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
    • SEACS 2022 Presentation
    • SEACS 2023 Presentation
    • South Atlantic MLA Conference 2022
  • Dr. Toscano’s Homepage
  • ENGL 2116-014: Introduction to Technical Communication
    • February 13th: Introduction to User Design
    • February 15th: Instructions for Users
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters More Effective
    • February 1st: Reflection on Workplace Messages
    • February 20th: The Rhetoric of Technology
    • February 22nd: Social Constructions of Technology
    • February 6th: Plain Language
    • 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
    • March 13th: Introduction to Information Design
    • March 15th: More on Information Design
    • March 20th: Reporting Technical Information
    • March 27th: The Great I, Robot Analysis
  • 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
    • February 14th: Fascism and Other Valentine’s Day Atrocities
    • February 21st: Fascism Part 2
    • February 7th: Fallacies Part 3 and American Politics Part 2
    • 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
    • March 7th: Fascism Part 3
  • 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
    • How to Lie with Statistics
    • 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
New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology (Spring 2021) » Major Assignments for New Media (Spring 2021)

Major Assignments for New Media (Spring 2021)

All assignments are to be submitted through Canvas.

Participation (Every Class Meeting)

You must participate thoughtfully during class discussions. Merely showing up will not get you participation credit—you must speak. If you’re not in class, you can’t receive credit, so your participation grade will be affected. Thoughtful participation means that you engage critically in our discussions or ask engaging questions about the subject.

Please see me ASAP if you’re concerned about your participation grade because you’re shy or if you don’t understand these requirements. Telling me at the end of April that you didn’t participate because you’re the quiet type or because you didn’t understand what “thoughtful” meant will be too late.

03/16/2021: Update on Participation

Remember, Participation was 150 points and is now 250 points, 25% of your grade. I dropped the Leading Class Discussion assignment and mentioned the following:

  • If you aren’t talking in class, I assume you aren’t reading carefully enough.
  • If you’re not in class, you can’t receive credit for this.

Some of you are doing very well with participation, and I believe you know who you are. I also believe you know if you aren’t. You have to contribute. I realize you haven’t watched everything I have (and vice versa), but I assume you’ve consumed a variety of media. You must find a way to discuss this media in relation to our readings. You don’t have to have THE answer, but you need to have a contribution to class.

For those of you who haven’t had me, I need you to know that I don’t just give participation credit. If you don’t talk, you get no credit. You must speak. We are halfway through the semester, and you should have ways of bringing up topics in relation to the reading. Questions are just as good as comments–but you need to talk. Participation is the cornerstone of intellectual development and has been for at least 2,500 years. Yes, I really believe that.

Canvas Posts (Weekly–15 total)

In order to facilitate beyond-the-classroom-reflection, I’ll ask you to go to Canvas and respond to the prompt for that week. These should be at least 250 words. There’s no right or wrong answer, but I do expect you to be inspired by the course material.

Make sure you do these posts by 11:00 pm on Fridays. Remember, the first two were due the first full week of class.

Critical Analysis of Culture Essay (due 3/09)

As you read and participate in class discussions, consider the values that are important for a culture (but we’re thinking of American Culture or cultures mostly in this class). I want you to choose an important cultural value and describe how it is present in the society from which it comes—be that American, Western, Industrial, etc. You shouldn’t think of this as “Your view of what the values of a culture should be.” As we’ve discussed, values aren’t always valued. Racism and sexism are American/Western values. You must describe (make an argument for) why you feel those values are part of a culture, so point to (new media, perhaps) examples of how these values are carried out. Although we might all agree that a particular value (e.g., individualism) is an American value, you must offer support for such a claim—you can’t just state it.

I do not expect you to go into a tremendous amount of research for this, but you should cite at least three (3) of our readings.

After you identify and describe the values, you must describe how those values are embodied in the culture at large, an artifact (such as a technology), a text, etc. You may use “I” and even bring in personal examples, but you have to defend your reasons for arguing the way you do. Below are the format logistics (I don’t take off for formatting, but I am always asked about formatting so…):

  • Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
  • 1-inch margins all around
  • Page numbers (anywhere)
  • A title other than “Critical Analysis of a Culture Essay“
  • At least six (6) pages but no more than eight (8) pages (again, I’m not expecting a COMPLETE analysis)
  • In-text citations: you must cite at least three (3) sources from the course reading and, if you choose, outside reading
  • But do not summarize those sources or your supporting texts (films, shows, videos, etc.)
  • Works Cited/References page (I don’t care which style–MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.–you use for your paper, but please choose one)

If you have an early draft, you could easily ask questions in class for more information. Please don’t e-mail me a draft and say “look at this.” Instead, schedule a Zoom conference with me well before the due date. If you’re wondering if one particular value over another would be better suited, please ask, and I’ll offer some advice.

