DWRL Lesson Plans - Imagery

Using Debates to Teach Rhetorical Analysis

Sloan — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 16:19:55 +0000

Author:

Image Credit:

Image Credit: Short Excursions Into Allyson's Mind

Brief Assignment Overview:

This assignment asks students to watch a debate and evaluate the participants' use of ethos, pathos and logos given their goals and their audience. It then asks students to select a debate “winner,” construct an argument justifying their position, and debate the issue with other students, incorporating concession, refutation and rebuttal.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

In-class Exercise

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Late in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

This assignment has students evaluate speakers' use of ethos, logos and pathos, perform a rhetorical analysis on the effectiveness of that use, and debate their own conclusions with their classmates by relying on concession, refutation and rebuttal. Ideally, this assignment will help students solidify their understanding of rhetorical appeals and allow them to practice calling upon argumentative strategies to persuade a skeptical audience. The debate chosen can be a fantastic hook to catch student interest in rhetorical analysis. Presidential debates or heated public debates could be introduced for a class that seems particularly politically conscious, but I personally used a semi-humorous debate between comedian Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly, television host and social commentator. The debating then required of students should help them develop their own use of persuasive strategies.

Students will first watch a debate in class. A classroom equipped with a computer and screen is necessary for this assignment. While viewing the debate, students should take notes on both (or one, if you want to divide your students neatly into two camps) speakers' use of ethos, logos and pathos. Ask them also to think about the audience for this debate and whether or not the rhetorical moves made by the speakers would be received well by that audience. This should take up one class period.

For homework, have your students write up a brief report arguing why one speaker “won” the debate. They should use the notes taken during the debate and focus on the use and effectiveness of rhetorical appeals.

During the next class period, ask students to share their arguments. Go back and forth between the two camps, asking students to use various combinations of concession, refutation and rebuttal to answer one another.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Be sure to pick a debate video that will fit neatly in with your available class time. Decide whether you want to assign students to a single debater or offer them the option of picking their own side. If you assign students to a single speaker, you can ask them to focus solely on her while watching the debate video.

Instructions For Students:

Ideally, before performing this exercise students should already be familiar with rhetorical analysis and refutation, concession and rebuttal. I used this assignment as an end-of-semester wrap-up to synthesize various ideas and skills.

1) For the first class period, students should closely watch this debate video. They should focus on both speakers' (or a single speaker's) use of ethos, pathos and logos. Instruct them to take detailed notes, citing specific examples. Ask them to pay special attention to these questions: what kind of ethos do the speakers establish? How? When do they use pathos and why? When do they use logos and why? Also, define the audience for this debate.

2) For homework, students should write up a 1-2 page argument about why one debater "won" the argument by more effectively using rhetorical appeals to convince her audience.

3) For the next class period, ask a volunteer on each side summarize why her debater won. Then, ask opposing sides to use various combinatinos of refutation, rebuttal and concession to argue against one another.

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

I used this assignment for Rhetoric 306, an introductory course.

Tags:

Teaching Kairos through Internet Memes

sussman — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 20:16:30 +0000

Author:

Sarah Sussman

Image Credit:

New York Times

Brief Assignment Overview:

In this lesson, students in my visual rhetoric class, "The Rhetoric of Photography," look at internet memes in multiple contexts as part of our unit on kairos.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Multiple Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Kairos

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Cultural Context

Historical Context

Imagery

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Citation

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Collaboration

Remix

Social Media

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

I hope to instill a sense of the importance of contextualizing a source by using a medium students are intimately familiar with: internet memes.

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

At minimum, this project requires a basic classroom media console (a projector and computer with an internet connection). Though, of course, with a computer lab classroom what would be homeowrk could be done in class. I also reccomend creating a class blog, such as Tumblr, for collecting students work so that they can easily share and discuss what they are doing with their peers.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Early in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Before launching into this assignment, make sure students have done some basic reading on kairos for homework.

In this lesson, my goal is to use several examples to instill in students a sense of the importance of context. I want them to become more savvy to the ways in which media on the internet, and memes in particular, can be taken out of context. I'll narrate this lessonplan alongside each source used.

Before launching into this assignment, make sure students have done some basic reading on kairos for homework.

Homework reading for before or after this lesson:

This offers a basic overview of Dawkin's "meme" concept: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/What-Defines-a-Meme.html?c=y&...

An article on censorship and memes: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/censored-in-china-today-t...

Start off by showing students some basic internet memes and watch their reactions.

Possibilities include:

LOL Cat slideshow http://www.slideshare.net/jameswillamor/lolcats-in-popular-culture-a-his...

This excellent video of Dawkins reading a speech on the relationship between his theory of memes and internet memes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFn-ixX9edg

"ermagherd" youtube meme video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggl2voBzeS8

philosoraptor image: http://pinterest.com/pin/519180663262557384/ Or, Philosoraptor in video form: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucoU0c5kvZw

Ask students: who do you think is the intended audience for the meme and why? What makes these photos funny? How do they exploit social values and cultural norms to create humor?

What kinds of arguments or assumptions are these making through humor?

