Envision

Christine Alfano is the Associate Director of Stanford's Program in Writing and Rhetoric. She holds a BA from Brown University and PhD from Stanford and specializes in digital rhetoric, visual rhetoric, technology and pedagogy, and writing program administration. In her recent  courses, “The Rhetoric of Gaming,” "Gender and Technology," “Networked Rhetoric,” and "Cultural Interfaces," Christine challenges students to explore how writing in different technological modes (from docs, to blogs, threaded discussions, social media platforms, memes, vlogs, wikis, etc.) transforms the modern practices of communication and how we represent ourselves online and off.    Dr. Alyssa J. O'Brien is a Lecturer in the Program and Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, where she directs the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric initiative and publishes scholarship and textbooks on visual rhetoric, writing pedagogy, and global learning. She has been an invited speaker in Asia and Europe on subjects such as global learning, communication for leadership, visual rhetoric, and “mapping a change in writing.” In 2006, Alyssa won the Phi Beta Kappa Outstanding Teaching Award, and what she enjoys most is helping people discover their voices in writing of all kinds. Her current first- and second-year writing courses focus on visual rhetoric, cross-cultural rhetoric, globalization, and communication for leadership. Before coming to Stanford in 2001, she taught composition, creative writing, literature, and business writing at Cornell University, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Rochester.    

I: ANALYSIS AND ARGUMENT

1. Analyzing Texts and Writing Thesis Statements

2. Understanding Strategies of Persuasion

3. Composing Arguments

 

II: PLANNING AND CONDUCTING RESEARCH

4. Planning and Proposing Research Arguments

5. Finding and Evaluating Research Sources

 

III: DRAFTING AND DESIGNING ARGUMENTS

6. Organizing and Writing Research Arguments

7. Avoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources

8. Designing Arguments