Text and argumentation

The course is partly theoretical, partly practical. The students will gain insight into different rhetorical approaches and ways of organizing academic texts, as well as practice in applying these techniques. The course gives an introduction to argumentation theory, focusing on different argument structures and assessment of the different types of argument, as well as general errors in argumentation. The relationship between language and meaning is discussed and exemplified by topics such as definition and interpretation of sentences. The course also provides an introduction to rhetorical concepts, genre analysis, theory of writing and the process of writing, as well as assessment of information and sources. The aim is that the students will develop a conscious awareness for argumentation and their own writing process, and to give them tools to handle challenges related to reading texts and writing assignments later in the study. The practical side of the course consists partly of the process of writing and becoming aware of the process, and partly in the students analyses of other people's texts.

According to the course curriculum, a candidate who passes this course is expected to have the following learning outcome (defined as knowledge and skills):

Knowledge

• knowledge of academic thinking and writing
• knowledge of argumentation, documentation and factual representation
• knowledge of modern argumentation theory
• knowledge of rhetoric
• knowledge of ways to organize academic texts

Skills

• ability to handle challenges associated with writing academic texts
• ability to read academic texts and evaluate them critically and independently
• ability to write academic texts
• ability to apply argumentation theory to reading, analysing and evaluating texts in their area of study
• ability to develop a conscious awareness of one's own writing and writing process
• ability to establish one's own academic voice

Lectures and groups. In order to sit the exam, students must submit and get approved an obligatory activity. For more information on this obligatory activity, see Blackboard. The obligatory activity can only be approved the semester the course is taught, but it is valid for this and the subsequent semester.