concepts in contexts

Welcome to Rhetoric for Writers. We will undertake studies in rhetoric in a cross-epochal way. That is, we will not begin in Ancient Greece and "work through" the ages, hitting all the key rhetorical theories and theorists along the way (this would be impossible in a semester). The cross-epochal approach compels us to think about what we are learning from across the ages and actively in the context of our daily lives (this is essentially how we think, as we cannot remove ourselves from the mental seductions of thinking about the now -- and why should we?). This thinking will focus upon carefully selected course concerns, worries and intrigues that have moved rhetoricians, rhetorical theorists, and scholars from antiquity to the present. There is, in many ways, "No New Tale to Tell." The questions arise when we ask, "How do I [with all that's in my life, happening right now, changing and moving, with the affordances of textual production today] move an audience to behave in a particularly desired way toward a goal?" Our initial and ongoing work in the course will help you identify arguments you would care to develop. Together, we will help you discover increasingly impressive approaches to constructing and performing them. 

I have designed the course to help you accomplish a few key learning objectives. Here, I will list them by linking them to key concepts, including critical thinking and composing on 

1. The nature of "public" and "private."
2. The nature of "knowledge" and "truth."
3. Relationships between "concepts" and "contexts."

NOTE: There will be overlap. These 3 concepts merely guide me in considering which course materials to share. I work organically toward the goal of creating assignments that will help you become better writers by sensitizing you to rhetorical theories and the ways they may assist you in your development. At times, the approach may seem uncertain, but studies show that uncertainty yields some of the most lasting forms of learning. Cognitive scientist Peter Dayan explains that, "one of the most influential models of behavioural learning has uncertainty at its heart" (2002, p. 1). In fact, take a minute, now, to think about some of the times in your educational experiences when uncertainty inspired productive thinking or maybe even got you to a breakthrough moment -- write for 5-7 minutes about it, now.

I will use Bb for Announcements only. For the most part, course materials are linked here, @ kairotica. You will create a course blog, to be listed at a "blogroll," and through it, you will participate as part of the "polis," the people of the "agora," which, in this case, refers to our class, the central meeting place. 

We will produce 2-3 major projects, and I will allot plenty of time to complete them. Remember and put into play my mantra: "Write early. Revise often." In fact, waiting to begin writing will defeat our purpose of taking on specific forms of rhetorical work together, as a community of scholars. It is in the doing that the work emerges and refines. In the doing is also where I will be able to see your efforts (important for "participation").

Each Friday, you will post thoughtful commentary on some discovery you've made during the week. This might take the form of an insight, inquiry, breakthrough, or it may be as simple as a viral video that provoked you in some way that aligns with course concepts (if you post a video, be sure to provide some contextualizing text about how you find it provocative and relevant to our study -- tell us why you are bringing it to the agora).

Now, read over The Legal (Syllabus), to be sure you can work with the parameters of the course. If not, think about another section. If you stay (I hope you do!), welcome!

Finally, the next 2 posts serve as examples from a previous course in Rhetoric. You can see that we attempted to explore current phenomenon rhetorically.

video via http://learnpsychic.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-to-learn-telekinesis.html