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Writing is a way of entering a conversation, including the larger civil discourse in society. Academic writing is part of this, just as texting with friends in writing as a way of entering into conversation.
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Unlike in spoken conversation, in writing, you have to create the context and tone on your own.
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Developing your “writer’s sense” about communicating within the writing situation is the most important thing you should learn in first-year composition.
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Much more is expected of college students cognitively in college reading and writing.
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Critical thinking for problem solving is an analytical process that we practice intensely in college and use every day to various degrees. It can be learned through practice.
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The rhetorical appeals -- ethos, pathos, logos -- need to be used in balance with kairos for effective argumentation.
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Identifying logical fallacies and inappropriate appeals to pathos are important for your writing and ideas to be taken seriously.
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Rhetorical analysis allows us to understand how the messages that surround us function.