DWRL Lesson Plans - Ethos

Ethos and Online Dating 2.0 - Incorporating Visuals

Cate Blouke — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 15:54:10 +0000

Author:

Image Credit:

Image from The Dating Game scene in Mallrats. Found on The Baltimore Chop website.

Brief Assignment Overview:

A remix of a previous lesson plan, this exercise asks students to analyze the ethos of an online dating profile and then pair it with an appropriate image - drawing on the relationship between written and visual rhetoric.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

In-class Exercise

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Social Media

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This works as a great introduction to the concepts of ethos, audience, and/or visual rhetoric.

Media Requirements:

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Media Console/Projector

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

In theory, you could do this assignment without classroom technology, though an internet connection and projector would be ideal.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Early in the Semester

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

This is an update on a previous lesson plan: Teaching Ethos Using Online Dating Profiles, which relies strictly on textual analysis. As I explain in that plan, "Perhaps more so than any other piece of writing, and even more so than my students' facebook pages, the self-summaries presented in online dating profiles are fundamentally arguments of ethos. Regardless of specific rhetorical aim (a casual hook up, a future spouse, or something in between), at heart, each of these texts is saying to readers, 'this is who I am, accept me.' So they seemed like a great source text to get my students really thinking about how and why they evaluate people: what sort of snap judgements they make, how they read into things without even realizing it."

In this version (re-designed for my Introduction to Visual Rhetoric course this semester), I ask students to draw connections between written ethos/self-presentation and pieces of visual rhetoric. I offer them a written profile alongside a series of pictures of eligible "bachelors" to choose from. They then had to make the case for why they thought a particular image fit the written profile.

For this specific class, we had just begun a unit on style, and my students had been reading excerpts from Barry Brummett's A Rhetoric of Style and Stuart Ewan's All Consuming Images. Our discussion, therefore, focused a lot on the stylistic choices in the images and how those might be read as reflections of particular values indicated in the written profile. While those readings and that framework aren't necessary for this exercise, they did help to get my students grounded in the way they read people's visual style. Without this kind of foregrounding, you may end up having to do a fair bit of extra wrangling to get students to articulate why they draw the conclusions they do (i.e. how they connect mustaches with driving a Vespa). But that can be a great discussion - forcing them to confront/explain the assumptions they make.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

I spent a fair bit of time compiling a set of "bachelor" photos from creative commons liscenced images that I found on the web, rather than using people's actual OKCupid profile pictures. I'd recommend just using the ones I've put together (see below), though you're welcome to make your own. The idea of using actual images from OKCupid profiles didn't sit well with me, even if they are publicly available. It seems like an invasion of privacy (in a way), or at least a kind of appropriation that I'm not comfortable with. The written profile I excerpted was previously a public page but has since been taken down/made private - which means if you have students do this as a homework assignment or on computers, they can't just google some key phrases to find the actual profile (one of the downfalls of the previous lesson plan).

I tried to compile a diversity of styles that nevertheless might fit with the written profile, as well as some that I thought clearly didn't fit. However, I was surprised by my students' responses. There were multiple votes for five of the seven images - a much wider range than I anticipated.

Instructions For Students:

In our introduction to the concept of style, we also talked about the idea of "ethos" - the character, or sense of authority, that one presents to the world, either through writing (as you may have addressed in previous rhetoric courses) or (for our purposes) through style.

This unit is all about thinking through the assumptions we make about, or (more kindly) ways in which we read, both the styles of others and our own styles. What we think of a particular style or clothing item isn't necessarily the same as how others view it.

There is, perhaps, no clearer instance of an argument based on character (and style) than online dating profiles. Each person's profile essentially makes the argument that "you should date me because of who I am." These arguments are paired with a selection of images, presumably chosen to cast the author in his or her most favorable light. On the free online dating site OkCupid, users combine images of themselves with written self-summaries in order to convince potential matches to give them a chance.

For this exercise, read over the written dating profile below, and then review the potential images. Your task will be to pair the written profile with one of the possible images. We'll assume that all elements of the image were carefully crafted/selected for this particular purpose/venue.

Questions to consider in making your choice: What kind of person does this profile describe? What does he value/care about? Which image do you think best reflects those values or that style?

Write a few sentences explaining your choice. Be sure to offer evidence for your analysis. Why does this image/person seem most fitting to you? What kinds of things about the man's style do you infer from the image? How, specifically, does that connect with the written description? You might also include your rationale for eliminating other potential options.

Keep in mind that you want to think about the "big picture" of this profile. While one or two aspects of the written part might point toward a particular image, is that image wholly congruent with the rest of the profile?

The Written Profile:

I have a yearning to explore different territory. To frolic in a refreshing mist atop the Yellow Mountains of Mainland China. To play with other great musicians. To watch shows in the opera house of Lyon, with an intermission of French kids break dancing outside the hall. To cook my own recipe in a Paul Bocuse culinary. These are things that most of my homies won't touch. Lest we forget, I am an abnormal guy; and I am looking for an extraordinary girl.

I want a girl who can be fun and adventurous. The kind of girl who isn't too afraid to suddenly break out of a three-day isolation and take a road trip across the country on a 1987 Vespa which I am convinced can take at least another hundred thousand miles.

Interestingly, my most passionate relationships involved completely contradictory personalities. Speaking of character--unfortunately, not all of us can be satisfied with pixellated photos and interview format autobiographies. Call me old-school, but coffee and a heated intellectual conversation beats the hell out of a 9 day back and forth email chat marathon. If you want to get to know me, call me. Tell me about yourself. Talk to me about politics. What is really important to you? I never get tired of meeting new and inherently good people.

The Potential Bachelors:

Bachelors.jpg

Image Credits:

#A - twocentsworth. "Studious." Flickr.com. 3 June 2008.

#B - Mosborne01. "Ashs-student-playing-guitar." Wikimedia Commons. 1 July 2010.

#C - torbakhopper. "Cool Dude." Wikimedia Commons. 10 Nov 2011.

#D - Chris Hunkeler. "Running with Music." Flickr.com. 5 May 2013.

#E - siuhonglo. "Singapore Flyer." Flickr.com. Aug 27 2011.

#F - connerdowney. "7 - Meditation." Flickr.com. 08 Jan 2009.

#G - sadly, I have lost the citation information for this one. I know it was CC licensed, though. I will post citation if I can find it again.

Evaluation Suggestions:

This was in in-class exercise, so it wasn't evaluated.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My students really enjoyed the exercise, and I was surprised by the arguments they made for one image over another. It fostered a lively conversation about stereotypes and assumptions (particularly the way they read the image of bachelor #C).

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

RHE 315 - Introduction to Visual Rhetoric

With the rise of new media and network television, Americans are exposed to thousands upon thousands of images on a daily basis. From our facebook streams to our television viewing choices to our personal email accounts, we are bombarded with images: of celebrities, of politicians, of consumer goods, of natural disasters, of… cats. And we must filter through it all in order to make sense of our world.

