PROJECT ONE: VISUAL ANALYSIS

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Thousands of images flash before our eyes every day—advertisements, product labels, movie posters, funny memes, directional signs. Often we absorb these images and the messages they contain without a second thought. But a mindful approach to rhetoric lets us consider: Why are we being shown this image? By whom? And what do they want us to do/think/believe/feel? Mindful consideration gives us space to determine how an image is intended to act upon its audience, which features of the image accomplish these rhetorical goals, and whether we want to be acted on by the image or not. 

 

This assignment asks you to take one image from popular media (from the options provided on Canvas) and describe its rhetorical situation (audience, purpose, context, genre). You should also describe any rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos, kairos) at play in the image. The goal is to write a detailed, analytical essay that makes some argument about the image under consideration. 

 

Here are some questions you might want to address in your visual analysis: 

• What is the message or purpose being communicated through the image? 

• Who is the intended audience? 

• What effects does the image have on that intended audience? 

• What rhetorical appeals are consciously being used through the image? 

• What elements are being used to develop purpose or reach the audience?

• How is the image commenting on historical/social/political situations? 

• How is the image fulfilling or subverting the expectations of its genre?  

 

Getting Started: You will be able to choose the album cover, movie poster, advertisement, or magazine cover to analyze (see Unit I folder on Canvas for list of options). It’s important to note that whatever image you select, you will need to think critically and deeply examine it. So even if you are familiar with the image, you will need to investigate it closely and research its context in order to better determine the purpose and audience. Context provides a foundation that helps us interpret images. You will need to provide a brief summary of the context toward the beginning of your analysis to help situate the reader.

 

Remember the purpose of an “analysis” is to go over something in-detail. I want you to think more about depth and specificity, and less about coverage. The key to an in-depth visual analysis is providing thorough explanations of how your image connects to the rhetorical situation and draws on rhetorical appeals. The reader should be able to tell what the image looks like through your writing without having to look at the image itself. 

 

After you have selected your image, you should start researching the context, genre, and historical/social/political situations that surround it. This explanation of context will help you write a brief summary that will situate your reader within your analysis. After that, you will need to think about the purpose and audience and draw on specific elements of the image to communicate how and why those design elements reach the intended audience to convey the overall purpose of the image. 

 

Evaluation: 

• Identification of major rhetorical points (introduction, thesis, analysis)

• Specificity

• Minimal summary

• Analysis of the purpose and intended audience 

• Organizational structure (strong introduction, fluid transitions and topic sentences, coherent paragraph form)

• Evidence for rhetorical situation and appeals supported by details/aspects from the image 

• Relevance to the assigned topic

• Audience engagement

• Grammar and spelling efficiency

• Effort (demonstrated by page count and proofreading)

 

Putting It Together: Your essay should be a minimum of 1,000 words, double-spaced, in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1” margins, and include a creative title. Please proofread your essay thoroughly before submission. 

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PROJECT TWO: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

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In Project Two, we’ll continue to analyze rhetorical situations and appeals, but instead of reading images, we turn our attention to the alphabetic text. Becoming an effective writer involves learning to read the work of others mindfully, with attention to each move the author makes. By examining the rhetorical choices of experienced writers, we begin to see the array of language techniques and styles of persuasion available to us, and we gain an understanding of which techniques are most effective in various situations. The ultimate goal is to expand our own repertoire of writing moves and prepare ourselves to respond to the situations that call us to write.

This unit, we’ll be working with four texts, all on the theme of the minority experience in the United States. You will choose one text from the following list to write about:

• Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue” NFG pp 697-703; 

• Judith Ortiz Cofer, “The Myth of the Latin Woman” NFG pp 906-913

• Jeremy Dowsett, “What My Bike Has Taught Me about White Privilege” NFG pp 1007-1012

• Jesmyn Ward, “On Witness and Respair” (Canvas)

This assignment asks you to make an argument about how the author of your chosen text has constructed his or her piece and tailored it to their specific audience and context. Here are some questions you might want to address in your textual analysis: 

• What message is the writer communicating? 

• Why is this message so important? What is this message in response to culturally or historically? 

• What values and beliefs help construct the message?

• What is the cultural or historical moment surrounding the text, and in what ways is the writer drawing on that moment to convey their message?    

• What effects does the text/message have on the intended audience? 

• How is the text structured in a way that invites a response? Or what moves are being made in/through the text that would invite the intended audience to respond or react in specific ways? 

• How is the writer getting their points across, or what choices are they making, and what are the effects of those choices? 

In order to do this project well, you will need to carefully re-read your text several times, exploring it on three levels: 1) as an attempt by someone to communicate something important; 2) as a document that has intentionally been written and structured in such a manner as to lead readers to think, feel, and react in specific ways; and 3) as a cultural artifact that embodies (at least on some level) the values, attitudes, and beliefs of a certain group of people at a particular moment in time.

The bulk of your paper will need to be more than just a description/summary of main ideas; you’ll also need to engage how the author is attempting to get their points across, and why they have done so in that manner. Your paper should discuss the choices the writer has made and the effects of those choices. So remember the importance of moving beyond summary.

