DWRL Lesson Plans - Early in the Semester

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimedia

Video

Media Requirements:

Required Materials:

1. A media console/projector

2. A computer

3. A whiteboard or chalkboard

4. Access to Friends "The One Where Heckles Dies" (Season Two, Episode Three).

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

In this lesson, students will watch a few brief clips between two characters, Phoebe and Ross, on the sitcom Friends. In these clips, Phoebe and Ross argue about whether or not evolution is real, but not in the way that this argument tends to be portrayed. Ross, a paleontologist, insists that evolution is real, but Phoebe is unconvinced that it is absolutely better than any other possible theories. In teams, students will locate the reasons and evidence that their character gives in support of his/her claims, and they will look at how these components contribute to the most convincing argument, as identified by them, the show's audience.

This lesson is intended to be a fun, fast-paced, and engaging way to illustrate the differences between and significance of reasons and evidence in an argument. Because the argument featured in this assignment is an inoffensive play off of a common, longstanding public debate ("Faith vs. Reason"), this lesson also reminds students that looking at the parts of an argument from a rhetorical standpoint can be done without letting personal opinions affect the process. The "Faith vs. Reason" debate is one that students will likely have encountered before this lesson, but its comical, unusual, and lighthearted treatment in this episode will allow the students to easily respond from an analytical perspective, rather than an emotional one.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Instructors must have a way of playing the episode of Friends called "The One Where Heckles Dies" (1995). This can be viewed on DVD, online rentals (e.g., iTunes, Amazon), or through a paid streaming service (e.g., Netflix).

If the instructor does not have a chalkboard or whiteboard on which to write, they should prepare a chart that clearly separates the following: Ross's reasons, Ross's evidence, Ross's claims, Phoebe's reasons, Phoebe's evidence, and Phoebe's claims.

Instructions For Students:

Instructor should divide the room into two teams: Team Ross and Team Phoebe. From there, half of each team should be responsible for reasons and the other half for evidence. For example, in a room of twenty students, there should be ten Ross students and ten Phoebe students. There should be five students looking for reasons from Ross, five for reasons from Phoebe, five for evidence from Ross, and five for evidence from Phoebe. Everyone is responsible for recording any claims that they hear. This should make the task feel more manageable to the students, and it increases the chances that the students will capture a wide variety of points from the clips.

1. On your computer or tablet, or on a piece of paper, record any claims that you hear from your Team Leader (Ross or Phoebe) as you watch this debate. Also, write down all of the reasons or evidence that you hear he/she give. You may hear multiple claims, and you may hear reasons/evidence that support different claims. Do not worry about putting those pieces together yet. Just write down the reasons or evidence that you hear (depending upon your assignment), and write down all of the claims that you hear from your Team Leader.

The instructor should play clips at the following minutes: 4:10-6:00, 7:00-8:00, 9:00-10:00, and 15:00-17:10 (6 minutes total).*

2. Share all of the reasons, evidence, and claims that you identified.

Instructor should record these on a visible chart for the class. As the discussion progresses, students can see (1) who provided more reasons and/or more evidence (2) and which pieces of reasons and evidence affected them more as an audience. Have the class vote on who they believed won the argument, and have them discuss why that is based on the reasons, evidence, and claims that they heard and the ways in which all of those components were presented.

*Note: A bonus round can be the female characters vs. Chandler at the end of the episode (beginning at 17:10). If time permits, students really enjoy this round, and it ought to be worthwhile because it reinforces the lesson. Watching the show from 4:10 through the end may be helpful because it contextualizes the content a bit more, but it is not necessary.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

Students loved this episode, and later in the semester I received praise for it from a student.

Course Type:

http://www.studiomatthews.com/works/six-steps-to-sustainable-development

Course Description:

This lesson was designed for "RHE 306: Rhetoric & Writing," an introductory writing and research course.