In this course we will explore the ways in which images can be read, analyzed, constructed, and manipulated. We will interrogate how images inform our reading of historical and political events, of personal identity, of public and private spaces. We will think through issues of self-presentation: how our stylistic choices convey messages to the world around us, and how we interpret the choices of others. We will look at the spaces we frequent and consider the rhetorical effects of everything from the architecture to the furniture to lighting. In short, we will investigate how the visual (non-linguistic, non-textual) world conveys its messages.

Tags:

The (Selling) Powers of a Good Cry

lazhu — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 05:31:18 +0000

Author:

Lily Zhu

Image Credit:

A popular meme

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students will look at a series of popular, “sad” advertisements and discuss the ways in which certain commercials have successfully tapped into elements of rhetoric specific to viral videos. Through this, students will expand their understanding of argumentation to include the very relatable perspective of consumerism.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Citation

Writing Process

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Audio

Multimedia

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This assignment acts as a transition point from Unit 1 (summary) to Unit 2 (analysis), ideally introduced the day Paper 1.2 is turned in. Since this activity functions primarily as an introduction to Unit 2, students will be expected to apply Unit 1 concepts – such as summary and kairos – with an additional, analytical dimension. Though not all students studied rhetorical analysis in high school, a brief overview of ethos, logos, and pathos will suffice for this assignment. They will be paying particular attention to intended audience and the ways that it might impact choices in rhetorical strategies.

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Required Materials:

As long as the instructor has access to a console/projector, that should be enough.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

This can be both an informal or formal exercise depending on the instructor’s preference.

I split the students into two groups and showed students two video advertisements with vastly different strategies. Half of the class focused on visual rhetoric and the other half focused on verbal, written, and aural rhetoric. Each student was given a table where they would cite a piece of evidence from the text and then explain, in detail, how it contributed to the company’s persuasive effectiveness based on intended audience. Students presented their findings in a back-and-forth fashion between groups and eventually came to understand that rhetorical strategies often work as a cohesive unit rather than measurable, separated components (whether that’s ethos, pathos, and logos working together, or visual, verbal, and aural interactions).

The first advertisement was Chipotle’s high-budget “The Scarecrow.” The ensuing discussion included not just the ad itself, but Chipotle’s situated brand, its parent company, and the smartphone game app associated with the video. In addition, there is an edited version of this same advertisement,“Chipotle Scarecrow (Honest version),” which critiques the hypocrisy and consumerist qualities of the original; this commentary is a nice complement and is a good example of the analytical thinking necessary to writing Paper 2.1.

The second advertisement (“Giving is the Best Communication”) is from Thailand, funded by a massive communications company (True Move H) and contains very little dialogue and text, but makes great use of lighting, music, camera angle, etc. Students have to think a little more creatively to truly analyze it. Many of the students enjoyed viewing and discussing this one and even offered suggestions for further videos to dissect, including “Silence of Love” – a Thai advertisement for life insurance. Life insurance is obviously a sensitive topic which makes this commercial even more interesting. Be warned, half of my class teared up/cried after viewing it.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Watch through all of the commercials so you have a sense of what overlapping strategies are used, how cultural relativism may tie in, etc. There are too many points to cover with these commercials, so be sure to prepare and pick out what you think is most important and relevant to your syllabus.

Instructions For Students:

Watch and take notes on each commercial.

Decide on the intended audience

The notes should be detailed and organized as follows:

Evidence from the commercial – corresponding analysis

Prepare for a discussion about the advertisements’ effectiveness based on audience/kairos

Evaluation Suggestions:

Participation and/or worksheet completion

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

Students really took to this, which is unsurprising. The advertisements chosen above went viral because they’re engaging to watch. This eventually grew into a larger conversation about advertisement tropes (in particular, those involved in car commercials).

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

Rhetoric 306 is a course designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of research and argumentation. They are asked to research a controversy, summarize and analyze the arguments of the major stakeholders in that controversy, and then develop their own arguments.

Tags:

Teaching Ethos with Selfies

Sloan — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 17:50:10 +0000

Author:

Casey Sloan

Image Credit:

Personal Selfie

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students will be asked to think critically about the argumentative weight a visual picture of the author adds to a position. For homework, students will be instructed to construct a persona, capture it with a "selfie," and turn it in to the instructor. The instructor will compile all of the class selfies into a slideshow, distribute a worksheet of fake article titles, and ask students to "match" appropriate selfies to their articles. The ensuing discussion should clarify the purpose of effective ethos in an argument.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimedia

Visualization

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Required Materials:

Technology with picture-taking capabilities for the students' homework assignment, projector for class exercise

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Full Assignment Description:

Students will be aked to think critically about the argumentative weight a visual picture of the author adds to a position. For homework, students will be instructed to construct a persona, capture it with a "selfie," and turn it in to the instructor. The instructor will compile all of the class selfies into a slideshow, distribute a worksheet of fake article titles, and ask students to "match" appropriate selfies to their articles. The ensuing discussion should clarify the purpose of effective ethos in an argument.

Instruct students to construct a persona by brainstorming five to six traits. A persona might be brainy, social, kind-hearted, fashionable and sensitive, for example. For homework, ask students to "capture" this specific persona by embodying it and taking a "selfie." Students without camera phones or home computers with photo-taking capabiliies should be directed to campus technology resources. Students should be asked to think about how best to convey this particular persona using visual rhetoric. They should be conscious of the setting, costume, facial expression, photo quality, number of people in the shot, etc. Ask them to turn in this selfie to you.

Next, compile the class selfies into a slide show. Hand out a worksheet comprised of a number of fake article titles matching the number of selfies. The articles should cover a wide range of style and tone. For example, several of mine were: "Pollution? Not as Big an Issue as My Dating Life," "Toxic Ontology: The Risk-Benefit Factors of Factory Pollution Output," and "Together, We Can End Pollution." Go through the slideshow several times, asking students to match the selfie with the article that would most benefit from its ethos. Go through the results as a class. Ask students to explain their choices using visual rhetorical analysis. The ensuing discussion should clarify the importance of ethos to an argument.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Locate technology resources for students without camera phones or home computers with photo-taking capabilities. Decide beforehand how students should turn in their selfies: class blog, email, class Prezi, etc.

Instructions For Students:

Before this assignment, students should be introduced to the concept of ethos. This exercise is a great way to emphasize the importance of ethos and demonstrate its efficacy in argumentation.

1) Homework: Describe a persona using five to six adjectives (generous, friendly, cruel, professional, fun-loving, etc.). Get creative--the more entertaining the persona, the more fun this assignment will be! Now it's time to embody this persona! Take a selfie capturing this character. Think about how best to convey the traits you identified: setting, photo style, costume, facial expression, number of people in the shot, quality of the shot, etc. Send the selfie to your instructor.

2) In-Class Exercise: Match the numbered selfie in the slide show to the article title you think that person would have written. We'll go through the slide show multiple times to let you see all the options.

3) In-Class Discussion: Why did you match the selfies with their respective articles? How are the selfies making statements about a person's character? Think about what each selfie declares about the character of the "author." How might those character traits contribute to and strengthen the argument being made in the article?

