A "World View" of our WR121 Discourse Community

As we enter into this course on argumentation, we will respond to many arguments - verbal, written, and visual - to explore what they mean or don't mean, and why they matter, or not.

This is a visual representation of where our classroom discourse community is "from."
Does it mean anything? Does it matter? Why? How?

-Josh G.

Joe Najdek RR1

I overall agree with Michael Kinsley’s argument that modern technology has increased mankind’s personal freedom. I am so reliant on the internet, my computer and my television that I couldn’t even imagine a world without them.  The internet is one of the greatest inventions of all time because it allows us to explore and connect to the world every night. Without those freedoms, such as the right to choose, which allows us to be independent; we would have limited options for entertainment and work. In turn the government would have an increased chance to take away our freedoms for nothing in return. In a way, modern technology does show slight similarities to the example of George Orwell’s 1984. What we buy, how we act and sometimes even how we think is controlled by what we see online and in films.  Sometime in the future our freedom of speech could be in danger but that is not directly linked to technology. With the increased personal freedom comes increased personal responsibility. What is appropriate varies with different people in different areas. I think that anything in technology or the media is “potentially dangerous material”. Pornography is vulgar and everyone knows it exists; nobody is forced to watch it. The only cost of having too much personal freedom, in my opinion, is discovering something harmful.   In the end we, especially in America, have the free will to pretty much use, watch, and do whatever we want. 

The Enthymemes and Logic of Monty Python

Watch this and respond to/analyze the enthymematic claims and chain of logic in this scene from Monty Python.

How can we apply the structural forms of persuasion and 'evidence' to our argumentation and logic?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g

Welcome to WR121

Why have a blog for the course?

The course philosophy is to 'train' in the same way that we actually engage with the world. A classroom separated from 'the world' or 'life' is a fallacy.

Even when we isolate ourselves within a windowless room to 'learn' at a university, we remain connected to the influences, relationships, and thoughts that compose our lives.

Keeping a blog helps recognize this connection and offers the opportunity to practice the art of critical thinking and ethical argumentation in relation to the actual methods and venues of interaction that we use. Additionally, it offers students both the challenge of writing to a 'live' audience and the comfort of expressing ideas that they already 'own' and are familiar with, rather than trying to think, argue, and compose in the isolation of a classroom.

The ultimate goal is not to 'teach' students compartmentalized information about writing, but rather to write and improve the logic, persuasiveness, and delivery of students' writing by having to ethically convince, or sway, a discourse community's views on a given issue.