courtesy the Newseum News History Gazette
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Ancients
drew
this image showing their use of styluses, ca. 2,500 B.C. Styluses
allowed them to make markings and incisions on clay or waxed tablets.
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Is writing simply a gift to a few, or is it a skill we
can teach? In a world of instant information, sound bites, and split-second
video images, how can we teach students to appreciate the beauty of
prose and, even more importantly, to develop and sustain their own thoughts
in a coherent piece of writing?
The premise that underlies this section: Although a few
writers may be born with the gift of prose, the rest of us can learn
skills to make the expression of our opinions and ideas just as valid.
Through this section of "Only a Matter of Opinion?"
we will explore the tools and techniques of persuasive writing. We will
provide techniques for a strong introduction
and rhetorical strategies for effective development of ideas. We will
consider how to think and write with logic,
and how to recognize fallacies of logic
in our own writing and that of others. To that end, we have provided
a fallacies of logic quiz to
test how many flaws in reasoning students can recognize.
As students practice writing and drawing to express opinion,
they will develop confidence in their competence as communicators.