1. The Rhetorical Situation
In college, writing is never just about "summarizing." It is about participating in a conversation.
Every piece of writing exists within a Rhetorical Triangle.
● Author (Ethos): Establishing credibility and authority. How do you present yourself?
● Audience (Pathos): Who are you talking to? What are their values, emotions, and
existing knowledge?
● Message (Logos): The internal consistency of the argument. Is it logical?
● Purpose: Why are you writing? (To persuade, to inform, to analyze, to call to action?)
● Exigence: The "spark" or urgent need that prompted the writing in the first place.
● Kairos: The "right time" or "opportune moment" for an argument to be made.
2. Elements of the Academic Essay
Freshman year is where students must move beyond the "Intro-Body-Conclusion" template and
into organic structure.
The Thesis Statement
● Not a Fact: "Smoking is bad for you" is a fact.
● Not an Opinion: "I like coffee" is a personal preference.
● A Claim: "The current tax on electronic cigarettes is insufficient to deter teenage usage
because..." (This is debatable and requires evidence).
The "Rule of Three" for Paragraphs (P.I.E.)
● P - Point: The topic sentence (the claim for this specific paragraph).
● I - Information/Illustration: The evidence (quotes, data, anecdotes).
● E - Explanation/Evaluation: The "So What?" Connect the evidence back to your main
thesis.
3. Logical Fallacies (The "Grade Killers")
Identifying these in readings—and avoiding them in your own work—is a huge part of the final
exam.
, Fallacy Definition Example
Ad Hominem Attacking the person instead of "We can't trust his environmental policy
the argument. because he's a jerk."
Slippery Slope Claiming one small step will "If we let students use AI for emails,
lead to a chain of disasters. soon they won't be able to think at all."
Straw Man Misrepresenting someone's "You want to lower the tuition? So you
argument to make it easier to just want the university to go bankrupt?"
attack.
Hasty Making a broad claim based on "I saw two people wearing hats today;
Generalization a tiny sample size. therefore, hats are the new national
trend."
Post Hoc Assuming that because B "I wore my lucky socks and we won; the
followed A, A must have caused socks caused the victory."
B.
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4. The Writing Process (Recursive vs. Linear)
College professors hate "one-and-done" drafts. Your PDF should emphasize that writing is
recursive (it loops back).
1. Pre-writing: Brainstorming, mind-mapping, and "shitty first drafts" (a technical term from
writer Anne Lamott!).
2. Drafting: Focusing on ideas rather than grammar.
3. Revision: "Re-seeing" the whole paper. Moving paragraphs, changing the thesis, or
deleting entire sections.
4. Editing: Fixing sentence-level flow and clarity.
5. Proofreading: The very last step. Checking for "the" vs. "them" or missing commas.
5. Documentation and Formatting (MLA 9 vs. APA 7)
Include a "Cheat Sheet" for the two most common styles.
MLA 9 (Common in Humanities)
● Focus: Authorship and Page Numbers.
In college, writing is never just about "summarizing." It is about participating in a conversation.
Every piece of writing exists within a Rhetorical Triangle.
● Author (Ethos): Establishing credibility and authority. How do you present yourself?
● Audience (Pathos): Who are you talking to? What are their values, emotions, and
existing knowledge?
● Message (Logos): The internal consistency of the argument. Is it logical?
● Purpose: Why are you writing? (To persuade, to inform, to analyze, to call to action?)
● Exigence: The "spark" or urgent need that prompted the writing in the first place.
● Kairos: The "right time" or "opportune moment" for an argument to be made.
2. Elements of the Academic Essay
Freshman year is where students must move beyond the "Intro-Body-Conclusion" template and
into organic structure.
The Thesis Statement
● Not a Fact: "Smoking is bad for you" is a fact.
● Not an Opinion: "I like coffee" is a personal preference.
● A Claim: "The current tax on electronic cigarettes is insufficient to deter teenage usage
because..." (This is debatable and requires evidence).
The "Rule of Three" for Paragraphs (P.I.E.)
● P - Point: The topic sentence (the claim for this specific paragraph).
● I - Information/Illustration: The evidence (quotes, data, anecdotes).
● E - Explanation/Evaluation: The "So What?" Connect the evidence back to your main
thesis.
3. Logical Fallacies (The "Grade Killers")
Identifying these in readings—and avoiding them in your own work—is a huge part of the final
exam.
, Fallacy Definition Example
Ad Hominem Attacking the person instead of "We can't trust his environmental policy
the argument. because he's a jerk."
Slippery Slope Claiming one small step will "If we let students use AI for emails,
lead to a chain of disasters. soon they won't be able to think at all."
Straw Man Misrepresenting someone's "You want to lower the tuition? So you
argument to make it easier to just want the university to go bankrupt?"
attack.
Hasty Making a broad claim based on "I saw two people wearing hats today;
Generalization a tiny sample size. therefore, hats are the new national
trend."
Post Hoc Assuming that because B "I wore my lucky socks and we won; the
followed A, A must have caused socks caused the victory."
B.
Export to Sheets
4. The Writing Process (Recursive vs. Linear)
College professors hate "one-and-done" drafts. Your PDF should emphasize that writing is
recursive (it loops back).
1. Pre-writing: Brainstorming, mind-mapping, and "shitty first drafts" (a technical term from
writer Anne Lamott!).
2. Drafting: Focusing on ideas rather than grammar.
3. Revision: "Re-seeing" the whole paper. Moving paragraphs, changing the thesis, or
deleting entire sections.
4. Editing: Fixing sentence-level flow and clarity.
5. Proofreading: The very last step. Checking for "the" vs. "them" or missing commas.
5. Documentation and Formatting (MLA 9 vs. APA 7)
Include a "Cheat Sheet" for the two most common styles.
MLA 9 (Common in Humanities)
● Focus: Authorship and Page Numbers.
