EnGL 137H/138T: Rhetoric and Civic Life
Course description: This course introduces Schreyer Honors College freshmen and Paterno Fellows Aspirants to the art of rhetoric in the context of civic issues. Students will read, discuss, and develop facility with principles of rhetoric as they apply to public speaking, writing, online communication, and visual presentation. The first part of the sequence, ENGL/CAS137H (Rhetoric and Civic Life I), will focus on understanding rhetoric in a variety of cultural contexts. Students will practice incorporating visuals in oral presentations while also learning to analyze how visual rhetoric works in the world around them. In the process of becoming “critical citizens,” students will research, discuss, and analyze public controversies. The course provides explicit training in general library and digitally based research methods, as well as interview-based research. In addition to formal writing and speaking assignments, students in the course will hone their interactive rhetorical skills by using a blogging platform to explore a topic about which they are passionate, to engage course readings together, and to share work in progress.
Grades in Rhetoric & Civic Life were determined through several papers and projects each semester, along with attendance. One of the ongoing assignments throughout the year was weekly blogging on our Penn State blogs. Check out my blog if you are interested in reading about the Philadelphia 76ers, the energy crisis, and other issues regarding civic duty.
Here is the link:
https://sites.psu.edu/tamulonisrclblog1314/
History of a Public Controversy: This project was a narrated video presentation on a controversial topic. The work was divided between 3-4 people and helped develop skills with iMovie and Garage Band, while also furthering our understanding of rhetoric and its applications.
For my History of a Public Controversy project, our group chose a topic that is one of the most common news headlines today: should marijuana be legalized? Between our group of 4, we split up the project evenly by assigning two people the responsibility of writing the script, one person the pros, and one person the cons. Two people also researched the historical evidence, while the other two put everything together with iMovie. This project laid out all the facts and allowed viewers to come to their own conclusions.
Here is the YouTube URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gfwv84kZjA
Grades in Rhetoric & Civic Life were determined through several papers and projects each semester, along with attendance. One of the ongoing assignments throughout the year was weekly blogging on our Penn State blogs. Check out my blog if you are interested in reading about the Philadelphia 76ers, the energy crisis, and other issues regarding civic duty.
Here is the link:
https://sites.psu.edu/tamulonisrclblog1314/
History of a Public Controversy: This project was a narrated video presentation on a controversial topic. The work was divided between 3-4 people and helped develop skills with iMovie and Garage Band, while also furthering our understanding of rhetoric and its applications.
For my History of a Public Controversy project, our group chose a topic that is one of the most common news headlines today: should marijuana be legalized? Between our group of 4, we split up the project evenly by assigning two people the responsibility of writing the script, one person the pros, and one person the cons. Two people also researched the historical evidence, while the other two put everything together with iMovie. This project laid out all the facts and allowed viewers to come to their own conclusions.
Here is the YouTube URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gfwv84kZjA
Rhetorical Analysis Essay: The criteria for this paper were focused on the analysis of the rhetorical situation in an advertisement or picture. The analysis focused on the ethos, logos, and pathos.
My paper was based on the BP oil spill and their series of advertisements that were supposed to help mend their broken image in the United States. I take an in-depth look at what they were able to accomplish, as well as what they missed on. If this seems interesting, the file is uploaded below. The advertisements which the paper revolves around can be found in the works cited. All the URLs are there.
My paper was based on the BP oil spill and their series of advertisements that were supposed to help mend their broken image in the United States. I take an in-depth look at what they were able to accomplish, as well as what they missed on. If this seems interesting, the file is uploaded below. The advertisements which the paper revolves around can be found in the works cited. All the URLs are there.
rhetorical_analysis_e-port.docx | |
File Size: | 33 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Photo from:
http://www.tommairs.com/images/campus-old-main-nov-web.jpg