Unit Two Homework
Remember to check back here frequently to get detailed breakdowns of what the homework is due on specific dates throughout Unit Two.
Rhetorical Studies Introduction (Due 9/30) (Google Drive)
After reading Issue 1 in "Understanding Rhetoric," you are to create a Google Doc titled "[Your Name] Rhetoric" in the class folder. The issue talks a lot about Ethos, Pathos, Logos, and Kairos. They seem simple enough, but can you define them in your own words and give an example? Write these definitions out and give me an example (it can be a picture if it clearly explains the word).
Navigating Your Genres (Due 10/2) (Google Drive)
Navigating Your Genres
For this assignment, read Kerry Dirk’s article, “Navigating Genres,” before doing assignments 1-3. All parts are to be written into a Google Document and uploaded into our class folder. The title of the document should be “Navigating Your Genres – [Your Name].” This assignment is due by Thursday, October 2. As always, have fun!
Assignment Part 1:
Dirk uses many examples in this article to explain the intricacies of genre. She explains, “What is important to consider here is that if mastering a form were simply a matter of plugging in content, we would all be capable of successfully writing anything when we are given a formula” (252). That being said, her example of the country song gives you a formulaic approach to writing a song in the country genre. Certain genres have such strict conventions (guidelines) that many of the entries into said genre come off as comical or predictable (remember the Bo Burnham video “Repeat Stuff”). Analyze a genre of your choosing (keep it limited to movies, books, or song genres) and write out a list of at least ten (10) genre conventions. These conventions may seem to be stereo-types of a genre, meaning not every entry of that genre has this convention. You may use these as long as it is recognizable to others. Make sure you write them as a universal convention, i.e. don’t use names or specific places.
Assignment Part 2:
Select at least five (5) conventions you wrote out to create your own entry into the genre. For example, Dirk says, “Country songs are often depressing; people lose jobs, lovers, and friends.” My new entry would say, “After a long day, I come home to find my tractor broken in the driveway. My heart broke away.” No, this is not in song form, but yours could be. Just make sure, whatever your genre is, you are capturing your conventions through detailed examples. You may compose each sentence separately or form them into a poem, song, short story, etc.
Assignment Part 3:
(Choose either option one or two)
Option 1:
The Onion is a satirical news organization which is known for its headlines. Today’s headline is, “Study Finds Mass Extinction Could Free Up Billions Of Dollars In Conservation Funding by 2024.” Dirk talks about these headlines on pages 254-5, giving many different examples and insights into The Onion. These headlines are a genre with their own conventions outside of real news headlines. For this option, please write at least five (5) headlines of your own creation. Do not copy and paste headlines from their page, this is not a plagiarism assignment. (laughs are a must)
Option 2:
The ransom note is an important genre to criminals (and authors). The examples Dirk gives are ranked by best, ineffective, and absurd. Although she doesn’t give a guideline to write a ransom note, she does explain why some work and others don’t. For this option, you are too write your own effective ransom note to me. You decide what you took of mine (be creative) and you set the ransom. This must be at least 100 words long to get full credit.
(If you create a ransom note with magazine clippings, you only need around 50 words, and you will get extra credit towards your participation grade at the end of the unit. If you do this option, scan or take a picture of the note and insert it into the document. Also bring a hard copy of it in class.)
For this assignment, read Kerry Dirk’s article, “Navigating Genres,” before doing assignments 1-3. All parts are to be written into a Google Document and uploaded into our class folder. The title of the document should be “Navigating Your Genres – [Your Name].” This assignment is due by Thursday, October 2. As always, have fun!
Assignment Part 1:
Dirk uses many examples in this article to explain the intricacies of genre. She explains, “What is important to consider here is that if mastering a form were simply a matter of plugging in content, we would all be capable of successfully writing anything when we are given a formula” (252). That being said, her example of the country song gives you a formulaic approach to writing a song in the country genre. Certain genres have such strict conventions (guidelines) that many of the entries into said genre come off as comical or predictable (remember the Bo Burnham video “Repeat Stuff”). Analyze a genre of your choosing (keep it limited to movies, books, or song genres) and write out a list of at least ten (10) genre conventions. These conventions may seem to be stereo-types of a genre, meaning not every entry of that genre has this convention. You may use these as long as it is recognizable to others. Make sure you write them as a universal convention, i.e. don’t use names or specific places.