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

I used this assignment in Rhetoric 306, an introduction to rhetoric course.

Tags:

Ethos

Visual Rhetoric

Rhetorical analysis

Evaluating Satire With Rhetorical Analysis

Sloan — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 17:20:25 +0000

Author:

Casey Sloan

Image Credit:

Tete-a-Tete provided by Lacy B Timeless via Flickr

Brief Assignment Overview:

This assignment asks students to locate a product ad on their computers, and evaluate its use of ethos, pathos, and logos given its goal and target audience. It then asks students to write or visually construct a brief parody of the advertisement, share it with the class, and explain their own use of ethos, pathos and logos in relation to their goal and audience.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Multiple Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Genre

Imagery

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Style

Thesis Statements

Media Requirements:

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

This assignment has students evaluate a product advertisement using rhetorical analysis, construct working definitions of satire and parody, and experiement with writing and analyzing satires for their chosen ads. Ideally, these steps will help students solidify an understanding of ethos, logos and pathos, as well as attend to the wide range of genres using rhetoric to make arguments. The creative wring required introduces an engaging hook to keep students interested in the analytical process, and evaluating the success of their own satires helps them develop close-reading and peer-review skills.

They will first individually locate an ad (static image, audio or visual commercials, textual). If you have a technology-based classroom, you can have students conduct this step in class. If not, ask them to locate an ad ad bring in a copy or a detailed description of the video/ audio stream for homework. After finding an ad, students will write up an evaluation its use of ethos, logos, and pathos in relation to its goals and its target audience. This should take up one class period.

Next, discuss parody and satire with your students. I showed a makeup commercial followed by a commercial parody. We discussed how each used ethos, logos, and pathos to achieve its distinct goals and to relate to its target audience.

Next, ask students to type up or construct a visual parody of their selected ad. Since students can get overenthusiastic about using visual software, I asked them to use only thirty minutes of class time to accomplish this goal instead of assigning it for homework, but it could easily be achieved on their own.

Finally, have students trade parodies and evaluate the use of ethos, logos and pathos in their classmate's parody. Have them construct a brief thesis statement about whether or not the use of rhetoric accomplished the satire's goal in relation to the target audience.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Decide which steps should be conduct inside and outside of class. I had my students perform each step in class because I was in a technology-based classroom, but asking them to bring in ads for homework would enable students to explore print materials as well as web sources. I also had my students develop their creative satire projects in class, but this could easily be accomplished at home.

Instructions For Students:

Before this assignment, students should be familiar with rhetorical analysis, have been introduced to ethos, logos, and pathos, and have a working understanding of how to construct a thesis based on source goals and audience. This assignment can be stretched out for multiple class periods depending on how much outside work you ask them to bring to class.

1) Have students locate or bring to class an advertisement.

2) Ask students to list incidents of the use of ethos, logos and pathos in the ad, then construct a thesis: Does the ad successfully accomplish its goals in relation to its audience using rhetoric? Why or why not?

3) For the next class, introduce students to satire and parody. I showed several videos to familiarize my students with the concept, but there are many sources of satire that could be used. As a group, discuss how your chose satire uses rhetoric to influence its audience and accomplish its goals.

4) Either as homework or in class, have your students construct a parody of their chosen ad. I gave my students the option to draw their parody by hand or pull images from Flickr and doctor them in Photoshop.

5) Finally, have the students exhange parodies and perform a rhetorical analysis of their classmate's work. Ask volunteers to share parodies and evaluations.

Course Description:

I used this assignment in Rhetoric 306, an introduction to rhetoric course.

Tags:

Evaluating & Complicating Audience on the Web

Wall — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:05:28 +0000

Author:

Amanda Wall

Image Credit:

"The Calm After the Show" by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

Brief Assignment Overview:

This lesson plan is designed to get students thinking about the real and intended audiences of web texts by analyzing publication venues and comment replies. It also highlights that a text's audiences are not (always) simply people who agree with the author(s) or people who disagree and need persuading.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Peer Review

Revision

Style

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Collaboration

Open Access Software

Social Media

Media Requirements:

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Media Console/Projector

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

I used this lesson in a computer classroom where each group of students had access to a computer, but that's not necessary. In a non-networked classroom, you could print out articles with comments attached for students to analyze. Or you could project one article at a time using an overhead or a digital projector as a full group exercise.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Early in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

When presented with texts published on the web, students often have difficulty identifying an audience more specific than "everyone with an internet connection." Not all texts are viewed by everyone everywhere, and access to texts is decided not just on the basis of physical access to the material. This lesson plan is to get them thinking about the real and intended audiences of web texts by analyzing publication venues and comment replies. This lesson is additionally meant to point out that a text's real and even intended audiences are not (always) simply people who agree with the author(s) or people who disagree and need persuading. Web audiences, in other words, are (often) neither hopelessly heterogenous nor simplistically homogenous, and when we construct audiences through rhetorical interpreation, we ought to be as clear as possible about our logic. Students work in groups to analyze webtexts with different audiences and then come together as a group to compare their findings.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Before this lesson, we had already covered the basics of rhetorical ethos and had some discussion of audience as it affects and is affected by authors' ethos. I had also quickly shown them a couple of ways to find demographic data for websites, through advertiser information or through in-site analytics such as YouTube's statistics.

First, I distributed the set of analysis prompts/questions to every student. (See below under Student Instructions.)

We first analyzed a sample text together using the questions. I used a projector, but you could also print it out for everyone.

I then broke students into groups of 4-5 and assigned each group a web text to analyze using the analysis questions I had given them. Although the questions ask students to use comments to reflect on their initial discussion of the audience, I do not assume that comment posts provide clear indications of an audience's makeup. Instead, the my intention is to ask students to triangulate their data, to allow the comments and the publication venue and the content of the article to complicate each other when it comes to constructing an audience. (You can find the web articles that I assigned under Resources.)

After 30-40 minutes, we came together to share our findings and compare the audiences of the different texts. We were able to discuss the ways in which audiences are difficult to determine, or rather, construct, and the importance of interpretation when it comes to arguing that a particular audience is indeed what we say it is.

I did this in one 75 minute class period, but I could easily see this exercise spread over two such class periods, perhaps with a take-home writing exercise between them to have them further reflect on their interpretation of the data.

Instructions For Students:

Looking at the Original Post: the article, video, blog post, etc.

First, what kind of website is this? If you don't know much about them, search in Wikipedia for some basic information. Do they put out certain kinds of content? What are they known for? What kinds of things do people say about them?
What is their purpose in publishing this particular article or blog post or text, do you think?
Can you tell who wrote it? What can you find out about them? If no author is listed, why do you think that is? How does that affect our interpretation of the audience?
Skim or view the article/video/post. Based on a very quick read-through, who is their intended audience?
Is there any particular information to tell anything about who reads this article (like YouTube statistics) or this website (like advertiser demographics)?
Now that you've written all this stuff down, ask, "Who is their audience?" (Both real and intended). Who do they expect their audience to be? What kind of people do they expect when they write these articles? What kind of people read these articles? Be clear about how you're coming to these conclusions. Draw arrows or write down which piece of evidence you're using for each of these generalizations.

