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Welcome to Section 1

In this Section you will study the basic principles of argumentation. This material is basic to the course.  You may want to return to Section 1 and review before beginning other Sections.

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However, because all remaining Sections require mastery of the material presented here, be sure you have a thorough grasp on this lesson before proceeding to Section 2.

Before you do the readings and view the presentation below, please be advised of the following:

1. The St. Martin's Guide to Writing and the Course Packet sometimes use different terms to refer to the same thing (for example, "genre" in St. Martin's vs. "aim" in the Packet).  For the purposes of the course, we will use the Packet terms in all cases.  Therefore, it is best to do the Packet readings first - even though they are listed second.

2. We will not use the Aims and Modes when referring to writing in Web 1213.  The terms we will be using this semester - Purpose and Organization - though much more general, refer to the same things.

3. The Point of View section at the bottom of this page deals with the basics of when and why to use First, Second, and Third Person pronouns.  Please have a look at this section before viewing the presentation.

NOTE: If you have a question about anything related to the course, at any time, please E-mail your  instructor and get an answer.  For the purposes of Web 1213, there is no such thing as a stupid question.

For an Introduction to Argumentation necessary to the completion of the course, please click on the hyperlink below and view the presentation.

There is no written assignment for Section 1

There are three possibilities when it comes to which point of view to use for the pronouns in a piece of writing:  (1) First Person, (2) Second Person, and (3) Third Person.

1. First Person - I, me, my - used to refer to the writer/narrator/speaker, these pronouns are by nature very personal and tend to be used most in informal writing.

2. Second Person - you, your, yours - used to address the reader directly, or to indirectly address the public at large, these pronouns draw the reader into the writing.

3. Third Person - he, she, it - used to refer to persons, places, or things besides the writer or the reader, these pronouns are impersonal and tend to be used in formal essays.