COURSE
RHE 312: Writing in Digital Environments

ASSIGNMENT
RHE 312 Unit 3: A Digital Argument

This project is somewhat open, but it will include many stages toward the final product. You must first choose something to argue, a group to argue it to, and a digital venue to present it in.

In choosing something to argue, try to find something you aren’t already sold on. Researching a topic you don’t have a firm position on is usually a more rewarding experience, as you’ll learn while researching. Often, when people already know firmly how they stand on an issue, they will ignore opposing evidence. You don’t want to fall into that trap. It may help to choose an argument within your intended major, as it will more likely interest you.

In choosing an audience and a venue, you’ll need to consider many angles. What are the constraints and affordances of your chosen medium? Would this medium be likely to reach your target audience? Does your target audience have the capacity and will to change their minds? Some suggestions for media/venues would be a digitally-distributed mashup podcast, a YouTube video, a video game, a website, an animated PowerPoint on Scribd, a Flash presentation on Wix, a photo essay on Flickr, a group page on Facebook, a Twitter stream. This list is obviously not exhaustive, so I encourage you to come up with your own and discuss it with me.

The length of your project will depend on the venue you choose, but a good range is about 2-3 minutes for audio and 5-7 minutes for video.

No matter what venue you choose, you must use multiple streams of media and you must alter existing media in some way.

This project will have two major writing components: a 300-word proposal (due 4/9) and an at least 1000-word rhetorical analysis that reflects on the choices you made. For your proposal, justify the choice of argument, venue, and audience. Also, try to envision what skills you’ll need to get the project done and how you plan on achieving it in the time given.

For your rhetorical analysis, reflect on the choices you made in creating your media. Why did you choose the images you did? The symbols? The colors? Fonts? Interactions (if applicable)? What rhetorical concepts did you draw upon in creating this media artifact?

Requirements:

It must be digital.

It must use at least two rhetorics (verbal, aural, visual, kinesthetic, procedural, haptic)

Your rhetorical analysis must be accompanied by a Works Cited.

A project such as this one will require a range of skills to execute. While it is not required, you may want to team up with other students in the course to create a project. You can do this in two ways: you (along with the other students) may propose a group project (meaning there will be one final product). You may also make use of Nelsonslist on the class wiki. Here, you can outsource some of your work to other students in the coursein return for performing work on their project. For example, if you have pretty good Photoshop skills, you may offer to create a static image for another student and she could, in turn, write some copy for your website. Each of you would then use the work you did in your own work samples as evidence.