Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric

The pedagogical imperative to prepare students to become critical thinkers, critical readers, and critical writers for the coming millennium necessitates a comprehensive college discourse on critical thinking. The paper cites seminars and workshops that incorporate theoretical and practical dimensions of teaching critical-analytical thinking processes. Using descriptions from the text, "Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric" (Howard Kahane), the paper outlines nine 75-minute seminars and workshops that offer examples and exercises drawn from a broad range of sources, including advertisements, political speeches, newspapers, audio-visuals, and sample examinations. Course objectives include developing a critical understanding of the following: (1) "Bloom's taxonomy"; (2) "the difference between fact and opinion"; (3) "the fundamental elements of analysis"; (4) "Aristotelian proofs: ethos, logos, and pathos"; (5) "divergent thinking (multiple perspectives)"; (6) "types of arguments and fallacies"; (7) "how culture affects thought processes"; (8) "how to decipher examinations"; and (9) "how to integrate technology driven data into the research process." Successful completion of the seminars/workshops means that each student completes satisfactorily 80% of the materials covered in each of the nine sessions. Pedagogical strategies are attached.