Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Toscano, Aaron, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of English

Resources and Daily Activities

  • Conference Presentations
    • PCA/ACA Conference Presentation 2022
    • PCAS/ACAS Presentation 2021
    • SEACS 2021 Presentation
    • South Atlantic MLA Conference 2022
  • Dr. Toscano’s Homepage
  • ENGL 2116-014: Introduction to Technical Communication
    • February 1st: Reflection on Workplace Messages
    • January 11th: More Introduction to Class
    • January 18th: Audience & Purpose
    • January 23rd: Résumés and Cover Letters
      • Duty Format for Résumés
      • Peter Profit’s Cover Letter
    • January 25th: More on Résumés and Cover Letters
    • January 30th: Achieving a Readable Style
      • Euphemisms
      • Prose Practice for Next Class
      • Prose Revision Assignment
      • Revising Prose: Efficiency, Accuracy, and Good
      • Sentence Clarity
    • January 9th: Introduction to the Class
    • Major Assignments
  • ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing
    • August 21st: Introduction to the Course
      • Rhetorical Principles of Information Design
    • August 28th: Introduction to Information Design
      • Prejudice and Rhetoric
      • Robin Williams’s Principles of Design
    • Classmates Webpages (Fall 2017)
    • December 4th: Presentations
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4182/5182 (Fall 2017)
    • November 13th: More on Color
      • Designing with Color
      • Important Images
    • November 20th: Extra-Textual Elements
    • November 27th: Presentation/Portfolio Workshop
    • November 6th: In Living Color
    • October 16th: Type Fever
      • Typography
    • October 23rd: More on Type
    • October 2nd: MIDTERM FUN!!!
    • October 30th: Working with Graphics
      • Beerknurd Calendar 2018
    • September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”
      • Theory, theory, practice
    • September 18th: The Whole Document
    • September 25th: Page Design
  • ENGL 4183/5183: Editing with Digital Technologies
    • August 24th: Introduction to the Class
    • August 31st: Rhetoric, Words, and Composing
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4183/5183 (Fall 2022)
      • Rhetoric of Fear
    • November 16th: Voice and Other Nebulous Writing Terms
      • Finding Dominant Rhetorical Appeals
    • November 2nd: Rhetorical Effects of Punctuation
    • November 30th: Words and Word Classes
    • November 9th: Cohesive Rhythm
    • October 12th: Choosing Adjectivals
    • October 19th: Choosing Nominals
    • October 26th: Stylistic Variations
    • October 5th: Midterm Exam
    • September 14th: Verb is the Word!
    • September 21st: Coordination and Subordination
    • September 28th: Form and Function
    • September 7th: Sentence Patterns
  • ENGL 4275: Rhetoric of Technology
    • April 13th: Authorities in Science and Technology
    • April 15th: Articles on Violence in Video Games
    • April 20th: Presentations
    • April 6th: Technology in the home
    • April 8th: Writing Discussion
    • Assignments for ENGL 4275
    • February 10th: Religion of Technology Part 3 of 3
    • February 12th: Is Love a Technology?
    • February 17th: Technology and Gender
    • February 19th: Technology and Expediency
    • February 24th: Semester Review
    • February 3rd: Religion of Technology Part 1 of 3
    • February 5th: Religion of Technology Part 2 of 3
    • January 13th: Technology and Meaning, a Humanist perspective
    • January 15th: Technology and Democracy
    • January 22nd: The Politics of Technology
    • January 27th: Discussion on Writing as Thinking
    • January 29th: Technology and Postmodernism
    • January 8th: Introduction to the Course
    • March 11th: Writing and Other Fun
    • March 16th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 1 of 2
    • March 18th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 2 of 2
    • March 23rd: Inception (2010)
    • March 25th: Writing and Reflecting Discussion
    • March 30th & April 1st: Count Zero
    • March 9th: William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984)
  • ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory
    • April 12th: Knoblauch. Ch. 4 and Ch. 5
    • April 19th: Jacques Derrida’s Positions
    • April 26th:  Feminisms and Rhetorics
    • April 5th: Knoblauch. Ch. 3 and More Constitutive Rhetoric
    • February 15th: Isocrates (Part 2)
    • February 1st: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Books 2 & 3
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 3
    • February 22nd: St. Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine [Rhetoric]
    • February 8th: Isocrates (Part 1)-2nd Half of Class
    • January 11th: Introduction to Class
    • January 18th: Plato’s Phaedrus
    • January 25th: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Book 1
    • March 15th: Descartes, Rene, Discourse on Method
    • March 1st: Knoblauch. Ch. 1 and 2
    • March 22nd: Mary Wollstonecraft
    • March 29th: Second Wave Feminist Rhetoric
    • May 3rd: Knoblauch. Ch. 6, 7, and “Afterword”
    • Rhetorical Theory Assignments
  • ENGL/COMM/WRDS: The Rhetoric of Fear
    • January 10th: Introduction to the Class
    • January 17th: Scapegoats & Conspiracies
    • January 24th: The Rhetoric of Fear and Fallacies Part 1
    • January 31st: Fallacies Part 2 and American Politics Part 1
    • Major Assignments
  • LBST 2212-124, 125, 126, & 127
    • August 21st: Introduction to Class
    • August 23rd: Humanistic Approach to Science Fiction
    • August 26th: Robots and Zombies
    • August 28th: Futurism, an Introduction
    • August 30th: R. A. Lafferty “Slow Tuesday Night” (1965)
    • December 2nd: Technological Augmentation
    • December 4th: Posthumanism
    • November 11th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2)
    • November 13th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2 con’t)
    • November 18th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)
      • More Questions than Answers
    • November 1st: Games Reality Plays (part II)
    • November 20th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 2)
    • November 6th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 1)
    • October 14th: More Autonomous Fun
    • October 16th: Autonomous Conclusion
    • October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere
    • October 23rd: Social Aphasia
