Rhetoric and Composition

Catalog description

ENGL 15 is an intensive, rhetorically based experience in reading and writing that will prepare you both to understand the communications that surround you and to succeed in your own communication efforts. Thus, in this course, we will focus specifically on analyzing verbal and visual texts (our reading) as well as on producing such texts (our writing), always in terms of rhetorical principles. Even if the term rhetoric isn't familiar to you, you bring a good deal of rhetorical skill to this class: you already know how to gauge the way you perceive and produce language according to the speaker, the intended audience, and the purpose. You may not always gauge perfectly, your perception may not always be accurate, and your production may not always be successful, but you still often try to interpret and choose language that is appropriate to the rhetorical situation. When you do not succeed, you often try again. The goal of ENGL 15 , then, is to help you build on what you already know how to do as you become a more confident reader and writer. You will become more attuned to your goals as a writer, more aware of the ongoing conversation surrounding the topic, and more resourceful in terms of the appropriate delivery of your information, the rhetorical appeals at your disposal, and the needs and expectations of your audience. You will also learn to research and synthesize multiple outside sources in order to support your arguments effectively and ethically. In other words, we hope you'll come to write with skill, conviction, sophistication, and grace, if not immediately, then soon. In the process, you'll learn how to read more critically as well. Credit toward degree requirements is limited to one course from: ENGL 15 , ENGL 15A , ENGL 15E , ENGL 15S , ENGL 30H , ENGL 30T , ESL 15 , ENGL 137H , CAS 137H , or LA 101