Assignments and grades will be calculated using the 100% system for each category. I have a rolling revision policy. You can revise any writing assignment within 10 days of it being graded.
Late assignments and make ups
Please note that the following policy will apply to you if you aren’t honestly and continually communicating with me about assignments/ extension needs:
Assignments will receive an automatic 5% reduction in grade for each class period late. Writing is a process. You will have an opportunity to revise your work for a higher grade, so you should turn in your work on time and take advantage of the revision policy.
Assignment Descriptions
Below is an overview outlining the assignments that will make up your final grade. All of your work will be published on your Weebly website and you will provide a link to the blogs under the “Discussions” tab and projects under the “Assignments” tab on Canvas so I can grade them and your peers can see them.
All blogs and drafts are due by 9:00am on their respective due date. Projects are due by midnight.
Project 1: Artifact Rhetorical Analysis (15%)
Choose an artifact from a community you are a part of.
The word ‘artifact’ is arguably the most fundamental and all-encompassing term, both in modern and historical practices. Broadly defined it is any ‘object’ created or modified by a human culture. We will further explore what an artifact is in class.
Artifact examples:
Analyze:
-1,200-1,500 words.
-Use at least 3 sources to enhance and support your analysis
Due: Friday, March 8th
Project 2: Open Letter + Social Media Composition (15%)
Overview:
In this multimodal project, you will be asked to write a compelling argument in the form of an open letter, which is a letter addressed to a specific individual, but intended to serve a broader social purpose through its connection to a wider audience. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter From the Birmingham Jail” is a great example. Your argument must arise out of a particular rhetorical situation, and effectively utilize rhetorical appeals to persuade both your target audience (the individual to whom you address the letter) as well as the implied audience (those who may be influenced by the discourse). All claims must be supported by credible, rhetorically effective multimodal evidence. Finally, this is an opportunity to present yourself, the rhetor, as a social agent of change, using your experience, voice, and authorial presence as a strong mediating rhetorical tool.
Topic:
You are free to choose any topic and audience you wish, although it may be easier to pick one of recent social significance. Choose a topic from a place of exigence. Your topic does not have to be political in focus or nature, but it should be specific and have some effect on the individual and community. Avoid an overly broad argument like “global warming is real.” Ultimately, your letter will be effective only if it responds to a specific rhetorical situation:
1. Establish rhetorical exigency –what is the problem or issue, where positive modification invites rhetorical discourse?
2. Establish rhetorical audience –
A) A specific person who is capable of being influenced by your discourse and has the power to be an agent of change.
B) A broader potential audience who may also be influenced by discourse and consequently indirect (or even potentially direct) mediators of change.
3. Establish constraints – what factors (persons, events, objects, relations) have the power to constrain decision and action needed to affect change? What are the rhetorical appeals of the author (appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos)?
The rhetorical situation will help determine your purpose and audience, as well as the appeals and choices you make. Your goal should be to produce action or change, even if this is as simple as a reconsideration of previous assumptions.
Requirements:
-800-1,000 words.
-Find at least 3 sources to support and enhance your stance.
-Format: Make a rhetorical choice to format and site how you feel is most effective for your message
Social Media Composition:
Once you complete your open letter, you will adapt it to be suitable for social media. Relay your message on a social media platform of your choice, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram (Reels, IGTV, Live), Facebook etc., what rhetorical choices will you make? How will you synthesize the information? What sounds, images, fonts, captions would you use? There are rhetorical conventions for each platform that you will need to consider.
*Disclaimer: You don’t have to actually post it publicly, you can save it, take a screenshot, make the TikTok private and save it etc.
Student Samples:
Cass
Trinity
Mia
Alex
Avery
Kurt
Due: Friday, April 26th
Community Engagement + Reflection (10%)
As a unique component of this course, you will engage with the local community outside of our classroom. The purpose of this community engagement is to empower students as writers, rhetoricians, and community members, and to construct new knowledge through service learning. Through the direct practice of collaboration, students will develop an authentic understanding of rhetorical choices, as well as a deeper understanding of different audiences outside of our Chapman community.
