Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking
- Free to audit
- Paid certificate
- Course certificate
- Beginner
- 8 weeks
Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking is built around James Engell's on-campus course Elements of Rhetoric. It analyses selected twentieth-century American addresses, by Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Margaret Chase Smith, Ronald Reagan and others, to show how speakers and writers move an audience, and teaches you to tell argument from rhetorical technique, evaluate an argument's strength, spot logical fallacies, and use rhetorical devices in your own writing and speaking. Assignments include writing a persuasive opinion editorial and a short speech.
The newest edition adds discussion of persuasive speech on social media and the effect of generative AI on the practice of rhetoric. It is self-paced, eight weeks long at 2 to 3 hours per week, and rated introductory. Harvard lists the course as free to audit on edX, with a verified certificate available for $209.
What you’ll learn
- Use a range of rhetorical devices in writing and speaking
- Distinguish argument from rhetorical technique
- Write a persuasive opinion editorial and a short speech
- Evaluate the strength of an argument
- Identify logical fallacies
Who it’s for
Anyone who writes or speaks to persuade, from students to managers, and readers who want to recognise when they are being persuaded.
Source: Harvard Online (opens in a new tab) · Verified · Report a change
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