The Writing and Rhetoric Requirement at Stanford

Courses in PWR are carefully designed to offer richly diverse intellectual experiences based on shared assignments, goals, and learning outcomes. The basic structure of PWR courses -- in particular, the assignment sequence -- does not vary from section to section, but each instructor builds on this shared core, designing class materials and activities and choosing readings to develop a unique course. 

This allows PWR courses to be as diverse as the instructors and students who bring them to life, while maintaining consistency across sections in key areas: assignment sequence, student workload, grading practices, and emphasis on rhetorical knowledge and skill.

Below are the essential elements of PWR courses.

PWR 1

PWR 1 (4 units) is a course taken by students in their first year, focusing on elements of academic analysis and source-based argument. These include:

  • understanding a writer’s stance,
  • developing a supportable argumentative purpose,
  • discovering and using effective support strategies,
  • making appropriate organizational and stylistic choices,
  • understanding the expectations of a wide range of audiences.

The first few weeks of the quarter are spent introducing the basics of rhetoric and analysis. The bulk of the course focuses intensively on academic research-based writing, including identifying, evaluating, documenting and integrating a full range of print and non-print primary and secondary sources into arguments.

Read More: PWR 1 Curriculum and Assignment Sequence with links to samples

 

PWR 2

PWR 2 (4 units), taken by students in their second year, continues PWR 1’s emphasis on analysis and research-based argument, while adding a focus on oral and multimedia communication.  The centerpiece of PWR 2 is a research project that allows students to research, write, translate, and deliver an in-depth investigation. This project consists of several parts:

  • oral research proposal,
  • substantial written research-based essay,
  • oral performance with media support, translated from the research essay,
  • reflective piece that articulates what has been learned about how medium impacts rhetorical choices.

During the quarter, in-class workshops and peer-led revision exercises are augmented by individual conferences with the PWR instructor and with Oral Communication Tutors. The class is designed to allow students to conduct field-based as well as library and Internet research, to write in a wider range of genres, to focus intensively on the media they use to present their research, and to plan and deliver presentations for live audiences.

Read More: PWR 2 Curriculum and Assignment Sequence with links to samples

 

Intermediate and Advanced Electives

For more information and current offerings, please see the Advanced PWR Courses page.

PWR 5

PWR 5 (1-5 units) is an independent writing course for students who have completed PWR 1 and PWR 2 and wish to develop a specialized writing project with the guidance of a PWR instructor. Students interested in PWR 5 should first contact the instructor with whom they wish to work. In consultation with the instructor, the student then designs and proposes a PWR 5 project. Questions about the proposal process may be addressed to Zach Waggoner, Associate Director of PWR ([email protected]).

PWR 91

PWR 91 (3 units) is an intermediate writing course for students who have completed the first two levels of the writing requirement and want further work in developing writing abilities, especially within discipline-specific contexts and nonfiction genres. Individual conferences with instructor and peer workshops are a key part of the course.

PWR 191

PWR 191 (3 units) is an advanced writing course offering students experience in the genre of creative nonfiction.

PWR 192

PWR 192 (1-5 units) involves advanced work on research projects, early drafts of theses, investigative reports, proposals, and other textual, rhetorical, and imaginative explorations.

PWR 193

PWR 193 (1-5 units) is designed for students in the process of writing an honors thesis. Reviews key elements of the thesis process, including literature reviews, structure, argumentation, style, and documentation.

PWR 194

PWR 194 (4 units) offers further work in theories and practices of rhetoric. Topics may include the intersections of technology and rhetoric, rhetorical practices in different time periods and locations, and major figures in the rhetorical tradition.

PWR 195

PWR 195 (3 units) is a seminar on tutoring theory and practice, and prepares students to serve as a Peer Writing Tutor in the Hume Writing Center. Undergraduates apply for a position as a Peer Writing Tutor during the winter quarter, with the class offered in the spring. If the course is successfully completed, students usually begin tutoring the following fall.