Mānoa Bookstore in the Campus Center)
Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee, Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, 5th edition (Pearson, 2011).