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

Syllabus 

Note: Students in this course are not expected to be experts in advanced web procedures and HTML; they must, however, have Internet access and email accounts and must be able to perform basic searches and downloads. 

	WW: Can use appropriate rhetorical and design strategies to produce a professional-quality business document, oral presentation, or instructional video.
	HC-D: Can evaluate the role and impact of mass media on society.
	AL-F: Can apply basic principles of practical rhetoric, semiology, or media analysis to interpret or evaluate a work of art.
	AL-F: Can use appropriate design and media strategies to produce a work of art or entertainment.

Students enrolled for WW should be seeking to improve business writing and professional communication skills. Instruction will be designed mainly for intermediate or more advanced writers--and especially for those who face a variety of business communications tasks on a daily basis. To demonstrate competence, students will work independently or in two-person teams to produce an office-quality document, presentation, or video. 
 
 

Students enrolled for HC-D will be required to produce some sort of study or demonstration (e.g., a critical essay, analytic study, or historical overview) examining the sociocultural impact of any popular modern medium--from radio and TV to ezines and comic books. 
 

Students will be able to demonstrate AL-F competence through a range of negotiable projects. For example, they may choose to write a critical or expository essay examining an aspect of contemporary entertainment or artistic media (such as computer animation or special cinematic effects). Or they can produce a video or audiotape, a telescript or screenplay, a song lyric or stand-up routine--indeed any artifact in any medium so long as it demonstrates or explains how the medium may be used for artistic expression or popular entertainment. 

Course Objectives. In line with the competence statements, the principal aims of the course are: 

1. To introduce students to the basic principles and elements of traditional rhetoric, with particular emphasis on that discipline's fundamental insight: namely, that the crucial goal in any communications task is to capture and maintain the audience's attention. 

2. To improve student writing abilities (particularly in the area of style and organizational skills) by providing clear and effective guidelines and advanced practical instruction. 

3. To provide a vocabulary and critical tools for analyzing the operations and effects of modern communication systems and media. 

4. To introduce basic skills and techniques for constructing, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating messages. 

5. To provide introductory-level practical experience in techniques of oral presentation, electronic communication, graphic design and page layout, and Internet publishing. 

Resources, Learning Tools:  In addition to various online and new media materials, students will also examine a few "old media" (i.e., print) resources and sample some of the latest innovative developments and artistic applications in the world of film, magazine layout, and electronic pubishing. Guest contributors--including experts in advertising, news media, and Web-page design--may also be invited to answer questions or lead class discussions. 
 

Required Texts: 

Cobley, Paul and Litza Jantz. Introducing Semiotics. New York: Totem Books, 1997. 

Heller, Steven and Karen Pomeroy. Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design. New York: Allworth Press, 1997. 

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. 1964. Rprt. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994. 
 

Recommended Films and Videos: 

The Candidate (1972) 
All the President's Men (1976) 
Network (1976) 
Being There (1979) 
Videodrome (1983) 
Broadcast News (1987) 
Wag the Dog (1996) 

Schedule of learning activities and discussion topics 

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? 

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?

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.