Project 2 - Rhetoric That Connects Us

The first project of English 1J focuses on how interconnectedness and relationality play a critical role in environmental rhetoric, or for that matter in any type of rhetoric. In this handout more details about the project, deadlines, and point distribution are provided.

This is a working document. I will be adding content to it and/or tweaking the existing content, as my thought evolves on these assignments and as our discussion on rhetoric becomes more clarifying for me. The idea is to make the assignment expectations clearer to you and more relevant to the course.

Table of Contents

• Rationale of the Project
• Steps involved
• Expectations of the project
• Stories vs. Frames
• How to get started with the project?
• Drafting and Grade Distribution
• Learning Outcomes
• Student Questions

Rationale of the Project

In this project, you’ll engage with an on-campus ecological issue and consider how to spotlight the issue better to inform the campus community and beyond. While Project 1 focused on the role of emotion in rhetoric, this project will emphasize what our immediate environment (in this case your campus) can teach us about rhetoric. The rationale of the project goes like this: to be a better rhetor one needs to be more ethical –> One way to develop and sharpen that ethical side is through mindfulness –> Mindfulness can be attained in many ways but how about paying attention to our immediate environment? –> Our immediate environment though is full of animate and non-animate beings (like soil, rocks, plants, animals, river, air, etc.), so how can we learn to pay attention to them? –> That act of learning and paying attention push us to re-imagine our relationship with our immediate environment and recognize that we’re a deeply interconnected and interdependent specie –> We need to learn that our ability to persuade cannot bypass our necessity to forge kinship and reciprocity with a world full of people, animals, plants, and non-animate beings.

Steps involved

The project will proceed over the following steps:

• Katrien de Waard of The Scott Arboretum & Gardens will give us a tour of the Crum Woods and Scott Arboretum to help us become aware of the multiple ecological realities facing SWAT’s campus and its community members.
• You will then choose one issue as your topic idea for Project 2 and develop a rhetorical campaign to draw more attention to the issue. Your campaign will take the shape of a rich multimodal slideshow, which can potentially include text, charts, video, audio, image, map, and other interactive elements. It’s important that you bring your phone during our walk so you can take photos and record audio/video to incorporate them into your project later.
• You’ll use the “Frames” feature of the ArcGIS Story Maps to compose your work. “Frames” are akin to PowerPoint slides, except “Frames” can have video/audio content and can be interactive. You can have up to 20 content slides in your “Frame.”
• The final step of this project is to share your work with the campus community. Imagine this step as presenting your work to an audience. Part of your “frame” can include you presenting your work in a video in one of the slides.
• Additionally, we need to ensure that your work reaches as many campus community members as possible. Circulating your work and strategically thinking of promoting it are integral parts of rhetoric. If all goes well and provided we can secure the permission of the campus administration, you’ll make your frame accessible through a QR code. We’ll print these QR codes and you’ll choose 1-3 strategic locations to paste this QR code to so that passers by can scan the code, access your presentation on their phone, and be informed about your chosen topic.
  In terms of drafting, the project will involve proposing your topic idea, researching your topic, creating an outline and storyboard for presentation, designing and composing the frame, “presenting” it, and writing a reflection essay. Points: 25%.

Expectations of the project

• Your presentation or “frames” should contain 15-20 slides
• Each slide should be thoughtfully designed with the overall structure and argument of your presentation in mind. Additionally, your presentation should have a rich mix of multiple modes of communications, accomplished by a few of the followings:
  • The primary mode of communication will be through language, so consider mixing the text portions of your presentation with other modes of communication.
  • Consider incorporating video in your presentation, better if you can make your own video.
  • Consider incorporating audio content, either self-generated or sourced
  • Consider incorporating charts, graphs, or other quantitative evidences
  • Consider bringing the locale or subject matter you’re talking about close to your reader. What material or sensory details about your topic can you bring to your reader’s attention to make the topic feel immediate, urgent and visceral?
  • How about maps? If your topic allows and you see a clear need for it, you can incorporate maps too.
  • Should you feature yourself in your presentation? Consider, if you’re open to presenting your topic or part of your argument by recording yourself. This recording then can become part of a slide.
• You’re expected to submit a Works Cited section in MLA or APA format on a separate document to Moodle.

Stories vs. Frames

For project 1, you used the “Stories” feature of ArcGIS StoryMaps, whereas for project 2 you will use “Frames.” What’s the difference between the two and why are we using the “Frames” feature this time? I’ll let StoryMaps answer this. From their website:

Frames and stories are designed for different kinds of storytelling. This is reflected in how they are created, viewed, and shared.