Share this video of (now former) Sargeant Pike pepper-spraying UC Davis Occupy protestors at close range in November 2011. Ask them if any of them recognize the scene from the meme, or the meme itself? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgIEi86x2Q

Use their responses to spark a conversation which suggests the consequences of severing a meme from its original history. Ask them why it's humorous. Ask them if humor can be an effective political tool, and whether this meme in particular is an effective political tool.

Then move onto the "Big Yellow Duck" article assigned for homework: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/censored-in-china-today-t...

Here is a link to the image: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/6/4/13703...

Then, ask whether memes can ever be used to enhance the effectiveness of a message, agenda, or movement? And if so, how?

Share some memes which have a more serious or informative tone:

Feminist Ryan Gosling: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdq76gsMsq1r4vn34o1_400.jpg

Planned Parenthood: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150843743739639&set=a.18947884...

Obama HOPE meme http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/obama-hope-posters

Ask them about their familiarity level with each of these memes and whether these memes work for them.

Then, either dismiss them to make their own memes at home and write a 1 p essay, or have them begin the meme-making process through a program such as memegenerator.com

Sometimes these internet memes can end up containing borderline-offensive or flat-out offensive content (to many the Davis pepper spray cop meme is highly offensive). I find students with the more questionable memes seem to provoke debate and work this out with their peers, which is why the blog and sharing is necessary. Rather than shying away from these moments, I try to encourage the students to build off of them -- to deepend their conversations about the importance of proper context

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Create a platform for collecting images in advance, such as a class Tumblr. Familiarize yourself with the articles.

Instructions For Students:

Please read the following two articles:

Big Yellow Duck article: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/censored-in-china-today-t...

Reading on Memes (which paraphrases Dawkins): http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/What-Defines-a-Meme.html?c=y&page=1

Assignment: Write a 1p double-spaced meditation on memes and history. You are encouraged to incorporate some conversation about the iconic photo you chose [earlier they wrote a 2pp essay on the history of an iconic photo] and your own thoughts and ideas on memes (you will turn your iconic photo into a meme in class on Tuesday, so think about what captions you might use, and what relationship texts and captions have with images). Do not merely summarize these readings. Provide enough background info. to provide context and demonstrate that you did the readings, but focus on your own analysis and original ideas. You must incorporate both readings in your journal entry.

Evaluation Suggestions:

Because visuals can be tricky to grade I award points mainly for a quality engagement with both articles assigned. I ask myself 1) Did they grasp the article and the basic ideas? 2) Did they apply these ideas succsesfully to their own photo? 3) Does their own meme reflect an understanding of things discussed so far?

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

I start with the slideshow of LOLcats at the beginning of class (linked in description), before launching into a discussion and explanation of the divide between Dawkin's "meme" and internet memes. The presence of a familar and much-loved meme sets a positive and engaged mood for the rest of the class period. Depending upon when you are reading this, you might want to use a more current internet trend or meme.

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

From my syllabus for "The Rhetoric of Photography": "Our world is awash in digital images: we snap and share photos on Instagram, we post pictures of our friends on Facebook, and keep virtual albums on Pinterest and Tumblr. Because we increasingly relate to the world through photographs, it is more important than ever to pause and consider what photos are telling us. Images which might at first glance seem innocuous are in fact complexly persuasive. This course aims to put an end to passive scrolling by examining the rhetoric of images while making our own visual arguments."

Tags:

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:

Rap Genius Close Reading Exercise

Uzendoski — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 21:52:58 +0000

Author:

Andrew Uzendoski

Image Credit:

2013 Genius Media Group

http://poetry.rapgenius.com/F-scott-fitzgerald-the-great-gatsby-chapter-...

Brief Assignment Overview:

This close reading assignment uses “Rap Genius”, an Internet annotation website, to connect each student with multiple audiences while also creating a forum where the entire class can pool their knowledge together in order to better analyze and understand the work of a specific author.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Annotation

Style

Word Choice

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Web Design

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

A computer for each small group, ideally for each student in the group. A media consolae/projeftor for the small groups to present their completed annotation project.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

In this assignment, students practice their close reading skills in small groups of three or four students. Each group is given a different poem or a short story by the same author. While discussing the text together, they must identify and analyze important passages or lines. After their discussion, they will annotate a copy of their text—a copy which has previously been posted by the teacher on the Rap Genius website—using the analysis they produced in their small group.

When each group has completed their annotation of their text, the class will reconvene as a whole to share their close readings. Each group shares their analysis of the text using their annotated copy on the Rap Genius website. After each group’s presentation, there should be an opportunity for anyone in the class to add an annotation to the poem or short story. Because the same author wrote each text analyzed by the small groups, the students should better be able to use their knowledge of the author’s style, biography or evolution as a writer to expand on the original analysis of the poem or short story.

This assignment provides the students with multiple audiences—the individual members of their small group, the class at large, and the Rap Genius online community. It also encourages the students to learn from each other. The exercise offers multiple points where class participation shapes the analysis of the text, and the diverse readings of different texts by the same author are able to inform each group’s close analysis as well as the larger appreciation of the author’s body of work.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

This assignment works best after the fundamentals of close reading have been established in the class. Ideally, the teacher will have first modeled the close reading of a passage from a poem or short story, as then lead a collaborative close reading with the class of another text. Once the teacher is confidant the class can lead their own close readings, he or she can use this assignment as a platform for allowing the students to execute a close reading without the direct guidance of a teacher.

