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 » September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds

September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds

Anthology Blurbs–Important

Don’t forget to read the Anthology editors’ introductions to these (and all) short stories. Many test/exam questions come from the introductions, but, more importantly, they provide the context for the stories and even help with identifying interpretations.

Interpreting Science Fiction

As I’ve mentioned before, we’re not looking at the surface features of these texts (our short stories and novels). Meaning comes to readers from various perspectives: the reader’s worldview, the author’s worldview, and the cultural condition in which the author wrote and the reader read. Notice that readers reading in different time periods may interpret differently. Although you could argue there are limitless interpretations, doing so would get us to absurd situations like disproving Aliens exist.

Consider the burden of proof. For whom does the burden of proof lie when proving there is extraterrestrial life? How about the burden of proof for proving aliens have visited Earth? Allowing for ANY possibility is a moving target that could lead us to absurd conclusions.

Much like you have to have boundaries when making formal arguments (e.g., courts of law), we need to have boundaries for interpretation. Otherwise, we have no focus and we lose sight of an interpretation that requires in-depth analysis. What I’m asking you to do is to understand the cultural context(s) in which the text exists. We will start by defining the context and then use that context to drive our interpretation. We may need to consider more than one context, but, regardless of the number of contexts, we have boundaries, and that will help us focus our interpretation.

I’m not just advocating critical thinking; I’m trying to model more sophisticated thinking. Knowing the context (the rules, boundaries, theories, etc.) of an interpretation isn’t about knowing the facts–the words on a page. Instead, it helps you identify how an interpretation is made. We often just want the “what” does it mean, so we can memorize it and regurgitate it later. That’s not sophisticated enough for college-level thinkers. Knowing how someone arrived at the interpretation–which means recognizing the biases, worldviews, theoretical penchants, etc. of the interpreter/reader–is higher-level thinking.

Post-Apocalyptic

Like Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains,” Tenn’s short story is about what happens after the end of the world or what happens after major catastrophes. This is a common theme of science fiction, and it’s usually brought about by the (mis)use of technology. Almost every author who uses the post-apocalyptic theme is commenting on a fear or apprehension about a contemporary technology. In Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” and Leiber’s “Coming Attraction,” nuclear weapons are the technologies that usher in destruction. Tenn’s story can easily be interpreted as an allusion to nuclear weapons. Additionally, the stories were written during the beginning of the Cold War when the United States and the Soviet Union were gaining influence around the world and positioning themselves to be the ones with the biggest weapons and, therefore, the most power. Today the big fear is terrorism, but back then it was fear of the United States and the Soviet Union engaging in global thermonuclear war–a war that would extinguish us all.

William Tenn’s “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

Satire and Allusion. “The Liberation of Earth” is a satire on imperialism and alludes (makes allusions) to superpower conflicts using less powerful nations and peoples. It’s not just referring to US-Soviet Cold War issues (although it foreshadows the proxy wars that the two nations fought for decades), it also alludes to the imperialistic practices of European nations that sought to conquer the world and have bases (colonies) far from the homeland to supply resources. There’s also a satire on the United Nations and the Security Council make up of hegemonic powers. By the way, William Tenn is the pseudonym for Philip Klass.

The Big Picture. Aliens use Earth as a battleground to try to defeat or, more accurately, push out each other from controlling an area. Each new ruler is seen as a liberation, but the Earth and humans suffer greatly. There’s an obvious comment here with each new liberation that there need to be intermediaries between the governing body and those governed–a group must be assimilated into the hegemon’s (the dominant power’s) worldview.

Of course, don’t miss the Anthology’s bio blurb that claims, “‘The Liberation of Earth’ seems to channel Tenn’s father’s anger at the misuse of human lives to serve imperialist aims” (p. 266). The editors also provide this warning: “whoever wins these fights, the human cost is dear” (p. 267).

Reading between the Lines. Of course, this story isn’t about aliens taking over–that’s just the surface. It’s really about using other groups as pawns–minor, not-so-powerful players–in a game/war between two powerful groups. Also, it’s about being powerless to do anything about it: You’re going to be ruled over no matter what.

  • “a human scientist, investigating the shimmering machines, touched a projecting edge and promptly shrank into a disappearing pinpoint” (p. 270)
  • “a benevolent ostracism” (p. 270)
    • Humans considered not advanced enough to be an important species.
    • UN Security Council permanent members
  • “A temporary stalemate had been reached a short while ago, and–reeling and breathless–both sides were using the lull to strengthen weak spots in their perimeter” (p. 271).
    • Temporary cease fire allows for improvements and plans for future attacks.
  • The Dendi eventually “liberate” the Earth from rule of “the awful Troxxt” (p. 272).
    • The Troxxt eventually return to “liberate” humanity, and the date becomes “the Holy Day of the second Liberation” (p. 227).
  • “the ego of [the Earthling’s] was greatly damaged by the discovery, in the course of a routine journalistic interview, that the aliens totaled no more powerful a group than a squad” (p. 274).
  • “One cannot, after all, turn one’s back on progress!” (p. 275).
    • Is it progress if the world’s destroyed?
  • “This police force was ostensibly a congress of all thinking life forms throughout the galaxy; actually, it was an efficient means of keeping them under rigid control” (p. 277).
  • “…executions of U.N. officials, heads of states, and pre-Bengali interpreters [for being] ‘Traitors to Protoplasm'” (p. 278).
    • Possible allusion to Joseph McCarthy’s witch hunts.
  • The narrator expose the naive view that the Troxxt, “our Second Liberators…actually preferred to have us help them with the intensive, accelerating labor of planetary defense” (p. 279)
    • Unfortunately, this work meant “men sickened and died, in scrabbling hordes” working in mines.
  • There are also subtle allusions to “fueling the war effort” by making sacrifices at home; for instance, rationing resources that are important for fighting: “Don’t salinate–sugarfy!” (p. 279).
    • American WWII ad about canning your own food
    • British WWII Food Rationing ad
    • US War Bonds Propaganda/Campaigns
    • Buy Drugs…Support Terrorism
  • The Earth’s changing shape throughout the short story alludes to the way imperialists carved up areas on Earth for colonies, which then led to national borders (often after new alliances and, yes, war).
    • A look at national borders in the Middle East

Next Class

As you read Fritz Leiber’s “Coming Attraction,” notice the connection to Tenn’s short story that demonstrates that players have to agree to the rules of the game (get ready for the weird “double” date of three people?) and, therefore, are complicit in the game’s execution. Likewise, those who govern do so by the consent of the governed…

Meet with Ms. Rogers in Fretwell 402 for Friday (9/20). We’ll be discussing Fritz Leiber’s “Coming Attraction” (1950) [Anthology pp. 221-233].

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