Objectives:

• Setting the Right Tone
• Wiki Orientation
• Determining Students' Skill Levels
• Determining Students' Interests

Intro to 1020

Housekeeping

Card Info

• Name (and preferred title)
• e-mail
• major/career path
• hometown
• television character you most identity with
• (grade you wish to receive in this course)

Laptop Startup

• Obtain laptop from cabinet and fill in sign-in sheet
• Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to access login window
• Login with username "student" and password "*student"
• Sign laptop back in when finished (make sure chord is re-plugged)

Class Orientation

• SyllaBus review
• Quick intro to Wikiformatting & SandBox

Writing Sample

Respond to the following questions on a sheet of paper. Try to fill an entire page (skipping every other line).

• What is your previous experience with writing inside/outside english courses?
• What do you hope to gain from this class? (skills, strategies, etc.)
• Are there any particular topics or issues that you would like us to engage in class reading and discussion? (what do you like to read about/discuss with others?)

Assignment for Thursday

• Create an wiki handle on our CourseRoster page by the end of the day (include "real" name, e-mail, perhaps a little bit about yourself, links, pictures, etc.). You might also wish to create an account through the Log-in function (at the top of this page).

• Read chapters 1 ("Why Argue") and 2 ("Reading Arguments") in Good Reasons (1-29).
• Read the wikipedia entry on enthymeme
• Read Gorgias' "Encomium to Helen." If you're unfamiliar with the Trojan War or the figure of Helen in greek mythology, you might want to read up on it or at least see a crap movie about it.
• Read excerpts from Plato's Gorgias. If you're feeling extra ambitious, then you might also peep the optional reading, Bruno Latour's "Socrates' and Callicles' Settlement - or, The Invention of the Impossible Body Politic," an analysis of what the conflict between Plato and Gorgias might mean for us today.
• When you've finished reading, complete our FirstResponse assignment before 9 AM on Thursday, January 15