Please note that this assignment requires the instructor to upload each text that the students will analyze to Rap Genius prior to the closer reading exercise. It is easy to post a text; there are detailed instructions on the website and it requires you to paste a copy of the text onto the website. (And if there are any questions, do not hesitate in asking Jeremy Dean, the head of “Education Genius Department” for Rap Genius and a University of Texas alum! His contact info is Jeremy@rapgenius.com)

Instructions For Students:

1. Each group of students (3-4) will be handed a different text, either a poem or short story, written by the same author. (Note: This can either be done at the beginning of class if it is a short text, or before the beginning of class if it is a longer text.)

2. Each group will discuss the text and identify important passages (Usually 6 – 8).

3. Each group will then analyze these passages, providing insight on the style, historical context or thematic value of the passage. Each analysis should be 1 – 4 sentences long. This analysis can either be done on paper or on a computer, but if it is done on a computer it will be easier for the students to copy the analysis and paste it in their annotation.

4. Each student will make an account on Rap Genius (rapgenius.com), which will allow them to annotate texts on the website. An email, a username and a password are all that are needed for an account.

5. Each group will then find their text on the Rap Genius database.

6. Once the text is found, they should add their analysis of each passage as online annotations to the text

a. To add an annotation:

i. Highlight the passage you wish to annotate

ii. An option “Annotate” will appear. Click this button.

iii. Add analysis to the text box.

7. When the group's annotations are complete, all of the small groups should reconvene as a whole class.

8. Each group can now present their analysis of their text, going through each annotation and explaining the importance of each passage.

a. For example:

i. How does each of their annotations analyze the author’s use of rhetorical style?

ii. What are the central symbols or themes present in the selected passage?

iii. What historical context did the group add in their annotation to help the reader better understand the passage?

iv. What biographical details from the Author’s life or career might help deepen our understanding of the passage?

9. After each group finishes the presentation of their analysis, allows other students in the class the opportunity to amend or add to any of the annotations.

Evaluation Suggestions:

This exercise is perhaps best assessed as component of the student’s participation grade. A specific number of annotations should be required form each group (6-8 usually works well). Their presentations should also be clear.

However, the Rap Genius annotation platform could be used in a version of this assignment that is completed by each individual student, and not as a small group exercise. Or the teacher could add an annotation component to a student’s essay on the close reading of a passage; the student could have to submit both a short essay and export a certain number of annotations from his essay onto the Rap Genius website.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

Students generally reacted well to this assignment, especially to the fact that their final analysis was posted on Rap Genius, available to anyone on the Internet. It was also a good way to incorporate the computer classroom into a English literature class. Furthermore, some students continued to annotate other texts on the Rap Genius website after the exercise was completed, as Rap Genius is continuing to expand their inclusion of literary texts. A few students were especially interested in annotating texts from the extensive list of Rap, Indie Rock and Pop songs on the website.

Course Type:

Advanced Writing Course

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

This assignment is designed for an English Literature course with access to a computer lab. It has been used effectively in Ethnic American literature classes, where it is important to consider both literary style and historical context when close reading passages. The assignment is also good for analyzing poems that are influenced by historical events, where the students can identify in selected passages how authors directly engage political and cultural touchstones from their respective eras. The exercise is also designed for class with 25 or less students.

Tags:

Google Images and Book Covers - Tracking Cultural Change

Ptacek — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:37:08 +0000

Author:

Jake Ptacek

Image Credit:

Screen shot of Lolita book covers retrieved with Google image search

Brief Assignment Overview:

Images on book covers, blurbs or reviews on dust jackets, and publishers’ summaries all provide constructed argumentation about the text within that is designed to provoke an emotional and analytic response. This lesson plan is designed to get students thinking about the ways in which cover images provide valuable evidence in the way in which a text (in this case, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita) is marketed and interpreted over time.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Audience

Visual Rhetoric

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pre-Writing

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Open Access Software

Remediation

Visualization

Media Requirements:

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

I created this lesson for a networked classroom where each student could have internet access, though a classroom without could request that students print out their images the night before, or profitably use a projector as the groups present.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

First Day/Week

Early in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Students are often presented with paratextual apparati that contributes to determining their response to a work of literature. Images on book covers, blurbs or reviews on dust jackets, and publishers’ summaries all provide constructed argumentation about the text within that is designed to provoke an emotional and analytic response. This lesson plan is designed to get students thinking about the ways in which cover images provide valuable evidence in the way in which a text (in this case, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita) is marketed and interpreted over time. I found that this in turn could contribute to a discussion of a text as a historical document.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Before this class I had given a brief lecture on the history of the composition and publication of Lolita, and we looked at and analyzed the original French cover together, asking questions that were quite similar to the ones in the student prompt.