Tags:

A Structured Approach to Teaching the OED as a Close Reading Tool

regina.mills — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 01:21:00 +0000

Author:

Regina Marie Mills

Image Credit:

Brief Assignment Overview:

Using a structured worksheet, students explore a word of interest from one of the course readings through the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) online. The worksheet asks them to consider how the definition(s) of the word can help inform their textual analysis/close reading of a text.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Close Reading

Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

Word Choice

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimedia

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Using a university database, computer literacy

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Computer/Laptop, course readings so far, OED worksheet, access to university database with OED online

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Full Assignment Description:

My students were focusing on writing close reading based entirely in the text anot not contextual resources. So to show them the ways in which exploring a single word can lead to new interpretations or ideas about a text, I created this exercise using the OED online. My goal for the exercise was to give students an introduction to using UT's library page and navigating to databases, in addition to give them an outside tool that could help them do their Essay 1 close reading. I told them that the word they exmained for the exercise could be used for their larger essay.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

You may want to make hard copies of the worksheet so that students can write their answers down and use the computer just for the search process. You may also upload a soft copy of the worksheet to a class management site (ex. Blackboard, Canvas, PBworks wiki) and give the students the option to type in their responses. They can then either print the completed worksheet, E-mail it to the instructor, or upload it to the class management site (ex. Discussion Board). I also prepared an "exemplar" for them where I completed the worksheet just as the students would. It helped them to see the length of response I expected and also how my own process (which was surprisingly fruitful as prepartion for class discussion on the reading) led to new and improved readings of the original text.

Instructions For Students:

1. Make sure you have read at least one reading in class that students can use to pick their word from.

2. Show students to steps required to navigate your university's databases website in order to get to OED online.

3. Briefly showcase the search options and also the "Cite" button which provides MLA citation for the students (they love this).

4. Either take the chance to go through your exemplar together, with you explaining the questions and why you gave the responses or give students time to read through the exemplar, and then allow time for students to ask clarifying questions about the assignment.

5. Students then go to their computers/laptops and given the time you allow (at least 30 minutes though 45 minutes is probably a better time period), have them complete the worksheet, either in hard or soft copy (see "Instructor Preparation" below).

6. Students turn in the worksheet for instructor feedback.

You can also do Steps 1-4 as preparation for assigning this as homework. This has the benefit of giving students more time to explore; on the other hand, it does not allow the instructor to help students out as needed in the process.

The blank worksheet is copied below in its entirety:

Close Reading Strategies: OED Exercise

Directions: use the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) website as accessible through lib.utexas.edu to explore the etymology and multiple meanings of a word in the passage(s) you are considering for Essay 1, or any word from Douglass, DuBois, Washington, if you do not have your heart set on a passage yet. Look at the example of “propaganda” provided to be sure you complete this in proper detail. You may write on the hard copy or on the soft copy of the class website.

Go to http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ and then click on the “Databases” tab of the scoUT box. Click on the letter “O” and click on the link that read “OED (Oxford English Dictionary).”

Use the search box and type in the word you’ve chosen. Note if there is more than one entry.

Click on the entry (or entries) and read through them. Makes notes about key information, such as (but not limited to):

Etymology (origins of the word; how it has been used)

Difference between different parts of speech (is it both a noun and verb? If so, how does the word used differently as a noun or a verb?)

How many definitions? How similar or different are the definitions from each other?

Are there any “compounds” listed in the entry? If so, what does this say about the primary use of the word?

Overall, what are the thoughts you have about the word? How does this information tie into how the author might (or might not) be using the word? Is the word being used in an archaic (old, out-of-fashion) way or in multiple ways are the same time?

Make sure to consider how the word fits into the context of the entire sentence, into the context of the entire passage, and even into the context of the entire work. Write those thoughts here.

Evaluation Suggestions:

I graded this as participation, though if this a homework assignment, I would also give it a small grade. Or, you could make this an informal assessment. No matter what grade you do or do not ascribe to it, I think it is very important to give students feedback.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

I had planned a lot less time for this assignment initially but since I had made my schedule flexible for that day, I was able to adjust and add more time. I think this was appreciated by the students, who were able to complete most of the worksheet. In addition, a number of students ended up using the OED in their Essay 1's (a major writing assignment - a 4-page close reading of one text) and told me that they had been using it in other contexts. Because we did this exercise in class, I could offer commentary on their writing assignments about words I suggest they OED (we started using it as a verb) and I think that I may include OED definitions of words in future notes for students. I will definitely do this assignment again.

Additional Resources:

Below is the exemplar I created for my class, using the word "propaganda" from WEB Du Bois's "Of Booker T Washington and Others":

Go to http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ and then click on the “Databases” tab of the scoUT box. Click on the letter “O” and click on the link that read “OED (Oxford English Dictionary).”

Use the search box and type in the word you’ve chosen. Note if there is more than one entry.

Propaganda is both a noun and a verb, so I will make sure to check both links (I opened them as 2 separate tabs)

Click on the entry (or entries) and read through them. Makes notes about key information, such as (but not limited to):

Etymology (origins of the word; how it has been used)

The noun version actually originated in the church as a body that missionized groups. It wasn’t until the late 18^th century that the word took on a broader, more secular meaning as “an organization, scheme, or movement for the propagation of a particular doctrine, practice, etc.” (def. #2)

Difference between different parts of speech (is it both a noun and verb? If so, how does the word used differently as a noun or a verb?)