Prompt:
Design a community engagement project on your own or with a group.
Pick a community you belong to/ and or a community local to Chapman University. Consider what knowledge, experience, and resources you can provide your chosen community. What needs do they have? How can you enrich, teach, and support this community?
Your project can be any mode of your choosing (written, visual, aural, auditory, spatial, etc.).
Examples:
1. Identify the community you want to engage with
2. Research the community
3. Identify how you want to help/ engage this community
4. Design your project
5. Outline the steps needed to make this project happen
6. What resources/ tools are necessary for the success of this project
7. Create the resources needed
8. Define the desired outcome
Sample:
Community: High School seniors
Need: Writing a good college admission essay
Project: Plan a presentation with writing tips and then facilitate a workshop
Due: Monday, Apr. 29th (subject to change)
Project 3: Autoethnography (20%)
For this project, you will use ethnographic-style research to investigate a sub-community to which you belong. By the end of the project, you should come to an understanding of this community's shared values, beliefs, and experiences and use these findings to shed light on what life is currently like for this community.
What is autoethnography?
The term “ethnography” refers to a research approach that examines culture through first-hand experience. Ethnographers typically embed themselves in a community and observe what is going on. They use interviews and field notes to understand participants’ perspectives about their lives and cultures. These findings help us to discover new meaning about particular cultures.
Autoethnography is typically defined as an ethnography that puts the self at the center of cultural analysis. It is a form of qualitative research in which the author uses a blend of self-reflection and research to explore wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings.
Prompt:
For your final project, you will compose your own autoethnography that focuses on a specific community to which you belong. For the purpose of this project, a community will be defined as “a collective group of people who are connected through ethnicity, language, religion, culture, social habits, or a shared life experience.”
Your project should begin with driving questions that address your focused interest in this community and establish the central purpose and motivation for your research.
Driving Questions:
Think of your driving questions as the “thesis” for this project, except instead of beginning with a claim, you are beginning with a line of questions. These questions will serve as a guide for your research and help you establish a framework for your project.
Examples:
-Do twins have a harder time developing a sense of self?
-Do dancers struggle with body image more than other athletes?
-Does BIPOC representation in romantic comedies matter?
-How does social media impact college students' self esteem?
-How has Covid-19 impacted performers?
-How does being the child of immigrants influence work ethic?
-What's it like growing up as the child of military parents and moving around a lot?
Student Samples:
Why are people so mean to Starbucks baristas?
Girls Can Skate
Sources:
As an auto-ethnographer, you will act as both an “insider” and “outsider” to this culture in order to conduct thorough, detailed primary research. Primary evidence should include:
Format:
It is up to you to decide how best to present your project. Here are a few options you may choose from:
The only requirement for all options is that you:
Length: Below is a general overview of the length requirements. However, the length will depend on the format of your project, so if you have questions talk to me about it.
Resource: Writing an Ethnography
Late assignments and make ups
Please note that the following policy will apply to you if you aren’t honestly and continually communicating with me about assignments/ extension needs:
Assignments will receive an automatic 5% reduction in grade for each class period late. Writing is a process. You will have an opportunity to revise your work for a higher grade, so you should turn in your work on time and take advantage of the revision policy.
Assignment Descriptions
Below is an overview outlining the assignments that will make up your final grade. All of your work will be published on your Weebly website and you will provide a link to the blogs under the “Discussions” tab and projects under the “Assignments” tab on Canvas so I can grade them and your peers can see them.
All blogs and drafts are due by 9:00am on their respective due date. Projects are due by midnight.
Project 1: Artifact Rhetorical Analysis (15%)
Choose an artifact from a community you are a part of.
