Lots of great assignment ideas were suggested in class last night. I'm afraid that I don't have much original to offer, but I'd like to throw in my support for a few that we discussed.
I like the idea of working on a larger project and reporting in stages--one that may have multimodal attributes. The first part of the project could reflect researched rhetorical foundations, possibly a traditional brief paper of sorts. The final project may inlcude a Prezi presentation or a document that would fit the guidelines for a Kairos-style project. Another approach for this type of project may be to create a website which would showcase the content.
Another assignment that interested me was creating a profile of one rhetorician, documenting his or her contribution or effect on contemporary rhetoric. Then, we could analyze an artifact(s) through the lens of the particular rhetorician.
A third possibility might compare or contrast similar content delivered in different media. How are the rhetorical situations different? How are persuasive strategies are used? What is the impact of the medium on the content and its efficacy?
Again, there were many good ideas generated in class last night. I look forward to the upcoming projects--whatever they may be!
Deb,
ReplyDeleteI really like your second and third suggestions. Your second suggestion, about profiling a rhetorician would really help us to learn in-depth about at least one figure and his (or hers) views and contributions to the field of rhetoric. Then, as an extension to that, as you indicate, we could borrow those perceptions as a lens for which to do a rhetorical analysis. For example, how would Bakhtin characterize situation X vs Zebroski?
I also see a great deal of value in looking at the role of media in a rhetorical situation. We could look at the same aim or topic and try to characterize how the application of that to different media varies the rhetorical situation: the strategies employed, the warrants, the appeals, and perhaps even the audience. One example might be “stop smoking” article in a magazine vs. a “stop smoking” commercial on television. The core message is the same (“smoking is bad”), but many facets around the message will differ fostering a different rhetorical situation. As a corollary, I would expect some elements to stay the same. Perhaps such elements are indicative of branding or some other constant?
I think both those projects have a lot of potential.
Cris
Comparing and contrasting similar content delivered in different media seems like it might be a very interesting and unusual assignment. I would like to see that thought developed more, such as determining what sort of content would be used and how the analysis would be carried out, and then to try it.
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