Words matter. Of course, so do images and ideas, which can be expressed linguistically but also stylistically in terms of both the form and the function of a persuasive piece of communication. This course will therefore take up the rhetorical force of words (not to mention images and ideas) by first considering “rhetoric” itself not as a pejorative label but rather as a source of communicative power. Students will engage the uses (and abuses) of words and phrases, categories of language choices, varieties of verbal techniques, figures of argument, and more, all with the learning objective of developing a strong sense of rhetorical style. Emphasis will be on written argument, with some attention to reading, listening, and speaking. Consequently, you will analyze and then produce communications like micro-analysis papers, letters to editors, op-eds, and congressional testimonies. Students will then have the option to create an artful piece of persuasion for a final project in the form of an advertisement, a public service announcement, a podcast episode, or some other mode of public argumentation.
Prerequisites
Semester Offered
Fall