I had my students log into their computers and head to Google Images. I broke my students up into two- or three-person teams as I have 22 students in this class, but this is of course optional. (NB: Depending on the text, you may wish to enable the “safe search” function on your computers—searching Lolita brought up some occasionally questionable material.)

I handed out prompts to each group (see below in student instructions).

After 20-25 minutes, we came back together and we took a tour through the classroom, where each group gave a brief presentation based on their prompt for the rest of the class.

I did this in one 45-minute class, but the assignment could easily be expanded or transformed into a take-home exercise as needed. In the future I think I will try to make this a two-day exercise. I’d like to have the students upload their images to a class wiki, so that we could easily put them into chronological order, which would allow us to clearly and easily see how the images change (or remain static) over time.

Instructions For Students:

Your goal in this exercise is to think about how a cover image for the novel Lolita constructs a reader's response to the novel. What kinds of things does this image make us think? What does it say about the novel at that historical moment? To do so, you will use Google Images to find a striking cover image for the novel and analyze the image.

Once you’ve logged into your computers, head to Google Images
When you’ve arrived at Google Images you and your partner should search for some cover images used on the novel Lolita. Try some different searches—adding different key words (cover vs book) or countries (America vs Australia) will often provide you with different content.
Discover when and where your image was created—is it a Turkish edition from 1959? A Russian edition from the 1990’s? An American edition from the 2000’s? What type of image is it—a photograph? A drawing? A painting? Is it an identifiable piece of art (a famous painting or photograph) or does it look like it was commissioned for that edition?
With your partner, think about and brainstorm some answers to the following questions: What are the first words that come into your mind when you see this image? What does it make you think of? If you hadn’t read any of the novel, what would this image make you think the book was about? Now that you’ve read (some of ) the novel, what kind of relationship(s) does this image have to the text? Who seems to be portrayed? From whose viewpoint are we looking? Does this image spark any ideas about the cultural construction of the book? What kinds of people would make this book, and what kinds of people would read it? These questions are only a starting place. Please feel free to explore and think about more issues raised by your image.

Be prepared to enlighten the rest of the class about the image you’ve chosen (when and where it’s from, and a brief summary of your thinking about part 4) for about 3-5 minutes.

Evaluation Suggestions:

I did not formally evaluate this assignment except as part of daily class participation

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This was an easy and even fun way to get a conversation started about how paratexts can affect the ways that we read, and also helped us to talk about how different cultural and historical moments look at texts differently. Students who are sometimes reluctant to traditionally close-read in class can often surprise themselves with a sophisticated reading of a visual text, and keeping the exercise group-oriented and low stakes allows them to demonstrate their skills with little pressure.

Course Type:

Literary Studies Course

Tags:

Using Music Videos to Explore Historiography

Laura Thain — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:08:36 +0000

Author:

Laura Thain

Image Credit:

Reality by Rach

Brief Assignment Overview:

This assignment encourges students to think about how they can read and piece together primary sources to create a descriptive narrative. Students are asked to pair together Steven Horowitz's useful Billboard article "The Boys! Are Back in Town," (Billboard 124.11 (2012): 24-29) and three music videos: 'N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye," One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful," and The Wanted's "Glad You Came" in order to construct a history of "the boy band" as a class.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimedia

Video

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This lesson plan should help students practice

observing characteristics of historical narrative in the example article.
employing primary sources in order to construct their own historical narratives.
visual analysis. This helps prepare students for more rigorous analysis later in the semester.
genre analysis. This helps students understand how to describe boundaries for celebrity groups and construct their own definitions of key terms in the realm of celebrity.

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

This activity is discussion-based, though students may opt to take notes for reference during the larger discussion.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Early in the Semester

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

In Unit 1 of my class, The Rhetoric of Celebrity, I require my students to construct a historical account of a specific area of celebrity of interest to them. Throughout this unit, we practice descriptive modes of discourse oriented around the conventions of historiography. The goal of Unit 1 is to encourage students to recognize how different sources construct histories of people, places, and events by employing several key historiographical conventions: designating points of origin; describing the composition of groups, genres, or movements; tracing historical trajectory/historical narrative; addressing concerns of taste and cultural register; and positing possible future trajectories.

I begin class by handing out Horowitz's article and asking the students to read it. After students finish reading, we spend a few minutes summing up Horowitz's main argument. I ask them to identify elements of the article that they think make it "historical" in terms of the rhetoric it employs. If the students struggle to accomplish this, I bring up the Essay 1 prompt and remind them of the requirements of their own history writing project--Where do boy bands begin? What are some examples of boy bands? What constitutes a boy band? How do media and technology influence the development of the genre? What trajectories can we identify? How can we fit boy bands into high or low culture? What is the future of boy bands? Then we discuss how Horowitz has answered these questions, and how we might use primary sources to substantiate, contest, or expand Horowitz's claims.

I then show, in chronological order, three music videos: 'N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye," One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful," and The Wanted's "Glad You Came". I ask the students to address the genre of boy band celebrity and identify commonalities and differences between the three pieces. We start with commonalities:

How can we define a boy band using these three sources?
What elements do all the "boys" share? (clothing style, hair style, choreography, distinct personalities, indistinct personalities?)
Who else could we add to our list of boy bands?
Who wouldn't fit under the heading of boy band?
What can audience reception lend to our definition?