    • October 25th: Dust in the Wind
    • October 28th: Gender Liminality and Roles
    • October 2nd: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • October 30th: Games Reality Plays (part I)
    • October 9th: Approaching Autonomous
      • Analyzing Prose in Autonomous
    • September 11th: The Time Machine
    • September 16th: The Alien Other
    • September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds
    • September 20th: Dystopian Visions
    • September 23rd: World’s Beyond
    • September 25th: Gender Studies and Science Fiction
    • September 30th: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • September 4th: Science Fiction and Social Breakdown
      • More on Ellison
      • More on Forster
    • September 9th: The Time Machine
  • LBST 2213-110: Science, Technology, and Society
    • August 22nd: Science and Technology from a Humanistic Perspective
    • August 24th: Science and Technology, a Humanistic Approach
    • August 29th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 2
    • August 31st: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 3 and 4
    • December 5th: Video Games and Violence, a more nuanced view
    • November 14th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 27-end
    • November 16th: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Preface-Ch. 8
    • November 21st: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Ch. 9-Ch. 16
    • November 28th: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ch. 17-Ch. 24
    • November 30th: Violence in Video Games
    • November 7th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes Ch. 1-17
    • November 9th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes, Ch. 18-26
    • October 12th: Lies Economics Tells
    • October 17th: Brief Histories of Medicine, Salerno, and Galen
    • October 19th: Politicizing Science and Medicine
    • October 24th: COVID-19 Facial Covering Rhetoric
    • October 26th: Wells, H. G. Time Machine. Ch. 1-5
    • October 31st: Wells, H. G. The Time Machine Ch. 6-The End
    • October 3rd: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • September 12th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • September 19th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Prefaces and Ch. 1
    • September 26th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 2
    • September 28th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 5 and 6
    • September 7th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 5 and 6
  • New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology (Spring 2021)
    • April 13th: Virtually ‘Real’ Environments
    • April 20th: Rhetoric/Composition Defines New Media
    • April 27th: Sub/Cultural Politics, Hegemony, and Agency
    • April 6th: Capitalist Realism
    • February 16: Misunderstanding the Internet
    • February 23rd: Our Public Sphere and the Media
    • February 2nd: Introduction to Cultural Studies
    • January 26th: Introduction to New Media
    • Major Assignments for New Media (Spring 2021)
    • March 16th: Identity Politics
    • March 23rd: Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality
    • March 2nd: Foundational Thinkers in Cultural Studies
    • March 30th: Hyperreality
    • March 9th: Globalization & Postmodernism
    • May 4th: Wrapping Up The Semester
      • Jodi Dean “The The Illusion of Democracy” & “Communicative Capitalism”
      • Social Construction of Sexuality
  • Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020)
    • Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture
    • Cultural Studies and Science Fiction Films
    • June 10th: Interstellar and Exploration themes
    • June 11th: Bicentennial Man
    • June 15th: I’m Only Human…Or am I?
    • June 16th: Wall-E and Environment
    • June 17th: Wall-E (2008) and Technology
    • June 18th: Interactivity in Video Games
    • June 1st: Firefly (2002) and Myth
    • June 2nd: “Johnny Mnemonic”
    • June 3rd: “New Rose Hotel”
    • June 4th: “Burning Chrome”
    • June 8th: Conformity and Monotony
    • June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty
    • May 18th: Introduction to Class
    • May 19th: American Culture, an Introduction
    • May 20th: The Matrix
    • May 21st: Gender and Science Fiction
    • May 25th: Goals for I, Robot
    • May 26th: Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot
    • May 27th: Hackers and Slackers
    • May 30th: Inception
  • Teaching Portfolio
  • Topics for Analysis
    • A Practical Editing Situation
    • American Culture, an Introduction
    • Efficiency in Writing Reviews
    • Feminism, An Introduction
    • Fordism/Taylorism
    • Frankenstein Part I
    • Frankenstein Part II
    • Futurism Introduction
    • Isaac Asimov’s “A Cult of Ignorance”
    • Langdon Winner Summary: The Politics of Technology
    • Marxist Theory (cultural analysis)
    • Oral Presentations
    • Oratory and Argument Analysis
    • Our Public Sphere
    • Postmodernism Introduction
    • Protesting Confederate Place
    • Punctuation Refresher
    • QT, the Existential Robot
    • Religion of Technology Discussion
    • Rhetoric, an Introduction
      • Analyzing the Culture of Technical Writer Ads
      • Rhetoric of Technology
      • Visual Culture
      • Visual Perception
      • Visual Perception, Culture, and Rhetoric
      • Visual Rhetoric
      • Visuals for Technical Communication
      • World War I Propaganda
    • The Great I, Robot Discussion
      • I, Robot Short Essay Topics
    • The Rhetoric of Video Games: A Cultural Perspective
      • Civilization, an Analysis
    • The Sopranos
    • Why Science Fiction?
    • Zombies and Consumption Satire
  • Video Games & American Culture
    • April 14th: Phallocentrism
    • April 21st: Video Games and Neoliberalism
    • April 7th: Video Games and Conquest
    • Assignments for Video Games & American Culture
    • February 10th: Aesthetics and Culture
    • February 17th: Narrative and Catharsis
    • February 24th: Serious Games
    • February 3rd: More History of Video Games
    • January 13th: Introduction to the course
    • January 20th: Introduction to Video Game Studies
    • January 27th: Games & Culture
      • Marxism for Video Game Analysis
      • Postmodernism for Video Game Analysis
    • March 24th: Realism, Interpretation(s), and Meaning Making
    • March 31st: Feminist Perspectives and Politics
    • March 3rd: Risky Business?

