Aristotle defines rhetoric as
the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.
This course will teach you to identify the rhetorical strategies available in
select discursive genres. In this course, you will utilize analytic
and inductive reasoning, engage university resources, document evidence to
support your reasoning, and hone your research methods.
A large part of this class will encourage you to actively
participate in a research community. As such, as the class progresses, your
research questions and your research interests will take part in shaping the
class. To warm up to this, we will begin the class by focusing on different
modules. In a module on autobiographical writing, we engage with the primary
resource of When You Are Engulfed in
Flamesby David Sedaris. In a module on sustainability on Oahu, we will
read the novel The Islands at the End of
the World. For the final, independent research project, we will read The Craft of Research.
The majority of the grade for this class will be based four major
writing assignments. This will include: a personal essay, an essay based
on data you will conduct through personal interviews, an essay on
sustainability on Oahu, and a final research paper on a topic you will develop
with the class. Through these four assignments, you will complete the hallmarks
of the written communication foundation. You will become familiar with
composition methods, strategies for finding academic sources, and with the
resources of the UH Manoa Library. Since a large part of research is based
on reading comprehension, there will be some additional evaluative methods as
well, including online postings to a course website hosted through Laulima.
Required Texts
The Craft of
Research (3rd Edition)
When You Are
Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
The Islands at the
End of the World
A Course Reader