Then, we move on to differences.

How are the three bands different?
How have the image of the boy band changed over time?
What influence does cultural register/taste have on boy bands' presentation over time?
How might boy bands exist in the future?

Finally, I ask students to construct their own abbreviated "history" of boy bands in groups to share with the class, using one additional video source to substantiate their claims. The additional source could be omitted for non-technology-enabled classrooms.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Instructors might read the article, watch the videos, and think of leading questions to propel discussion if student should have trouble getting started. Once a student articulates a few ideas, in my experience, the discussion is generally lively.

Instructions For Students:

Students should take notes on the historical elements of the article, as well as on some formal elements of the music videos, to help them generate specific points of reference during in-class discussion.

Evaluation Suggestions:

In general, student presentations at the end of class indicate how well students can both identify and employ the historical elements we are examining in Unit 1. I like to walk around during group work in order to informally evaluate brainstorming/invention at this level, as well.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

Although it embarrasses students a little to watch Boy Band videos, this lesson plan has in the past been a fairly foolproof way to engage them in both descriptive rhetorical practice and analysis of descriptive rhetoric. Almost everyone participates in the larger discussion, and the informal student presentations at the end of class are generally of good quality considering the amount of time devoted to them.

Additional Resources:

This lesson plan can easily be applied to any descriptive unit that wants to tackle the rhetoric of a particular historiography by merely swapping out the sources. If the sources are from the realm of popular culture, students seem particularly able to grasp somewhat complex rhetorical concepts and apply them to other spheres.

Course Type:

Advanced Writing Course

Intermediate Writing Course

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

I teach the Rhetoric of Celebrity, which I break down into three units. Unit 1 deals with descriptive writing; Unit 2 deals with analytical writing; Unit 3 deals with evaluative or critical writing. The activity above is useful for Unit 1, although I try to introduce skills in each unit that will ease students' transitions between these three modes.

Tags:

Using Storify to Analyze Poetry

Ptacek — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 21:14:34 +0000

Author:

Jake Ptacek

Image Credit:

Screenshot of Storify page by Jake Ptacek

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students often conceptualize poems as monolithic objects from the past. This lesson plan helps encourage them to visualize and conceptualize the content and influence of a poem in different registers.

Type of Assignment:

Major Course Project

Assignment Length:

Course Unit

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Visual Rhetoric

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

The goal of this exercise is to encourage students to transform their relationship with the words on the page, to see a poem as a living cultural argument rather than a set-in-stone text. It is also designed to encourage students to think about poetry as different kinds of media.

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Required Materials:

Students will require access to a computer, whether in class or outside of the classroom.

A computer and projector.

A Storify account.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Early in the Semester

Mid-Semester

Late in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Poems are not simply one-time literary events. Instead, they make arguments about the culture a poet lives and practices her art in as well as arguments about the culture within which the reader lives. In this assignment, students will create a multimedia presentation using Storify to help elucidate a poem's meaning, but also to examine how that poem appears in our contemporary media culture. Storify helps them track appearances of the poem as a whole (or of selected lines) in social media.

This helps students see the present-day influence of a text. It also allows them to provide line-by-line annotation and to think about the poem as a visual or audio media event, rather than simply words on a page. Students may also provide interpretaive material: music from the time period, photographs or videos that reference images, characters, or places in the poem.

Storify provides an excellent platform for this analysis because it allows users to search social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as more conventional sites like Google and Youtube, for materials related to their project. This allows students to create a visually appealing presentation of the poem to their classmates with relative ease.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Familiarize yourself with Storify beforehand; be prepared to set aside some class time to create and navigate accounts for your students.

Instructions For Students:

This project will form the basis of your in-class presentation, so please plan ahead accordingly.

In this project, you will create a visual presentation of the poem you have chosen using Storify. You will type out the entire poem. For each line of the poem, you will find at least two images, quotations, websites, videos, or songs that will help us elucidate or make sense of the poem you have chosen. They may comment directly on the line in question, or offer a representation of a figure, place, image, or theme within that line, or they may have a more oblique relationship to the line in question. However, you must be able to demonstrate the relevance of each component to our understanding of the poem itself. However, you are free to--and encouraged to--be creative and exploratory in your creation of a Storify page.

You will present your post to the rest of the class in our penultimate week in a 6-8 minute presentation.

Evaluation Suggestions:

This assignment is still in the experimental phase, so I have not yet evaluated any student posts. It will be part of their presentation grade, which is determined by both content and professionalism of delivery.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

Again, this is still in the experimental phase. Undoubtedly I will need to make the "Student Assignment" directions clearer and more specific.

Additional Resources:

My thanks to Cate Blouke, who first demonstrated the power of Storify to me.

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Literary Studies Course

Course Description:

I am currently testing this assignment in my E314L: Reading Poetry course.

