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
    • 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 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
    • 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
Video Games & American Culture » April 21st: Video Games and Neoliberalism

April 21st: Video Games and Neoliberalism

Plan for the Evening

  • Last Official Class of the semester!!!
    • 4/28: Workshop in Fretwell 219 (not required but encouraged)
    • 4/28-5/09
      Final Exam (online)
      Multimodal Project (online)
      Final Presentation (Combined with above–see Major Assignments for more details)
  • Define Neoliberalism (didn’t we do this?)
  • Zombies!!!
  • Ch. 6 “Video Games and the Neoliberal Hero”
    • polemic: aggressive attack on principles of others.
  • Conclusion “Video Game Studies and Culture”
  • Correction on New York City dumping trash in the ocean
    • They stopped the practice of dumping their trash into the ocean in 1934
    • NYC appears to have continued dumping sewage until 1962
    • Apparently, they stopped dumping “sludge” into the ocean in 1992*
      *This is what I remember from high school, but I thought trash was still dumped. My mistake!

Define Neoliberalism

I know I’m sometimes loose with my definitions, but I blame that on Derrida. One thing I’ve done, inadvertently, is use capitalism and neoliberalism interchangeably. They are certainly related, but capitalism has a much longer history, so we should recognize that neoliberalism is a contemporary celebration of market capitalism.

Some Working Definitions

  • neoliberalism: the idea of a total (or nearly total) market-driven economy with little or no government regulations.
    • In America, we often label people who promote this philosophy conservatives, neoconservatives, libertarians, or Republicans. In American popular media, the term “neoliberal” would be confusing because a “liberal” is considered (these are generalizations, of course) having the opposite view of the term “neoliberal.” This term is more a European one and rarely heard outside of academic discussions in America. As a fun side note, check out the history of the usage of liberalism.
  • Jodi Dean: “neoliberalism is a philosophy viewing market exchange as a guide for all human action” (p. 48)
  • “Espousing the primacy of free market competition is a common neoliberal agenda” (Toscano, 2020, p. 113).
    • “Neoliberalism, which is an extension and modernist version of classical liberalism, promotes free markets, lower taxes, and deregulation to benefit the rich” (Toscano, 2020, p. 115).
    • “neoliberalism…is the govern­ing cultural logic of contemporary American life. The myth of individualism may even convince some that they are beyond neoliberal influence and can shop for themselves and their families while being immune to market forces” (Toscano, 2020, p. 116).
  • Mark Fisher: “neoliberal politics are not about the new, but a return of class power and privilege” (p. 28)
    • p. 33: Families produce labor power.
    • Modern Family…same as it ever was: Disneyland, Javier’s Fiancée, and Phil’s backing out of getting snipped (skip to 16:20 then 21:45). All support the view that families should raise children, thus, reinforcing the idea that the family (superstructure) supports capitalism.
    • To head further down this rabbit hole, please see a page from the class New Media: Gender, Culture, Ideology–Spring 2021.
  • Mark Fisher: “In the entrepreneurial fantasy society, the delusion is fostered that anyone can be Alan Sugar or Bill Gates” (James, qtd. in Fisher, p. 36).

Zombies!!!

One of my favorite topics. I even have a Zombies and Consumption Satire page. You’ll see the color photos from Chapter 6. I also have images below that didn’t make it into the Video Game book…

  • Biltmore Park Town Square
  • Twin Peaks Margarita Day
    • Compare to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag server
  • Dawn of the Dead Zombies (1978)
    • Aerial view

Finally, what does all this consumption lead to? The “Conclusion” asks “How does our unconscious acceptance of planned obsolescence contribute to the need to replace good technology for want of a newer model? And what of the environmental costs of more and more e-junk?” (p. 135). If you need a visual, here are two from Charlotte:

  • Trash 1
  • Trash 2

Ch. 6 “Video Games and the Neoliberal Hero”

