ENG 104: Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning

Whether we are aware
of it or not, all of us intuitively use argumentation to justify our acts and
beliefs to ourselves and to those around us. Simply put, argumentation is the
study of communication that seeks to persuade others. This introductory course
will begin by establishing and examining the claim as the most basic element of
argument before moving into a study of its more sophisticated and complex
components. Students should expect to study both formal and informal
argumentation in relation to rhetoric,
logic, and dialectic—all of which will be examined in their classical context.