Why in the world am I taking RHE309K?

Of course, the most obvious reason as to why I'm taking Rhetoric would be that I'm an English major and this class would therefore be helpful to me. I've also heard that Rhetoric is a great tool to have in the future, so I'm pretty sure it'll come in handy for my future endeavors. However, I haven't taken an actual Rhetoric class since high school, something that is definitely worrying me immensely (and not just because my English teachers in high school made it seem as if Rhetoric was a death wish). I'm pretty sure my writing capabilities have drastically deteriorated since then. So, I'm taking this class in the hopes that it will help me improve my writing (or, at least help me recall how to write an analysis, assuming my brain decided that retaining information from high school was not an option). Ultimately, I want to become a more confident writer/reader, and maybe gaine a better appreciation of the art of Rhetoric in the process.