In which you change the world’s view of an issue near and dear to your heart.
In this essay you will be writing an original argument, but without the pesky required topic of your previous one.
You will be keeping a journal of your progress, so start now. In addition to this, you will be meeting with me daily to explain your progress, so set aside some time each night for your work.
Your first step in this process is to find a topic or issue that you are interested in. Journal your ideas and bring them to class tomorrow. Together we’ll be brainstorming possible approaches to the different topics and offering resources or knowledge.
We’ll work out a calendar and other guidelines in class tomorrow.
Here’s Obama’s Address to the Nation on December 1st, in which he outlines the plan for American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Transcript here.
Then check out his Nobel Acceptance Speech.
We finished up our discussion of the excerpts from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own today. Even after two days’ discussion, we still had difficulty coming up with a concise “punchline” for the work, so this is something we need to work on.
The handout you received contains information on Aristotle’s rhetorical genres and a breakdown of ethos devices. (Pathos and logos will follow as we move forward.) While rote memorization is not the best way to get a handle on how these devices work, do read over the list occasionally so you will recognize the devices when you come across them.
We’ll be discussing the three presidential speeches as we move through the handouts, as they clearly illustrate many of the concepts we’re working on. You can find the three speeches (and others) at AmericanRhetoric.com (great site, but watch for popups).
In case you missed the announcement: There will be no article analyses or index cards until further notice. We will pick them up again in the future, but right now we’ll be focusing on delving further into the devices and techniques behind the appeals.
Also, a surprised kitten: YAY!
