Style and Rhetoric

This course focuses on the two related disciplines of style and rhetoric in an immediate and usable mode readily applicable to the student's work in other courses and projects throughout the program. While there will be some revisiting of classical Aristotelian rhetoric, emphasis will be on the mode of the contemporary organizational voice, its demands, ethics, forms, and applications. In addition, students develop the ability to analyze already existing media products for their rhetorical style, content, intent, and audience. This exploration includes the creation of documents for specified rhetorical purposes and other documents embedded in real-world functionality. Students acquire skills at analyzing audience need, and learn to skillfully shape their writing to persuade, inform, and influence. Manuals of style will be thoroughly consulted so that students develop the ability to use these modes in everyday professional discourse.