Assignment Part 2:
Select at least five (5) conventions you wrote out to create your own entry into the genre. For example, Dirk says, “Country songs are often depressing; people lose jobs, lovers, and friends.” My new entry would say, “After a long day, I come home to find my tractor broken in the driveway. My heart broke away.” No, this is not in song form, but yours could be. Just make sure, whatever your genre is, you are capturing your conventions through detailed examples. You may compose each sentence separately or form them into a poem, song, short story, etc.
Assignment Part 3:
(Choose either option one or two)
Option 1:
The Onion is a satirical news organization which is known for its headlines. Today’s headline is, “Study Finds Mass Extinction Could Free Up Billions Of Dollars In Conservation Funding by 2024.” Dirk talks about these headlines on pages 254-5, giving many different examples and insights into The Onion. These headlines are a genre with their own conventions outside of real news headlines. For this option, please write at least five (5) headlines of your own creation. Do not copy and paste headlines from their page, this is not a plagiarism assignment. (laughs are a must)
Option 2:
The ransom note is an important genre to criminals (and authors). The examples Dirk gives are ranked by best, ineffective, and absurd. Although she doesn’t give a guideline to write a ransom note, she does explain why some work and others don’t. For this option, you are too write your own effective ransom note to me. You decide what you took of mine (be creative) and you set the ransom. This must be at least 100 words long to get full credit.
(If you create a ransom note with magazine clippings, you only need around 50 words, and you will get extra credit towards your participation grade at the end of the unit. If you do this option, scan or take a picture of the note and insert it into the document. Also bring a hard copy of it in class.)
For Your Audience...Rhetorically Speaking (Due 10/7) (Google Drive)
Create a document in Google Drive with the title, "Rhetorical Murder-[Your Name]"
“Choosing how to express your meaning is every bit as important as the message itself, which is really what rhetoric is. Every time you go to write anything (and every time you open your mouth), whether actively conscious of the purpose or not, you are making decisions about which words to use and what tone to establish as you order your thoughts based upon what is appropriate for your intended audience in that context.” (87)
For this assignment, you are to interact with Janet Boyd’s article, “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)” with certain prompts which will enhance your understanding of rhetoric and genre. It is important that you read the entire article, instead of just flipping to the activities. The article gives you great detail as to what rhetoric is and the components that make it up.
The “Five Facts” of the Scene
Who: Mark Smith
What: Murdered
Where: Parking Garage
When: June 6, 2010; 10:37pm
How: Multiple stab wounds
Prompt 1: (Page 88)
Using the five facts, create a police report as if you were a detective. You are using the facts above, but you need to fill in the specific details of the scene. Be mindful that you are writing in the “police report” genre. Your audience is your superiors in the office, lawyers, jury, judge, and potentially the media. What do you write to fully explain the scene?
Prompt 2: (Page 91)
Again, using the five facts, you are now to write a coroner’s report of the body. Even though you are writing a different report, your audience is the same as the detective report. Keep diction (word choice) in mind. What do you see?
Prompt 3: (Page 94)
Using the information you have already used for Mark Smith, you are to create a short eulogy, or a speech of remembrance. You can decide who your audience is. Is it those at the funeral home? Is this going to be more of an obituary? What details will you choose to include? What do you want to say?
Prompt 4: (Page 97)
After the investigation, coroner’s report, and eulogy, you should have a good understanding of Mark Smith. Now you are faced with his killer and all eyes are on you; Mark Smith’s lawyer. You need to give your closing argument to the jury which will deliver the verdict, so what do you say?
“Choosing how to express your meaning is every bit as important as the message itself, which is really what rhetoric is. Every time you go to write anything (and every time you open your mouth), whether actively conscious of the purpose or not, you are making decisions about which words to use and what tone to establish as you order your thoughts based upon what is appropriate for your intended audience in that context.” (87)
For this assignment, you are to interact with Janet Boyd’s article, “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)” with certain prompts which will enhance your understanding of rhetoric and genre. It is important that you read the entire article, instead of just flipping to the activities. The article gives you great detail as to what rhetoric is and the components that make it up.
The “Five Facts” of the Scene
Who: Mark Smith
What: Murdered
Where: Parking Garage
When: June 6, 2010; 10:37pm
How: Multiple stab wounds
Prompt 1: (Page 88)
Using the five facts, create a police report as if you were a detective. You are using the facts above, but you need to fill in the specific details of the scene. Be mindful that you are writing in the “police report” genre. Your audience is your superiors in the office, lawyers, jury, judge, and potentially the media. What do you write to fully explain the scene?
Prompt 2: (Page 91)
Again, using the five facts, you are now to write a coroner’s report of the body. Even though you are writing a different report, your audience is the same as the detective report. Keep diction (word choice) in mind. What do you see?
