Dear Students,

concerning the upcoming inclass assignment I would like to emphasize the following points:
1. The upcoming inclass will be an ESSAY. The word essay comes from the French verb
essayer, which means to try, to test, to have a go at something, hence: to explore arguments.
2. The question will be related to the question What are the main drivers of the process of
deliberation represented in 12 Angry Men?, but far more abstract. It will be an invitation to
reflect on what we have done and spoken about. To develop your stance on it.
3. Of course, your preparation can be better or worse: Someone who is well prepared
understands, that and how we are still dealing with belief (as a basic theme of philosophy,
regarded as a theory aiming at an understanding of rationality in its different expressions,
since the beginning of our course), but not with beliefs that are established in scientific
demonstrations (relation to Prior Analytics), but in processes of persuasion (relation to the
movie and to Rhetorica).
4. More specifically: our reading of the pages 1-5 of Rhetorica, the movie and our evolving
analysis of it will be the substance you should focus on.
5. Tomorrow we will complete this part of our course with a brief discussion of p. 5 of
Rhetorica and the analysis of the drivers of the process the movie represents.
6. During the examination you have the permission to use and quote your text of Rhetorica.
Thank you.