Overview
You will be tasked with presenting a 2-3 minute video presentation on an item or subject you think is rhetorical and engage with two of your peers. If you think something persuasive is going on or if this thing (what we call an artifact in rhetoric) has a deeper meaning that you, the a researcher of rhetoric, have discovered, bring it forward! This may be an image, a short video, advertisement, cartoon, viral clip in the news, social media post, a song, the layout of the grocery store, something from work, and the list can go on. Part of your grade rests on being prepared to talk about your rhetorical artifact.
You may think about and identify some (but not all) of the follow:
- The (un)intended audience, stakeholders, context, your subject position, a deeper meaning/understanding of the text, persuasive ploys/propaganda, weak/strong arguments, fallacies, and persuasive consequences.
- Metaphor, symbols, dramastic lifecycle, narratives happening in this rhetorical artifact
- Why do you think this artifact is rhetorical?
You are also tasked with replying to the show-and-tell presentations of at least two other peers. Ultimately, this assignment is geared towards thinking about what type of rhetorical researcher you are and what rhetoric means to you, and the forms it can take on. You MUST use an in-text citation in your response to each peer.
Additional Instructions & Helpful Hints:
Task: in this assignment, you are to present a rhetorical artifact to the class that you find to be rhetorically significant. If there is something persuasive, has a deeper meaning than was intended, or has influential value to your text taking place, then it is a great rhetorical artifact to share it with the class.
Examples of rhetorical texts may include (but are not limited to): images, popular culture, social movements and controversies, video games, music artists (both their music and things surrounding their craft - e.g., album covers), political discourse, social media trends/hashtags and more. Presentations for the class are meant to be short (no more than 3 minutes).