-
10/5: Multimodal Rhetoric
We’ve started thinking about different modalities for writing for advocacy. A modality is the delivery platform by which a message is circulated; it’s part of what Doug Downs calls the ecology of rhetoric. In his essay that we read last week, Downs says that “human interaction and meaning-making is […] the experience of encountering a vast range of sensory signals and interpreting them by associating them with networks of our existing knowledge” (462-3). Using this ideas of networks, Downs offers us an ecological framework for understanding how humans communicate through texts, written and otherwise. I asked you to bring an example of any text in your life you feel represents…
-
10/3: Introduction to Invitational Rhetoric
Let’s start by confirming that everyone created a new page on their WordPress site to deliver their final counterstories. I’ll then ask for you to define invitational rhetoric using Foss & Griffin’s “Beyond Persuasion.” What forms of invitational rhetoric have we already seen (or composed?) this semester. HOMEWORK Come to next class with an example of invitational rhetoric that is important to you. I invite you to choose from a range of modalities: music, narrative, news, social media, and more. You’ll be working individually and in small groups next class to define the ecology of the sample you bring in, and you’ll report back to the larger group. UPDATE: if…
-
9/28: Going Public: Understanding the Rhetorical Ecology of Advocacy
We’ll pick up our work from Tuesday, 9/26 to connect Downs’ terms ecology and motivation to the advocacy work of the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York. In small groups, describe the ecology of Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York website. EACH MEMBER OF YOUR GROUP SHOULD TAKE NOTES TO POST THIS IN-CLASS WRITING TO YOUR BLOG. To get full credit for this post, you must quote Downs’ “Rhetoric: Making Sense of Human Interaction and Meaning-Making” (available on Blackboard) in some part of your post. We’ll end class today by showing you how to create a new page for your website so you can post your final counterstories…
-
9/26: Rhetoric as a Human Operation System
I’ve offered feedback, either as comments on your blog posts or via email, to your Counterstory drafts. As you move toward your final–due on Tuesday, October 3–keep the assignment rubric in mind. I’ll be looking for you to tell stories, to use narratives with composite characters that help me understand the stock story and counterstory that build the purpose of your final piece. I will expect to see your purpose stated early on in your final draft, and I will also expect you to quote Martinez and another outside source. Today, we will look together at Angelis’ and Jade’s drafts as strong examples of creating composite characters. We’ll revisit Downs’…
