This course is designed to teach you effective strategies of persuasion common to writing and arguing in public contexts, with a special emphasis on writing for online audiences (on blogs, social media, and DIY publishing platforms). You will explore and apply theories of both contemporary and classical rhetoric, reading and writing as a scholar of persuasion and as a citizen actively invested in specific public issues that are circulating across news and entertainment media. You will write a variety of short opinion essays and exploratory inquiries, some of which will be shared with others in the class and others of which will have the option of being published to an online blogsite for which the professor serves as the editor.(You will have the option to write to a public audience anonymously or pseudonymously if you wish.)
The writing that you do for public audiences will be based on issues and arguments that you are passionate about and invested in; this includes issues that might be considered to be “merely” a part of pop culture, such as those related to sports or entertainment. In the past, students publishing their work for the course have been offered jobs in marketing and journalism, and/or they’ve been able to highlight their published work in resumes and applications for various jobs and/or advanced programs of study.
There will likely be one textbook to purchase for the course: Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, 5th Edition by Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee. This book can be rented for as little as $12.97 on Amazon. All other materials will be supplied.
The course is entirely online, and there are no mandatory synchronous sessions, so it will fit with most people’s schedules, whether they are working or traveling or even residing off-Island for the summer. No special skills required, save for a basic knowledge of how to use email and the web.
If you have questions, please email the instructor, Dr. Darin Payne, Associate Professor of English and current Director of the department’s Composition and Rhetoric program. He can be reached at darinp@hawaii.edu.