Prompt 3: (Page 94)
Using the information you have already used for Mark Smith, you are to create a short eulogy, or a speech of remembrance. You can decide who your audience is. Is it those at the funeral home? Is this going to be more of an obituary? What details will you choose to include? What do you want to say?
Prompt 4: (Page 97)
After the investigation, coroner’s report, and eulogy, you should have a good understanding of Mark Smith. Now you are faced with his killer and all eyes are on you; Mark Smith’s lawyer. You need to give your closing argument to the jury which will deliver the verdict, so what do you say?
Speech Comparison (Post in GoogleDrive and Print Out) (Due: 10/9)
Based on today’s discussion of genre and rhetoric, you are to find at least three speeches to compare using the following terms:
Genre/Subgenre, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Kairos, Purpose, Mode, Audience, Tone, Response, Style, Design, and Sources
In paragraph form, you must compare and contrast the rhetorical devices used of each speech. First classify each in a subgenre (they can all be in different subgenres), and summarize the speeches before identifying each rhetorical device. Make sure you use all the terms above. Clearly identify the speaker when referencing a particular speech.
To qualify as a speech for this assignment, it must be at least 2 minutes long and it must have an audio file. You may not use any of the speeches we have talked about in class. The speech can be from a movie, but it must have at least 2 minutes of uninterrupted dialog. Each speech must have a file location you can provide (i.e. youtube link or website link). A good reference site is americanrhetoric.com.
Make sure the document is in MLA format! 12pt Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins, Proper heading, Title, Page Numbers!
For GoogleDrive, title the document "Speech Comparison - [your name]"
Genre/Subgenre, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Kairos, Purpose, Mode, Audience, Tone, Response, Style, Design, and Sources
In paragraph form, you must compare and contrast the rhetorical devices used of each speech. First classify each in a subgenre (they can all be in different subgenres), and summarize the speeches before identifying each rhetorical device. Make sure you use all the terms above. Clearly identify the speaker when referencing a particular speech.
To qualify as a speech for this assignment, it must be at least 2 minutes long and it must have an audio file. You may not use any of the speeches we have talked about in class. The speech can be from a movie, but it must have at least 2 minutes of uninterrupted dialog. Each speech must have a file location you can provide (i.e. youtube link or website link). A good reference site is americanrhetoric.com.
Make sure the document is in MLA format! 12pt Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins, Proper heading, Title, Page Numbers!
For GoogleDrive, title the document "Speech Comparison - [your name]"
Business Collaboration Exercise (GoogleDrive) (Due: 10/21)
You are both collaborators that need to accomplish two tasks. Collaborator 1 is the first name on the assignment, Collaborator 2 is the second. Follow the tasks and the instructions listed below. Each task must be at least 2 full paragraphs! Remember to use the rhetorical devices we have talked about in class. Keep in mind your Audience, Tone, Style, what jargon is used, etc. Remember to make it grammatically “perfect.” Have fun.
Task 1:
Collaborator 1
-You are to write a memo to the CEO of a company from the marketing department pushing for your new product to be made. This is a pitch, so make sure you really sell the idea to the CEO. The product can be anything, but make sure it is similar to a product already on the market. Copy and Paste your reference at the bottom of the memo (under your signature line). You need to include names, titles, company name, etc for the memo. Keep the pitch professional and formal.
Collaborator 2
-The CEO rejected the pitch because it is too similar to the reference material. You need to do another pitch with revisions. Take your partner’s pitch and change the details to make it drastically different than the source reference. Make sure you keep the same format of the memo, but change the date to reflect that the revision took place two weeks after the initial pitch. How you want to readdress the issue is up to you.
Task 2:
Collaborator 2
You are the manager of the warehouse facility where the above product is being shipped out. There are large machines in use and someone recently got hurt. The injury (pretty serious but not life threatening) is completely up to you. How the events unfolded are completely up to you, but remember some important things. You need to be detailed and go through the step by step events of how the injury happen. Explain it exactly how you saw it personally. Do not include witness reports.
Collaborator 1
-You are the assistant manager of this warehouse facility and two witnesses came to you with 5 details each which don’t exactly tell the same story as the manager. List out the five details of each witness and incorporate them into the report. How you rewrite the report is up to you. (You may make it impersonal/3rd person and work all three perspectives into the report, or you may combine the two new reports and explain them below the first report and analyze the differences.) Style and design are up to you.