Looking at the comment posts.

Read the first 5-10 comment made on the article/blog/video. How do these comments confirm or complicate your initial thoughts about the audience? Give three specific examples of how these comments do so.
Pick one comment. What kinds of things can you guess about the person who wrote it? Explain your reasoning next to each thing you guess. How does this person's ethos compare to your initial thoughts about the article's audience? What does the purpose of this comment seem to be?
Sum up your group's thoughts about the article's audience. What can be said about the audience at this point, how sure are you about those things, and what evidence do you have to back them up? What kinds of statements are the most of the audience likely to agree on, if anything? What kinds of things CAN'T you determine at this point, and what pieces of evidence or lack of evidence makes it too complicated to do so?

Evaluation Suggestions:

This lesson was not evaluated, the first time I did it, but I believe I will do so in the future. Students are doing a substantial bit of prompted writing in this exercise, and I will probably count it as a credit/no-credit minor writing assignment next semester.

Additional Resources:

These are the sources I had students analyze:

Austin American Statesman - Judge strikes down key provisions of sonogram law

YouTube - Alamo Drafthouse Takes on Texters

Human Events - Carrying A Gun Responsibly Isn't Simple

Cracked - The 6 Most Frequently Quoted Brain Facts

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

This lesson was created for my class RHE 309K: The Rhetoric of Flame Wars, in which we take a rhetorical approach to understanding the public discussions, arguments, and yes, flame wars, that happen in online spaces. Here's the course description:

Rhetoric classes are fundamentally about argument—how to make an argument—and this one is no different. The pervasiveness of electronic communication, particularly on the internet, means that we encounter new (and old) challenges in making arguments and having dialogues. Some have suggested that all arguments on the internet are fated to end up flame wars: vicious bouts of namecalling and mudslinging. I don’t think that’s the case, and I’m not even sure that flame wars don’t serve some purpose in our culture. But it is the case that lots of people are worried about how we talk to each other and how we argue with each other online. Issues like privacy settings and moderation and screen names and anonymity and character limits all affect how we debate. This class examines those issues and more. Ultimately, we ask, how might it be possible to have or design or produce a deliberative, democratic debate in a public internet space?

Tags:

Analyzing Ethos Using Twitter and Storify

Cate Blouke — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:43:38 +0000

Author:

Cate Blouke

Image Credit:

Storify Twitter Mash-up by Cate Blouke

Brief Assignment Overview:

Using the multimedia curation program, Storify, students compose a short writing assignment analyzing an "author's" ethos based on his or her Twitter feed. This demonstrates the ways in which ethos is cultivated over time and in a variety of different ways.

Type of Assignment:

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Annotation

Organization

Synthesis

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Ethos, visual analysis, digital literacy,

Media Requirements:

No Classroom Technology Required

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Media Console/Projector

Required Materials:

Students only need a computer with Internet access and to sign up for a free Storify account.

While a media console with projector would be helpful to demonstrate the online programs in class, this is not strictly necessary for students to complete the assignment.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Early in the Semester

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

This assignment is designed to encourage students to think about the ways in which "ethos" is cultivated over time and in a variety of sometimes subtle, sometimes overt ways. Instead of analyzing the ethos presented by an author, journalist, or other professional writer in a long-form piece of writing, students examine the ways in which ethos emerges from the short-form, long-term writing of a person's Twitter feed.

This helps students to recognize that ethos is not something that is "only" cultivated by politicians or authors, but something that we all present in one way or anther - particularly in online environments. As such, this may be another avenue for initiating a conversation about online identity and the ways in which we present ourselves on in the Internet.

Storify offers a unique platform for this short writing assignment as it allows students to literally pull pieces of multimedia into a single platform and comment on each piece of evidence. This allows for a more visually interesting analysis of very short pieces of writing and for a visual analysis of the person's profile image or twitpics.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Familiarize yourself with the Storify platform and demonstrate how to use it. I would also encourage showing the students an example, and I've included a student example in the "Additional Resources" section below.

Instructions For Students:

In this assignment, you'll be analyzing the ethos of a stand up comedian based on his or her Twitter feed. You'll compose your analysis using Storify and pull evidence for your assessment directly into the Storify piece.

Essentially, this assignment asks that you make an argument about what kind of comedian this person is, basing your argument on their presentation of ethos.

The following are the kinds of questions you'll want to consider, though you will need to find ways to synthesize your answers into a coherent narrative. These are meant as brainstorming questions and are typed in no particular order - so for your narrative, it will be up to you to order your answers to these questions in a manner that flows/coheres.

What kind of message does his or her profile picture send?
What is he doing in the picture? (looking at the camera? smiling? laughing? holding anything?)
What is he wearing in the picture?
How does your comedian address his audience (as in is he nice? mean? aggressive? stand-offish? jovial?)?
What kinds of jokes does he make? (insults? snarky comments? word-play?)
What subjects does he most often joke about?
How does he address his audience/followers?
Are Tweets written to/directly addressing his audience or are they just observations thrown out to the Twitterverse?
Does he insult people?
Does he respond to his followers' Tweets?
Does he "re-Tweet" his followers Tweets?
How does he seem to use Twitter primarily (for promotion or to Tweet jokes)?
Who is his audience and how big is his following? (You may want to browse through his followers or make a case for who his audience might be based on what he tweets about)
thinking back to the first reading for the course - is this comedian a "negative exemplar" or a "spokesperson"
What attitudes/values do his Tweets reflect?
Do you have a sense of his political beliefs?
What aspects of society/life does he critique?
How does he describe himself in his tag line?
Does he Tweet about personal things or major events?
Does he Tweet about celebrities?
Does he Tweet about current events?
Given the things he Tweets about, do you think he has the credibility or authority to do so? Why or why not?
Can you identify some ways in which your comedian builds goodwill or demonstrates that he is "trustworthy?"
Why would you want to listen to this comedian?

Directions for turning in a Storify piece:

1. Create a wiki page in your student folder titled "lastname-date-RS3-Storify"

2. On the page, provide a link to the piece on Storify or insert the embed code onto the page

3. (Optional) Post a link to your project on the class blog

Explicit instructions on how to post your link:

1. make sure your project is "published" before you try to share the link

2. make a page in your wiki folder titled: "lastname-date-RS3"

3. on your published Storify project, there are options to "share," "email," and "embed" - click on the "embed" link and copy the code

4. on your wiki page (when you're in the "edit" screen), click on the "insert" drop-down menu in the formatting toolbar

5. select "HTML/JavaScript" and paste the embed code into the pop-up screen that comes up, then hit "next," and then agree to "insert plugin"

6. save the changes to the wiki page, then test the link

Evaluation Suggestions:

I created a standard rubric and then offered comments in paragraph form. I posted my feedback to the student's wiki page (where they submitted the assignment). There was no grade given, since I was evaluating based on the Learning Record.

