DWRL Lesson Plans - Introductory Exercise

First Day Introduction to Rhetoric Prezi

Sloan — Sun, 05 Apr 2015 23:44:32 +0000

Image Credit:

Casey Sloan

Brief Assignment Overview:

First Day Introduction to Rhetoric Prezi

This Prezi presentation is designed to introduce students to basic rhetorical concepts on the first day of class. I used this Prezi in an RHE 309k course The Rhetoric of Superheroes, but it can be adapted to work for any introduction to rhetoric class. By analyzing two character speeches in Christopher Nolan's 2008 movie The Dark Knight, students will learn about audience, style, and evidence while developing a working definitin of rhetoric. The presentation includes several writing and group discussion prompts along with the basic lecture content.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Close Reading

Performance

Structure and Form

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimedia

Presentations

Video

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Required Materials:

Media console/ projector, Prezi

Timeline for Optimal Use:

First Day/Week

Full Assignment Description:

Walking through this presentation with students should take up a full class session. I have included some relevant notes/ writing prompts for each slide below

First Day Introduction to Rhetoric Prezi

Slide 1: Before showing the video, make sure all of your students know the basic plot of Nolan's movie. Summarize and give context if necessary. (A thorough understanding of the film is not required for a reading of the speeches). Play Alfred's speech for students through once. Ask them to take detailed notes during a second playthrough, paying close attention to Alfred's argument. What is Alfred trying to get Bruce to do/feel/believe/think? How is he making his argument? What are his argumentative tactics? Play the video a second time and give students a few minutes to write a paragraph defining Alfred's argument and detailing how his argument is made.

Slide 2: This slide includes a few important points about Alfred's rhetorical strategies. Use this moment to discuss the importance of audience (Alfred's relatinship with Bruce impacts the way the two communicate). You can also talk about Alfred's use of the anecdote as evidence and his appeal to Bruce's (and the viewing audience's) emotions.

Slide 3: Alfred's argumentative strategies can lead into a discussion about the definition of rhetoric. Before showing this slide, ask students to write down their current definition of rhetoric. Have volunteers share their ideas and discuss. This slide shows my current understanding of rhetoric and presents two discussion questions on crucial aspects of the concept (communication as an "art" with intentional stylistic choices and the ethical dimensions of communication/ argumentation).

Slide 4: I used this slide to spell out the major goals of my course. If you download the Prezi, you can insert your own class objectives.

Slide 5: Another speech from Nolan's movie. Repeat writing prompts from Slide 1

Slide 6: Student introductions

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Download the Prezi and insert your own course goals on slide 4. View the videos and take your own notes on how each rhetor constructs his argument.

Instructions For Students:

Before the presentation, ask students to take out pen and paper for the writing prompts throughout the Prezi.

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

RHE 309K is a rhetoric course at the University of Texas at Austin that focuses on reserach and writing skills, rhetorical analysis and the study of persuasion. My particular course teaches rhetorical concepts through superhero fictions and culture.

Tags:

Introductory Exercise

Prezi

Multimedia Presentation

Multimedia

Using Prezi to Tour Course Syllabus

Cate Blouke — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:17:32 +0000

Author:

Cate Blouke

Image Credit:

Screen Shot of Prezi presentation

Brief Assignment Overview:

Make the first day of class more engaging by creating a Prezi to introduce the major concepts on your syllabus. This offers students some visualization tools for what can be a tedious lecture.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Open Access Software

Presentations

Remediation

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

To help students absorb syllabus materials through visualization

Media Requirements:

Media Console/Projector

Required Materials:

This demonstration will require internet access and a classroom equipped with a media console. You will also need to sign up for a Prezi account, but they are free.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

First Day/Week

Full Assignment Description:

This particular lesson plan doesn't require much explanation, but I'll use this space to address why it strikes me as useful and to provide suggestions.

The first day of class is typically a bit rough - both for instructors and students alike. For the students, the first day of classes generally means a long series of introductions and going over syllabi. While a few of the more industrious students are likely to take notes while instructors read the syllabus at them, most students are more likely to zone out or glaze over during the monotany. As a result, the specific details of the four or five or six syllabi they've been given tend to blend together (or simply go in one ear and out the other). Using a Prezi to introduce your syllabus will a) make it stand out from the students' other classes, and therefore b) possibly make it stick in their heads a bit longer.

Obviously, Powerpoint would work for this assignment as well, but I prefer Prezi for several reasons. First, students are less familiar with Prezi (at least at the time that I'm writing this, in fall of 2011), so the novelty of Prezi's unique zipping and zooming seems to grab their attention more effectively than the familiar slide-by-slide presentation in Powerpoint. And if your class is going to be focused on digital learning/writing, then introducing the course materials via Prezi is in keeping with your pedagogical values and will set the stage nicely for the kind of work you may be expecting of the students.