Before you turn in your Critical Analysis of Culture Essay, make sure you can identify or answer the following:

  • Can you easily identify the American (or just cultural) value?
    • Is the value appropriate for the culture?
    • Is there a common example that I can refer to in order to help identify the value?
    • Is there enough support to claim it’s an American value?
  • Can you identify where you explain how the media choice, technology, practice, etc. embodies the value?
    • Are the examples (media choice, technology, practice, etc.) appropriate for the value?
    • Are the arguments (proof) presented valid…do they make sense?
  • Do you have appropriate quotations? Do you have any? You’re supposed to use in-text citations and quote from the class reading.

Critical Media Analysis Essay (due 4/13)

Consider this your big semester paper. This is a rhetorical analysis of how a media segment conveys a message. Of course, there’s always text and subtext in any message, so you have lots to work with. I prefer this analysis to be on an electronically delivered segment (TV, Cable, Film, Internet) rather than print. After all, Mervin pointed out that print is superior, so using a newspaper would be stacking the deck in your favor…Anyway, explain how the segment carries meaning. You’ll be looking for obvious rhetoric–persuasive phrases and images–but you should also look for a priori meaning–the values, attitudes, myths, and ideas–built into or associated with the segment’s topic. Review this discussion on rhetoric as building meaning into a text, artifact, or idea.

Ideally, I’d like you to focus on a shorter message and explain the many rhetorical “layers” you find as opposed to analyzing a longer piece and covering just one or two layers.

Below are the format logistics:

  • Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
  • 1-inch margins all around
  • Page numbers (anywhere)
  • A title other than “Critical Analysis of the Media Essay”
  • At least eight (8) pages and the Works Cited/References page doesn’t count towards that 8-page requirement
  • In-text citations: you must cite at least five (5) sources from the course reading AND incorporate outside reading
  • But do not summarize those sources or your supporting texts (films, shows, videos, etc.)
  • Works Cited/References page (I don’t care which style–MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.–you use for your paper, but please choose one)

Start thinking about the rhetoric of media segments you watch on TV or the Web. If you have an early draft, you could easily ask questions in class for more information. Please don’t e-mail me a draft and say “look at this.” Instead, schedule a Zoom conference with me well before the due date. If you’re wondering if one particular value over another would be better suited, please ask, and I’ll offer some advice.

Leading Class Discussion

I’ve decided to drop this assignment, but I’m including this blurb because the assignment is on the syllabus. Instead of having you lead class discussions on a reading for 15-20 minutes, I’m going to ask you weekly questions, so I’ll turn this grade into a participation grade. You’ll notice on the syllabus this assignment was 100 points and Participation is 150 points. Now, Participation will be 250 points, 25% of your grade.

  • If you aren’t talking in class, I assume you aren’t reading carefully enough.
  • If you’re not in class, you can’t receive credit for this.

Multimodal Project (due 5/11)

I think this is going to be wrapped together with the presentation for 150 points total. You ready to wow me? Great! That’s the can-do attitude we’re looking for here!

As I mentioned at the beginning of the semester, this assignment is in flux. In the past, we would have privileged creating your very own video with you using visuals, video, text, and audio to create a project that reflects or is inspired by something from this course. In my experience, one can spend an awful lot of time tweaking multimodal/new media assignments and miss that we’re here for critical thinking and not software tutorial.

The main thing about this assignment is that it has a presentation. You could adapt your other work to present to the class, or you could critically analyze–your fan status is irrelevant here–a media segment or series of texts to identify how it conveys meaning. I hope you take risks and experiment. Your previous assignment is the major work; this assignment is more open and fluid depending on your skills.

You don’t need to be an editing guru to do this. You can easily create a project using a program like Movie Maker, which was a standard program for Microsoft Windows (if you have a Mac, you most likely have iMovie). Using text, images, videos, and effects, make an argument. If you’re really ambitious, try Adobe Premiere Pro. That program is available to faculty, but, if you’re resourceful, you can find a trial version.

Below are the format logistics:

  • Just make sure you can play the project in class, and please have citations (URLs and such) for the material you get online. I recommend signing up for a YouTube Channel where you can post videos.
  • Begin with something that presents your theoretical lens, the lens with which you interpret your subject.

Presentation (Due 5/11)

Your Final Presentation will be to present your final (multimodal) project. Because of our class size, you cannot go over 10 min. I will stop you after 10 min, so make sure you time yourself. Don’t forget to show that you’ve been in class and have read our material: I expect you’ll reference several of our theorists’ perspectives to analyze media. This can be related to a topic in your other assignments. In fact, I expect it will be. I just want you to present your work to the class in an efficient, cogent manner.

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