[ ] Makes a clear assertion about the comedian’s ethos

[ ] Makes an assertion about the comedian’s audience/followers

[ ] Addresses the content/type of comedian’s tweets

[ ] Identifies (some of) the comedian’s values represented in tweets

[ ] Offers visual analysis of profile picture

[ ] Offers explanation and analysis of tweets (doesn't just let them “speak for themselves”)

[ ] Tweets are framed/introduced effectively (not just dropped in between analyses)

[ ] Project is effectively organized and information synthesized (conceptually vs. chronologically)

[ ] Sufficiently robust assessment (meets length/thoroughness expectations)

[ ] Writing relatively free of grammatical error

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My students seemed to enjoy the exercise, though several of them encountered problems with the technological aspects. It's important to point out to them the various toolbars/functions of the Storify interface and to make your own expectations clear in terms of how you want the information presented/overall goal of the assignment.

Additional Resources:

A student example of this assignment, analyzing Ralphie May's Twitter feed.

My gratitude to Megan Varelmann Gianfagna for her lesson plan on Tracing Memes in Storify, which served as inspiration for this assignment.

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

I implemented this assignment in my intermediate rhetoric course, RHE 309K Rhetoric of Stand Up Comedy, though it is easily adaptable to a number of other topics. For my course students analyzed the Twitter feed of a comedian of their choosing, but this same approach could be used for any public figure/author. I'm including my abbreviated course description.

Beginning in the 1950s and 60s, pioneers of comedy such as Lenny Bruce and Dick Gregory tackled issues of civil rights and liberties, opening the door for future generations of comics to criticize society and oppressive government policies. By the 1970s, George Carlin and Richard Pryor turned stand-up comedy into one of the most subversive forms of popular rhetoric. Now, late night monologues and “fake” news shows increasingly shape public understanding of world events and political figures.

This course examines how comedians use humor to advocate positions in public controversies, to construct notions of group identity, and to criticize public figures – essentially, how they use humor to persuade. If laughter is a sign of persuasion (a question we will explore together), we will think through why audiences do or don’t laugh, are or are not persuaded by a text. We will think and write critically about what makes comic performances compelling, focusing closely on the relationship between performers and their audiences. We will track how the purpose and message of texts changes as jokes move across media and venue in the digital age, looking at a wide range of sources - from comedy albums to HBO specials, from YouTube to Twitter. Fundamentally, we’ll be asking whether these performances encourage audiences to re-think their ideological and political values, or if humor simply reinforces the beliefs that audiences already hold: when are we laughing with, and when are we laughing at, and, most importantly, (how) can we know the difference?

Tags:

Teaching Ethos Using Online Dating Profiles

Cate Blouke — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 02:53:14 +0000

Author:

Cate Blouke

Image Credit:

Screen shot of the plan author's faux OkCupid profile, taken by the author

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students analyze portions of profiles excerpted from the free online dating site, OkCupid, in order to talk about ethos, values, ideology and goodwill. The exercise, in turn, encourages students to consider their own online presences, their values, and the ways in which rhetoric has “real world” applications.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Close Reading

Cultural Context

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Style

Summary

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Creative Commons

Social Media

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

To introduce the concept of ethos in a rhetoric classroom. To introduce students to the implications of online writing and the ways in which our writing reflects a particular image of ourselves to different audiences. To encourage students to reflect on their own online identities, as well as the ways in which they shift their self-presentations based on their perceptions of audience and genre.

Media Requirements:

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Media Console/Projector

Required Materials:

Internet access would be ideal, but this could easily be implemented using simple hand-outs prepared in advance.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Early in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Perhaps more so than any other piece of writing, and even more so than my students' facebook pages, the self-summaries presented in online dating profiles are fundamentally arguments of ethos. Regardless of specific rhetorical aim (a casual hook up, a future spouse, or something in between), at heart, each of these texts is saying to readers, “this is who I am, accept me.” So they seemed like a great source text to get my students really thinking about how and why they evaluate people: what sort of snap judgements they make, how they read into things without even realizing it. And it also served as an excellent talking point about the public nature of the internet - how just because we don’t anticipate particular audiences doesn’t mean our intended audience will be the only readers.

As I pointed out to my students, the internet is very much so a public place, regardless of the sometimes flimsy, sometimes more strict privacy settings of a given website. We never really know the uses to which our words will be put, and especially when asking students to share and compose in digital spaces, it’s important to get them thinking about how online identities and compositions might be read.

OkCupid profiles offer a glimpse of more pragmatic, everyday ethos: how a person's general presentation or demeanor reflects an image back into the world. Looking at their compositions encourages students to focus on how people generate (or fail to generate) goodwill, and how they convey particular values through their writing.

After students break off into groups to assess the ethos presented in the profiles they are given and write short descriptions of their candidates, then we discuss their assessments as a group.

As a follow up assignment, I ask students to go home and write their own self-summaries to be posted on the class blog. To encourage students to think about audience, you might give them different audiences for which to compose these summaries. For example, how would they summaraize themselves on a job application versus a student-body election? For their parents versus their friends? For their classmates versus their teammates?

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

The site requires that you create an account in order to search for users, but the account is free, requiring nothing more than an email address. So, if you would prefer to find example profiles on your own, you'll need to open an account. However, I will include a number of potential sample profiles below in the "additional resources." As my students discovered, these profiles can be easily found by "googling" phrases from the excerpts below (at least when I initially used them - users may have since set their profiles to private). I didn't use the full profiles as part of the class discussion, though I'm toying with the idea of doing so next time around.

Should you seek out sample profiles to excerpt, here are my suggestions:

seek outside of your geographical region (to avoid selecting someone that your students could possibly know)
avoid using profiles that are overtly outrageous (this might be difficult as there are some ludicrous profiles on the site, but it will help to keep the exercise less unruly if the examples are more "reasonable")
try not to select profiles which you expect your students to respond to in a particular way (they will inevitably surprise you)
select profiles that have enough writing to afford a fair bit of analysis, but not so much that they students get lost (a good-sized paragraph should suffice)
double check to see if the profile is set to "public" by copying and pasting the url into a separate browser (in which you are not logged into the site)

Instructions For Students:

There is, perhaps, no clearer instance of an argument based on character than online dating profiles. Each person's profile essentially makes the argument that "you should date me because of who I am." On the free online dating site OkCupid, users are asked to write a "self-summary" which is the first thing people see when visiting their profile.

For this exercise, you will analyze a person's ethos based on their self-summary. You'll then play match-maker, deciding amongst four candidates who would make the best match with your bachelor or bachelorette. However, you'll need to justify your choice based on both parties' presentation of ethos.

In groups of three, you'll be assigned to a particular bachelor or bachelorette below. You'll first analyze your bachelor or bachelorette's ethos, writing an evaluation of their values and character based on evidence from their self-summary. Once you have a clear sense of your person, you will make an argument as to why they "fit" with one of the matches provided - again, based on character and shared values. Here are some questions to consider:

What makes this person a "good" dating candidate?
What kind of person are they?
What do they value?
What do they like to do?
How do they address their potential matches?