The verb version is rare and has the same meaning as most recent definitions of propaganda (i.e. to persuade or influence using propaganda). The noun is how DuBois uses it. But as noted above, the history of this word is quite interesting and though he probably means it in the more recent way, the church valences may still be there.

How many definitions? How similar or different are the definitions from each other?

After the church-related one, the third is fairly similar to the 2^nd one, except that they tend to emphasize the “biased and misleading” aspect of the information. There are only 3 definitions (not including the compounds).

Are there any “compounds” listed in the entry? If so, what does this say about the primary use of the word?

Yes, most of these are the tools of propaganda (like propaganda leaflet, propaganda movement, etc.)

Overall, what are the thoughts you have about the word? How does this information tie into how the author might (or might not) be using the word? Is the word being used in an archaic (old, out-of-fashion) way or in multiple ways are the same time?

Looking at this word, it made me think about it in a larger sense. I kept thinking about DuBois talking to the audience about Washington’s speeches and texts, just the print material, but I realize that DuBois is likely also talking about Washington’s “scheme” – maybe not in a nefarious way, but he is noticing that Washington’s ideas are disseminated in many ways beyond the text, by the Tuskegee machine, and by an organization that is represented by Washington but that encompasses many more people and organizations. Indeed, until I looked at this OED, I felt like propaganda was prettily singular but I can see how it connects to other aspects of the text outside of my own chosen passage.

Make sure to consider how the word fits into the context of the entire sentence, into the context of the entire passage, and even into the context of the entire work. Write those thoughts here.

I think that “propaganda” can be tied to DuBois’ invocation of the word “cult” on the second page of the text (CR 55). The cult is more related to a movement or organization and looking at this OED definition, I see propaganda as a more organized movement. In addition, I think it adds to the idea that Washington is spreading misinformation (“dangerous half-truth” on CR 60). The OED definition helped me make a connection within

Course Type:

Literary Studies Course

Course Description:

This exercise was used in a lower-division literature course focused on African American literature and culture, Black Public Intellectuals (course-listed with African American Studies). Students are range from first-years to seniors. My class has 22 students.

Tags:

Building Word Clouds to Generate Search Terms

Boruszak — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 18:00:04 +0000

Author:

Jeffrey Boruszak

Image Credit:

Brief Assignment Overview:

Help your students get an overview of their topic and a leg up on their research by creating word cloud visualizations of their topics.

Type of Assignment:

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Structure and Form

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pre-Writing

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Writing Process

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Open Access Software

Visualization

Media Requirements:

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

This assignment is meant to help students get an overview of their chosen research topic early in the semester by using VOYANT, a suite of word visualization tools available for free online. To use Voyant, users first create a "corpus," or a body of text documents, and upload them to the Voyant website. From there, users can use a host of visualization tools to perform "distant reading" on their texts. The most commonly used tool is Cirrus, a word cloud generator that creates an image from the most commonly used words in the corpus. With Cirrus, users can see at a glance what topics are discussed in a given body of text. Voyant can also perform functions such as: grouping distinctive words in texts together, allowing users to see not just how often words are used, but which words are commonly used in conjunction with one another; displaying words in context, so that users can easily see the words that immediately precede and follow a given term; and word trending functions showing the relative frequency of words between individual documents in a corpus.

There are many possibilities for this using this tool in class, and I developed this exercise for introductory or intermediate writing students to use Voyant to being their research. The goals for this exercise are:

Give students time to use databases and practice fundamental search skills
Force students to build a bibliography of potential sources early in the semester, giving them a body of text to come back to and examine more closely
Generate keywords that will facilitate research further down the road
Find ways to develop their research topics by seeing what their intitial searches yield.

After introducing students to a few databases (Lexis Nexis will be one of the better options for this exercise), students must build a small corpus of documents that are relative to their topic (they will have to read titles or opening paragraphs to see if they are relevant or duplicate texts). After uploading them to Voyant, they will "read" their topic from a distance, answering questions that will assist them in developing their understanding of their Voyant results.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Familiarize yourself with Voyant (http://voyant-tools.org/) and its documentation (http://docs.voyant-tools.org/). The easiest way to figure out how the program works is by uploading any sort of sample corpus, and playing with the different tools to see what they do. You may also want to run through the assignment yourself to see if you have any trouble yourself (I built and uploaded a corpus in under 10 minutes to practice. Students will take longer).