What’s so special about poetry? What makes it so popular throughout history? Why do figures as different as Percy Bysshe Shelley and Geoffrey Hill, Aristotle and Heidegger, John Stuart Mill and T. S. Eliot—even Bob Dylan and Morrissey—care so much about it? Why has it always been central to the practice of literary criticism? What does it mean to write a poem, to read one, or even, as Mary Poovey suggested, to live inside one? And what is a poem, even? Is it a matter of form, or function, or technique?

In order to begin answering these questions, we will investigate very different lyric poets and poetry—including, for example, Sappho, nursery rhymes, Shakespeare, John Donne, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christina Rossetti, William Butler Yeats, and the Smiths—with an eye to both the similarities and differences in their poetical practices. Each of these poets returns again and again to the lyric form—to express their fears about war, their anxieties about sex, their relationship to nature and to cities, trying to make sense of the world around them.

No prior knowledge of poetry or critical theory is required. As we progress, we’ll develop as a class a set of critical and formal vocabularies to help us make sense of the poetry. We will focus on developing literary analysis and research skills, and to that end we will read both classic and modern pieces of criticism in order to give us conceptual models for our own academic work. We’ll also work on honing our research and writing skills, and use the Oxford English Dictionary to help us make sense of how historical changes in the English language affect poetry and our understanding of it. These skills will prove useful not only to English majors, but to students of many disciplines

Tags:

Close Reading

Visual Analysis

Multimedia Presentation

Storify

Poetry

Literature

Close Reading YouTube and Cultural Archives

Rosen — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:58:07 +0000

Author:

Stephanie Rosen

Image Credit:

Stephanie Rosen

Brief Assignment Overview:

Start close-reading on day one by using YouTube videos and considering their archives.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This assignment is meant to introduce close reading immediately, explain some course objectives, and get students "reading" and discussing on the first day.

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Required Materials:

media console with projector

Timeline for Optimal Use:

First Day/Week

Early in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

My course description (see above) sets up a false dichotomy between watching YouTube and reading books. In reality, my syllabus features many works which reimagine literary texts by remediating them—in video, film, and more. We are especially concerned, in this class, with works that pull from the queer archive in order to make new art. On the first day, we used some YouTube videos to practice close reading and think about the ways in which the archives used in a text—or a video—affects our reading of it.

We watched Dan Savage’s original “It Gets Better” video, in which he and partner Terry tell stories about youthful struggle, love at first sight, adopting a son, family vacations, and achieving acceptance. We also watched the music video “Reading Rainbow” by the Lost Bois, in which A. O. and her musical partner, B Steady, remix the theme song to “Reading Rainbow” and rap about their intellectual formation from children’s books to queer literature to black feminist theory. Students were asked to take notes, paying particular attention to the archives each video uses.

After the videos, students offered items from their notes and I rewrote each very different archive on the board. Once notes were on the board, students were asked to answer a prompt about one video in small groups, using that video’s archive to inform their response. Half the room discussed one video, the other half discussed the other. After discussing in small groups, students reported to the class, some already offering rather sophisticated close readings on the first day!

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Since this exercise was designed for the first day or early in the semester, I suggest choosing video which provide a bridge between students' prior knowledge and the content of the syllabus.

Instructions For Students:

[The following instructions were explained in class.]

Watch the following videos and take notes. Try to write down as many elements of the video’s archive as you can. If it uses stories, what kind; if it uses texts, which ones; if it uses music, what music? In addition to noting the archive, write down any other thoughts or questions that occur to you as you watch.

[After watching and taking notes, students were given the following prompts:]

The short version of the argument in Dan Savage’s video is, simply, “It gets better.” But if you had to summarize the argument in a paragraph instead of a sentence, what would you say? Use your reading of the video’s archive to help expand on its message or argument.

The chorus in The Lost Bois’ song includes the phrase, “I ain’t nothin’ but a lost boi.” Clearly, “lost” is a key term in this song and for these artists, but “lost” is a term with several meanings. In this song, what does “lost” mean and what are the qualities of being lost? Use your reading of the video’s archive to support your answer.

Evaluation Suggestions:

Students had a chance to report their answers to the class, and came up with some great readings. There was no formal evaluation, but I pointed out how the most successful readings used prior knowledge and intertextual readings to support their claims. For example, The Lost Bois’ video includes footage from Disney’s Peter Pan, and one student used her knowledge of the “lost boys” in that text to support a reading of “lost” in this one.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This activity went over quite well. The videos could be quickly read and discussed within a first class meeting. The strategies we used would carry over to our readings and the videos would remain a point of reference for later discussions.

Course Type:

Literary Studies Course

Course Description:

In 2010, Dan Savage began a viral video campaign when he and his partner posted a video to YouTube promising a viewing audience of gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual kids that life “gets better.” The project’s uncritical positive attitude has received critique from some queer intellectuals and kids, but it has also inspired videos from prominent LGBT people and allies, and given some viewers suffering from discrimination and heartbreak a sense of community and hope.

Before YouTube, queer people read books. In fact, reading, writing, and critiquing literary works has long been an occupation of queer-identified people. Literature can build community and offer hope, but it can also reflect the complexities of queer lives and relationships, transform transgressive pleasures into art, and analyze the histories and ideologies that often keep things from simply getting better, in spite of Savage’s promise.

