Argumentative Writing

Argumentative Writing

This course is entirely online, with a mix of asynchronous work and synchronous class sessions over Zoom.

The course is designed to teach you effective strategies of persuasion common to essayistic writing and arguing in public contexts, with a special emphasis on writing for online audiences (on blogs, social media, and DIY publishing platforms such as Substack).

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.

The writing you do in the course will be based on issues and arguments that you are passionate about and invested in, even issues that might be considered to be “merely” a part of pop culture. Students will have the option to publish their written arguments to an online blogsite co-edited by the professor. 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.

The course is a Writing-Intensive course; it fulfills a 300-level breadth of field requirement for the English Major; and it fulfills elective writing credits for other colleges, such as the Shidler College of Business.

There will be no textbook to purchase or rent; the readings and writing that you do will be free and online.