Instructions For Students:

Step One: Build a Corpus

On your desktop, create a folder names "corpus".

Then choose a database and conduct a search on your topic. In order to build a usable corpus, you will want to find articles that are at least 500 words long (Lexis Nexis allows searching with word length minimums, so it will be a good place to start). You will have to vet your search results by reading both the title of the article and the first few sentences to make sure that they are relevant to your topic, and not duplicates of other articles in your corpus.

Your goal is to build a corpus of 20 documents. When you have found an article you feel would be useful, copy the text of the document and paste it into Notepad (Windows) or Microsoft Word (Mac). Save the document, giving it the name "01". Make sure you are saving the document as plain text (.txt) for the file type/format. Set the save location as the corpus folder on your desktop.

In a separate text document, copy and paste the URL of the article. This will not be used for this assignment, so you should not save it to the corpus folder. HOWEVER, you should use the compilation of URLs you are saving for further research later in the semester--at the end of this assignment you will have 20 articles you could go back to and read more closely.

Repeat this process for all 20 documents, making sure to name them "02," "03," and "04," through to "10," "11," "12," etc. When your corpus folder has the twenty .txt documents in it, you can move on to the next step.

Step Two: Upload Your Corpus

Right-click your corpus folder. Click "compress" (for mac) or "add to archive" (for windows) and create a zip file of your corpus. Then, go to the Voyant website (http://voyant-tools.org/). Click "Upload," then "Add," and the choose corpus.zip from your desktop.

Step Three: Using Voyant

The first thing you should do is find the permanent URL to your corpus. On the blue bar at the top of the page, click the save button next to the question mark. This will bring up and export menu. Select the first option (Export a URL for this tool and current data). Copy the URL and paste it into your address bar.

Your initial results will probably not look interesting. It will says that "a" "the" and "and" are the most common words in your corpus. We have to apply a "stoplist" to limit these common words from the results. At the end of your URL, add the following text:

&stopList=stop.en.taporware.txt

Reload the page, and your corpus should now visualize correctly. Spend some time exploring your corpus. In particular, examine the word cloud in the top left. Also look under the "Summary" section on the left side. Scroll down and look at the lists of distinctive words.

Step Four: Questions

Post answers to the following in a discussion forum on Canvas.

Looking at your word cloud:

What are the most common words in your articles?

Are there words you would exclude from future searches?

Are there any unique words?

Looking at "distinctive words," can you give a name to any groups of distinctive words?

In general, do you see any ways to narrow down your topic?

Step Five: Final Actions

Send yourself an email, attaching your document of URLs, and the URL for your Voyant corpus, so that you can come back to it later if necessary.

Evaluation Suggestions:

Strict evaluation is not necessary. This is meant to be a learning exercise for students. Some will get through all of their questions, while others will only have just built their corpus. Depending on the importantce of keyword/search term generation, you may extend the assignment as homework if necessary.

Additional Resources:

Here are some sample corpuses on a marijuana controversy that I have generated as examples:

Course Type:

Course Description:

This exercise was developed for RHE 306, an introductory writing course. It is widely adaptable by topic.

Marijuana: http://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=1410382682324.2790

Medical Marijuana: http://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=1410978877246.3264

Marijuana and Prison:http://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=1410385103512.2888

Marijuana and Crime: http://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=1410979831998.5390

Marijuana and Economy: http://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=1410981347420.6694

Marijuana and Children: http://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=1410982616185.1247

All Corpuses: http://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=1410985448118.6117

Introducing Rhetorical Analysis with Contemporary Advertisements

sariddick — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 23:01:21 +0000

Author:

Sarah Riddick

Image Credit:

Mozart, Mike. "Smellcome to Manhood." JeepersMedia. Flickr. 2 Oct 2014. Web. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/12462069883/sizes/m/>.

Brief Assignment Overview:

The aim of this lesson is to provide students with an accessible and engaging introduction to rhetorical analysis. Students will view four brief texts—three thirty-second videos and one print advertisement—and try to identify the audience, the speaker, and the argument contained in each.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Summary

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Introduce rhetorical analysis to students
Offer a broad illustration of the scope of rhetoric and rhetorical analysis
Familiarize students with initial components of rhetorical analysis (audience, speaker, argument)
Help students feel comfortable offering their own analyses

Media Requirements:

Required Materials:

Media console with overhead projector
Class computer with internet connection
Preferable, but not essential: personal computers for brief individual research activity.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

This lesson is intended to provide a light, engaging, and accessible introduction to rhetorical analysis. Students will survey several contemporary advertisements that vary in a number of ways yet share some broad themes. The order of the texts is intended to subtly help the students progress from basic to more nuanced analyses.