In this course, we will examine the specific features of literary works that enable them to do all this, and that have long made them an important part of queer culture. Students will develop skills — close analytic reading and creative critical writing — that will help them succeed in upper-division courses across campus. This class is therefore recommended for English majors and non-majors alike. Readings include canonical and popular literatures, as well as some music, film and new media, and scholarly articles that will inform our approach.

Tags:

Close Reading

Critical Reading

Visual Analysis

Using TV Tropes to Teach Narrative Devices

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:05:57 +0000

Author:

Ashley Squires

Image Credit:

"Multimedia Message" by rockcreek via Flickr

Brief Assignment Overview:

Incorporating TV Tropes (a wiki that catalogues narrative devices used across a variety of media) into your discussion of literary devices and encouraging students to talk about how narrative techniques across different genres and forms of media can assist in making these concepts intelligible and "real" to them.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Creative Commons

Open Access Software

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

To teach students how to identify and assess the literary tropes or narrative techniques an author is using and to recognize how those devices are manipulated across genres. It can also be useful for rhetorical analysis and invention.

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Just a computer with an internet browser. In the enhanced version of this assignment, students will create their own wiki, which will be very easy to do if you already use a site like PBWorks for your class.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Early in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Instructors attempting to teach students to analyze the formal qualities of a work will often introduce literary devices and tropes into their students' lexicons. Students, however, often have difficulty assimilating these concepts as anything more than items to be found and labelled in any given narrative work. They have difficulty understanding why authors do the things they do and what affects the author's choices may be having on their expectations as readers.

TV Tropes is a wiki that catalogues narrative devices used across a variety of media: literature, television, film, manga, comic books, video games, etc. It is rigorously maintained by careful amateur observers of modern media, is often cited on fan websites, and is evidence that Formalism exists on the internet. John Crowe Ransom would be proud.

Incorporating TV Tropes into your discussion of literary devices and encouraging students to talk about how narrative techniques across different genres and forms of media can assist in making these concepts intelligible and "real" to them.

This idea originally emerged from a conversation with a student who wrote a paper comparing the video game Dante's Inferno to the original poem. His observations about the changes in the story led to a productive discussion about the narrative demands of video games vs. medieval poetry.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Spend 10-20 minutes introducing your students to TV Tropes. Give them some time to learn how to navigate the site and read a few entries. If you have a few key literary devices that you would like them to learn, you might direct them to those pages or create a list of major tropes you want them to look at on their own time.

Prepare a short reading assignment. Short stories work great for this. You may wish to choose something that doesn't already have its own page on TV Tropes. The inspiration for this assignment began with a short reading from Dante's Inferno.

Instructions For Students:

Have students take a reading home and see how many devices they can identify. Have them note examples in the text and be prepared to talk about where they see that technique, why the author may be using it, and what affect it has on them as a reader. I had students use this as a journal prompt. Encourage them to get beyond "like" and "dislike" (the TV Tropes editors are insist that their entries remain value neutral, that the use of a device does not make a particular narrative work good or bad). Instead, have them talk about how the use of a technique met or subverted their expectations, how the characters were developed, etc. They can make reference to the website's other examples of how that trope is used in other narratives or forms of media.

Evaluation Suggestions:

This assignment was not graded.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This basic assignment works great as a jumping off point for guided journaling/reflection and in-class discussion, but some instructors may wish to take it to the next level. Next semester, I will have students create a wiki page on our PBWorks site for a reading that doesn't already have it's own page on TV Tropes. While the Divine Comedy page on their site is already quite extensive, a short work like "Young Goodman Brown," which I've been teaching for a long time now, could work very well for a collaborative wiki project like this.

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Introductory Writing Course

Literary Studies Course

Course Description:

This was initially used in an introductory literary studies course - E314J Literature and Religion.

The figure of the Devil has inspired myriad artistic representations that reveal and inform the way we understand the source of ultimate evil and suffering—as a rebellious angel forever tormented by his separation from God, as a malevolent force in competition with a benevolent deity, as a trickster figure sparking mischief and mayhem, or as a motiveless malignity bent on causing pain and suffering wherever possible. This course will consist of an historical survey of literary representations of the Devil in the Western religious traditions, beginning with Marlowe’s depiction of the Faustian bargain and Milton’s fallen angel as epic hero, taking us into the present day. We will end with Salman Rushdie’s exploration of the angel/devil dichotomy in the context of globalization and religious extremism, considering how contemporary discussions of fundamentalism and terrorism have shaped our modern understanding of evil.

Tags:

Mapping Memorials: Research and Public Advocacy on Campus

Hoag — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:13:47 +0000

Author:

Trevor L. Hoag

Image Credit:

Cesar Chavez statue on the University of Texas campus.

Brief Assignment Overview:

Through this assignment, students learn to close-read (critique) monuments on campus and consider the rhetorical nature of memory.

