This course examines rhetoric as the art of finding and analyzing all the choices involving language that a writer might make in a situation so that the text becomes meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers. Through adaptation and emulation, we will seek to improve our own language. You will become mature and sophisticated consumers and creators of a variety of texts. By the end of the course, you will understand:

• what you read: the main point or thesis, the occasion or context, the author's motivation for writing, the tone and style;

• how a text is created to develop meaning and purpose including genre, organization, paragraphing, syntax;

• the relationship of the text's creation to its accomplishment, the purpose of academic intellectual prose, its meaning and effect;

• how to articulate your analysis of what you read;

• how to create, develop and support an argument, acknowledging the complexities and nuances of important issues;

• how to enter into a conversation with sources and develop a thesis and argument or exposition by synthesizing these conversations into your own writing;

• how to analyze and incorporate your analysis of visual texts into your writing.

This course is designed to help you write effectively and confidently in college courses, as well as in your professional and personal lives. You should expect to discuss some aspect of writing or the writing process every lesson.

Our study of writing will include works from a wide range of authors, genres and styles. You will gain expertise in critically evaluating various points of view and how they relate thematically to the world in which we live.

Participation is a key component to success in this class. You should expect to contribute fully to class and group discussions.

For all essays, you will receive a rubric. This rubric expresses the goals of the activity and should be used as a guide to focus your essay.

Marked essays will have notations to guide you towards fixing problem areas. You are strongly encouraged to review these comments and use them to improve your writing. Occasionally, students will be given the opportunity to resubmit work that they have reviewed. As the tasks become more complex and more demanding, students who fail to self-reflect during the course will suffer academically.

We will be doing lots of writing, reading, and discussion. Please come to class prepared and willing to participate.