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Writing 230: Rhetorics and Everyday Life

This class will explore cultural rhetorics in a variety of forms and focus on how we navigate cultural and inclusive compositions in our daily lives. This class will examine a variety of texts that we encounter in our everyday lives, such as memes, infographics, PSAs, and articles, and analyze the ways in which producers and consumers of these texts apply cultural expectations and norms. Written text, visual imagery, aural creations, and gestural modes will be given equal footing in the class projects. The point of this course will be to explore how to effectively communicate in a digital, international era by focusing on the concept of cultural and ethical awareness when composing in multiple modes of communication; giving special attention to the inclusion of diverse audiences and communities.

Course Goals

  1. to develop an understanding of cultural rhetoric, its use in various forms of compositions, and how to identify the differences between ethical and unethical use of rhetoric;
  2. to recognize the rhetorical shifts that need to be made for specific purposes and for specific audiences in professional and everyday settings;
  3. to analyze various modes of composition in order to identify the rhetorical choices made by composers;
  4. to select appropriate rhetoric elements that will support the production of different types of communication in global settings; and
  5. to select and appropriately use suitable technologies in working with four (4) common, or everyday, fields of rhetoric in crafting persuasive messages: visual, aural, cultural, and typographical.

Course Projects

Students will engage with four common, or everyday, fields of rhetoric: visual, aural, cultural, and typographical. The course engages students in evaluation, analysis, and production of projects that include each of the four different fields of rhetoric. The course culminates with students working individually or in teams to design and produce a multimodal project that demonstrates awareness and familiarity of all four fields of rhetoric, and the capstone project includes a reflection from students about the choices made as the project developed.

Textbooks

Arola, Kristin L., Jennifer Sheppard, and Cheryl Ball. Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects. NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-4576-0045-6

Course Offerings