The first moments of this class are open to suit the needs of the instructor. If this is the first day that students will be performing rhetorical analysis, it may be helpful to provide a brief overview of what is to come.

To begin the analytical portion of the class, play the first text—an Old Spice commercial from the 2010 "Smell Like a Man, Man" campaign. The commercial is both fun and funny, thus students should respond well to it. Moreover, its fast pace and quirky tone will likely get students laughing, which will hopefully loosen them up for analysis.

Once you have played the video, ask the following questions:

Who is the speaker?

Who is the audience?

What is the situation?

What is the argument?

What does the text want you to feel?

What does the text want you to believe?

What does the text want you to do?

How is the text making that argument?

Be sure to draw out detailed responses from the students. Play the video again, as needed. One reason this ad is great for an initial analysis is because it has two different speakers (i.e., the spokesman and the company), two different audiences (i.e., implicit and explicit), and plenty of components that students can draw on to support their answers to the argument questions.

Next, play the second and third videos. Each of these are 2008 advertisements from the Corn Refiner Association's "Sweet Surprise" campaign about high fructose corn syrup. Ask students the same series of questions, and encourage them to pay even closer attention to the details that help create this argument.

Once you feel that your students have adequately analyzed the argument in these two texts, have students go to the website featured at the end of the videos. If students don't have computers, do this together as a class. By this point, hopefully students will have mentioned that the text wants you to go to this website, so this can be a way of getting them to further test the text. Once there, have students try to identify any bias on the website and ask them to list specific examples. This is meant to encourage students to closely examine sources and to consider how word choice and other stylistic choices shape an argument.

If time permits, have students look at one more text—a 2014 print ad from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. In the ad, one woman remarks about new public transportation changes and another woman responds, "Can't we just talk about shoes?" There are several broad parallels between this text and the former texts, so students should feel comfortable by now analyzing this form of visual rhetoric.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Given the brevity of both these texts and the follow-up questions, it would be a good idea to thoroughly familiarize yourself with each text before presenting them to the class. With this being an introduction to rhetorical analysis, students may feel shy about offering responses, so being prepared with many different ways to prompt their analyses can be helpful.

Instructions For Students:

For the group analysis portion of the class:

Answer the following the questions. Cite evidence to support your response.

Who is the speaker?

Who is the audience?

What is the situation?

What is the argument?

What does the text want you to feel?

What does the text want you to believe?

What does the text want you to do?

How is the text making that argument?

For the individual research portion of the class:

Go to http://www.sweetsurprise.com
Can you identify any bias?
Cite specific examples to support your response.

Evaluation Suggestions:

There is no evaluative component to this activity.

Course Type:

Course Description:

This lesson plan was designed for "Rhetoric and Writing", an introductory course.

Tags:

Annotation and Analysis with Genius.com (Formerly Rapgenius)

Emily Lederman — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 22:02:18 +0000

Author:

Emily Lederman

Image Credit:

Genius.com

Brief Assignment Overview:

This lesson plan builds on Andrew Uzendoski's lesson on teaching close reading using Rap Genius (now called Genius), focusing on teaching students the process of annotation, as well as how to articulate the building blocks of their close reading practice. Students receive feedback from the instructor on a close reading assignment in the form of annotations. They work both individually and in groups to close read and then annotate excerpts from a text using the interactive online knowledge project, Genius.com.

Type of Assignment:

Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Rhetorical Analysis

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Close Reading

Historical Context

Literary Criticism

Poetry

Structure and Form

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Annotation

Writing Process

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Collaboration

Software

Visualization

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

-Computer for each students

-Projector to present

-Texts

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Prior to the Genius lesson, I assigned students a close reading activity for homework. They had produced one-paragraph close readings from selected short lines of poetry--their first fully independent close reading work. They were asked to make an argument about the meaning and importance of the lines that included both the how and why of literary analysis. In other words, students needed to identify something they found important about word choice, structure, etc. (this was the what) and then explain how they knew this was true (finding evidence), and finally articulate why the author made this choice. (These pieces of writing were used as building blocks for full close reading--skills we had been working on in class; I had previously given them several examples of complete analytical thoughts). I then annotated their written paragraphs to identify the "hows" and "whys" or to point out the missing evidence and explanation. We went over several examples using the projector. As we discussed my comments and ways to improve their close readings, I introduced the term "annotation" and we talked about how annotating can be used to improve their reading comprehension. This mini-lesson was useful in making sure that students both understood my feedback and began to learn the skills of active reading.