Contact Me

Office: Fretwell 255F
Email: atoscano@uncc.edu
LBST 2212-124, 125, 126, & 127 » October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere

October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere

Plan for the Day

  • Registration is in two weeks–starts 11/04 (but your specific time will vary)
  • ENGL 4275 “Rhetoric and Technology” (MW 2:30-3:45, FRET 219)
    • I’m 99% sure I’ll be assigning William Gibson’s Neuromancer
    • I’m 50% sure I’ll be assigning Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (aka. Blade Runner)
    • The rest of the readings are non-fiction and related to technology
  • ENGL 6166 “Rhetorical Theory” (M 6:00-8:45, FRET 219)
    • More reading than humanly possible to get through unless you start over winter break…and winter is coming!
    • Know any graduate students who’d like this course…
  • Today’s readings

Obviously, I have to wake you up, so I guess that means I need to show you moving pictures. I’ll try to incorporate that today. Also, as usual, I hope to disturb you by having us confront more cultural givens. Today, we’ll talk about mundane domesticity, bored housewives, and nuclear radiation…just another day of LBST! Maybe I’ll show you a music video from the 1980s: Alphaville’s “Forever Young.”

Judith Merril’s “That Only a Mother” (1948)

Whoa! What’s going on with that baby? Obviously, this story’s title comes from the expression “a face only a mother could love,” which means the face is not conventionally beautiful/attractive. Culturally, mothers are supposed to love their children no matter what, so a hideous chud’s face is one only a mother could love. Implied in that phrase is that men, fathers, might not have the same affinity for children…care to take that one? I obviously love my baby girl, but who wouldn’t love this most adorable creature!