Prezi is pretty user-friendly (once you get the hang of it) and doesn't require any specific software on your or the school's computer (so it's more portable, which is handy if you don't know what kind of computer you'll have available in your classroom).

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

If you haven't used Prezi before, I recommend giving yourself a few hours to set up this presentation. Don't try to do it the morning before class, since it's likely to take at least an hour or two your first time. As I noted above, Prezi is user-friendly - once you get the hang of it. It's easy to insert images, to re-size things, and to organize a lot of information, but it will inevitably take a fair bit of fussing to get it right. The playback function can also be temperamental, especially if your presentation layout isn't linear.

I would recommend using as many images as possible so that you don't fall into the trap of simply condensing the information on your syllabus into a fancy bulleted list. Given my unfamiliarity with Prezi (the first time I used it), I relied heavily on text and the presentation was consequently less effective than it might have been. It was still much better than simply reading to them, however, so even if you can't come up with images that fit, I highly recommend this strategy.

Instructions For Students:

Don't fall asleep.

Evaluation Suggestions:

N/A

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This presentation certainly engaged my students better than any other time I've gone over a syllabs before. I will continue to use it in future, but I will also give myself pleny of time to put it together.

Also, special thanks to my colleague, Sydney Bufkin, whose twitter post gave me the idea to do this in my classroom (and then share it with you).

Course Description:

I first used this in my E314J "Literature and Theatre" course, but it would work for any class.

Tags:

Syllabus

Prezi

Presentation

Introductory Exercise

Free Software

Remediation

Introducing Analysis with "Texts From Last Night"

Cate Blouke — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:17:55 +0000

Image Credit:

Screen shot of Texts From Last Night website

Brief Assignment Overview:

Using samples pulled from the popular website, Texts From Last Night, this exercise introduces students to textual analysis in a fun and (most likely) funny way. Students are asked how much and what kinds of information they can glean from a very small piece of text.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Social Media

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

To introduce students to textual analysis - either close reading or rhetorical analysis - using a very small piece of text.

Media Requirements:

No Classroom Technology Required

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Media Console/Projector

Required Materials:

No hardware required - could be completed with handouts.

Ideally, lesson would take place using a media console.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

First Day/Week

Full Assignment Description:

Using samples pulled from the popular website, Texts From Last Night, this exercise introduces students to textual analysis in a fun and (most likely) funny way. Students are asked how much and what kinds of information they can glean from a very small piece of text.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

If you aren't familiar with the website, Texts From Last Night, it's a blog dedicated to public submissions of funny, lewd, or ridiculous text messages received "last night." The site has both a twitter presence and a facebook following, so many students will already be familiar with it. Those that are familiar with it will probably be a bit surprised to see it turn up in a classroom, as most of the messages tend to include either drinking references or discussions of sexual escapades. So, the material is often a bit scandalous - which is why the instructor should be certain to pre-select material for analysis. It's probably a very bad idea to actually pull the website up in class. Set aside about 20 minutes to half an hour the night before class to troll the site for material. You can take screen shots of the texts you'd like to look at and then post them to your class blog, wiki, site, etc. or simply copy them onto a handout.

Instructions For Students:

One of the goals of this course is to teach you the practice of close reading, or a very detailed analysis of language. You might be surprised just how much information can be gleaned from a very small piece of text - but you'll also need to practice separating your assumptions from evidence-based analysis.

As a class, we'll take a look at some sample texts pulled from the website, Texts From Last Night. These sample text messages are very short (originating from real text messages), but they can contain a wealth of information - about the sender, their relationship to the recipient, the reason for sending the text, the sender's current or previous location... any number of important clues for deciphering the meaning of the text. (i.e. the relationships in the rhetorical triangle).

First, what can you tell about either the sender or the recipient of the text? What is their relationship? How do you know?

What is the text message saying? What is the content of the message/the reason for sendign it? Is it just to be funny? Does the sender want to persuade the recipient of something? Is the sender making a request?

Where is the sender now? Is the recipient somewhere else (as in far away)?

What does the message indicate in terms of time or chronology? What is the kairotic moment in which the text was sent?

Evaluation Suggestions:

This was an in-class discussion assignment, so no evaluation was necessary.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

I used this exercise on the very first day of class, and my students loved it. They were both surprised and delighted by the use of a seemingly trivial pop culture phenomena, and (of course) a bit titilated by the content. Since I try to cultivate an open and fun environment in my classroom, this set the tone well for my semi-informal ethos.

It was also a great way to start reigning in their conjectures. While many students wanted to make broad or sweeping claims about the messages and their senders, this was a great way to point out the difference between assumptions and evidence-based analysis. I asked them to stick very closely to the text itself and show me where they were getting their ideas.

Additional Resources:

Here are some sample texts that I used to introduce rhetorical concepts.

ETHOS: