Rhetorical Knowledge
Project Plan
Part 1: Rhetorical Knowledge: The Writer’s Situation and Rhetoric
1. Audience: The audience will be the local community mainly the youth and the young adults. They know that the gun violence in the city is getting out of hand and something needs to happen to combat the issue before more lives are lost. They care because they are losing friends and family members to a senseless crime. They should care because our community depends on it the future of our kids depends on it. I need to explain to them that gun violence is never the answer, we need to implement outreach programs a way for kids to be themselves more placed or facilities they can go to, to play sports or hang out. No details just yet.
2. Purpose: The purpose is the rise in gun violence and murders in Columbus, it is on pace to break the record for homicides. I hope to get the message across that we need to be role models, we need to actively deter the potential use of guns for violence. I will give them the statistics and what we are on pace to pass if this continues.
3. Voice and Tone: I think they would expect a more direct informal voice and tone. They will know I am directing it to them because I’m talking to them, I am using words like “we” and “our” making sure I include myself as well.
1. “This is our community; we have to protect it and clean it up.”
2. “We have to become role models and lead by example.”
3. “I ask my peers to step up and be mentors.”
4. Ethos, Pathos, Logos: I plan to have the pictures of friends and family members that lost their lives due to gun violence having the families of the victims will show the importance and emotion behind the issues within our community and the need to stop the violence. I will use statistic to further break down how high we are at this point of the year compared to the previous 3 years. I think they will respond to the pathos appeals because its raw emotion and people directly affected by the heinous crimes.
Part 2: Medium and Genre
5. Genre Features: What genre or form of text have you selected for your problem analysis? Why is this genre an effective choice for your target audience?
Complete a search for writing examples using the genre you selected for your project. You can peruse the eBook or simply conduct a Google search for what these documents look like.
List the visual characteristics of the genre, i.e. call outs, formal headings, multi-colored fonts/backgrounds, etc.
How will you tailor these elements to your audience? For example, if you are writing a newsletter to your ENG 102 group at ASU, you might use ASU colors of maroon and gold.
How will these visual elements support and enhance the points you’re making in your written analysis?
What trends in organization do you see in these examples? How will you organize your piece to align your piece with your chosen genre?
6. Multi-Modal Elements: Include at least three multi-modal elements that you plan on using in your rough draft. You can embed images, links, and audio/video clips into your .doc file. If you will be collecting images, be sure that you review the guidelines for image use here. Include properly formatted APA citations for any content you find.
Remember to tailor your multi-modal elements to your genre, medium, and technology. An e-mailed memo can contain different links while a printed newsletter cannot. For each element (at least 3), explain how that element will enhance your meaning for your audience.
Part 3: Problem Analysis
Now that you have narrowed and analyzed your audience, think about how you need to present your problem to your audience. Remember to include enough information to remind your instructor of your chosen topic.
7. Focused Problem: When you consider a problem, you need to be able to breakdown your problem into its identifying parts. Your purpose is to explain this problem in a new and informative way to your specific audience so that they gain an in-depth understanding of the individual parts/aspects that make up the whole problem.
What is your focused, local problem? List 3-4 component parts that make up this problem. What is the relationship among these parts? How do they contribute to the problem as a whole?
8. A clearly stated thesis: Create a thesis statement to help you organize your analysis. Ask yourself: What is the main idea I am trying to communicate to my target audience? Your thesis should convey this main idea (problem with its identifying parts) and preview your analysis in one succinct, audience-based sentence. Don’t tell your audience what they should do. Make them aware of the problem and its component parts that you are analyzing.
Thesis:
9. What questions do you have for your instructor? What new information do you need to successfully complete your rough draft?
WPA Outcomes and Habits of Mind
The following are possible WPA Outcomes bullet points and Habits of Mind that connect with this assignment. As you develop your document, consider how you might use the following, perhaps even making some notes that could help develop your Mid-Course Reflection assignment due later in the term.
Possible WPA Outcomes:
Rhetorical Knowledge
Gain experience reading and composing in several genres to understand how genre conventions shape and are shaped by readers’ and writers’ practices and purposes
Understand and use a variety of technologies to address a range of audiences
Match the capacities of different environments (e.g., print and electronic) to varying rhetorical situations
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing
Read a diverse range of texts, attending especially to relationships between assertion and evidence, to patterns of organization, to the interplay between verbal and nonverbal elements, and to how these features function for different audiences and situations
Processes
Use composing processes and tools as a means to discover and reconsider ideas
Develop flexible strategies for reading, drafting, reviewing, collaborating, revising, rewriting, rereading, and editing
Adapt composing processes for a variety of technologies and modalities
Knowledge of Conventions
Gain experience negotiating variations in genre conventions
Learn common formats and/or design features for different kinds of texts
Possible Habits of Mind:
Curiosity, Openness, Creativity, Flexibility