At the end of this class I had students make accounts with Genius, read their introductory page, and explore the website. Genius allows students to see a public community of annotators at work and in conversation, as well as understand how the annotations can enhance meaning. I was glad that the text we were reading, Junot Diaz's Drown, was not up on the site and annotated, as I wanted my students to engage their own critical thinking skills before they read other people's criticism.

During the next class I assigned students to five small groups (4-5 students) and asked each student to login to Genius. Each group had a different short excerpt (1-2 paragraphs) from the previous night's reading to annotate. Students were asked to look up words in the OED or by using other resources (as they were often looking up Spanish and Dominican slang) and explain these, as well as provide succinct close reading paragraphs that made an argument about the meaning and importance of certain words, phrases, sentences (building on the previous assignment). They began by doing the work individually, but enjoyed seeing one another's comments appear on the page, and I encouraged them to engage in conversation as they annotated, as well as afterward.

The groups presented their annotations to the class. Each group member was required to present at least one annotation. As a class, we discussed methods for strengthening each of the close readings and I explained how these paragraphs might be incorporated into their upcoming papers on the text. Because of the genius of Genius, students were able to comment on or revise one another's annotations. They are also aware that their work exists in the public sphere and may be edited by any member.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

-Introduce the building blocks or steps of close reading over the course of several classes

-Grade a close reading assignment using annotations that identify different aspects of the student's close reading (evidence and explanation, or "hows and whys")

-Prepare several examples of this completed assignment to show to the class (ask students for permission if projecting their work)

-Prepare students for the activity in a previous class by having them join Genius, read the introductory material, and explore the website

-Upload 5-6 excerpts from the next reading assignment to Genius (feel free to contact Jeremy Dean, Education Czar and alum, for help or advice: jeremy@genius.com)

-Split the class into groups

Instructions For Students:

HW Assignment (close reading building blocks--I provide an example of each of the following steps. I also provide them with a packet on close reading that we review as a class prior to this assignment):

1. Choose 2 lines from "Howl." Follow the steps below to produce a well-supported argument about the meaning of these lines.

2. Paraphrase. First you will need to make sure that you understand all the words in these lines (use the OED). Next, state what is said and/or what happens in your own words.

3. Make a list of observations about these lines. What's important? Refer only to details from these two lines. This will be your evidence.

4. Analyze. Now you need to consider the meaning of these observations. In at least two seperate complete sentences, describe how and why two of the above observations/details contribute to the meaning of this selection.

5. Argue. Produce a one-paragraph argument about the meaning of this selection. Each of your explanatory claims must be supported by evidence from these two lines.

Genius Group Activity

-Read over my feedback on your close reading hw assignment

-Find your assigned excerpt in Drown and reread this section to familiarize yourself

-Sign-in to Genius.com and search for the excerpt

-Begin by looking up any words you do not immediately understand, using the OED or other databases

-Next, annonate these words, explaining their meaning and situating them within the passage

-To Annotate: highlight the selection and click the "annotate" button that pops up, then enter your text into the textbox. Note: if someone has already annoated this selection, you may add your own text by highlighting the selection from right to left.

-Now, begin to close read the passage, adding annotations that provide context or further explanation

-Finally, choose a phrase or sentence that you find integral to the excerpt's meaning. Using the close reading steps, produce a one paragraph annotation of this material

-Discuss your annotations as a group and prepare to report back to the rest of the class

Evaluation Suggestions:

I did not grade this assignment (except as a contributing factor to students' participation grades) but students will soon submit a short paper on the text that will showcase their active reading and close reading skills--skills that hopefully further developed through their use of Genius. We did evaluate almost every annotation as a class, considering ways to improve students' articulations.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

Students seemed excited about this assignment and were generally very positive about the results of their work. Several of them told me they loved using Genius (and most were learning about it for the first time). Next time, I think I would annotate an excerpt as an entire class (to go over process and discuss best practices) and maybe spend more time introducing the website rather than letting students explore individually, as it took a while for some students to start their annotations. I would also prefer smaller groups and more excerpts, so that each student had the opportunity to provide a substantial close reading, rather than one or two students from each group dominating the annotating!