Type of Assignment:

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pre-Writing

Research

Style

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimodal

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This assignment promotes student research by having them look into what monuments and memorials are on campus, learning why those objects exist along with their histories, and considering arguments and controversies concerning those monuments and memorials that already exist. Through this assignment, students also practice advocacy by making a “two-fold” argument (dissoi logoi) concerning whether or not (and why) a monument or memorial should exist. Moreover, this argument is made in a public forum, which may invite response from persons outside the university. Finally, this assignment helps familiarize students with two digital programs, Google Earth and Panoramio, programs that students can use again in the future for other courses, projects, professional applications, and personal enjoyment.

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

A digital camera; access to a computer as well as the programs Google Earth and Panoramio.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Full Assignment Description:

In this assignment, students learn to digitally map and critique on-campus monuments and memorials. Unsurprisingly, then, students are first asked to find an interesting monument or memorial on UT-Austin’s campus. After finding a monument or memorial (e.g., the Caesar Chavez or Barbara Jordan statue), students must take a photo of that statue and load it into the on-line program Panoramio. Once logged into Panoramio, students must post the photo to Google Earth with a comment/critique that explains a.) what the monument or memorial is about, i.e., its history and so on, b.) a very brief argument concerning why the monument is appropriate and should remain in UT’s public memory, and c.) a very brief counter-argument concerning why the monument is inappropriate and should be forgotten. After the photos are approved by Panoramio’s site administrators, anyone can visit UT’s campus in Google Earth and learn more about its monuments and memorials, as well as read students’ critical reflections upon those monuments and memorials. One can also have students tour the campus on-line later in the semester, reading each others’ entries and posting responses.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Before having students do the assignment, I highly recommend that the instructor first do the assignment him- or herself. This way, the instructor can become familiar with the computer programs as well as any potential hang-ups that may occur. Moreover, by doing the assignment ahead of time, the instructor will have a nice example to show their students. Once again, keep in mind that Panoramio photos require approval from the site administrator.

Instructions For Students:

RHE 309K: Rhetoric, Memory, and Forgetting

Mapping and Critiquing UT-Austin Monuments

In this assignment, you’ll find an interesting monument or memorial on UT-Austin’s campus to photograph, research, and critique—offering both an argument for the monument’s existence as well as one against its existence. You’ll then post your findings to the web.

To begin, you’ll need to find an object on campus to work with. It can be a statue, a memorial, a monument, an artwork, and so on; all that I ask is that its existence have something to do with remembering (or forgetting). Let’s say you pick the Caesar Chavez statue near the Student Union. First, you’ll want to take a picture of statue with a digital camera so that you can load the photo onto the internet. If you don’t have a camera, let me know and I can pair you up with someone who does (or we can use my camera). Next, you’ll want to do a little research on the statue: Why is it near the Union? Who built it? Who paid for it? What is its significance? And so on. After reading about the statue, you’ll then want to envision two arguments, one for why it should remain on campus and one for why it should be removed.

At this point, you’ll create a Word file and write three concise, but dense, paragraphs explaining: 1.) what the statue is all about, 2.) an argument “for” it, and 3.) an argument “against” it. Then, on the appropriate day, you’ll bring this write-up plus your photo to class—though you’ll only turn in the write-up.

In class, I’ll show you how to use the programs Google Earth and Panoramio. We’ll load both your photo and write-up into Panoramio, and after they’re approved by the site administrator, everyone who goes to UT-Austin’s campus on Google Earth will be able to see what you’ve come up with. Thus, you’ll not only educate yourself through the course of the assignment, but you’ll also educate people visiting the Google Earth website! Who knows, what you write may even elicit a response from someone outside the university, but it’s up to you whether or not to keep the conversation going.

Finally, later in the semester after all your photos are approved by site administrators, we’ll take a digital tour of UT-Austin’s monuments and memorials in class. That way, everyone can learn about the different monuments and memorials that people researched, as well as comment upon what you’ve written in your critique.

Points: This assignment will count for as much as a research summary (i.e., four pts). Good luck! And please let me know if you’ve got any questions!

P.S., If you’d like to do something non-traditional for this assignment, please ask. For example, you might take a picture of the bullet-holes left by the 1966 tower shootings, offering an argument both for and against replacing the stones scarred by the event. If you’ve got something like this in mind, just ask!

Evaluation Suggestions:

For this project, I gave students credit equivalent to a short writing assignment. They were evaluated on: a.) whether they successfully posted their photo and comments, b.) whether they provided ample background on their monument or memorial, and c.) whether they respectfully and responsibly advocated in writing for at least two positions concerning the monument’s or memorial’s continued existence (or non-existence).

Note: For evaluative purposes, it’s a good idea to have students submit their write-ups to the instructor, along with posting them on-line. And this assignment can easily be preceded by a short peer review, which promotes evaluation of student work by the students themselves.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

All in all, students were excited about this assignment, and found using the digital technology fairly easy. They enjoyed taking photos as well as investigating on-campus “artifacts” that had previously eluded their attention. Many were surprised by what they discovered in their research, and felt strongly about relating their views on-line. Students also expressly mentioned looking forward to the digital campus tour later in the semester, not only in order to see what monuments and memorials their colleagues had highlighted, but also their colleagues’ critical evaluation of these monuments and memorials.

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

Rhetoric, Memory, and Forgetting

Tags: