Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford 2004 - 2005
Welcome to Stanford and to the Program in Writing and Rhetoric! When
you enroll in your Writing and Rhetoric course this year, you will be
participating in one of Stanford's oldest traditions: first-year writing
has been taught at Stanford since its founding and was the first requirement
put in place by the University. You will also be engaging in highly
intensive courses devoted to the arts and crafts necessary to communicate
your ideas with clarity and cogency across a range of genres and using
multiple media. As you work toward these goals, you can expect meticulous
and consistent individual attention from your writing instructor.
Small Writing Classes
Writing and Rhetoric classes enroll no more than 15 students, and
all classes are conducted as seminars in which your participation will
be crucial. Often your work will include close reading of and responding
to the writing of classmates; these workshops will be augmented by a
minimum of three individual conferences you will have with your instructor
during the term. Best of all, we can guarantee that the hard work you,
your classmates, and your instructor do will pay off both personally
and professionally: whether you plan to be an engineer or a poet, a
computer scientist or a social scientist, a business executive or a
filmmaker, strong writing ability will play a major role in your future
successes.
Back to Top
Developing as a Writer and Thinker
You may be surprised to learn that writing ability develops slowly,
over the course of many decades of a person's life. Thus, every student
comes to college with a variety of strengths and weaknesses in writing.
The good news is that the college years are ones in which, with excellent
instruction and continuous practice, you can expect to make major progress
in developing strong writing abilities. Indeed, no matter what your
own current writing strengths and weaknesses, your Writing and Rhetoric
courses will provide you with the opportunity not only to gain strength
as a writer but also to reflect on the gains you have made and to make
careful plans for further development of your writing abilities.
Another surprising fact about writing development is that it does
not occur in neat steps or regular increments but rather in a kind of
slow, looping spiral. As a result, you may find yourself on a writing
plateau for a while, and at other times you may be amazed at the advances
in your writing from one assignment to the next. Whether you enter Writing
and Rhetoric with major weaknesses and make remarkable improvements
by the end of your course or whether you come in with some major strengths
that move you toward genuine excellence in ten short weeks, in the end
almost all students can identify several particular areas in which their
writing has gained power.
Back to Top
Emphasis on Argument, Research, and Revision
I believe in miracles in every area of life except writing. The
only thing that produces good writing is hard work. -- Isaac
Bashevis Singer
The art of writing has for backbone some fierce attachment to
an idea. -- Virginia Woolf
I don't see writing as a communication of something already discovered
[but] as a job of experiment. It's like any discovery job; you
don't know what's going to happen until you try it. -- William
Stafford
Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with
a purpose. -- Zora Neale Hurston
These quotations illustrate one of the basic principles of writing
at Stanford: good writing and good thinking are inseparable. As a
result, the goals of your PWR courses are simple: to engage you immediately
in crafting substantive research-based argument, using rhetorical
principles to gain increasing control over the intellectual and stylistic
force of your ideas and to improve your ability to analyze the ideas
of others.
Back to Top
Writing and Rhetoric Courses
Purpose
The writing and rhetoric requirement develops your abilities
in analysis, academic argument, research-based writing and oral and
multimedia presentations of research. As a Stanford undergraduate,
you are required to take two PWR courses and one Writing in the Major
course. The first PWR course (PWR 1) is taken in your first year.
The second PWR course (PWR 2) is taken by the end of the sophomore
year. The third course is taken after you declare your major. While
PWR 1 is taught in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, the second-level
course is offered by PWR and by other programs and departments.
As a student, you will develop increasingly sophisticated writing
abilities. Writing and rhetoric courses will engage you in producing
complex and well-researched academic arguments and oral presentations,
and the rhetorical principles you learn and apply will help you approach
writing and making presentations for courses in other fields with
confidence.
