In "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell writes: "Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

Join other students in discovering the messages that lie beneath spoken and written language,
and create a truth of your own through a collaborative learning community bridging Public Speaking, Advanced Composition/Critical Thinking, and
Research.

In this transfer-level community, you will watch films of famous messages from noted rhetoricians and discover ways to break down the
false "solidity" of words.

The online Information Research Skills class will give you additional tools to understand the value of communication and to delve deeper below the surface of the texts (oral and written) to discover how language is created, corrupted, used, and abused in modern society. This will translate to the use of logic, appeals, reasoning, and delivery in speeches, essays, and research projects of your own.

Every few weeks, the classes will join together to listen to faculty and guest lecturers, review speeches, engage in critical analysis of texts, and practice the art of honest persuasion with peer groups. You will also have many opportunities for extra credit by attending and critiquing campus events such as the Psychology and Philosophy Film Nights and the President's Lecture Series.

You can participate in this learning community when you enroll in either Speech 100 AP or English 165 BE or BF. When you enroll in one of these
courses, you will be prompted to enroll in the required section of Library 101, a self-paced, online Information Research Skills class. This gives you CSU transfer credit in information resources for the work you already do!

Prerequisite: For students enrolled in ENGL 165, completion of ENGL 100 with a grade of C or higher. Recommended Preparation: For students
enrolled in SPCH 100, eligibility for ENGL 100.

The Faculty

Frank Jones
ENGL 165

Allison Miller
ENGL 165

George Kramm
SPCH 100

David Gibbs
LIBR 101