Course Type:

Literary Studies Course

Course Description:

The banning of books continues today in the United States, speaking both to the fear of certain ideas and the power of the written word. In this course, students will read banned novels, short stories, and poems across cultural and temporal contexts, pursuing the following questions: What causes a text to be labeled “indecent” or “dangerous”? How is literature connected to political and social movements? How do these texts contribute to our understanding of what constitutes American literature?

The primary aim of this course is to help you develop and improve the critical reading, writing, and thinking skills needed for success in upper-division courses in English and other disciplines. You will also gain practice in using the Oxford English Dictionary and other online research tools and print resources that support studies in the humanities. You will learn basic information literacy skills and models for approaching literature with various historical, generic, and cultural contexts in mind.

Tags:

Teaching Credibility with Twitter

Schultz — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 23:48:25 +0000

Author:

Patrick Shulz

Image Credit:

Twitter

Brief Assignment Overview:

Introducing the concept of credibility by analyzing tweets.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Ethos

Rhetorical Analysis

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Close Reading

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimedia

Social Media

Media Requirements:

Required Materials:

Twitter

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

This in-class exercise/discussion gets students to think about author credibility. It familiarizes them with concepts and terminology they will need 1) when researching and writing papers and 2) for rhetorical analysis.This lesson plan is based on a paper studying the credibility of Twitter users ("Tweeting is believing?", available online: http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/155374/tweet_credibility_cscw2012.pdf). In this study, participants rate the credibility of tweets such as the following:

First step: To start things off, students rate the credibility of these tweets (or bring your own). They then come up with criteria that influenced their ratings.

In the study, among the most important indicators of credibility are:
1) "verified author topic expertise", "author often tweets on topic",
2) "personal photo as user image", "credible user name"
3) "non-standard grammar/punctuation".
4) "is a RT [retweet] from someone you trust"

The students will come up with similar criteria. To illustrate, teachers can then show made-up tweets such as:

@SillyKitty95
There is life on Mars.
v.
@NASA
There is life on Mars.
v.
@SillyKitty95
RT @NASA: There is life on Mars.
v.
@NASA
There is life on Mars ;).
v.
@NASA
Their's life on Mars.

For each example, students discuss which feature affects the tweet's credibility in what way.
Second step: The point, obviously, is then to point out how these criteria apply to TV news, newspaper editorials, books, research articles, and other publications that students work with every day. Since a lot of students work with newspaper editorials in RHE 306, I try to make it explicit for that genre: What is the equivalent to a credible user name? How do we assess "verified author topic expertise" in this context? Can we find out whether the author often "tweets" about this topic? What is the newspaper equivalent to a retweet? A short discussion of differences (edited content v. social media) could/should/might follow.
As a third step, students should try to apply these ideas to their own writing. Some, such as "non-standard grammar", will be obvious. But what are other ways of improving credibility? They might discuss how to signal author expertise (e.g. by citing external research), how to present a "personal photo" in writing (e.g. discussing personal experience and background) and how the use of non-standard grammar/punctuation will affect their credibility.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Read the paper. Bring some tweets to class, made-up or real. Any part of the paper may be used in class: "Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copiesbear this notice and the full citation on the first page."

Instructions For Students:

See above.

Evaluation Suggestions:

No evaluation.

Course Type:

Course Description:

RHE 306. Rhetoric and Writing
An introductory writing course that includes instruction in practical reasoning and the principles of rhetoric.

Contextualizing Web Research

Scott Nelson — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 18:50:47 +0000

Author:

Scott Nelson

Image Credit:

Brief Assignment Overview:

Research in composition courses is often taught in a vacuum—a set of skills that can be used to write a college paper, but irrelevant to the “real world” outside. By contextualizing research that can be immediately used by citizens, we can connect these skills to social change, and hopefully teach students that these skills are necessary for a vibrant civic life.

Following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, MO, and the police response to protests, a number of journalists drew attention to projects cataloging police shootings. Given that most police departments do not track this data, these journalists have begun crowdsourcing the collection of this important public information. These databases are large, and it would take a single researcher years to compile all of the information.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pre-Writing

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Collaboration

Media Requirements:

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

Ideally, this lesson should ground students in specific search practices as well as give them a sense for research "in the wild." The instructor should first walk the student through sound public web research practices. For this aim, instrutors could walk students through Google's Advanced Search features, paying particular attention to "this exact word or phrase" search area. At this point, it would also be helpful to have a brief discussion on phrases that may be used in police shooting reports. Allow students to generate these terms as a class, and demonstrate their efficacy.

