We’ve spent the last few days discussing your arguments and debating their merits. One of the things I hope you will take from this course is an ability to hold a sustained conversation about something you’ve just heard about from someone who knows what they are talking about. Asking the insightful questions, making connections to subjects you are familiar with, and maintaining an appropriate air of decorum are all vital to rational discourse—it is fine to sit back and listen as others discuss, but make sure you are thinking about how they are talking and any questions, insights, or comments you might provide.

I returned your analyses today ((I don’t like making general comments about the class’s progress as a whole (since you’re not a mass but individuals), but nicely done!)). I explained why they were returned without numerical grades (but with plenty of annotations, suggestions, and praise), but if you’d like a longer explanation, see this post. The goal is to get you thinking about the specific things you are doing well and not so well rather than how to move a “B” to a “C.” In a perfect world you wouldn’t even think about the averaged score—just focus on the things you need to improve and you’ll do fine. Trust me. ((For extra (external) credibility: talk to last year’s students. They’ll tell you how to make it work.

Today we began a look at JFK’s inaugural ((Etymology of inaugural)) address (copy here). We’ll use it to better understand what makes a good argument and to explore some interesting rhetorical devices.