Introduction to Rhetoric and Writing Studies
Intro to Rhetoric and Writing Studies explores Composition Rhetoric, preparing students to analyze how writing creates communities, influences beliefs, and shapes knowledge through historical or contemporary examples.
Summary
Past student reviews · Christa Olson
Success depended on consistent attendance, active participation, and timely submission of assignments, which students reported led to high grades.
What you’ll be able to do
Analyze and evaluate public discourse
Learn about and use conceptual tools and theories to aid analysis and evaluation
Consume and produce rhetoric
Be familiar with key questions, methods, and ideas in the field of composition and rhetoric
Critically examine, from multiple perspectives, how public discourse affects you and means to respond
Understand historical and contemporary contexts when rhetoric had consequences for the public
Learn about and use tools for working with and drawing insights from writing in all forms
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSatisfied Communications A and sophomore standing
- Satisfied Communications A and sophomore standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Satisfied Communications A and sophomore standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
CHRISTA OLSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Christa Olson
Students described the course as laid-back and manageable, noting that it relied heavily on group participation and allowed for flexible grading contracts.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.79 GPA, 93.1% A/AB (n=29 letter grades); Fall 2023: 3.62 GPA, 88.5% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=29 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Christa Olson
Success depended on consistent attendance, active participation, and timely submission of assignments, which students reported led to high grades.
Past student reviews · Christa Olson
Christa Olson was praised for being flexible and responsive, demonstrating significant effort to adapt the class structure to student needs.
Topics
- Composition Rhetoric
- Impact of writing on communities, beliefs, and knowledge
- Historical and contemporary rhetorical contexts
Skills
- Analyze and evaluate public discourse
- Use conceptual tools and theories for analysis
- Consume and produce rhetoric
- Work with and draw insights from writing in all forms
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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