Once students get a handle on this search of all webpages, the instrrructor can then move onto Google's Advanced News Archive Search. Before moving into the search, though, instructors should present students with the parameters ithey'll be searching within. The following websites provide crowdsourced spreadsheets of shootings by police:

Kyle Wagner via Deadspin: Wagner also provides context for this database along with some ground rules for research.
Fatal Encounters, compiled by D. Brian Burghart. A Gawker article provides the context for this database. Note that the website has a specific procedure for contributing. Researchers must first use the database to find those names that have yet to be researched. Next, they need to use the people search to ensure someone else hasn't already researched this shooting. Finally, the researcher must submit a request via the submissions page. (This process became necessary when someone fudged some of the original shared document.)

This discussion could take a number of routes. Given that the US has no national database (and most local police departments do not keep public records of this data), students could discuss the importance of such crowdsourced data. What are the benefits of such a database? How could it be used to improve public safety? Could it be misused? Is such a database even necessary? Questions of this sort get students thinking about the public role of research and citizenship.

Ultimately, though, students will choose a shooting to research and apply the search skills outlined above.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Instructors may want to familiarize themselves with Google's Search Tips, as they provide instruction in more directed web searches. Additionally, instructors may want to peruse the various crowdsourced research projects to determine

Instructions For Students:

1. Choose a website from the above two.

2. Choose one of the shootings to research.

Note the name, location, and date, if available.

3. Using the advanced search features, fill in the missing information on the incident.

Evaluation Suggestions:

I would suggest not evaluating this exercise. It's intended to get students thinking about search strategies and the role of citizen research in a democracy.

Course Type:

Introducing Ideology with HSBC Advertisements

Cate Blouke — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 02:16:11 +0000

Author:

Cate Blouke

Image Credit:

HSBC advertisement

Brief Assignment Overview:

This in-class activity uses the popular HSBC ad campaign (a tryptich of the same image with different value labels) to introduce students to visual rhetoric and ideology. After discussing the ads, students create their own version.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

No Classroom Technology Required

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Visualization

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

A computer-enabled classroom will allow for the full activity, in which students create their own version of the ad campaign. This could easily be adapted to an activity without technology.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

First Day/Week

Full Assignment Description:

A relatively straightforward exercise, this in-class activity serves as a fruitful introduction to talk about commonplaces, ideology, and visual rhetoric. The ads themselves address the issue of values through their captions, such as "The more you look at the world the more you realize that people value the same things but in different ways."

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

If adapting for use wihtout technology, you might make up some handouts with three unlabeled images and ask students to come up with labels. Similarly, if you don't want to take up the full class period, you could pre-select images to provide students.

Instructions For Students:

As your reading from Picturing Texts discussed, we learn how to se the world in particular ways. As the authors argue, "we construct our realities as we learn to see."

While this has certainly been a theme throughout the course, today's exercise addresses how the way that we see/read texts tends to reflect our own values or ideology. Ho we interpret an image can sometimes say more about us than the image itself.

The international banking firm, HSBC, has an ad campaign that reflects this multi-faceted approach to people and reality.

The triptych above labels the same image with three very different value judgments, illustrating quite explicitly how the same object can retain radically different meanings depending on the viewer.

One of the goals of this course (and an essential element of visual analysis) is for you to learn to consider multiple readings of the same image. As such, and as a handy segue into our unit on advertising, for today's exercise you'll create your own version of the HSBC ads.

With a partner (or two), find an image/object that you can label with at least three different meanings - being careful to use an image that is licensed for adaptive reuse. You can find these images by either using the google advanced image search functions or the filters in a Flickr search (both of which I will demonstrate in class). We'll be talking more about Fair Use and Creative Commons as we move into our final unit, so this is good practice to get you started.

After finding an appropriate image, using either photoshop or an image editing platform of your choice, compile the three images into a tryptich and label them with your different value readings (just as in the HSBC ads).

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My students had a great time with this exercise and came up with some nice examples. During the discussion, we also talked about design and parallellism.

Course Type:

Course Description:

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

Tags:

Ethos and Online Dating 2.0 - Incorporating Visuals

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

Author:

Cate Blouke

Image Credit:

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

Brief Assignment Overview:

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

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Social Media

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

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

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

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

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

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

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

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

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

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

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

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

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

Instructions For Students:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Written Profile:

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

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

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

The Potential Bachelors:

Bachelors.jpg

Image Credits:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Evaluation Suggestions:

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

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

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

Course Type: