Develops understanding of informal logic and practical reasoning skills necessary for academic success, including tools needed to analyze information from a variety of sources such as academic essays, philosophic literature, news media and advertising. Focus on skills of argumentation including, but not limited to, elements of an argument, deductive and inductive forms of argumentation, the evaluation of arguments and the recognition of a variety of fallacies. Skills developed through a series of written assignments of increasing scope and difficulty culminating in a sophisticated argumentative essay.