For any of these questions, you will want to provide a specific example/quote/evidence to explain your assessment. If you have an immediate reaction to the person's profile, try to identify what sparked the reaction. Think about word choice, tone, and level of formality. How does this person generate (or fail to generate) goodwill? Is anything in their profile alienating? What is it and why do you think you have that reaction?

Evaluation Suggestions:

The in-class discussion was not evaluated, though it may require some careful moderating. Students will likely have a lot of fun with the exercise, but both times I've implemented the plan, I have had to work to keep the conversation from devolving into making vun of the profile in question. It's important to remind students that these are "real" people.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My students love this exercise. They find it thoroughly memorable and enjoyable, although I'm not sure that makes it the most pedagogically valuable lesson I've taught. So I would love feedback in the comments section if you try this plan in your classroom.

Additional Resources:

Here are a few of the sampels I used in my class - at the time of the exercise, all of these profiles were publicly viewable. Summaries have been excerpted verbatim (all spelling errors and grammar issues are original). I would recommend formatting them into some sort of chart (so as not to impose a vertical hierarchy), but for accessibility's sake, I'll simply post the text here.

Here are the options I gave to the first group:

---

Bachelor #1

Well I’m one of the good guys, a sweet heart that’s only here in hopes to find that awesome someone to share in life's sweat adventures with. No really it's true, not all guys are dumb assholes...Surprise. but lets be real, most are. Ha

They are some strange people out there that much is curtain so lets not think it's only you ladies that get weird messages from people. The first person to contact me on this site, turned out to be a homeless stripper. O_O Gross! Anyways I'm just saying I'm not like that or here for that.

I'm not to serious a person, more carefree and laid back if anything so being able to make fun of people without hating on them is a must. I'd much rather do sometime fun than sit an complain all day about how messed up the world is.(Cause we all Know it is.) I do like to have intelligent conversations, deep discussions, and learn how to connect with the earth and universe more but I don't let things bother me that are out of my control if you know what I mean.

What I’m really interested in is someone that can love me for who I am and not try and make me out to be someone else and that's how I treat people in return.

I live alone and love it, my house is my sanctuary but like everyone else it gets lonely and I can use a best friend to hang with me and have some fun.

My heart and spiritual well being is very important to me, that being said I take good care of myself and my relationships with others. Having a negative attitude about anything isn’t worth my time and its just not my style.

I’m in no way a pacifist as I love a good debate and would jump in a second to save someone from a robber, bully or zombies. Fuck War! But sometimes even the monks must fight and stand up for the weak. That’s me.

I live by one simple truth that “The focused mind is the most powerful force in the universe, meaning what the mind can conceive and truly believe by will alone it shall achieve.”

However, the mind can only take so much and sometimes needs help form others. Everybody needs somebody sometimes. Sometimes its a shoulder you need and sometimes its a slap in the back of the head. I guess that’s why I’m here, no ones perfect even though I see a lot of people trying to be. So hit me up if you feel like I do.

---

Bachelorette #1

My name is Josephine, I studied fine arts at France and then moved to South America to finish a post-graduate program on Linguistics.

Nowadays I work as a drawing teacher and occasionally as a model for the faculty students. I have acted on the past too, I have always been very passionate about filmmaking, I even ended up making a film about five years ago. But that passion I left it behind to replace it with music.

I am very much into exotic instruments. Koto, tabla, sitar, harmonium, buzuq, etc etc. These interest of the exotic came to me through my Romanian origins. I have a strong Gypsy bloodline on my family. I have played in several Manele bands during the late two years (since I re-established in England).

Hmm... what else could I tell you? Vegetarianism is very important to me. I work hardly everyday to become a vegan and I'm expecting to totally achieve it by this year. That is why I have had to learn to cook vegan, which I succesfully achieved. I have the best Romani vegan dishes you'll ever taste (if we ever meet).

I like psychedelic sixties bands. I love The Doors, I think the ultimate party would be dancing around a pyre drinking sake to the rythmn of Five To One. I also love, of course, popular 'gypsy' music like Goran Bregovic, he did a great song with Iggy Pop called In The Death Car, for the film Arizona Dream, you should check that out.

Ok, I guess I already did this too long. Excuse me.

---

Bachelorette #2

Me, well, I'm a fat-bottomed girl and I make the rocking world go 'round.

I'm a woman. I enjoy womanly things like getting my nails done and putting makeup on. I do these things because they make me feel great, not because I'm high-maintenance or girly.

I'm pretty smart in my mind. I read a lot, enjoy a good movie often and listen to music all the time. I hate that I say "like" so fucking much, but it's one of my adorable quirks.

I'm a tactile person. I show affection by touch. However, I'm not a touchy feely person. Which is pretty fucking odd, I know.

At this point, I'm looking for someone I can actually do stuff with. Go to a play. Rock out to a band at a bar. Try a new restaurant. Drink!!

<*If all you're looking for is a bang buddy, I am not the girl for you.*>

So essentially, I'm looking for someone who is fun, outgoing, and mature. It's odd looking for female friends, but I'm really trying to meet new PEOPLE not just men.

Likes:

SHORT Beards (on men)

Tattoos

Dancing

Men who play a musical instrument...I get so weak in the knees!

A man with some meat on his bones (and if you decide to be a smart ass and message me with, "I got meat on THIS bone," I will hunt you down and smack the shit out of you.)

A nice smile

Brazilian Fart Porn. Funniest shit I've ever seen.

A good, open sense of humor

Chivalry

Dirty minds

Dislikes:

Mindfuckery (Can you feel my dick in your mind right now?)

Aloofness

Facetiousness

Too much gook in a guys hair

Men who wear flip flops, eeeew

People who lack ambition and imagination

LIARS- I know that sometimes you have to wait until a precise time to mention something...just don't lie.

---

Bachelorette #3

I am very family oriented. So I would start off by saying that I am most passionate about my family and friends. Beyond that, I love traveling, reading and learning foreign languages. I think that these things can open doors to new people, cultures and better understanding of the larger world. I also am passionate about learning new things. I love taking goofy classes, or reading up on something I don't know about. I think that knowledge really is power, and I love using my imagination and creativity to explore different aspects of the world. I pride myself on being street smart. Though formal eduation is very important, arming oneself with useful everyday knowledge can sometimes be even more valuable (aka I am thankful that I possess common sense!) I am a quick thinker and believe myself not to be naive. And while keeping an open-mind and an open-heart, I love that I am comfortable relying on my independence.

On a less serious note, I love laughing and I LOVE Steelers football! I'm always up for a road trip and love to go anywhere warm (especially during the winter months!) Oh yeah, and I have started to train for a Triathlon Sprint coming up this summer. (I'll let you know how that goes... it's early yet, so I'm still quite optimistic!)

Lastly, some things i believe:

* Everything happens for a reason.

* That there is a heaven. I'm not so sure however, about hell. ... I'll get back to you.

* That no talent ass-clowns should not be glorified on MTV, VH1, E! or otherwise.

* "Beauty is only skin deep" is said only by people who have never been ugly.

* Accents and foreign languages are sexy.