Your audience for this paper is someone who knows basic rhetorical concepts but has little familiarity with the author or the text. Thus, you will want to focus on providing your reader with specific examples and clear explanations of how the text is working and why. In other words, do not assume that your readers will have the author’s text to refer to as they read your paper. You must provide evidence to back up your claims, which in this context means specific examples from the text in the form of summary, paraphrase, and/or direct quotation.

Evaluation: 

• Identification of major rhetorical points (introduction, thesis, analysis, conclusion)

• Use of textual evidence (summary, paraphrase, and quotation) to illustrate and support your points

• Clear understanding of what it means to conduct a textual analysis (providing context, discussing the rhetorical situation, rhetorical appeals, and concepts, using evidence to explain the situation, appeals, and concepts)

• Nuanced thesis statement and coherent/cohesive topic sentences 

• Grammar and spelling efficiency

• Effort (evidence by page count and proofreading)

 

Putting It Together: Your essay should be a minimum of 1,000 words, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1” margins, and include a creative title. Please proofread your essay thoroughly before submission.

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PROJECT THREE: POSITION PAPER

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You’ve spent the last month mindfully assessing the rhetorical decisions of another author. Now, it’s time to take the lessons you learned from that exercise and use them to strengthen your own writing. I’m asking you to take a position on the issue of Technology and Mindfulness. There are multiple angles from which you might consider this issue: 

• How does technology, particularly internet and social media usage, affect our ability to inhabit the present moment?

• Is social media in conflict with a mindful lifestyle?

• How does social media use alter our sense of self and others?

• What are the unique affordances of technology in terms of mindful practice

• Can we use tech mindfully, to help us achieve greater calmness, gratitude, and empathy? 

 Your job is to read and understand selected articles on this topic, then take a clear, arguable position on the topic and construct an argument based on evidence you find in those selections. I’ve chosen this specific issue because it is a complex and layered debate. I want you to enter into those layers of the scholarly conversation, and incorporate more than one angle of analysis into your argument. Your essay must engage with at least three of the following sources:

• Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” (Norton Field Guide)

• Alina Tugend, “Multitasking Can Make You Lose . . . Um . . . Focus” (Norton Field Guide)

• Jia Tolentino, “The Age of Instagram Face” (Canvas)

• Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol, “Mindful Facebooking” (Canvas)

• Zachary G. Baker et al., “FOMO: Relationships With Depression, Mindfulness, and Physical Symptoms” (Canvas) 

• Maria Konnikova, “Becoming a Better Online Reader” (Canvas)

You may also find 1-2 additional sources to engage with. They must be from reputable journalistic outlets or from the library’s database of scholarly resources. We will learn in class how to find and identify good, focused sources. An important focus of this project will be source integration and using evidence effectively. You’ll also need to cite your work according to MLA format guidelines. Note: when you read these articles, don’t just hunt for evidence that backs up your particular position. Be on the lookout for evidence against your position as well. In order to construct a strong argument, you need to understand your own purpose as well as the purpose of an author who might disagree with you. This element of academic counter-argument must be present in your essay. 

Evaluation

• Clear and accurate identification of the issue

• Description of existing conversation on the issue (Context)

• Clear thesis statement that frames the essay and reveals your stance

• Logical reasoning and substantial evidence from the texts you’ve chosen to synthesize

• Organizational structure (strong introduction, fluid transitions and topic sentences, coherent paragraph form)

• Appropriate citation of sources

• Audience engagement

• Grammar and spelling efficiency

• Effort (demonstrated by page count and proofreading)

 

Putting It Together: Your essay should be a minimum of 1,250 words, double-spaced, in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1” margins, and include a creative title. Please proofread your essay thoroughly before submission. 

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PROJECT FOUR: FINAL PORTFOLIO

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A portfolio simply means a selection of work that represents the your skills and development. Your final portfolio for this class must be designed to make an argument about your growth as a writer in this class. 

 

The portfolio should contain the following elements (in one Word document, in this order):

1. A brief (750-1000 word) reflection essay that describes the reasoning behind the selections you’ve included in the portfolio and the revisions you’ve made to those selections. This essay should also describe your journey as a writer this semester in terms of our Student Learning Outcomes, which are listed on this sheet. We will review those outcomes and discuss ways to integrate them into your essay in class. 

2. A revised version of two of the following: your Visual Analysis, Textual Analysis, and Position Paper.

3. One additional artifact that demonstrates your understanding of writing concepts we’ve discussed this semester. These artifacts could be a photo of notes or annotations on a reading, comments you’ve made on your peers’ writing, or even a creative submission like a graphic or doodle. The only criteria is that they must illustrate a concept of rhetoric from ENG 101. 

 

Steps for creating the portfolio:

1. Choose the two essays you will revise. 

2. Consider everything you’ve learned in this course. Read back over my comments on the papers. 

3. Review the Student Learning Outcomes listed on the syllabus. 

4. Make a revision plan to improve the essays in ways specifically related to things I have taught you and to the course learning outcomes.

5. Revise your two essays.

6. Select, document, or create your artifact submission.

7. Write your self-reflection essay. 

 

Details:

Length: 750-1000 words

Format: MLA (See PDF for full instructions)

 

Scoring Criteria:

• Portfolio demonstrates serious effort toward growth and improvement in writing

• Self Reflection Essay is clear, well-organized, and specific in its descriptions of the writing journey and portfolio contents