Day One Concepts: 

The first day of class is always a bit funny because, for a variety of reasons, we can never really know what background people have coming into the class. That means we have to get started by going over a selection of things to try to get people on the same page. That isn't to say all of this information is basic--no indeed. Some of these are deep concepts that no single course would ever fully sketch out. But we need to get started introducing them right away. These are some of the ideas shared by the winter 2006 class in our first day discussions, and a few additions of my own. 

technical:

specialized, in-depth, complicated, having to do with technology

writing:

a process, a very messy process, of garnering, gathering, shaping information, at the same time it is trying to problem-solve--who is the audience, what do they want or need, what are the expectations, what is my purpose, how do I achieve this purpose within this medium, is "recursive--goes over itself again and again"

technical writing:

writing for audiences who don't share the specialization? that's one meaning. another common definition is "writing that accomodates technology to the user" -- note who is coming to whom in that view -- we aren't training "people" to understand the machine -- more bridging the machine to the people's needs. it's an important point  in discussions of technology and society -- one where the machines have long been given priority. for example, when you go into a lab, and it says "absolutely no installation of software", or with the machines locked down so you can't figure how, or even if, you can do your work there, what is being "priviledged", the system, or the users? writing about deep stuff? sort of an oxymoron

rhetoric:

the study and practice of the arts of effective communication: in the current era rhetorical study has grown to emphasize the ethical use of language and communication. obviously one can study many forms of trickery while still advocating right goals. in truth, even from the beginning of rhetoric's known study and teaching, 2500 years ago, the issue or question of what is the right thing to do, the appropriate goals of discourse and communication, has always been a topic of the study and practice of the art.

argument:

claim (point), support (evidence), warrant (reasoning or assumptions) -- the Toulmin model.
Our great in-class example:

Who's doin' the dishes . . .

• I've done them the last two weeks
• I have to go to work right away
• You made brownies
• You ate them

Each of these is offered as a piece of support, but as all noted in class the warrants that go with each are different, and working towards a different claim in answer to who is actually going to do the dishes. This works out to be an argument about policy and under what conditions it applies. The over-all warrant here is fairness--a very common disputed grey area.