The New Arts of Persuasion: Contemporary Media, Communications, and Rhetoric

Assignments

Week 1. Applied Communication Theory and Practical Rhetoric: "Who says what in which channel to whom and with what effects?" 

    Introduction to communication theory and classical rhetoric -- with added insights from psycholinguistics and cognitive science. 

    In-class Exercise: "Who's the Sender? What's the Message?" Review the material on the Shannon-Weaver (S-M-C-R) communication model. Then, working in three-or-four-person groups, select any message from any medium (a TV commercial, an office memo, a roadsign or billboard, etc.) and break it down into its SMCR components (sender, receiver, etc.). Does this analysis yield any unexpected or noteworthy insights? Is the message effective? What is its best feature? Its main weakness? 

Additional questions and exercises (online course version only): 
 

AL-F: Try analyzing a Shakespeare sonnet or a Hollywood film using the Shannon-Weaver (SMCR) communication model. What special insights or complications do you notice? Who's the receiver of the sonnet? Who's the sender of the film? 

HC-D: Which modern media are high in noise? Which are high in feedback? Which are highest in "interactivity" (i.e., reciprocity between sender and receiver)? 

WW: As an experiment, produce a test message and send it to three different class members via three different media (e.g., phone, email, voice mail, fax). Evaluate each channel for speed, efficiency, mutual convenience, and accuracy of transmission. 

HC-D: "Would you buy a used car from this man?" asked a mock political ad satirizing future President Richard ("Tricky Dick") Nixon? Meanwhile according to a public opinion poll, popular CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite was at one time regarded as "the most trusted person in America." 

 Classical authorities considered the character of the speaker a key to successful communication. But does that strike you as true today? Post your comments using any figure from contemporary media (Dan Rather? Oprah? Jerry Springer?) as an example. 
 

AL-F: Do you care whether a talented artist or entertainer is a "good person"? In other words, does your opinion of the moral character of a particular poet, composer, or performer affect your enjoyment of his or her art? Post your comments, citing at least one artist or entertainer as an example. 
 

WW: Which, if any, of the insights or categories of classical rhetoric apply in a special way to email messages? Send your comments to the group in an email. 

Week 2. Understanding McLuhan and Barthes: Modern Theories and Techniques of Media Analysis. 

Introduction to the media theories of Marshall McLuhan and the semiotic approach to media studies of C.S. Peirce, Roland Barthes, Umberto Eco, et.al.--with examples, glossary, and practical exercises. Additional material on assessing the character and credibility of message senders; content analysis; discourse analysis. 

Pre-class preparation: Read pages 1-32 in Understanding Media. Also review relevant websites for material relating to McLuhan, Barthes, and semiotics. 

In-class exercises. 

• Use whatever insights you gain from reviewing McLuhan to analyze an advertising message or public media event (such as a televized press conference or news report). To what extent does the medium characterize or modify the message and shape its effects?
• Apply the insights of Barthes and other semioticians to "decode" an advertising image or "deconstruct" a TV talk show or commercial website.

• Does an announcement (e.g., "Nixon Resigns!") made in a newspaper headline differ essentially from the same announcement made live in front of TV cameras or on an electronic marquee?
• As the media for reporting news has changed--from live speech (the ancient Greeks used a relay of messengers to send war news from the front lines to the polis) to print to photography to radio to film and TV--have our attitudes and reactions to the news changed too?

AL-F: Compare electronic (.JPG) versions of paintings with their real-life canvasses or with printed reproductions as they appear in art books, or with other examples of graphic art that you find on the Web. Which items are hot and which are cool, and why? 

WW: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of live, telephonic, and computer-mediated sales presentations. Which are hot, which are cool? Is hot  (i.e., maximum direct impact) always better? 

HC-D: Compare a tabloid press (e.g., New York Post, Chicago Sun-Times) version of a news story with traditional print (New York Times, Wall Street Journal) or online versions of the same story. What are the comparative strengths and weaknesses of each format? 

Week 3. Information-age Style: Communicating Effectively in the Electronic Era.  

Principles of style, organization, and presentation in contemporary print and electronic media. 

Pre-class preparation: Search the Web for an interesting insight or piece of practical advice on some matter of style, organization, or document appearance. Save the URL and be prepared to discuss the item in class. 

Discussion question: What are the principle differences--in style, in appearance, in organization, in content--between textbooks (or newspapers, or magazines) today and thirty years ago? What has been gained, and lost, through these changes? 

Week 4. Postmodern Persuasion. 

A comparison of ancient rhetorical and persuasive methods with the techniques and strategies employed in contemporary advertising and political campaigning. 

Related discussion topics will include arguments and emotional appeals; rhetorical devices; propaganda analysis; semiotic and "deconstructionist" approaches. 

Week 5. Attention Strategies: Principles of Typography, Layout, and Graphic Design. 

A comparison of classic and contemporary examples of message design--including The Chicago Tribune; ads and articles in Wired magazine; selected Websites, posters, and TV spots. 

Week 6. Putting Media Theories to Work. 

A review of theoretical models of communication, rhetoric, media analysis, and graphic design followed by close-up looks at some of their practical applications in (a) business and corporate communication (e.g., memos, letters, and oral presentations), (b) professional and technical writing (reports; tables, charts, figures, etc.), and (c) arts and entertainment. 

Week 7. "Spinfotainment"and Hype: Persuasive Techniques in Contemporary News Media, Politics, and Popular Culture. 

A review and comparison of marketing techniques, "spin control" and other public relations strategies, and presentation styles--in commercial messages, in politics, in popular entertainment, and even in the contemporary classroom. Close-up look at such hybrid trends as "infomercials," product-placement ads, "simulated" news coverage, and carefully stage-managed and rehearsed "live" interviews. 

Weeks 8-10. Final class activities will be devoted largely to presentation and discussion of student projects and to question-and-answer sessions with guest experts.