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COMMUNITY RHETORICS:

Writing in the Service-Learning "Contact Zone"

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Reading Like Writers/Seeing Like Filmmakers
Rhetorical Analysis of Readings and Films

The Assignment / The General Idea/The Specific Point / Questions for Rhetorical Analysis of Print Text / Questions for Rhetorical Analysis of Film / The Technology / Resources / Presenters and Presentation Dates

The Assignment

Each student will give an oral presentation of five to ten minutes (absolutely no more than ten!) focusing on a rhetorical analysis of one of the key readings or films that is scheduled for discussion in class during the quarter. Plan to use PowerPoint slides or similar presentation software to support your presentation. Although you will deliver these presentations orally, instruction and critique will focus primarily on composition of effective materials in support of your presentation.

The General Idea/The Specific Point

In a rhetorical analysis, a reader must think like a writer; a viewer must think like a filmmaker. In other words, ask yourself why the work impacted you in the way that it did, and how the writer or filmmaker engineered the work to accomplish that effect. (Of course, to the extent that the writer or filmmaker may not have been successful, similarly you should ask yourself why and how that was the case.)

Questions to Consider for a Contextual and Rhetorical Analysis of a Piece of Writing € In terms of effect, is there any context or background of the piece (historical, social or political? in terms of publication or delivery of the piece?) that is important to consider? € What constitutes the author's expertise? Are the author's knowledge and research credible? € In written text, rhetoric refers to how a text is structured and styled in order to make a certain argument or achieve a particular impact. Genre refers to the kind of writing it is. Both rhetoric and genre are closely related to purpose. (Examples of "genre" might be a magazine article, a speech, or an introduction to a book. Examples of "rhetorical purpose" might be a report, an analysis, or an argument.) Can you classify the genre and rhetorical structure and style of the piece? € What is the author's central argument or point? € Can you characterize the intended or primary audience for the piece? € What is the author's purpose, related to audience? € What effect or results does s/he wish to achieve ? € How has the author introduced and concluded the piece to help achieve the desired effect or accomplish the desired purpose? € How has the author organized the piece overall to help achieve the desired effect or accomplish the desired purpose? € How has the author styled the piece to help achieve the desired effect or accomplish the desired purpose? (For example, what kinds of appeals does the author make in argument, or what kind of language, phrasing, or imagery does the author use, and why?)

Questions to Consider for a Contextual and Rhetorical Analysis of a Film € Consider the context of the film. How crucial and in what ways are historical, social, political, or cultural contexts important to our understanding of the film? € What do you know about the people involved in making this film -- director? producer? cast? Is knowing the background or other projects of any of these people relevant to an understanding of the film? € Who do you think the film's primary audience is? How wide or narrow is this audience? € To what extent can you relate to the film? Does it seem real, distant, or far-fetched to you? To what extent does this matter? € What is the filmmaker's central point or argument? What is the filmmaker's purpose, related to audience? What impact does s/he wish to achieve? € Are audiences likely to view the film differently today that they were at the time of the film's release? Is the film currently relevant? If so -- or if not -- why, and in what respects? € Can you classify the genre of the film? In terms of subject matter or style, in what film category might you place it? What other films might you associate with it in genre? € Can you characterize the rhetoric of the film? In written text, rhetoric refers to how a text is structured and styled in order to make a certain argument or achieve a particular impact. In film, rhetoric amounts to much the same thing, although some of the language -- or tools -- of film are different from those of written texts. For example, in film, structure and style might be revealed in narrative continuity or discontinuity, in camera shots and angles, in themes of light and color, in sound track. How do these sorts of considerations of structure and style affect the film's impact on the viewer? € Consider especially the opening and closing scenes of the film. How do these scenes "fit"? Taken together, how do they emphasize, consolidate, or symbolize the film's point? How do they help accomplish the filmmaker's purpose?

You need not address all of these questions in detail in this brief presentation; in fact, you won't have time to. Rather, focus on what you believe to be the most pertinent considerations, depending on your judgment. Consider how your answers to these questions might relate to one another in the selection you are presenting on.

Your presentation itself should be a kind of argument. I don't mean that it is an argument in any aggressive or defensive sense, but it is a persuasive analysis of the text, meant to convince your audience (those of us in the class, who have read the same writing or viewed the same film that you have) that your particular reading of, or angle on, the text is sensitive, logical, and insightful.

Please end your presentation with two or three questions to initiate and focus discussion in class, questions pertaining to the author's ideas, arguments, and/or rhetorical strategies (or the intersections of these) that you would like to pose to the rest of us in the class. A tip in doing this is to remember your audience -- us -- and how we might relate personally to the questions that you raise.

The Technology

On the day of your presentation

€ bring your presentation to class on a floppy disk or CD on the day of your 
presentation;
€ upload your presentation to your Leland space; or
€ email your presentation via attachment to yourself to open in the 
classroom.