* Singers and musicians are sexy.

* Happy-endings do exist.

* There is a lid for every pot.

* Everyone needs to know how to laugh at themselves.

* Life's too short to sweat the small stuff.

* There is no such thing as an accident or a mistake.

* Boy Meets World could have been and may always be the best show to grow up watching.

* We never stop learning.

---

For the second group, I gave them these options, and it was interesting to see if the two groups paired up the same bachelor and bachelorette.

---

Bachelorette #1

My name is Josephine, I studied fine arts at France and then moved to South America to finish a post-graduate program on Linguistics.

Ok, I guess I already did this too long. Excuse me.

---

Bachelor #1

The a geek, and proud of it. When I get passionate about something, I can't shut up about it (which is either endearing or extremely irritating, depending on your point of view).

I'm left-wing. A sceptic (in matters of science, although I'm sorry to say I'm quite gullible on a personal level). A militant atheist. It must be said though, that I'd like to think I have a pretty good sense of humour about those topics, even if I am passionate about them.

I'm an artist (I draw and paint). I love the English language, although my own writing talents are somewhat lacklustre. I like learning. There's nothing better than discovering something new and fascinating and being able to share it with other people.

I think Stephen Fry is God.

I think Batman and the Doctor are perhaps the greatest fictional characters created by man.

I think music was perfected in 1879 withGilbert and Sullivan's Major-General Song.

I think comic books and cartoons are perfectly legitimate artforms, capable of producing genuine human drama and emotion. On the other hand, I can't resist a good Talking Gorilla vs. Killer Robot fight.

I seem to think a lot of pretty silly things, huh?

I am geeky, smart...ish, and quirky

---

Bachelor #2

---

Bachelor #3

What I’m really interested in is someone that can love me for who I am and not try and make me out to be someone else and that's how I treat people in return.

I live alone and love it, my house is my sanctuary but like everyone else it gets lonely and I can use a best friend to hang with me and have some fun.

I live by one simple truth that “The focused mind is the most powerful force in the universe, meaning what the mind can conceive and truly believe by will alone it shall achieve.”

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

I've used this exercise in both my introductory literary studies course (as a means to explain the "real world" implications/applications of close reading) as well as in my intermediate rhetoric course.

Tags:

Using Photoshop to Create Persona-Avatars for Class Blog

OyP — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 18:00:32 +0000

Author:

Chris Ortiz y Prentice

Image Credit:

Chris Ortiz y Prentice

Brief Assignment Overview:

This lesson uses Photoshop to manipulate creative commons images found on the Internet into an avatar which represents the persona or ethos from which the student will write on a course blog.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Creative Commons

Multimedia

Software

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Allow students to develop a sense of self on the class blog; an ethos-creation project which facilitates better (because more committed) class conversation.

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Adobe Photoshop

Google Images

Timeline for Optimal Use:

First Day/Week

Full Assignment Description:

First, I deploy a little litmus test and ask the students, “Who has used photoshop before?” A couple hands go up. I ask of these, “Who knows how to use the selection tool and how to select layers?” Most hands lower, but about four or five stay up. I distribute these students evenly amongst the class. The beauty of this lesson (as with many which involve teaching students how to use a new program) is that it depends upon peer instruction.

I give a short (fifteen minute) lesson to start class. I discuss creative commons, point towards the GoogleImage filter “labeled for reuse” and the condition “modification,” and show the students some online resources to find images (such as, http://archive.org/). Then I show them how to save the image to the desktop, bring it into Photoshop, rasterize if necessary, select what they want, and delete the rest.

I tell the Photoshop-familiar students that in addition to creating their own avatars they must also address their peers’ problems and help them learn the Photoshop basics. I say that I hereby deputize you to act as mini-instructors for the day, and then I encourage the other students to make use of their peers’ knowledge, not to let these deputies “do it” for them but rather make the deputy show you how to do it yourself. After

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

I recommend that the instructor have some familiarity with Photoshop before attempting this assignment. Best way to do that is to make an avatar of your own; once you get selecting, rasterizing, and sizing (and maybe some theme manipulation), you’re good to go! You’ll also need a course blog. You can check mine out here: http://texastalksvideogames.wordpress.com

Instructions For Students:

Today's assignment is to create a ‘gravatar’ for your profile. Think of this image as your calling card on the blog. (If you'd prefer not to make a gravatar--since it links up to your email and shows up anywhere you post to the internet while signed into that email--make an avatar image, but don't upload it to your profile. You should still complete the second part of the assignment.) You'll need to use Photoshop to combine at least two images, resize the image, and upload it on your profile.

Next, write a post and tell us, in about one hundred words, why you selected and made your avatar as you did. Title the post with your username, and upload an image of your avatar in the body.

Click here if you'd like some more pointers on selecting images in photoshop.

Evaluation Suggestions:

I grade this assignment on the basis of completion. I require all students to upload the image in a post which explains its significance to them.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My class is composed of juniors and seniors and were very responsible about helping one another with the new technology. I myself learned some things about Photoshop as concerns arose (such as why you need to rasterize certain images to manipulate them). The students stayed on task and really got into making persona for themselves. The class I use this for is about the rhetoric of video games, so my students are probably predisposed to like the idea of creating an avatar, but the lesson should port well to any class with computers in the classroom, which uses a blog and is interested in digital rhetoric.

Additional Resources:

Computers in the classroom; Adobe Photoshop (CS4, CS5); should also work with opensource photoshop programs

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

RHE309K, The Rhetoric of Video Games investigates how video games make arguments. For instance, does BioWare’s 2010 Mass Effect 2 argue that as long as cultures remain distinct, constant warfare is a law of nature? Does the game then suggest that a more peaceful world can come only through the assimilation of all cultures into one? Or does the game argue, conversely, that a multicultural nation’s greatest resource is its capacity for tactical alliances between identity groups, and that the assimilation of one culture by another therefore weakens the union? As these questions indicate, even commercial video games make serious arguments about the world in which they are produced, exchanged, and played. In this course, we use the skills of rhetorical analysis to investigate how and what video games argue. We will pay special attention to procedural rhetoric in games and analyze how games model economies, geopolitics, war, even interpersonal relationships. In order to better understand the effects as well as premises of games’ arguments, we research the critical controversies about video games, and we consider the audiences games address. Finally, students use the skills developed over the course of the semester to conceive of and propose persuasive games of their own.

Tags:

Using MASS EFFECT 1 to Teach “Critical Situations”

OyP — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:14:50 +0000

Author:

Chris Ortiz y Prentice

Image Credit:

unknown

Brief Assignment Overview:

This lesson plan uses the interactive video game Mass Effect 1 (BioWare, 2007 for XBOX 360) to teach students about making situated speech acts that effectively address a certain audience in a particular rhetorical situation.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Video Games

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

I use Mass Effect as a rhetorical modeling technology that affords for students to “play” in and with rhetorical situations in order to expand students’ understanding of the following notions:

“rhetorical situation”
“rhetorical purpose”
“rhetorical appeal”
“intended audience”
“stakeholder”

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

X-Box 360 linked up to the over-head projector

Mass Effect 1

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Early in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

The situation is that you, the gamer, are playing as Commander Shepard, captain of the starship Normandy. You have just been assigned a mission by Milky Way’s “United Nations” to save the galaxy from an evil master-mind species of Borg-like computer-assimilators. Shepard is considered by some of the galaxy’s denizens to be a savior who will bring peace to a warring galaxy, yet Shepard is considered by others to be a no-good, power-grubbing, monomaniac. Mass Effect 1 leaves developing Shepard’s character up to the gamer. Will you play to forge a coalition between alien species or will you play to better the position of the human species on the galitco-political stage?