  • p. 113: “The immersive worlds of video games often mimic closed, yet free-­market virtual economies.”
  • p. 114: “as herd animals, we conform (both consciously and unconsciously) to cultural norms: rarely can individuals subvert social mores and not be punished.”
  • p. 114: “No Supreme Court ruling captures the illusion of democracy better than Citizens United v. FEC: this ruling…complicates the idea of one person, one vote because of the vast wealth of corporations.”
    • Citizens United v. FEC also reflects American as opposed to democratic values. In theory, a democracy is equal voices, but, when corporations can purchase advertisements and have larger mouthpieces, it’s hard to say “free speech” is equal. An absolute libertarian might object, and I’d be happy to have that conversation…
    • “Even though inequality is systemic in the United States, the rhetoric of equality and freedom pervades American history. ‘The Star-Span­gled Banner’…”
    • The myth of the Marxist professor…we’re all part of the system and not “immune to market forces.”
  • pp. 115-116: “Video game algorithms continue to become more complex, but they cannot mimic real-world nuances, which reduces variability and allows gamers to better predict outcomes, simplifying the fantasy world.”
    • Let’s see Hitman: Codename 47 (2000) for an example.
  • p. 116: “…consumer spending is a major aspect driving America’s economy. Consumption is vital for capitalist economies, and companies have plenty of strategies to get con­sumers to part with their money.”
    • Not to throw shade, but most of us will only feel an increase in gas prices and very little disruption in goods because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…unless…
  • p. 117: “The individual in a lowered-tax economy is a neoliberal hero, free to choose to give money to corporations for goods; this is a victory over having the government take in more tax revenue.”
    • Did you file/pay your taxes last week?
    • The myth of cutting government spending.
  • p. 118: “Americans need these myths about self-made men in order to continue to espouse neoliberal assumptions surrounding the American Dream.”
    • I purposely chose “men” and not “person.” Care to comment?
  • “…the power the United States wields across the globe maintains its citizens’ consumptive way of life.”
  • p. 119: “The ability to consume a surrogate, for instance, binge watching the luxurious lives of the rich and famous, allows individuals to indulge, at least, in the unattainable illusion.”
    • Consider the status of certain goods from haute couture to nouveau riche to Golden Corral.
  • p. 120: “Americans’ lack of critical thinking and supposed individualism con­dition a myopic worldview much like fictionalized representations of zom­bies.”
  • p. 122: “These rags-to-riches narratives epitomize neoliberalism in video games, pro­viding a virtual world to model how prosperous one can be with little to no government regulation.”
  • p. 125: “CJ and Kenway, represent neoliberal heroes who individually bootstrap and build wealth for themselves.”
    • “Fancy a wee swim, do ya?” (AC4: BF)
    • I can’t resist: Abstergo “Devils of the Caribbean” Teaser
    • “Without the belief that anyone can become President of the United States or CEO of a multinational corporation, media would not reproduce these narratives.”
    • Anyone vs anyone from any walk of life…
  • p. 126: “Tracing the value of individual competition in a variety of media and recognizing how education and other institutions socialize members of a culture into accepting the values as intrinsic identifies prevailing ideology.”
  • p. 127: “…video games valorize individual outcomes, and, in a culture that celebrates, at least, the rhetoric of individualism, gamers already believe in the god-like qualities of the avatars.”
    • “All this prosperity is allowed because it has been ordained; one just has to work to accumulate it.”
  • p. 128: “…video games are one of the only media perfecting divine­ly inspired illusions where all actions are because the player is the god of the game.”

Environmental Concerns and Conclusion

  • p. 119: “When there is no price put on clean water or air, companies can pollute at will, disregarding and ignoring collective public risks.”
  • p. 124: “He has to hunt for these exotic items, and they allow Kenway to upgrade weapons and health. The whales, jungle cats, and other animals are not protected by endangered species acts, so Kenway is free to take what he wants…”
  • p. 132: “Cultural studies approaches attempt to identify assumptions we take as givens.”
  • p. 133: “Inadvertently, technical communication re-entrenches patriarchal bias and privileges instru­mentalist approaches to research that focus on technological mechanics, or, in the case of composition studies on gaming, it assumes that broader cultural forces do not influence digital environments.”
  • p. 133: “This book’s cultural stud­ies approach asks readers to scrutinize taken-for-granted everyday practices privileging the system. It also asks us to consider our culpability in the broader systems of control and reproductions of cultural ideology.”
  • p. 134: “Cultural logic is quite pervasive, so there might not be a way to resist, but we can choose to be aware.”
    • Some people don’t like the idea of just raising awareness and assume that only activism is appropriate for the types of radical critiques of society and culture I do.
  • p. 135: “Focusing on use and not conse­quences of our technological consumption allows us to ignore our culpability in a system that continues to reproduce inequality and environmental destruction.”

Next Class

That’s is, folks! We reach the end of the semester. We’ll be meeting in Fretwell 219 for any help you may need with your Multimodal Projects. I hope to open up the Final Exam on 4/28, but it will close promptly at 11:00 pm on Monday, 5/9. Your Multimodal Projects will also be due by 5/9. I haven’t graded all you Video Game essays, but you should be getting those soon.

Finally, if you want to really know what it means to be a deep critical thinker who’s outside the mainstream and intellectual, check out this recent interview with Noam Chomsky “Ukraine, Brexit, and ‘The Most Dangerous Time in World History'” (April 2022). You will be floored at the history he provides that complicates our perception of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. No one’s condoning the atrocity, but the story is bigger than most media are willing to provide. I also highly recommend the documentary Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992).


Works Cited

Dean, Jodi. Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies: Communicative Capitalism and Left Politics. Duke UP, 2009.

Fisher, Mark. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Zero Books, 2009.

Toscano, Aaron A. Video Games and American Culture: How Ideology Influences Virtual Worlds. Lexington Books, 2020.

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