The word ‘artifact’ is arguably the most fundamental and all-encompassing term, both in modern and historical practices. Broadly defined it is any ‘object’ created or modified by a human culture. We will further explore what an artifact is in class.
Artifact examples:
- Decorative or personal objects (jewelry, clothing, personal care, hygiene and grooming etc.)
- Tools
- Cultural objects
- Religious objects
- Art
- Music / instruments
- Writings/ scripts / books
- Media
Analyze:
- Rhetorical situation: How did this artifact come to be? What time period? Region?
- What’s the history behind it?
- Rhetorical appeals: Pathos, logos, ethos, kairos
- The author: Who/ what community created it?
- The intended audience? The community it belongs to. Have any other communities adopted it?
- What’s the significance of this artifact?
- What does this artifact symbolize? What message does it send?
- How does this piece impact society and culture?
- What does this artifact mean to you, why did you choose it?
-1,200-1,500 words.
-Use at least 3 sources to enhance and support your analysis
Due: Friday, March 8th
Project 2: Open Letter + Social Media Composition (15%)
Overview:
In this multimodal project, you will be asked to write a compelling argument in the form of an open letter, which is a letter addressed to a specific individual, but intended to serve a broader social purpose through its connection to a wider audience. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter From the Birmingham Jail” is a great example. Your argument must arise out of a particular rhetorical situation, and effectively utilize rhetorical appeals to persuade both your target audience (the individual to whom you address the letter) as well as the implied audience (those who may be influenced by the discourse). All claims must be supported by credible, rhetorically effective multimodal evidence. Finally, this is an opportunity to present yourself, the rhetor, as a social agent of change, using your experience, voice, and authorial presence as a strong mediating rhetorical tool.
Topic:
You are free to choose any topic and audience you wish, although it may be easier to pick one of recent social significance. Choose a topic from a place of exigence. Your topic does not have to be political in focus or nature, but it should be specific and have some effect on the individual and community. Avoid an overly broad argument like “global warming is real.” Ultimately, your letter will be effective only if it responds to a specific rhetorical situation:
1. Establish rhetorical exigency –what is the problem or issue, where positive modification invites rhetorical discourse?
2. Establish rhetorical audience –
A) A specific person who is capable of being influenced by your discourse and has the power to be an agent of change.
B) A broader potential audience who may also be influenced by discourse and consequently indirect (or even potentially direct) mediators of change.
3. Establish constraints – what factors (persons, events, objects, relations) have the power to constrain decision and action needed to affect change? What are the rhetorical appeals of the author (appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos)?
The rhetorical situation will help determine your purpose and audience, as well as the appeals and choices you make. Your goal should be to produce action or change, even if this is as simple as a reconsideration of previous assumptions.
Requirements:
-800-1,000 words.
-Find at least 3 sources to support and enhance your stance.
-Format: Make a rhetorical choice to format and site how you feel is most effective for your message
Social Media Composition:
Once you complete your open letter, you will adapt it to be suitable for social media. Relay your message on a social media platform of your choice, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram (Reels, IGTV, Live), Facebook etc., what rhetorical choices will you make? How will you synthesize the information? What sounds, images, fonts, captions would you use? There are rhetorical conventions for each platform that you will need to consider.
*Disclaimer: You don’t have to actually post it publicly, you can save it, take a screenshot, make the TikTok private and save it etc.
Student Samples:
Cass
Trinity
Mia
Alex
Avery
Kurt
Due: Friday, April 26th
Community Engagement + Reflection (10%)
As a unique component of this course, you will engage with the local community outside of our classroom. The purpose of this community engagement is to empower students as writers, rhetoricians, and community members, and to construct new knowledge through service learning. Through the direct practice of collaboration, students will develop an authentic understanding of rhetorical choices, as well as a deeper understanding of different audiences outside of our Chapman community.
Prompt:
Design a community engagement project on your own or with a group.
