Purpose

This course has many goals, but two primary agendas drive it: (1) the theoretical inquiries into classical rhetoric and its formulations vis-a-vis digital applications; and (2) the pragmatic, technical, and rhetorical skills involved in communicating using digital tools.  The Short Papers Assignment corresponds to agenda #1, as does the discussion portion of the Presentation Assignment. This assignment, like the technical, hands-on portion of the Presentation Assignment, corresponds to agenda #2.  

Task

You will create a digital composition that demonstrates amateur working-level (as opposed to introductory-level) competence within at least one of the applications we have examined in the course.Moreover, the composition will have a rhetorical purpose: it will be designed to be persuasive--to a definable audience, within an identifiable context. 

If you wish, you can further develop one of the minor digital compositions you created either for your own presentation or within the hands-on experience during someone else's presentation.  Your composition can--but does not have to--incorporate more than one application that we have examined. For instance, you might choose to produce a blogsite, one that you develop over time and one that serves a definable rhetorical purpose. In doing so, you might find yourself utilizing images you enhanced in Photoshop, embedding podcasts or videos, etc.; you might additionally include products of further applications from the class or beyond. 

Once you have completed your digital composition, you will need to host it online, and you will need to compose a cover memo: this is a memo in which you explain the project in terms of the assignment, especially in terms of its rhetorical work and its technical features. You need to explain the rhetorical purpose of the composition, the target audience, the rhetorical situation you are working within, and the kinds of rhetorical and technical details most appropriate to those elements. The memo will simply be an email message that you send to me directly; it should provide all the information asked for here, as well as a link to the digital composition. Be sure to test the link to ensure that it is functional.

Amateur working-level definition

What is meant here by "amateur working-level" and "introductory-level" competencies in the "task" section above?  This is hard to pin down, but if it doesn't come clear via examples and in-class discussions, keep asking questions. By "introductory-level," I hope to mean the set of technical skills that could be (or were) taught and learned during the time we devoted to the particular application (one class period on average).

By "amateur working-level," I mean, roughly speaking, that you should demonstrate about twice the number of technical skills that you would need for an introductory-level composition, or that you could, on your own, produce these kinds of compositions and that they would be effective enough to be made public.  For example, an amateur working-level web site produced in Wordpress might involve a homepage plus several additional sub-pages appropriately linked.  The site would utilize a rhetorically appropriate theme; the entries would involve appropriate manipulations of text fonts, styles, and html coding; embedded images and/or videos would be included, so long as they are rhetorically appropriate; there would be thematic consistency across the entries, of which there would need to be many to indicate presence and stability; the site would make use of widgets in a way that is effective, functioanl and persuasive; and so on. The site would probably employ (according to the thems and widgets chosen) effective navigation schemes and similar "usability" aids that are appropriate to current rhetorical conventions. Finally, the technical elements described here would not stand out as technical demonstrations per se, but as effective rhetorical strategies that go unnoticed as such and help "sell" the content of the blogsite. In other words, whatever technical elements are demonstrated would be a product of the site's persuasive purpose, rather than belonging to some enumerated list of features you want to show off. (Or to put it analogously: we know many action movies are just packaging for a showcase of special effects, but they are still more than just a series of effects strung together: they involve plots and other unifying schemes to give them a reason for being and to reduce the feeling of someone saying, "now here's another cool stunt.")

We will discuss the above distinctions in class until they are clear to everyone.  

Evaluation Criteria

I will assess your composition according to its rhetorical and technical effectiveness. Specifically, I will look at the following:

Assignment Criteria. Have you met the assignment's necessary fundamentals: does your composition do everything laid out in the "task" section above?

Rhetorical Aims. Does your composition meet standards of classical rhetoric by belonging and/or contributing to a particular rhetorical situation? Is there a definable audience and purpose at the heart of the composition's existence? Are there rhetorical strategies that are identifiable, ones that can be articulated through classical rhetoric but are nonetheless appropriate to the digital age?

Rhetorical Effectiveness. To what extent are the technical and rhetorical elements persuasive, given the audience, purpose, and context? Have you explicated your composition (vis-a-vis the cover memo, referenced under "Task" above) comprehensively enough to enable such an evaluation?

Due Date:

See Schedule online.

page last updated Fall 10