In the scene I have the students play, Shepard has just been given full command over the Normandy and s/he (the character’s gender is player selectable) is about to give a speech to the crew to rally them behind her/him. The Normandy’s crew is unlike that of any other human-military vessel, since it is composed of both humans and aliens. Shepard’s crew is highly distrustful of one another and of Shepard. The purpose of Shepard’s speech is thus to build trust among the crew by getting them fired up about their mission. You the gamer get to choose Shepherd’s rhetorical decisions, while the character/avatar Shepard “decides” how to articulate your rhetorical decisions.

See this YouTube video for further illustration.

I have one student play through the scenario in class. As she or he is playing, I ask the other students to observe 1) the crew’s reaction to each rhetorical decision, and 2) the way in which Shepard translates the player’s rhetorical stimuli into actual language. I also ask them to consider why might the game award certain rhetorical decisions with “paragon” points and others with “renegade” points. Then, I have another student play through the same scenario, and ask the observing students the same questions. Finally, I lead a discussion where we discuss the different choices the game affords and the rhetorical consequences of each decision.

My purpose, ultimately, is to get the students to see how Shepard’s rhetorical decisions are afforded by the rhetorical situation. As a modeling technology, Mass Effect 1 puts the gamer into a rhetorical situation through the character/avatar Shepard. By allowing the gamer to experiment with the different sorts of appeals Shepard uses to get the audience to believe his or her claims, while simultaneously providing a perspective from which the gamer can judge the consequences of Shepard’s rhetorical decisions, Mass Effect 1 positions the gamer at once “inside” and “outside” the game. Rhetorical modeling technologies like Mass Effect are thus particularly useful pedagogical tools because they afford positions from which students can both “play” and “observe”—two fundamental ingredients of effective learning.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

I’ve played the game up to the relevant scene and saved it just before this scene several times. Use saves 22-24 (at 1hour 42min into the game) to run this lesson. If you’re careful not to save the game over any of these saved games, you can use the same load point each time you play through the scenario. I saved it several times just in case you accidentally save over one of the games (since in Mass Effect, you can’t go back but only start over).

The scene itself lasts about one and half minutes, so you should be able to play it through several times before moving on to questions and discussion.In order to start the scene, walk Shepard's character into the starship Normandy. To select rhetorical options, push and hold the left thumbstick in the direction of the option, and push A.

I use this plan on the day the students turn in their final "short assignment" essay. At this point in the semester, the students tend to be a little burned-out and maintaining their interest can be difficult. I frame this plan as a sort of "reward" for their hard work: since we are playing and talking about a video game, students consider this a "fun" day, which has the added advantage of getting them to think about rhetoric in a low-pressure environment. The lesson plan thus requires no pre-class preparation, but you could append a homework assignment (see questions below).

Instructions For Students:

Take notes while you watch. After you’ve watched several play-throughs, answer the following questions:

1) When does the game give you a chance to make decisions? In other words, at what points in Shepard’s speech does the game offer you decisions?

2) What decisions can you make? (Try to make a list as you watch).

3) How does Shepard articulate the option you choose? In other words, how does what Shepard says differ from what you ask her to say? (Use direct quotations to answer this question).

4) How does Shepard’s overall speech change depending on the paths you take?

a) First, think about where Shepard invents her ethos in the speech. How does this ethos change depending on the decisions you make? Be specific.

b) Now think about where Shepard appeals to her crews values (that is, where does Shepard try to evoke an emotion from her audience. How does this pathos change depending on the decisions you make? Be specific.

c) Finally, think about where Shepard reasons with her audience. Can you change this logos by making different rhetorical decisions? If so, where does this happen?

5) Is there one decision that changes the speech more drastically than others? If so, how does that decision change the speech: does it send it in a new “direction”? does it change its purpose? does it make Shepard seem like a different sort of person?

a) Why should that decision change the speech more drastically than others?

6) How does the crew react differently depending on the sorts of speeches you give?

7) Why do you think some speech-paths earn “paragon” points, while others earn “renegade” points?

a) What implicit criteria is being used to judge your decisions?

Evaluation Suggestions:

Because I intend this lesson to offer a low-stake opportunity for students to re-learn some of the concepts I introduced earlier in the semester, I grade this assignment as complete/incomplete.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

I was thrilled with my students responses to the game. I had several different students play through the same scene, choosing different rhetorical options each time. Depeding on how you play, the camera shoots to different sections of Shepard's audience (who also react differently depending on what Shepard says. In one shot, for instance, an alien species either crosses his arms and turns away from his human crew-mates or uncrosses his arms and turns towards them depending on whether Shepard emphasizes the superiority of humans to other species or humans' willingness to cooperate with other species). Students wanted to discover every possible audience reaction, and they were helping each other to select options we hadn't yet tried. (Students would say, "oh! try that one, because that will bring up all those other options, and we've only tried one so far). This way of thinking led into a wonderful discussion about how persuasive essays are "modular," so that decisions you make early on in the paper afford other rhetorical options later on at the same time that they take some options out of play. I wouldn't have been able to explain this complex concept had not the students been playing around with the way rhetorical decisions lead on to others.

I might have used this lesson plan earlier in the semester to introduce the notion of "critical situations," or to teach the concepts of "ethos." Next time, I also intend to incorporate this plan into an assignment series that will take up more than one day. I think the pedagogical value of the lesson would have been more fully realized had I required the students to transfer their interactive/visual experience onto paper, either by having them systematically answer the questions above, or by completing a correlated writing assignment. (For instance, you might have students mind-map their own Essays 3 by translating them into "Mass Effect-style" rhetorical prompts: what rhetorical tactics were available to you in the first paragraph? which did you choose? which further rhetorical options were opened up by that decision? and so on).

Additional Resources:

Once you've put the disc into the XBox, be careful not to disturb the console (in particular, do NOT move the console from vertical to horizontal, or vice versa, while the disc is running, as this will gouge and ruin the disc). I recommend laying the console down flat to play the game; otherwise, the disc might make a distracting rattle while it runs.

My other plan, "Using Mind-Maps to Make Modular Arguments, MASS EFFECT Style," pairs nicely with this exercise.

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

RHE306, A course in argumentation that situates rhetoric as an art of civic discourse. It is designed to enhance students’ ability to analyze the various positionsheld in any public debate and to advocate their own position effectively. Students’ work in this course will help them advance the critical writing and reading skills they will need to succeed in courses for their major and university degree.

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