ENGL 259
Argument and Persuasion
Course Description
What persuasive strategies make some people and groups more convincing than others? Have you ever "won" an argument only to lose something larger in the process? Why do we use war metaphors to describe the act of arguing? In this course we will examine our assumptions and experiences with making arguments and explore theories of persuasion from the fields of rhetoric, composition, and literacy studies. We experiment with using language persuasively to become more aware of the rhetorical situation, including audience, genre, context, and purpose. Emphasis will be given to both raising awareness in students, personal approaches to argument, and also raising awareness of notable moments in the history of persuasion in social, cultural, and political contexts.
Notable Papers
Click the link above to view the rhetorical situation of Stokely Carmichael’s speech he gave to Berkeley in October 1966 using techniques of LLoyd Bitzer.
Click the link above to view coming to terms with Martin Luther King Jr.'s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail" using the techniques of Joseph Harris.
"Locavore is Not Bizarre, But Rather Honorable"
Click the link above to view Jonnie using Sonja Foss's methods to analyze the ideology of locavores.
"A Good Wife Always Knows Her Place?"
Click the link above to view Jonnie using the techniques of Harris, Bitzer, Foss, Berlin, and Foucault to analyze the discourse community of radical feminists' manifestos during second-wave feminism.
Reviewing Rhetorical Methods According to Joseph Harris and Lloyd Bitzer
Click the link above to view Jonnie understanding rhetorical methods of Harris and Bitzer.
Understanding Sonja Foss and James Berlin
Click the link above to view Jonnie understanding Foss and Berlin.
Discourse According to Michel Foucault
Click the link above to view Jonnie understanding discourse according to Foucault.
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