Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

•Use critical thinking and problem-solving in the context of research to locate, evaluate, and select sources; draw reasonable inferences from a variety of sources; perceive and establish relationships among multiple sources; analyze the structure and organization of sources as well as the structure and organization of one’s own writing.
•Identify and define issues at the core of an argument in order to analyze the main support of a written argument.
•Use critical thinking to write effective arguments; support and develop one’s own argument; concisely summarize written arguments from primary and secondary sources; articulate varying points of view, particularly those at odds with the writer’s point of view, in a fair and empathetic way.
•Use argument as a means of inquiry as well as persuasion.
•Suit writing style/voice to the intended audience and purpose.
Additional Honors Outcomes:
Enhances the experience of the traditional WR122 course by enabling students to:

•Enjoy an increased awareness of language by understanding the historical context of current principles of verbal and written discourse and through the use of classical and neo-classical rhetorical theory.
•Comfortably and competently use the vocabulary of rhetoric theory and apply the terminology of rhetoric theory to current cultural phenomena and circumstances.
•Use basic principles of psycho-and socio-linguistic self-defense as cued by the classical and neo-classical rhetoricians encountered.
•Enrich their lives through an understanding not only of the “how” of discourse, but also through an understanding of the “why” of discourse.

Students will create a community enhanced by vocabulary and practices of classical rhetoric theory. For example, students will extend principles of dialectics to current inquiry-based research writing.
Students will become active in the academic community by presenting their works through class presentations, proposals submitted to conferences, and/or articles submitted to publications.

The instructor will assess students using the following:
• out-of-class writing
• responses to assigned texts
• class discussion
• in-class writing
• research tasks
• multiple drafts of academic essays
The instructor may assess students using the following:
• study questions
• reading journal
• presentations

General composition concerns, such as:
• audience
• purpose
• process:
o invention
o arrangement
o style
o memory
o delivery
General rhetorical concerns, such as:
• dialectics
• topoi
• situation of discourse or argument
• forensic discourse
• deliberative discourse
• epideictic discourse
• ethos, pathos, logos
• imitatio
• burden of proof, presumption of favor
• belletrism
• appeals to various psychological faculties
• awareness of the academic community
Elements of argument, such as:
• inquiry
• persuasion
• issues
• assumptions
• fallacies
• claims
• evidence
• thesis
• logic
Elements of research, such as:
• validity of sources
• library resources
• internet/electronic resources
• plagiarism
• paraphrase/summary/quotation
• inference/analysis/synthesis
• awareness of publications
Elements of style, such as:
• diction
• syntax
• tone
• figurative language
• sexist language
• usage levels