1.1: Week 1 - Syllabus and Schedule

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“Thinking isn’t agreeing or disagreeing. That’s voting.” – Robert Frost

Through analysis of language and the study of the techniques of persuasion, this course emphasizes the power of words to shape opinions, attitudes and behavior. Students explore the critical thinking skills necessary to recognize logical fallacies and manipulative communication through the analysis of political rhetoric, commercial media and other materials. Students create arguments based on analyses and supported by evidence and logic. By the end of this course, the student will be able to meet the OWEAC Outcomes for WR 122.

Writing is a tool for personal, academic and professional empowerment. The essay form itself is a wonderful piece of linguistic technology for use in further educating oneself about a topic and then sharing your ideas with the world.

In this text, we will cover all aspects of the college writing process, including: the importance of developing sound critical and creative thinking skills, topic and thesis generation, research methodology, formatting and patterns of development. This text also explores the academic pillars of argument analysis and critical thinking skills, so we will be studying the way arguments are constructed to see how they work (or don’t work) in different contexts.