Seeing, Writing and Rhetoric

The primary aim of Writing 205/Writing Studio 2 is to help you become more adept at meeting the writing demands of the university. In your earlier work in writing courses, you may have focused on reflection or understanding what you have come to know through experience and observation.

Murray, Joddy. Morrismurray.net (2001). Academic>Courses>Writing>Rhetoric

Writing to Inform, Convince, and Persuade

This course introduces the writing process and the types of academic writing you may be expected to complete in your college career such as research papers, argumentative papers, and literature reviews. The course is designed to help you develop a clear thesis in a written paper and support that thesis with appropriate sources. Time will be spent discussing rhetorical elements in writing such as audience, purpose, and argumentative structure. In addition, you will practice steps in the writing process such as invention, research, organization, drafting, revision, and editing. Your assignments will report, synthesize, and draw conclusions regarding the significance of what you read. Assignments may include 1) summary or abstract; 2) rhetorical analysis; (3) short thesis paper; (4) prospectus; (5) evaluation or review of literature; (6) research paper. Some courses are taught in a computer classroom and some in a traditional classroom.

Ratliff, Clancy. University of Minnesota (2003). Academic>Courses>Writing>Rhetoric

Theories of Rhetoric and Composition

English 470 will explore some of the major theories of rhetoric and writing which shape the ways that we use language in social, educational, political, and professional situations. We will examine various definitions of rhetoric, key rhetorical concepts and debates, theories of writing, the impact of new technologies on rhetoric and writing, and philosophical questions, among others. Our trajectory for the course can be mapped across several different heuristics. We can say that we will begin with oral traditions of rhetoric, move to written traditions, and then to electric or online instantiations of rhetoric. Another way to think about the structure of the course is philosophically: we start with ancient concepts of language and thought, then move to modernist conceptions, and finish with postmodern ideas about the place of rhetoric in the world. While we won't be able to cover every historical period and every rhetorical concept, you should leave the class with an understanding of what rhetoric is, when, where, and how it can be deployed, and why rhetoric is important. The ultimate goal of the course is for students to understand rhetoric as a productive art that offers transformative possibilities.

Bay, Jennifer. Purdue University (2004). Academic>Courses>Writing>Rhetoric