DWRL Lesson Plans - Kairos

This in-class exercise uses Arthur Miller's The Crucible and an episode of the television show Battlestar Galactica to teach rhetorical kairos. It will help if the students have done reading on kairos ahead of time. I used chapter 2 of Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. Class began with a brief lecture introducing the concept of kairos, using examples such as Sandy Hook and 9/11 to demonstrate how events can open up an opportunity to make an argument on a specific issue. Next, I described the situation at the time of The Crucible's production, explaining the phenomenon of McCarthyism, which turned out to be review for many of the students. On the projector, I showed the students this video of the courtroom scene in the play. The class discussed the parallels between the McCarthyist approach to communism and the Salem Witch Trials as portrayed in the play. I explained how performances can use allegory to make comments on current events. I told the class that I would now play them a video and have them tell me what conversation the performance was contributing to. I played them the beginning and the ending of the Battlestar Galactica episode "Collaborators," which combines various issues from the Iraq War, including government authorization for torture, punishment without trial, and the killing of civilians by the miltary. I told the students only that the episode aired in 2006. They were able to make the connection between the episode and Guantanamo Bay. I had to explain what the other elements of the Iraq War the episode portrayed by allegory. The discussion afterwards covered how both performances made use of allegory to make an argument about current events. The students will shortly be doing rhetorical analyses of the performances they are writing about this semester, so the goal was to get them to see how kairos operates in performances specifically as well as to understand kairos in general.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Prepare a brief lecture introducing the concept of kairos. Watch the videos. Make notes on the elements of allegory you want to make sure the students pick up on.

Instructions For Students:

Watch the performance and take notes on any allegorical elements you see in them.

Evaluation Suggestions:

This assignment was not evaluated. The students will be evaluated on the rhetorical analyses of the performances they saw, papers that will follow this assignment in the chronology of the class.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

Based on the discussion, the students did understand that the performances were using allegory to make a comment on current events and that they were taking advantage of a pre-existing conversation about the issues at hand. If I did this again, I would follow up in the next class with an example of a well-timed argument made in writing based on current events, so the students could see how kairos is used outside of allegory or performance.

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

The Rhetoric of Performance is a writing-intensive course that teaches students to analyze rhetoric by examining the rhetoric within and surrounding performances. Students see a performance early in the semester. They write a paper summarizing its rhetorical situation and the arguments made within and around it. They also write a detailed rhetorical analysis of the performance. Finally, they write their own long review assessing its rhetorical and performative elements. Students also learn to write in the genres surrounding performances, such as the program note, the advertisement, and the review.

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Kairos

Kairos and Ideology Analysis: American Values and Contexts

Sloan — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 21:05:23 +0000

Image Credit:

W_Minshull

Brief Assignment Overview:

This assignment asks students to fill out a worksheet for analyzing the ideological presuppositions of two arguments that rely on a popular superhero, Captain America, to make their respective arguments. This assignment can be used to solidify student understanding of kairos and presuppositions.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Cultural Context

Historical Context

Media Requirements:

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Required Materials:

For students:

-Pen or pencil

-Worksheet (can be filled out on a computer through an LMS like Canvas or Blackboard, or in hard copy provided by instructor)

-The image and article to be analyze (either through a computer or in hard copy provided by instructor)

For instructor:

-Without classroom technology

-Hard copies of worksheet, comic book cover, and article for each student

-With classroom technology

-Projector to show image and article

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

The Captain America comic book cover published in April, 1942 features a larger-than-life Captain America physically subduing a stereotyped caricature of Japanese Emperor Hirohito. This cover appeared shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a historical event depicted on the cover itself. Students will analyze the kairos (Pearl Harbor and WWII) and the presuppositions about American values (victory through martial power, strength, an in-group mentality, patriotism, etc.) for this comic book cover.

