Aloha! Since this course is designed to help you
hone your argumentative writing skills, we will begin our journey discussing
the basic tenets of rhetoric—the study of using language persuasively—and how
these tenets synergize to construct effective arguments. We will read various arguments from our
textbook Introducing Practical Arguments and
from other sources (news outlets, newspapers, etc.) and engage in a number of
activities (in-class discussions, reading presentations, etc.) that will help
you with the essays you will compose throughout the semester—approximately
twenty pages of polished, college level prose.
As I enjoy lively discussions in class, all students are expected to
participate; it goes without saying that all students should come to class
prepared. All of us are unique, and I
would like for us to remain attentive to that which makes us unique—our
interests, our families, our histories, and our senses of place—so that we can
share knowledge, but also interrogate how we know, or think we know, ourselves,
others, and the world around us.