DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

It's good to be back!  

Thank you for making things go so smoothly!

 

I. General Announcements

  • Please make sure that you have signed the email sheet.
  • Please also sign up for a presentation.  We will go over the guidelines in class. Please remember that all project guidelines will be available at this website.

 

UNPACKING RHETORIC: THE BASICS

PART ONE. Understanding Rhetoric

We have written short essays, talked with one another, and read about rhetoric all in our first three class meetings. Today, we make charts!   Click here for examples.

 

Make a chart that defines the four elements you were asked to read and write about: 1) the persuasive appeals (ethos, pathos, logos), 2) identification, 3) strategic repetition, 4) kairos.

  1. As a group, you need to come up with a short, straight-forward definition for rhetoric and each of the four terms above. Give an interesting, witty, funny, silly, OR contemporary example for each term.   
  2. Create a symbol for each of the terms--- something that can serve as a pneumonic device.
  3. Decide your writing format:  Will one person write?  Will you pass around the big sheet and let everyone write?  You decide but define all four! 
  4.  Please put all of your names on the chart.
  5. Be ready to post these charts so that we can all compare notes… quite literally. 

PART TWO: Back to Ken Robinson (look at your notes and writing): Using the Persuasive Appeals

  1. How does Robinson establish ethos?
  2. How does Robinson use pathos?
  3. Where is logos in Robinson's talk?
UNPACKING RHETORIC: THE APPLICATION
"Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs": The Rhetoric of Too-Sweet Cereal 

PART ONE: The Rhetoric of Cereal

Texture, Taste, and Shape as RHETORIC 
1. What color is this cereal?  How is it shaped?  What does it taste like?  
2. How are the taste, shape, and texture communicating with the intended audience?

 

Guess...
3. One of these cereals was, in its early days, changed immediately.  It didn't have enough sugar to attract its intended audience so the company sugarcoated the cereal!  Can you guess which cereal? Why do you think the company did this?

4. One cereal wasn't colorful enough and so more colors were added. Can you guess which cereal?  Why do you think the company did this?

5. One cereal shape really appeals to babies.  Can you guess which cereal?  Why do you think the company did this?

6. One cereal added more candy-pieces to attract more customers.  Can you guess which cereal?  Why do you think the company did this?

7. One cereal is really healthy and tends to create MASS RESISTANCE from JJay students (who get mad at the professor for forcing them to eat it). Can you guess which cereal?  Who is the company appealing to?

 

PART TWO: Marketing

8. Now we can look at marketing.  Look at the box for your cereal.  Building on what you said about the taste, texture, and shape, how does the box also work rhetorically?  How is ethos established? How does the company use pathos? Where is logos?
9. One of these cereals has an audience that is 50% adult and 50% children.  They used their ICON (and old jingles) to capture their adult audience by recently targeting Carmen's age group and older with memories of their childhood's cereal-eating. Can you guess which cereal?   Why are making these decisions?

10. One of these cereals had a nation-wide contest where small children were allowed to come up with a name for the cereal's mascot.  Today, the cereal's commercials try and draw in that same age-group with rap/R&B artists and dancers. Can you guess which cereal?   Why are making these decisions?

 

PART THREE: Kairos

11. Let's get back to discussing kairos!  One of these cereals was pulled from the UK because sales were so horrible.  They are NOT tryna hear it with this American cereal there! Can you guess which cereal?    
12. What is the significance of context here?  Time, place, and culture? (Cereal is the 2nd largest advertiser in the U.S., following automobiles) 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

UNPACKING RHETORIC: WRITING ABOUT IT

PART ONE: With your partner, write 2-3 paragraphs TOGETHER that offer a rhetorical analysis of your cereal. Choose one point of focus.  Do not, for instance, simply list out examples of pathos, logos, ethos.  You need to establish which of these persuasive appeals is MOST RELEVANT and then examine that ONE thing.

 

PART TWO: Come up with a title for your collaborative thoughts/discussion today, using standard academic format (i.e., "Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs": The Rhetoric of Too Sweet Cereal… the first part is a catchy phrase, then comes a colon, then there is a phrase that captures the overall theme/idea) 

 

PART THREE: SHARE/READ ALOUD

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

Time to Work on ePortfolios

Your Tasks:

  1. Give your ePortfolio a title and make sure the URL indicates your name.
  2. Change the privacy settings so that only you and the class can see your process; give the faculty admin status (in case you need help with CSS customization later, etc). 
  3. SAVE!
  4. Take a screenshot of your ePortfolio so far.  To get a picture of just a portion of your screen, hit Command-Shift-4 on your keyboard. Your mouse cursor will change to crosshairs, and then just click and drag across any portion of the screen you want to capture. Again, the screenshot will be saved to your Desktop in the default file format. 
  5. Let's make a new left tab under "About Me & This Website" to show your ePort's process.
  6. Start a gallery page using your screenshot.
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.