Trackback Assignment

For my trackback assignment, I plan to extend a portion of my dialect assignment to more fully explore the concept of audience.  Specifically, I am interested in the intersection of audience and the creation of social norms and identities.   Since audience is such a fundamental part of the rhetorical process, many scholars have obviously touched on this concept.  Therefore, to narrow my topic, I’d like to look at how rhetorical scholars view the role of audience in the meaning-making process, as opposed to being merely passive recipients of the rhetor’s message.  In this regard, my trackback will be heavily weighted to more modern theorists.

The major scholars that I plan to review will start with Maurice Rene Charland and Walter Ong.  Then, I will move backward into Chaim Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca, while interspersing Kenneth Burke’s theoretical underpinnings.  Lloyd Bitzer will most likely also come into play at some point in this mid-section.  I will continue to work backward to Aristotle’s early notions of the role of audience. 

Rhetorical Turns

If language is ever shifting, and if we have more recently seen a massive shift in communication practices both in terms of presentation tools and global connections, how should rhetoric shift in terms of its instruction?

Rhetoric, as a discipline, has seen massive turns in its approach (and therefore, its relevance) to educational practices.  To continue to be relevant, rhetorical educational and pedagogical practices will have to keep pace with the changes in communication practices and society at large.  Two areas where rhetoric will be particularly challenged to adapt are in the arenas of technology and multiculturalism.

Our past visions of the future thought that most of our technological advances would be in the area of transportation (Where are the hover cars?  We were promised hover cars!)  If you watch old Sci-Fi movies, few anticipated the level of instant communication capacity that our current society would enjoy.   These communication capabilities present challenges as we prepare students to communicate effectively.  Specifically, social media allows us to rhetorically construct and curate identities for both intended and unintended audiences, for both our personal selves and our professional selves. 

Moreover, in an educational setting, we are instructing students on technology platforms that will likely be outmoded by the time they graduate or shortly thereafter.  Rhetorically, this means that teaching students technological reasoning (and rhetorical) principles is far more relevant and efficacious than teaching to specific technologies.  

Multiculturalism in the context of globalization is another adaptation the discipline of rhetoric must make.  While we acknowledge that much of our knowledge of rhetoric is based in Western thought, we also admit the limitations of this approach.  As a class, we have discussed the perils of universal audience and cross-cultural enthymemes.  At some point, rhetorical theory will need to address ways in which we can effectively communication cross-culturally in a global environment.  (In fairness, being new to the discipline, it is very likely that there are many multicultural theories of which I am presently unaware.)  These theories will need to become embedded into traditional curricular designs and not added as an “aside” or afterthought to standard rhetoric curricula. 

Rhetorical scholars are certainly capable of meeting the challenges that time inevitably presents and it will be fascinating to observe the various forms that these new approaches take.

Abundant Style

What is abundant style, and in what ways is it relevant today in education and/or the workplace? Provide an example.

Abundant style, or copia, is having the ability to express a similar concept in many ways.  By doing so, one can see the precision and nuance in language.  For example, if I say, “I see the flower” I have expressed a simple, straightforward concept.  However, with abundant style, I can more precisely target my meaning and thus, move my audience.  Such an example might look like, “In witnessing the wilting petals on the daisy, graying slightly, I am reminded of the elusive passing nature of life itself.”  In both examples, I have indicated that I have seen a flower but in the second example, I have provided a description of the experience of seeing that flower through the use of style.  This description is more likely to evoke some reaction in audience.

In today’s education, this is relevant because we must understand a broad array of topics so that we can draw from multiple perspectives in order to reach a broad array of audiences.  In this sense, this is the value of a liberal arts education, or at a minimum, the value of general core education requirements for a baccalaureate degree.  This need to have at least a baseline understanding of a broad range of topics is what separates an “educated” member of our society from and uneducated one and why people would choose to go to a university to get a BA/BS rather than a trade school, where such requirements would not be in place.  With this broadened perspective, we can both speak to larger groups and understand the messaging from a larger composite of persuasive speakers. 

Sexual Assault Prevention Dialectic

The topic for my contemporary dialectic will be bystander intervention in sexual assault prevention.  Basically, this is a relatively new approach being taken in the field and it attempts to shift the “rape culture.”  Instead of preventative efforts being aimed solely at helping people (mostly women, because most prevention measures are aimed toward female audiences) avoid becoming victims or even strategies that seek to dispel rape myths, bystander intervention strategies seek to engage a broader collective audience in preventing rape and sexual assault.  For example, this Make Your Move campaign has been heavily promoted and replicated nationwide with images such as this: 

The copy on the above ad reads: "I could tell she was asking for it . . . to stop. So I stepped in and told my buddy that was not way to treat a lady. And he backed off."

