Overview of Weeks 13-Week 15

Here's a simple fact: we use language to get what we want from people all the time, to persuade them that something is important or that our idea is the best one. For example, you plan what to say to borrow money from your parents, to ask a teacher for an extension on an assignment, or to get your friends to do something you want to do, but they may not. Granted, some of us are better at it than others; though everyone can improve. Having a strong command of the persuasive art of rhetoric will help you in the remainder of this course, in other courses, and more importantly, in your personal and civic life! 

In the next weeks, you will be studying rhetoric, the art of persuasion.  To be more specific, you are going to study the formal concepts behind what we naturally already do. Keep in mind, the terms may be new to you, but as stated above, these are concepts you have been tackling to different degrees of success throughout your life.

You will first learn about Aristotle's Persuasive Appeals to reasoning (logos), credibility/character (ethos), and emotions (pathos), and the strategies authors use to make them. While some of you may have been introduced to these concepts in high school, you will appreciate the deeper dive we take with them in this college-level course.

After Week 13's Zoom meetings, you will read sections form Writing Arguments, a free online textbook, and study a chart on Appeals & Strategies. In Week 14, you will complete a 50-point Discussion Forum and in Week 15 a multiple-choice exam, also worth 50 points. All of this will prepare you for Writing Project #4, a rhetorical analysis and evaluation. As always, if you have any questions, just ask! 

image13-792x792.jpgLearning Objectives:

By the end of this module, you should be able to :

  1. identify, define, and differentiate between rhetorical appeals and strategies; 
  2. read critically and analytically, identifying persuasive appeals and the strategies authors use to make them in nonfiction texts.
  3. use the writing process to begin to construct a rhetorical analysis and evaluation of a culturally relevant text.