Instead of learning the art of academic prose by writing about the great questions,the things man has always struggled to know, we will consider the ordinary, the basic, even the seemingly dull. This class will not consider the existence of God, but the existence of cheese, we will not make sense of the structure of the universe, but we'll take a stab at understanding the structure of bathroom plumbing. We will even consider our own writing techniques as fruitful subjects of scholarly inquiry. With frequent papers and careful revision, we'll look to discover the extraordinary complexity of ordinary things, and to engage ourselves and our readers with ideas they have never had before about everything from wrestling to paperclips. Some people talk and talk and talk without saying much at all.
Many people write the same way.
Students of this class will learn how to avoid this dilemma by writing and rewriting numerous short papers concerning common problems. The papers will then be discussed in relationship to form and content. Reading assignments will be used as a framework of examples. A more effective means of written communication will be the goal. These question will motivate us as we study essays written by critics of culture.