Intro to Economic & Political Thought Writing

Module 1 Dr. Carol E. Newell 9 September 2013

Agenda
Intros (ourselves and syllabus) Why focus on writing? Overview of semester and writing assignments Considering rhetorical situations. Upcoming

A course about big ideas

The State of Nature, the Nature of the State Liberty, property, equality

Democracy, Forms of Governance

Competition and Markets Wealth, Inequality, and the Role of Government

A course about big ideas and communicating them

Few professions exist that dont require you to express yourself in writing almost every day. Writing functions as a crucial space for thinking and communicating. (If you can write it, you can think it.) The written word is one of the easiest ways you can mark yourself as uneducated QUICKLY.

Writing Rules Matter!

Because they convey information about you.

Punctuation matters
(and there are tons of memes to prove it)

Word count matters (especially in the job place)

Deadlines matter

But some writing rules are guides that change depending on the situation.
Five paragraphs? Paragraph size? Sentence size? Contractions? First person? Fragments? Humor? Quotes?

The situation they depend on is called a rhetorical situation.

Aristotle Classification of Persuasion

Ethos

Logos

Pathos

Aristotle Classification of Persuasion

Writer/Speaker
Ethos

Text

Logos

Pathos

Audience

Aristotles Classification of Persuasion

Writer/Speaker
Telos Ethos Kairos

Purpose

Setting

Text

Logos

Pathos

Audience

Rhetorical Situation Analysis

Describes the different circumstances that should affect what a writer says.
Each element of the rhetorical situation has a corresponding appeal (logical, emotional, moral/character, immediacy, purpose)

Describes the different circumstances that should affect what a reader discerns.
Each element can be analyzed to determine what (and how) a speaker/writer/text is trying to convince you to believe.

Examine the Rhetorical Situations

Ethos (speaker/writer, character) BLUE Logos (content, logic) YELLOW Pathos (audience, emotion) PURPLE Telos (purpose) GREEN Kairos (setting, immediacy) RED

Lincolns Gettysburg Address

Grocery List
Written on the back of a receipt:
1% Milk Whole wheat bread Non-fat grated mozzarella cheese Cookies (for grandkidsyou decide) 8 bananas

Written in a text:
Milk Sandwich bread Cheese (pizza) Treat bananas

Rhetorical Situations Failures

Jane O. Vershare

Am so excited for date with sweetie tonight!!! 6 months (and counting)!!! Hugs and kisses to my amazing guy!!!

Next Monday: Module 2

Read:
Harvey, Chapter 1: Concision

Writing:
Explicate the rhetorical situation for ONE--either:
Zakaria, The Rise of Illiberal Democracy Rowen, When Will the Chinese People be Free Menand, The Un-political Animal

250 words Bring hard copy to class; submit online by 11pm 9/16