Final Project: Rhetoric in My Field

Throughout this semester, my Rhetoric and Civilization students have been connecting their learning on these topics to their prospective career fields in a series of posts. Now, they will synthesize these into a single final paper and blog post.

Perhaps the most difficult part of this assignment will be making the content relevant for their target audience (which is to be those who are early in the trajectory toward a similar field), especially within the two formats required (both a conventional academic paper and a blog post).

My students will have to avoid writing as though they are fulfilling a requirement for a class: they will succeed to the extent that what they write is actually informative and useful for their intended audience -- and not merely a compilation of prior writing or required steps along the way. This will require them to use some discernment in what to include, what to leave out, and what to develop further in order to appeal to and engage their prospective audience members.

Complete details for the assignment follow:

English 211 - Rhetoric and Civilization

Dr. Gideon Burton

Final Project: Rhetoric in My Field

Purpose:

To recognize how the art of rhetoric and the history of civilization figure into one’s chosen career field, and to bring a sensitivity to communication and historical context to others considering the same field.

Method:

Students will write a series of blog posts addressing component topics within the project (some of which will require research) and will then complete a final paper synthesizing these.

Audience:

Students are writing not to specialists in their chosen field, but to those outside of it and especially to those who may be considering this field. Remember, the goal is not to persuade others to your career field, but to help them understand the importance of communication and history to that career field.

Genre:

Given this audience, and given that this information will most likely be experienced online, the writing needs to be structured almost like an informative newsletter piece. “If you are going into __________, you need to know how communication factors into what goes on in this field. You also need to understand a little about historical context.” This is the desired genre and approach.

Length: 1000-1500 words (4-6 pages double spaced)

Mediums: Paper and blog post.

The blog post will require appropriate formatting, including reconsideration of the title; the addition of an image; a “jump-break” following the introduction;  other appropriate subheadings or bullet points; appropriate hyperlinks; labels/tags; and a Works Cited section at the bottom.

Schedule of Component Assignments:

Oct 24 (Fri) Communication and Persuasion in My Field (instructions)

Oct 30 (Fri) Field-Specific Topics of Invention / Stasis (instructions)

Nov 7 (Fri) Style and Delivery Analysis (instructions)

Dec 3 (Wed) My field within the history of civilization (instructions)

Dec 5 (Fri) Writing Plan (details on this portion below)

Dec 10 (Wed) Draft paper due in class
Bring the completed 4-6 page draft to class for an in-class peer review

Writing Plan (blog post due on Friday, Dec 5)

Purpose:

The purpose of this blog post is to help you synthesize your prior writing and focus this in terms of the final paper’s purpose, audience and genre (as described above). This is a planning stage for your next-to-last draft.

Step 1: Profile your audience. In a short paragraph, describe the typical person who may be in your major or looking toward entering your intended career field. What sorts of classes does he/she take? Does the curriculum address communication issues in any way? Do any of the classes have a historical component to provide a context or overview of this profession? Beyond the curriculum, is this typical student likely to be involved in internships, collaborative projects, or other extracurricular activities that prepare him/her in other ways for their field? Is there a placement office or a system for learning how to interview or write resumes? At what point in their student career will they be learning or practicing kinds of communication that are needed to get or perform a job in this field?

Step 2: Reread your posts. Once you feel you understand the scope, purpose, and genre of the final assignment (as laid out above), next review each of the component assignments that you have written to date (indexed above and by your name on the blog). Consider the following as you try to decide what you will include, exclude, or adapt from your existing posts. You could answer these questions under these headings for this post:

• Context
  How can I provide a meaningful context for this student? How can I persuade him/her to pay attention to the issues of communication and history that I have researched?
• Rhetoric
  What general ideas about communication need to be presented? What specific persuasive strategies should be addressed? How can I address these without burying this person in technical rhetorical jargon?
• History
  How could bringing up recent or distant history give some useful perspective here?

Step 3: Talk through a development plan. After profiling your prospective audience and rereading your prior posts, and taking into account the length and format for the final product, spend about two paragraphs talking through how you will pull things together or what new information you believe you must add. Will you need to do a little extra research? Which sections will need the most attention? Which stories that you’ve told will be most persuasive in your final product? Create an outline if you wish.

In sum, your finished post should have these sections:

1. Audience Profile
2. Context
3. Rhetoric
4. History
5. Development Plan

Step 4: Read and comment on others’ plans. In reading fellow students’ writing plans, you can provide them some ideas and get some of your own for how to adapt and develop your writing.