CA 478 Rhetorical Analysis for Internet Discourse: A2
 
A2 Requirements

Graduate Students

  1. The paper must be 20-32 pages/6000-10,000 words.
  2. The paper and documentation directory must be turned in on or before the due date at 5 PM on a USB storage device .
Undergraduate Students
 
  1. The paper must be 8-32 pages/2000-10,000 words.
  2. The paper must cite at least 2 texts from the course syllabus.
  3. The document directory must contain more than one fully documented example of network mediated discourse.
  4. The paper and document directory must be brought to class on a USB storage device which will be returned to you on or before the next course meeting.
  5. A presentation will be give in including show an example part of the document to the course The presentation will have a separate grade. However, failure to present will constitute a failure to complete this assignment. Failure to complete A2 will be grounds for failing the course. Contact your instructor as soon as possible if you cannot attend a presentation day. If there is an emergency, some accommodation will be allowed.

A2 Prompt

Your assignment. must address all parts of the following request in a holistic and single essay

"Document" a text, audio, graphic, video, or other discourse occurring through network media technology by storing it as a digital file or small group of files on a USB storage device that can be inserted in a standard laptop computer in "documentation directory." This primary document must be brought to class and projected on the day of your presentation. After that day, you may not change your primary document.

At the appointed time, you will give a formal presentation. In will include the projection of the document that is on the USB storage device as part of a slide presentation. The slide presentation may be MS Powerpoint, JPGes, or hosted online.

After your presentation but before the final due date, write a paper that performs a rhetorical analysis. That analysis must demonstrate a significant social function of the discourse you have documented. In that analysis, place the document in a larger context. Articulate a rhetorical theory or perspective that values specific kinds of discourse. Argue from evidence in the document and through the perspective of the specific rhetorical theory or theories you have outlined that the benefit or deterioration of a specific social function is a result of (or occurs within) the discourse surrounding the fragment you have chosen. Explain why that social function is good. Demonstrate how the document participates in debilitating or augmenting that social function. Suggest further research that these initial findings indicate.

On or before the final due date, drop off the USB storage device with both the document and your paper in .doc or .rtf format. Your grade will be assessed both on the paper quality and on the thoroughness of the documents in the documentation directory.