EH4131 composition and rhetoric Writing across the BA curriculum

why composition and rhetoric? What are they anyway? Composition (Oxford English Dictionary) 1. The action of putting together or combining; the fact of being put together or combined; combination (of things as parts or elements of a whole). 2. The forming (of anything) by combination of various elements, parts, or ingredients; formation, constitution, construction, making up. 3. The putting (of things) into proper position, order, or relation to other things; orderly arrangement; ordering.

Rhetoric (Oxford English Dictionary) The art of using language effectively so as to persuade or influence others, esp. the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques to this end; the study of principles and rules to be followed by a speaker or writer striving for eloquence. This module seeks to help you make a smooth transition to third level arts education, by bringing you together in one module with your fellow BA students to learn about you degree and about the nature of the third level essay assignment. In your lectures you will meet with members of faculty who will tell you about some of the fundamentals of writing in their areas, and about their own development as writers and scholars. You will also learn how to engage with our VLE (SULIS), turnitin, and online resources to support your study and your writing.

positive and negative connotations of the word rhetoric: positive, the art and science of persuasion: “She’s a brilliant rhetorician; she has done her research and has a real way with words and images…” negative, empty words, which sound impressive, with nothing to back them up: “That’s just rhetoric. Nothing will actually change…”

Transition to third level – ‘Making the Leap’ Sarah Gibbons, Michael Smalle, Deirdre Murphy Week 2 What is Student Engagement and Success? Understanding transition into 3rd level The differences between second and third level Expectation setting The First 7 Weeks programme Week 3 UL supports and services Your academic advisor Learning Support Centres Library peer advisors Specialised supports and services Your first semester timeline Time management Assessment at third level Week 4 Smart searching for your assignment By the end of this session, you will be able to: 1. Use the library to support you in your 1st year 2. Navigate the new library website 3. Identify sources for your assignment 4. Search relevant databases for journal articles 5. Use Google Scholar to find information 6. Critically evaluate sources 7. Develop a research strategy Weeks 5-12 Lecturer from across the Arts Faculty will speak to you about studying and writing right across the range of disciplines Tutorials week 3-12: Writing across the BA curriculum

Lectures will give students a sense of Their own experiences: Lectures, Weeks 5-12 Lectures will give students a sense of Their own experiences: how they become writers in their subjects, the sorts of adaptations they made to their writing styles and practices as they developed into scholars. The ‘sharp end’: what they look for in an essay in their discipline.

Tutorials In tutorials you will learn about some of the more technical aspects of writing at third level, about sources, electronic and printed, about note-taking, argument, structure and style. The tutorials will also provide a forum within which you can discuss and ‘workshop’, with your tutors and your peers, the assignments that you are doing in your four arts subjects.

Understand the importance of academic honesty. Learning Outcomes The lessons and assignments in this module are designed to develop student competencies as described below: Understand the basic components that make up the structure of academic writing. Apply the writing process to all essay assignments to demonstrate the ability to eliminate jargon, repetition, and incoherence to produce a smooth, vivid style appropriate to the subject and the audience. Apply and adapt the basic structure of an essay to any composition assignment. Understand the importance of academic honesty.

Each student will attend 1 lecture per week, and 1 tutorial Each student will attend 1 lecture per week, and 1 tutorial. In lectures you will be in larger groups with your peers in Arts. Tutorials are smaller groups in which you can discuss topics and address, in a ‘nuts and bolts’ way, the types of essay assignments you will be completing The exercises which take place in tutorials will be geared towards helping students to prepare their assignments for their other 4 modules/subjects. Assessment: You will be graded on attendance/participation in tutorials (40%), and a reflective essay of c. 1200 words (50%). 10% will be available for recording, in the form of a written paragraph, with your academic advisor in the first 7 weeks of semester. Title options…..? Your final essay will be submitted on turnitin (Class ID 15996416; Writing), but you will also submit a hardcopy to your tutor.

Sample hack: Paragraph without a topic sentence: The procedure is actually quite simple. First, you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run, this may not seem important but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first, the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another fact of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then one can never tell. After the procedure is completed one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually, they will be used once more, and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.

…and with: Doing the laundry when you move away to college need not be too onerous if you manage the task efficiently. The procedure is actually quite simple. First, you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run, this may not seem important but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first, the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another fact of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then one can never tell. After the procedure is completed one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually, they will be used once more, and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.