They will compare the American values lauded in the comic book cover with the American values mobilized by the Sikh artist Vishavjit Singh. In 2013, Singh dressed up as Captain America and walked through New York City. He catalogues his experiences in the Salon.com article "Captain America in a Turban." Students will analyze the kairos (the Twin Towers terrorist attacks, discrimination against Sikhs in America) and the presuppositions about American values (diversity, inclusivity, etc.) for this article/ performance.

After filling out the worksheet on kairos and ideology, either for homework or in class, students should be encouraged to share their answers in a group discussion.

This assignment allows students to clearly see the connection between kairos and ideology by demonstrating how the same fictional character (Captain America) can be used to mobilize very different presuppositions and beliefs.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Instructors should decide whether students will be given hard copies of the worksheet, the comic book cover and the article. Instructors should also be prepared to answer student questions about the publication dates of each source, the relevant historical context and the larger performance project of Singh.

Students should also have alread been introduced to kairos and ideology.

Students should first be given preliminary information about the comic book cover and the article. They should be provided with the publication dates for each and told about the medium in which each appeared.

Instructions For Students:

I have pasted the instructions from the worksheet below. Before filling out the worksheet, students will need to know the publication dates of each source. The worksheet is also provided below in Additional Resources. The two sources are also linked below. My students took about twenty minutes to fill out the worksheet. We spent the remainder of the class discussing their answers.

Kairos and Ideology Critique: Captain America and American Values Worksheet

Name:

Rhetorical Analysis defines kairos as “both the occasion for discourse and the surrounding conditions that present the rhetor with opportunities and constraints: opportunities or openings to say certain things in certain ways; and constraints that limit what can be said and how” (9-10). We can think about kairos partially as the historical context for a controversy.

According to Rhetorical Analysis, ideology is “a set of presuppositions that influences most everything—people’s family lives, their political choices, their intimate and professional relationships. These presuppositions must be held by an entire social class, culture, or community” (185-86). Ideological analysis allows us to identify key beliefs and values held by a group of people.

Examine the Captain America comic cover from 1942 and the Salon article about the Captain America performance piece by Vishavjit Singh in 2013. Both sources are using the ethos of Captain America to make very different arguments. Answer the following questions:

What is the kairos for each source?

Are the sources “timely,” or, do they respond intelligently to their respective kairos? How so?

What does each source presuppose about American values? What values does the comic book cover ask you to share? What values does the performance piece ask you to share?

How do the values/beliefs about American culture in each piece match or mismatch the piece’s kairos?

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This exercise seemed to make kairos and ideology readily accessible to some struggling students. The widely-known historical events of World War II and 9/11 helped clarify not only kairos, but audience as well. We talked about how the recent attack on Pearl Harbor helped create the audience for the comic cover and how an awareness of 9/11 made Singh's performance all the more relevant and powerful.

I did find it important to emphasize early on that the WWII comic cover uses racist imagery to make its argument. We had a very productive discussion about how the dehumanizing of Hirohito effectively concealed certain American ideological values like diversity while emphasizing others like exceptionalism and martial power.

Additional Resources:

April 1942 Captain America War Propaganda Comic Book Cover (Captain America punches a Monstrous Emperor Hirohito while Pearl Harbor Unfolds at their Feet)

Sept. 2013 Salon.com "Captain America in a Turban" (Sikh artist Vishavjit Singh describes his experience dressing up as Captain America and walking the streets of New York City)

Worksheet for Students:

Kairos and Ideology Critique: Captain America and American Values Worksheet

Name:

What is the kairos for each source?

Are the sources “timely,” or, do they respond intelligently to their respective kairos? How so?

What does each source presuppose about American values? What values does the comic book cover ask you to share? What values does the performance piece ask you to share?

How do the values/beliefs about American culture in each piece match or mismatch the piece’s kairos?

Course Type:

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

I used this lesson plan in RHE 309k: The Rhetoric of Superheroes, an intermediate writing course with special topics chosen each semester by the instructors. Students are taught writing, research, rhetorical analysis, and invention.

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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.

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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."

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