In Unit One, we studied rhetorical artifacts to excavate the ideologies and commonplaces embedded within them, reconstruct their rhetorical situations, and examine their rhetorical choices and appeals. In some ways, these artifacts can be frozen in their cultural moments, like rhetorical wooly mammoths, if you will. Rhetoricians who practice ideology criticism call this frozen-in-time study of an artifact a “synchronic” analysis. But ideologies never stay frozen. They shift and change with time and circumstance. In Unit Two, we will launch a “diachronic” analysis that researches and examines the mutability of ideologies and practices over time. We will present this research compellingly in two formats: a TED-style recorded talk and a formal research paper.
Assignment 3: Evolving Ideas Research Paper
In this 7-10 page paper, your job is to identify, discuss, and analyze how an idea or practice has evolved over time. In addition to recognizing a certain kind of change and analyzing its potential meanings, you might trace the significant moments of this shift as well as discuss possible ramifications in terms of where our culture is heading and how we have come to view or value certain things.
The change you recognize might be a shift in civic life or practices and attitudes. You might consider philosophical or rhetorical shifts–how the way we think and talk about an issue, phenomenon, or group has changed over time. Maybe you see changes in the representation of different groups of people (in terms of ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, etc.) in film, television, art, and literature as particularly significant.
The point is that you will want to identify something new(er), tell your reader how it evolved out of and/or is different from something older, and explain how this portends a new set of ideas and values that are brought to bear on our culture. While you can certainly support your arguments with your own observations and examples, you should bolster your arguments strong and varied research, with at least four cited sources.
This paper should have a distinct thesis and should be rich in evidence that “proves” the shift, as it were. Be sure that you select a reasonable set of historical moments with which to work (e.g. the dawn of time until 2021 will probably not work) and that you are not merely describing a technological change without treating its implications.
Evolving Ideas Essay Goals and Evaluation Criteria
Paradigm Shift Paper Goals and Evaluation Criteria
King-Paradigm-Shift-Essay-Grading-Rubric
Assignment 4: RCL TED-style Talk
For this assignment, you will develop a 4-5 minute “TED-style” talk (with one extra minute grace period) that draws from the most dynamic and interesting research and arguments of your evolving ideas essay. You will then perform, record, and upload your presentation to Canvas. Creating a compelling talk from existing (and still unfolding) research is a critical skill, especially in academics.
We’re adopting a TED-style format to learn how to “perform” our work and to take advantage of the affordances of online presentation software. TED talks have become a phenomenon in the United States and even globally. TED stands for “Technology, Entertainment, and Design,” though the subject matter of the talks can range even more broadly than that. TED talks are delivered to a live audience and are also recorded; thus, they are composed and delivered with two kinds of audiences in mind. Many are posted online where they end up attracting a larger (sometimes much larger) audience. While this year makes the live delivery difficult, we will be able to practice the recorded aspect of the talk with Voice Thread software.
Once you have seen a few TED talks, either shared or recommended for class or viewed on your own time, you might begin to understand why the TED style of presentation has caught on so quickly. Put simply, TED presenters engage the audience by offering compelling subject matter through rhetorical invention, often presenting topics and arguments that are revelatory or counter-intuitive in a dynamic manner. TED speakers do not use notes. They look at the audience. They move around the stage. In a word, they perform.
You, too, will be expected to “perform” this talk. This will mean working on speaking mostly from memory—which is to say memorizing key points and practicing enough so that you are able to stand up and present the points in a connected, coherent, and engaging way. One notable TED talk even focuses on such memorization strategies. You will also draw upon compelling visuals that strengthen and enhance your presentation.