Task 1:
Collaborator 1
-You are to write a memo to the CEO of a company from the marketing department pushing for your new product to be made. This is a pitch, so make sure you really sell the idea to the CEO. The product can be anything, but make sure it is similar to a product already on the market. Copy and Paste your reference at the bottom of the memo (under your signature line). You need to include names, titles, company name, etc for the memo. Keep the pitch professional and formal.
Collaborator 2
-The CEO rejected the pitch because it is too similar to the reference material. You need to do another pitch with revisions. Take your partner’s pitch and change the details to make it drastically different than the source reference. Make sure you keep the same format of the memo, but change the date to reflect that the revision took place two weeks after the initial pitch. How you want to readdress the issue is up to you.
Task 2:
Collaborator 2
You are the manager of the warehouse facility where the above product is being shipped out. There are large machines in use and someone recently got hurt. The injury (pretty serious but not life threatening) is completely up to you. How the events unfolded are completely up to you, but remember some important things. You need to be detailed and go through the step by step events of how the injury happen. Explain it exactly how you saw it personally. Do not include witness reports.
Collaborator 1
-You are the assistant manager of this warehouse facility and two witnesses came to you with 5 details each which don’t exactly tell the same story as the manager. List out the five details of each witness and incorporate them into the report. How you rewrite the report is up to you. (You may make it impersonal/3rd person and work all three perspectives into the report, or you may combine the two new reports and explain them below the first report and analyze the differences.) Style and design are up to you.
Creative Proposal (GoogleDrive and Paper Copy) (Due: 10/21)
Type up a full page document explaining what genre you want to analyze using typography. Tell me what genre interests you and what inside that genre you want to look at. Do you want to compare movie/book posters? Do you want to look at billboards? Do you want to compare flyers? There are many options to choose and many items inside each genre. Be specific. Make sure you answer the following: What genre do you want to analyze? When does this genre appear? (compare posters over time/Newspapers/Something from a specific time period) Where does this genre appear? Are you doing books in China vs US? Only flyers in the student center? Why do you want to do this? What is the reasoning behind this analysis? Do you think you can write about 6 pages on this topic?
The second part of the project is a creative component. To represent the contrast of these items in the genre, what do you want to create? A website? A blog? A printed posted? Drawings? This is limited to your imagination. Be creative. Your creativity will not be judged, but your purpose and presentation of your ideas will. If you want to create something inside this genre, please let me know and be very specific. If you want to compare graffiti, you may create your own. Remember, if you create something, do not use my assignment as a reason to break the law!
The second part of the project is a creative component. To represent the contrast of these items in the genre, what do you want to create? A website? A blog? A printed posted? Drawings? This is limited to your imagination. Be creative. Your creativity will not be judged, but your purpose and presentation of your ideas will. If you want to create something inside this genre, please let me know and be very specific. If you want to compare graffiti, you may create your own. Remember, if you create something, do not use my assignment as a reason to break the law!
Internet Typography Lesson (GoogleDrive) (Due: 10/23)
±Find a typography video of at least 15 minutes (or watch a 15 minute segment)
±Take notes! Focus not only on terms, but how the terms are used in reference to Typography.
±Past a link to the video on the top of your GoogleDoc and your notes under it.
±Write a paragraph on how you will use this information for your paper!
Some examples:
History of Typography Short
PBS Typography Special
An Intro to Typography
Typographical Studies (Chicago)
±Take notes! Focus not only on terms, but how the terms are used in reference to Typography.
±Past a link to the video on the top of your GoogleDoc and your notes under it.
±Write a paragraph on how you will use this information for your paper!
Some examples:
History of Typography Short
PBS Typography Special
An Intro to Typography
Typographical Studies (Chicago)
Bring an example of typography into class on 10/23
•Think about typography and how it is used in our everyday world. Bring in an example!
•Can be a picture, drawing, flyer, printed artifact, etc.
If it is a flyer or property you cannot take, take a picture and print it out or email it to me before class.
•Can be a picture, drawing, flyer, printed artifact, etc.
If it is a flyer or property you cannot take, take a picture and print it out or email it to me before class.
Typography Article Discussion (WriteSpace) (Due 10/30)
Choose an article from the "documents" tab, read, and discuss on the course WriteSpace (EMUOnline).
Focus on a specific point of the article.
How will you use this for your paper?
Did this change your perspective of typography or punctuation?
Comment on at least one other peer’s response. All posts should be in paragraph form and have quotes from the text.
Focus on a specific point of the article.
How will you use this for your paper?
Did this change your perspective of typography or punctuation?
Comment on at least one other peer’s response. All posts should be in paragraph form and have quotes from the text.