The Anthology Editors set us up nicely by telling us Merril’s story was denigrated by phallocentric traditional sci fi authors who read it as a boring domestic story (p. 211). Of course, we know that they missed the social science fiction themes that the story conveys. The Editors tell us that “[Merril] also issued harsh polemics against conventional hard sf, which, in her view, had grown moribund and was swiftly being displaced by a new breed of counterculture-inspired and experimentally sophisticated writing” (p. 212). In case that sentence wasn’t clear enough, the Editors are calling hard sf–sci fi obsessed with the technology and science possibilities as opposed to the humanistic themes–easy and unsophisticated. You’ll often hear how one writer or another “elevated” sci fi from its “pulp, space opera” past. Just reading for cool gadgets and far out places is entertainment; we’re reading to think.

Key areas in the text

The fact that it’s mostly written in letter-telegram style does something for the dramatic tension. How do we read this differently than traditionally narrated stories? What might be the effect of reading this as a letter, fax, or other correspondence? The word epistolary is used for novels or stories written in letter form.

Living with THE BOMB

  • No more paper delivery; instead, the fax machine brings news right to your bathroom.
  • Mistrust of government
    • Letter from Margaret’s Mom: “Hank’s been around uranium or thorium or whatever…back at Oak, Ridge[, TN].”
    • Margaret’s internal monologue: “Stop it, Maggie, stop it! The radiologist said Hank’s job couldn’t have exposed him.” She’s supposed to distract herself by “read[ing] the social notes or the recipes” like a good housewife (p. 213).
  • Don’t loaf around! The government wants you to be working. Do your part at home (p. 214)
    • World War 2 Propaganda 1
    • World War 2 Propaganda 2
    • World War 2 Propaganda 3
    • World War 2 Propaganda 4
    • World War 2 Propaganda 5

Even Italian housewives were a part of the home front help. More World War I propaganda posters are here.

How were we told to “do our part” when the United States invaded Afghanistan and Iraq? How was that different from the ways citizens were supposed to support their country during World War II?

The new beautiful baby

  • When is it funny to joke with your spouse about infanticide (p. 214)?
  • “It’s all true what they say about new babies and the face that only a mother can love” (p. 215)
  • Infanticide in Japan near Hiroshima and Nagasaki (p. 218).
  • The baby talks and sings at 7 months!?! (p. 216) That’s a bit unusual.
    • Maybe the baby got the gamma rays like The Incredible Hulk.

We’ll return to the metaphoric possible reading (interpretation) after we discuss the next story.

Pamela Zoline’s “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

A common definition of entropy is twofold: 1) chaos in isolated systems and 2) the more energy produced, the less useful it is. The second definition is why some equate entropy and inefficiency. The heat death of the universe.

In groups, you should discuss the following questions:

  • What are a housewife’s socially prescribed duties? Are they realistic?
  • How is it possible Sarah Boyle doesn’t know how many children she has?
  • Why are there multiple references to Sarah’s being educated at “fine Eastern colleges”?
  • Why does Zoline focus on the Shakespeare (p. 417) and Mozart (p. 442) masks on the back of the cereal boxes?
    • Speaking of Shakespeare, Sarah makes a reference to King Lear, Act 3, Scene 4, 17-22. Notice that she’s speaking out loud: “‘That way madness lies, says Sarah,’ Says Sarah” (p. 422).
  • Dada was “a product of hysteria and shock,” (p. 422) was an avant-garde movement of the early 20th Century that we mostly associate with Marcel Duchamp.
    • If you’re curious about “the Mona Lisa with a moustache and the obscene caption LHOOQ,” check out this discussion.
    • Remember the first modernist avant-garde…Futurism.
  • How many references to infinity, running in circles, mundane tasks, etc. are? Probably too many to count! (Not really, but there are many)
  • –the biggie–
    Why does Sarah act out in a fit of rage and sadness at the end of the story?  
    • Mother’s Little Helper
    • Lyrics

Now that we’ve covered the two stories, let’s see what links them. They’re both stories about housewives. Although they’re written nearly 20 years apart, there are some domestic similarities. Primarily, the housewives are supposed to take care of the house and children. Margaret (Maggie) has a job, but she’s allowed to work to support the country’s war effort. She’s taking care of the baby, but, the husband is shocked to find out that “she didn’t know…” (p. 220).

Consider the following for discussion:

  • Denial and self-delusion
  • Infanticide to protect the mother
  • Metaphor of Domestic Life as not fulfilling in this patriarchal culture
  • Stealing (technically joyriding) Grandma’s car

Next Class

Keep up with your reading. On Wednesday (10/23), we’ll discuss Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds” (1983); on Friday (10/25), Ms. Rogers will show off her Linguistic skills and discuss Misha Nogha’s “Chippoke Na Gomi” (1989). More short stories for next week!

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