EAVESDROP, v.i. Secretly to overhear a catalogue of the crimes and vices of another or yourself.
—Bierce, Devil’s Dictionary
Now that telephones, correspondence, photo albums, music collections, shopping malls, and filing cabinets have merged into sleek 4-inch devices, we face an ever-blurring distinction between business and recreation, public and private life. In light of this growing ambiguity, we must reevaluate our sense of what is and what is not a violation of privacy. How do we draw such distinctions? On what are our expectations of privacy based? In class discussion and written analysis, we will critically examine the term “privacy” in an effort to better understand its social underpinnings and accepted limitations. By reading a variety of texts from a number of disciplines, you will learn to think rhetorically about purpose, audience, and genre, recognizing the different ways writers achieve their desired rhetorical effects and learning to do the same in your own writing. Additionally, this course will teach you that good writing doesn’t “just happen” in one attempt. By the end of the semester, you will see writing as a process, one which involves repeatedly revisiting your essays in response to individual conferences and peer evaluations.
Required Texts and Supplies:
- The Arak Anthology. 20th ed. Newark, DE: University of Delaware, 2013–2014.
- Williams, Joseph M. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. 11th ed. New York: Pearson, Longman, 2013.
- Zamyatin, Yevgeny. We. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.
- Access to Sakai
- One class notebook
- Printer paper and ink cartridges
- Stapler
Virginia Garnett 