Rhetoric and Writing
Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts
Essential to the DRBU curriculum is an emphasis on writing. The ability to write is not viewed merely as a skill, but is instead considered integral to the ability to think clearly and critically. With this in mind, attention to writing is embedded in all courses. All instructors will implement current writing pedagogy with an eye toward the way in which reading, class discussion, and clear thinking are enhanced and articulated in the writing process.
Two courses will be dedicated in the freshman year to ensure that by the end of the first year all students have met basic criteria for college-level writing. These abilities are practiced and refined throughout the four-year program and culminate in a senior essay, written under the careful guidance of a faculty member.
Students take two courses in the senior year that are designed to provide instruction and resources to complete their senior essays. A tutoring program will be available for any students requiring or requesting additional support for their writing.
Selected Readings from Rhetoric and Writing
Crider, The Office of Assertion: An Art of Rhetoric for the Academic Essay
Plato, Phaedrus
Bizzell and Herzberg, The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present
Selections of poetry and prose
It’s hard to write. It’s hard to think, especially to think clearly. Writing has a way of revealing the cracks in our thinking; it’s a solitary activity, almost monastic. Just you alone with your own voice, your own thoughts and second thoughts; you listening to your inner best and worst critic. And from all of this struggle, close self-listening, rubbing and polishing, something of a gem in rough emerges. Writing in this honest, painstaking, revelatory way is the hidden curriculum of our program, and is actually the best, though invisible, stellar teacher on our faculty.