Especially on college campuses, stakeholders have become increasingly concerned with efficacious prevention strategies and several high-profile efforts have been launched, which I believe mark a significant shift in societal response to the issue.   (See Not Alone: The First Report of the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault and this PSA by male celebrities.) 

I’m still contemplating how I will present this as a dialectic in terms of what argument I will construct.  I believe I will pursue a line of reasoning that considers who is the appropriate target/audience for sexual assault prevention messaging (potential victim vs. bystanders).  Within this line of reasoning, I would invoke Perelman and, in particular, address the universal vs. particular audience, as well as the notions of convincing vs. persuading. 

Artes Dictaminis -- Revised Letter of Intent for Graduate School Admission

EDITED:  My original blog post was a less edited version of the actual letter I submitted for admission.  In considering the assignment, I had originally envisioned it as a modern application of ars dictaminis -- how the same conventions are applied in modern letter writing.  In reviewing my peers' blog posts, I see how I misconstrued the instructions and intent so I've revised my post, which is actually more comfortable since it felt awkward to have such personal information on the blog originally.

December 14, 2012  (Revised October 16, 2014)

RE: STATEMENT OF INTENT

[Salutation]

Dear Dr. Carter and Graduate Review Committee, by divine grace resplendent in Ciceronian Charm, Casey, inferior to her devoted learning, expresses the always obedient honorable service.

[Securing of Goodwill]

Your nobility and reputation as scholarly thought leaders, so esteemed in the field, is unparalleled.   

[Narration]

Having long-admired your impressive and impactful mark on the field of Rhetoric and Technical Communication, I could only hope to avail myself of your wisdom and generous teaching so that I could explore and expand your influence throughout the realm.   

[Petitio]

I appeal to your generosity, wisdom, and kindness to allow me, through your grace, to seek admission to your most noble and fine program.

[Conclusio]

Praise to your graces,

Casey Holland Akins

Home

I’m both intrigued and conflicted in trying to formulate my ideas about my notions of “home” and all that loaded word entails.  For me, I’ve had 16 major moves in my life, living in 13 different states.  The one place I call “home” is my grandmother’s house in Tucson, Arizona because I lived there at two different points in my life (once as a child and again as a young adult) and it was the only place I ever returned to visit.  My mother and father live in that house now and it holds so many memories that I feel almost a temporal shift when I walk through the door; I am both a child and adult concurrently.

Questions were posed about how home is related to identity, the concept of homelessness, and even what is it like to be an American.  Personally, these questions are all intertwined.  While not many people have moved as often as I have, I am not unique among Americans in moving away from my family of origin.  Many of my peers have moved several times and don’t live near family.  Perhaps it is an assertion of independence, but perhaps a simpler explanation is more accurate, such as following economic opportunities. 

I do find one thing particularly fascinating about America and our notion of home:  our obsession with the physical space of the home.  (I don’t know that it is uniquely American, perhaps other cultures experience this as well so I could be making a cultural assumption based on my limited knowledge.)   We have several television channels dedicated 24/7 to home improvement shows, hundreds of retail shops (large and small) dedicated to selling home improvement items and decorations.  We are a nation fascinated with nesting and creating the perfect home.  Part of our American dream is even stated to be buying a home with a white picket fence (though no homes seem to have white picket fences anymore).  We spend our weekdays at work and our weekends working on our homes and yards.   In full disclosure, I am a self-proclaimed do-it-yourselfer and take great pride in the fact that I have remodeled each of the homes I’ve owned.  Again, I don’t know if this is a uniquely American trait or not.

Some people have said that after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, our obsession with our homes really increased; that we longed for the comfort, stability, and security that “home” provided that was lost when such unexpected violence erupted in one of our major cities.  We felt so vulnerable and sought a balm to soothe our troubled souls in the form of the comforts of home.   Perhaps this is true. 

So while we are more transient, further away from family, and value our independence, we, or at least I, still crave the traditions, comforts, and stability of home.  And, if that means I have to build it myself, I guess I will.

Draft Hypermediated Philosophy Portfolio

Here is a DRAFT of my hypermediated Teaching Philosophy Portfolio.  Based on the chapter provided by Dr. Rice, I re-envisioned my teaching philosophy to incorporate a hyperlinked portfolio approach.  There is still much writing to be done on the "theoretical underpinnings" sections so I just left my very rough notes.  While this is incomplete, I decided to post the draft to get feedback on the format and work so far.

(The hyperlinks in the document work on the PDF but don't appear to work on the PDF viewer for the blog.  Regardless, hopefully you can get the idea -- :-)  If you are very ambitious and interested, I believe you can download the document to get the links to work correctly.)


Hypermediated Teaching Philosophy.pdf