Our traditional understanding of the rhetorical situation (i.e. the static communication triangle of author, text, and reader) is radically changing in a world shaped by information networks, global economies, and new communication technologies. Drawing from Jenny Edbauer's concept of “rhetorical ecologies” to define what constitutes the complex contexts of rhetorical practice today, this course will focus on how different texts are produced and distributed in nonlinear ways that alter our understanding of how writers influence readers and carry out their intended purposes.
We will be reading theories on the complex systems that make up our world today, but we will also be putting those theories into practice by analyzing and producing texts that contribute to the rhetorical ecologies around us. Indeed, we will be looking at everything from social networking sites like Facebook to the phenomenon of YouTube to the art of blogging as examples of how writing and rhetoric engage the world well beyond the traditional rhetorical situation.
For this class, then, students are expected to maintain a blog, write a research paper, and produce a multimedia project that demonstrates the principles learned in the course.
Required Textbooks:
Created December 2008
Created July 2008