In this unit, the focus is for student’s to combine their research, analysis, narrative, and rhetorical situation skills and knowledge to create a well researched persuasive project. I have chosen to do a traditional text-based essay for the final project because I want students to walk away with a solid understanding of the rhetorical choices they are being asked to make when writing in their field of study. After they create the essay, they will need to translate it into another form. I have chosen to propose having them present the material to their classmates. This could obviously be altered based on your pedagogical approaches and course goals.
Student Learning Objectives
- Collect, read, analyze, and use information from a wide range of sources;
- write a coherent essay observing appropriate grammatical, mechanical, and stylistic conventions;
- write competently in the persuasive mode;
- evaluate, edit, and revise at all stages of the writing process.
Texts for Students
Lessons & Activities
- “Create a Commercial” Activity by Wade Bradford – This activity is a fun way to get students thinking about persuasive methods they encounter everyday, and that we’ve talked about frequently in class. It also forces students to think about how their physical presence, hand gestures, and way they speak is a mode of communication. It also builds on the rhetorical choices they’ve already been introduced to.
- Philosophical Chairs – This is a low-risk introduction to persuasive communications. Have students vote on a topic that interests them. Provide them with advanced notice, so that they have time to research both sides of the issue selected and bring support for their viewpoint. This also will help students think about how they communicate verbally.
- Rhetorical Listening to the Other – This short assignment provides a way to get students thinking more deeply about opposing viewpoints and how to frame their arguments. This could be altered for the purposes of the class, but it seems like a good assignment to pair with the final persuasive assignment.
- If you are looking for something that is a little less work intensive or you have time restraints, I would suggest having students do something more along the lines of the Arguments on Trial Activity . This activity is useful for students when they have a draft created to identify holes in their research and arguments.
- Genre Differences – After students have researched the academic genre expectations of their essays, have a class discussion about their findings. Once students have discussed and compared findings, it may be useful for the class to create an infographic or some other type of text that explains the differences across academic fields. This will also give students something to reference once the class is over, and when creating their persuasive essay. In this activity, consider issues like:
- How are sources cited? What does this say about what is valued in different academic fields?
- How are essays structured? What does this imply about different academic fields and the purpose they have in writing?
- How are essays designed? Remember even black text on white paper is a design choice!
- What types of evidence are used? Is it primarily studies, interviews, textual evidence, etc.
- What kind of language is used? What key words or terms are used frequently?
- Remixing Texts – In order to prepare students for their final projects, it may be helpful to walk students through an analysis of how a composer might remix a composition into another form. Students could then practice these skills in-class on a reading for the course or their own specific final project that they then translate into an infographic, flyer, or something else that has a specific target audience. Students could work alone or in groups.
- Sharpening Structure – This activity helps students look at example essays to identify structure, and then transfer what they’ve learned to their own research essay. Through this activity, the goal is to have students think more critically about their own composition. It may even be helpful for students to transfer what they are trying to say in their essay to another mode. This may help them see their structure more clearly, and how they can improve upon it for the written mode they are being asked to utilize.
Culminating Project
NOTE: This project has been adapted from Indiana.edu Assignment 3: Argumentative Synthesis.
Persuasive Project
The Task: Write a text-based research essay of 1500-1750 words. Feel free to incorporate images, graphs, and other multimodal components if it helps further your argument and is appropriate for your audience. Choose a debatable topic that is related to your academic interests and/or major. Try to choose something that interests you as this will make the process easier.
Purpose: To argue a logical and reasoned solution to a specific problem. To do this, you will thoroughly research the topic in order to analyze it critically so that you can build a clear, strong argument that is based on reason and logic. You will need to engage your audience, address the counterarguments, and synthesize sources as evidence.
Audience: Your audience is an academic audience in your field or major. Keep in mind if you are a Biology major, your audience is very different from a History major, and vice versa. Part of the research component of this essay is that you learn what genre expectations your audience has. Consider components such as structure, language, citations, formatting, evidence, and so forth.
The Project’s Components:
Research Proposal (10 points): Once you’ve chosen your topic, you will need to write out a Research Proposal. This should be about 250-500 words long and should answer the following questions:
- What topic will you be focusing on?
- What are some possible solutions to this problem?
- Which possible solutions would you like to focus on for your project and why?
- What are some possible counterarguments to your proposed solution?
Research & Create Annotated Bibliography (15 points): You will then investigate and research your topic and position to ensure you understand the issue in depth, critically thinking about and analyzing what you read, including the positions of those who disagree with you. You need to include at least 8-10 sources in your annotated bibliography.
After your research is complete, you will complete an Annotated Bibliography to organize your research and a plan to organize your ideas. You may write a text-based, MLA style annotated bibliography, or you may use a tool like storify to create a digital annotated bibliography. Each must include the source, a brief summary, and an explanation of how you intend to use the source.
Draft & Peer Reviews (10 points): After creating your draft, you will complete peer reviews.
Final Essay (50 points): The final essay will be about 1500-1750 words and will require students to synthesize at least five outside sources. All sources must use correct MLA documentation—in text citations and a Works Cited page.
Presentation (50 points): The presentation requires you to translate your written essay into a presentation form to be presented in class. Your audience is obviously your classmates. You may create a video, an infographic, a powerpoint slide, or some other multimodal method to help you present information to your audience. Your may NOT simply read your paper. In fact, your presentation will be very different from your paper because your audience is very different. Keep in mind your purpose is the same, but your rhetorical situation has changed in other respects.
Reflection (50 points): After turning in your essay and presenting to the class, you will write a reflection on both components of this assignment. Your reflection should address both compositions: your final essay and your presentation. For both compositions you will need to explain your composing process, the rhetorical choices you made, and you should touch on any problems you encountered or things you think your project did particularly well. Also, compare the differences between the two modes. How did your project have to change based on the audience? What do you think were the benefits and shortcomings of each of the mediums you used? What would you do differently for next time? What would you keep the same for next time?
Academic Resources for Teachers:
- Kinnear, Penny. “Writing, Visualizing, and Research Reports.” Multimodal Literacies and Emerging Genres, edited by Tracey Bowen and Carl Whithaus, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013, pp. 183-203.
- Reiss, Donna and Art Young. “Multimodal Composing, Appropriation, Remediation, and Reflection: Writing, Literature, Media.” Multimodal Literacies and Emerging Genres, edited by Tracey Bowen and Carl Whithaus, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013, pp. 164-182.
- Shipka, Jody. “Including, But Not Limited to, the Digital: Composing Multimodal Texts.” Multimodal Literacies and Emerging Genres, edited by Tracey Bowen and Carl Whithaus, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013, pp. 73-89.
Multimodal Composition in the Classroom 