PWR 1 and PWR 2
PWR 1 focuses first on elements of academic analysis and argument--understanding
a writer's stance, developing a supportable argumentative thesis,
discovering, developing, and deploying cogent proofs, making appropriate
organizational and stylistic choices, and writing for a range of
audiences. Later in the term the course focuses more intensively
on research-based writing, including the effective use of print and
non-print sources, primary and secondary sources, and data based
on fieldwork. In PWR 1, you will focus most of your attention on
carrying out significant research and using it as the basis for a
polished and persuasive research-based essay.
PWR 1 sections are taught in a seminar/workshop format with no more
than 15 students in each class. These small individual classes explore
writing and rhetoric from a range of perspectives; for example, Writing
the American West; Art, Arrangement, and Authority: The Rhetoric
of Museums; Visual Rhetoric; The Rhetoric of Rebellion; The Rhetoric
of Business and Its Critics; and The Rhetoric of Science.
Building on the analytical and research-based writing providing
the focus of PWR 1, the second-level course, PWR 2, will give you
opportunities to develop more sophisticated abilities in oral and
multimedia presentation of research. In PWR 2, you will analyze written,
oral, and visual texts, carry out research projects requiring work
with a range of sources and methods, and present research in both
written and oral forms. Examples of PWR 2 courses offered in the
past include Changing the World: How to Be Heard in the Age of New
Media; The Rhetoric of Play; Objects of Argument: Art, Arrangement,
and Design in Museum Displays; and The Rhetoric of Sustainability.
As a general rule, you can expect to complete a minimum of three
to four major writing assignments in each term and to work intensively
on revising each piece of work. These assignments will involve analyzing
a range of texts as well as identifying, evaluating, and using multiple
sources in support of academic and research-based arguments. In-class
discussions on the nature of intellectual property and plagiarism,
on how to read with an increasingly critical eye, and on how to evaluate,
integrate, and cite sources will provide some of the most important
academic learning experiences during your years at Stanford.
Enrolling in PWR
During orientation, you will be notified of the term in which you are assigned
to enroll in your PWR courses. All PWR course descriptions for the current
quarter will be listed on the PWR Website at http://pwr.stanford.edu/courses.
After studying the offerings, submit a list of your top seven choices through
the online Section Preference Form. The PWR office will consider all student
preferences and strive to place you in one of your top choices. Announcements
regarding the course request process and other important dates will be
posted regularly on the PWR web pages.
PWR 1 or PWR 2 with Community Writing Project (CWP)
If you sign up for a class designated "CWP," you will
write at least one project during the term-- a grant proposal,
pamphlet, news article, profile, or website--for a local
community service agency. The Community Writing Project Coordinator
provides an orientation for each class, including a description
of participating agencies. Community service assignments
are then made in consultation with the instructor and the
CWP Coordinator.
Transfer Courses
Transfer students who have taken writing courses at other colleges or universities
may be able to apply them toward the writing and rhetoric requirement.
Initial evaluation of transfer courses will be done by the Manager of External
and Examination Credit in the Registrar's office.
Directed Writing (PWR 4)
Students who wish to take an additional writing class to continue
concentrating on the development of their writing may enroll in PWR
4. The class meets once a week as a group, and since classes are
small, instructors tailor assignments individually and meet with
each student once a week.
For other PWR courses, consult the PWR section in the University
Bulletin.
For the Time Schedule information, check the offerings available
through AXESS or click here.
Back to Top
The Undergraduate Writing and Rhetoric Team
In addition to your PWR courses, you can participate in the Program
through the following activities and groups:
- The Undergraduate Advisory Board (UAB). This group, which
meets regularly each term, provides advice to the Director and
Associate Director of PWR. You can find more information at http://pwr.stanford.edu/contact/UAB/index.html,
or contact
the UAB directly.
- Undergraduate Writers' Nights. Held in the Stanford Writing
Center, Writers' Nights will feature Stanford undergraduates reading
from their own writing. Visit our Calendar
of Events for information about upcoming events.
- PWR Orientation Undergraduate Panel. This group, often
including UAB members, makes a presentation at the annual PWR orientation,
held right before the opening of autumn term.
Back to Top