Pick a community you belong to/ and or a community local to Chapman University. Consider what knowledge, experience, and resources you can provide your chosen community. What needs do they have? How can you enrich, teach, and support this community?
Your project can be any mode of your choosing (written, visual, aural, auditory, spatial, etc.).
Examples:
- Presentation slides
- Video
- Podcast/ voice recording
- Essay
- Poster board
- Object
1. Identify the community you want to engage with
2. Research the community
3. Identify how you want to help/ engage this community
4. Design your project
5. Outline the steps needed to make this project happen
6. What resources/ tools are necessary for the success of this project
7. Create the resources needed
8. Define the desired outcome
Sample:
Community: High School seniors
Need: Writing a good college admission essay
Project: Plan a presentation with writing tips and then facilitate a workshop
Due: Monday, Apr. 29th (subject to change)
Project 3: Autoethnography (20%)
For this project, you will use ethnographic-style research to investigate a sub-community to which you belong. By the end of the project, you should come to an understanding of this community's shared values, beliefs, and experiences and use these findings to shed light on what life is currently like for this community.
What is autoethnography?
The term “ethnography” refers to a research approach that examines culture through first-hand experience. Ethnographers typically embed themselves in a community and observe what is going on. They use interviews and field notes to understand participants’ perspectives about their lives and cultures. These findings help us to discover new meaning about particular cultures.
Autoethnography is typically defined as an ethnography that puts the self at the center of cultural analysis. It is a form of qualitative research in which the author uses a blend of self-reflection and research to explore wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings.
Prompt:
For your final project, you will compose your own autoethnography that focuses on a specific community to which you belong. For the purpose of this project, a community will be defined as “a collective group of people who are connected through ethnicity, language, religion, culture, social habits, or a shared life experience.”
Your project should begin with driving questions that address your focused interest in this community and establish the central purpose and motivation for your research.
Driving Questions:
Think of your driving questions as the “thesis” for this project, except instead of beginning with a claim, you are beginning with a line of questions. These questions will serve as a guide for your research and help you establish a framework for your project.
Examples:
-Do twins have a harder time developing a sense of self?
-Do dancers struggle with body image more than other athletes?
-Does BIPOC representation in romantic comedies matter?
-How does social media impact college students' self esteem?
-How has Covid-19 impacted performers?
-How does being the child of immigrants influence work ethic?
-What's it like growing up as the child of military parents and moving around a lot?
Student Samples:
Why are people so mean to Starbucks baristas?
Girls Can Skate
Sources:
As an auto-ethnographer, you will act as both an “insider” and “outsider” to this culture in order to conduct thorough, detailed primary research. Primary evidence should include:
- Personal experience and observations
- Interviews with at least two other members of this community
- Zoom/Skype interviews are encouraged, but phone interviews are also acceptable
- Any other first-hand data that you find relevant, such as surveys, questionnaires, etc.
- Facts and/or statistics from outside sources
- Other credible studies or research conducted on the same topic
- Visual elements (e.g. images, maps, charts, graphs, etc)
Format:
It is up to you to decide how best to present your project. Here are a few options you may choose from:
- Formally written paper (most common)
- Video/slideshow presentation
- Podcast
- A graphic
- A new website (Not your current blog website)
- A combination of two or more of these options (for instance, you may choose to write a paper but have one section be presented in video format)
The only requirement for all options is that you:
- Submit a Works Cited page in whatever format your major/career practices. Examples: Psychology: APA, English: MLA, Chicago: Business, History, The Arts.
Length: Below is a general overview of the length requirements. However, the length will depend on the format of your project, so if you have questions talk to me about it.
- For Written Projects: Approx. 2500-3000 words
- For Audio/Visual Projects (podcasts or videos): Approx. 20-25 min
- For Hybrid Projects: 2500 words or 25 min. (100 words = 1 minute of audio/visual). For example, you may have 1500 words and 10 minutes of audio/video.
Resource: Writing an Ethnography