Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0155 - Making an Argument That Matter

This writing intensive course develops the communication skills that are necessary for college-level work. The class is premised on the view that writing well means entering into conversation with others. To explore the social activity of writing, students select discussion topics that matter to them. The semester builds toward a final in-class debate that dramatizes the give-and-take of academic arguments. In preparation for this work, we spend several weeks studying essays by well-regarded writers and developing a shared vocabulary for analyzing the components of academic writing. Subsequent class meetings address the skills that are essential for persuasive writing, including comparing and contrasting alternative viewpoints, experimenting with different ways to respond, assembling a critical conversation, seeing the other side's point of view, and assessing the effectiveness of one's argument.

Culture, Humanities, and Languages Independent Work Writing and Research Instructor: Daniel Block