Creating frames is fast and easy with a simplified builder that has a limited but essential menu of storytelling blocks, simplified layouts, and a limited number of slides (up to 20). The story builder has more blocks, layout options, additional configurations for telling longform stories.

The mobile-first format of frames will feel familiar to modern audiences who are accustomed to getting information from their phones. And frames’ slide-based storytelling can focus the message on a single idea, topic, or event. The format for stories is well suited for longform storytelling, using a vertically scrolling web page.

How to get started with the project?

• Step #1: After the guided tour of Crum Woods and Scott Arboretum, choose a local ecological issue on which you want to research more and engage the attention of the campus community.
• Step #2: Research more on this issue using the “SWAT Research Guide” module on Moodle. Brainstorm topic ideas, do preliminary research, talk to the librarians, and refine your topic idea.
• Step #3: Make an outline of your topic idea. Make it as detailed as possible based on your research. Adjust and refine the focus of your topic as you go.
• Step #4: Prepare a storyboard based on your outline. The storyboard will contain the number of slides you’ll have, what type of content will go into each slide, and what design choices you’ll make.
• Step #5: Compose your essay in ArcGIS StoryMaps. To get access to Swarthmore’s instance of ArcGIS StoryMaps, follow the link and sign in with your Swarthmore credentials. Here is an introductory tutorial on getting started with ArcGIS StoryMaps. Follow the documentation on how to create a frame. Here are a couple of examples of Frames: “Building for tomorrow: Revitalizing Toronto’s waterfront with residential development in West Don Lands” and “GIS Day 2025: Celebrate with the mappiest people globally and locally.” Use the storyboard as your blueprint to reorganize and revise your work as you go.
• Step #6: Publishing and sharing your draft. Unlike the “Stories” feature you used for Project 1, “Frames” has only one mode of sharing it seems. For sharing the rough draft with your peers and me, select the “Publish” option. And repeat that when your final draft is ready.

Please note that “Frames” is a beta feature. Meaning, “the StoryMaps team is actively adding new features and capabilities…Beta components may have incomplete functionality or documentation and may undergo some minor, unannounced changes.” I am not anticipating any data loss, but you might experience some hiccups or design inconsistencies along the way. Please use your storyboard as your masterplan for the project.

Drafting and Grade Distribution

• Postwalk reflection:  Submit a reflection statement after the guided tour about how your idea of rhetoric has evolved/expanded/changed, and with the reflection include what on-campus ecological issue you want to focus on for your presentation. The reflection should be 3 pages long. You’re encouraged to include images you took or recordings you did during your walk. Grade points: 3%. Due date: Mar 4.
• Topic proposal: Propose the local ecological issue you plan to write about for project 2 by Mar 6. Follow the prompt on Moodle. Grade points will be 2%.
• Outline: Submit an outline of your presentation and the preliminary research you have done by Mar 16. Grade points will be 2%.
• Storyboard: Create a detailed storyboard for your project and submit by Mar 19. Ensure to use the template. Grade points: 5%.
• Rough Draft: Submit a draft comprising at least 12 frames by Mar 22. Rough draft grade will be combined with the final draft.
• Peer Feedback: Provide peer feedback to one of your peer’s rough drafts by Mar 25. Grade points will be 3%.
• Final Draft: Final Draft must be submitted by Mar 29 and it should meet the project’s expectations. Grade points will be 10%. Submit a separate Works Cited file to Moodle listing your references in MLA or APA format.

Learning Outcomes

• Reading Skills: What readings in the class did resonate with you the most and why? What ways were you able to engage with the readings critically? How did the readings help you as a writer, rhetor and stylist? What stylistic and rhetorical strategies did you develop through the course readings?
• Writing Skills: What new writing skills did you learn or acquire? What new complexities and challenges did you tackle in your writing? What ways did your mental and emotional approach, voice, and style for the project vary? In what ways did you become aware of your writing process and style?
• Rhetorical Knowledge: How did the concept of style evolve for you in this project? What roles do you think emotion, public, genre, and rhetoric play in shaping your style? Who is the audience for this genre? What sort of audience knowledge is required? What’s the purpose of this genre? How did you apply ethos, logos, and pathos to make your style more persuasive? What roles do you think context, audience, genre, culture, and emotions play in making style situation-specific?
• Multimodal Literacy: What multimodal contents (audio, visual, etc.) did you read, research, compose, or incorporate for this project? How did the multimodal content choices enrich the style of your essay? How does style and multimodality work with each other in shaping rhetoric?

Student Questions

I expect you to have questions for me in the course for this project. I’ll populate this section with your questions and my responses.