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Overview

Welcome/Introductions
1st, let’s go for it: In-class reading, discussion, and writing activities on Monday.

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Writing = Your Representative

The better you write, the better you look. Writing = public.. Put your best self on display

Speaking and writing = communication. Communication is natural and evolutionary.
Writing = a representation of thinking. It comes later and is artificial. (There’s nothing naturally “birdy” about the word “bird,” for instance.) Writing is harder because it is weird.
Writing is also a skill. Practicing skills is good. If you want to become a better hitter in baseball, you don’t sit around not hitting, right?
Every career involves communicating clearly, which means writing well!

← ←← = two periods the first time I wrote that

…not a good first impression for you guys…gotta revise…

Get Better at Being a Person

Reading, thinking, writing, and rewriting also help you become a better person, which is:

(1) good in and of itself and part of the reason you are at SVC.
(2) intelligence, communication, and culture show that other adults should take you seriously.

This Benedictine principle of conversatio has a lot to do with what we do in class, the “process of letting go in day-to-day life of self-centered preoccupations and false securities” whereby all move out of their comfort zone for the sake of learning and integrity…we seek to challenge realities we often take for granted, to foster intellectual and personal breakthroughs, and to cultivate habits of mind that will transform students, faculty and staff alike, nurturing deep learning and generosity over a lifetime” (Traditions).

Win Arguments

Figuring out how to say something original with evidence behind it is good preparation for both Work and Life. Every strategy we cover in class also applies to regular conversation.
Is your son’s sports camp counselor, who has obviously fallen on his head, convinced that Lebron was better than Michael? Do you, middle-aged dad want to win an argument with this teenager? Use counterargument:�

Boom. Boom. Boom. I win. I gave you an inch and took 55 miles, then I changed the conversation twice :)

“Maybe he is better, but Michael mattered more because we had such limited opportunities to see his plays over and over back in the day. Also, Lebron doesn’t play as beautifully, man, so I just liked watching Jordan more. I also was a kid so I was so into it. Honestly, Magic and AI are my favorites, anyway.”

Succeeding in Writing at College & in Life

Your other professors also want you to think and write clearly.
Writing–or the ideas part–can be fun if you try. If you don't try, it won't be.
Have you ever played a baseball/football/basketball, etc., game when you weren’t into it, for whatever reason? Was it fun? No. Did you ever play a game when your team needed you to do something to get the win? Were you into it? Yes. Why? Because it felt like it mattered.
Find some part of something we read or talk about that interests you as a person, and start from there. That doesn’t mean you can write an essay about your life and nothing else, but you can isolate an idea that you like. I like fishing, so we are reading a lot about fishing. Maybe you HATE fishing. Awesome. Use that energy to write better.
Everyone needs to improve their writing, and practice helps. It’s not fun to try to hit a baseball if no one ever shows you how, so pay attention when we review how to do something with writing!