Final Draft due: December 9 by 11:59 p.m. in the appropriate D2L assignment folder
Quick Reference Guide
- Word count: 1500-2100 wordS
- Stance: your choice
- Topic: rhetorical work of a Twitter hashtag
- Genre: up to you; specify in blog posts related to this assignment
- Exigence: to develop a sustained rhetorical analysis
- Format: convention appropriate to genre
- Audience: up to you; specify in blog posts related to this assignment
- Image: minimum of 2
Just as many investors and social media gurus began forecasting the decline of Twitter, the U.S. presidential election of 2016 happened and a man, with a voluminous Twitter profile, assumed the presidency. Like FDR's use of the radio in the early 20th century, Donald Trump uses Twitter to speak directly to his constituents and his tweets and tags and hashtags have (literally) shaped and reshaped the world and international relations.
Under Trump's presidency, we find ourselves at a kairotic moment for considering the rhetorical work of Twitter, specifically how hashtags aggregate and shape knowledge.
In this literacy task, I invite you dig into Twitter, closely monitor a hashtag, and consider what rhetorical work tweets using this hashtag are accomplishing. The hashtag you monitor does not need to be political in nature, nor does the hashtag need to speak to serious issues undergirding our society (like #metoo, which victims of sexual abuse use tell their story).
Under Trump's presidency, we find ourselves at a kairotic moment for considering the rhetorical work of Twitter, specifically how hashtags aggregate and shape knowledge.
In this literacy task, I invite you dig into Twitter, closely monitor a hashtag, and consider what rhetorical work tweets using this hashtag are accomplishing. The hashtag you monitor does not need to be political in nature, nor does the hashtag need to speak to serious issues undergirding our society (like #metoo, which victims of sexual abuse use tell their story).
Once you have selected a hashtag, follow the tweets attached to this hashtag for a 3 to 5 days. Try to gain of rich sense of the conversation and the text and images and gifs and tags associated with this hashtag.
Then select 3 to 5 specific tweets using this hashtag and construct a broad argument about the rhetorical work rhetors are trying to accomplish through tweeting with this hashtag.
Then select 3 to 5 specific tweets using this hashtag and construct a broad argument about the rhetorical work rhetors are trying to accomplish through tweeting with this hashtag.
In your paper, be sure to
- Provide necessary background information on your hashtag and how you collected your data
- Deploy rhetorical terms, such as kairos, exigence, ethos, constraints, and audience, for describing the rhetorical work of these rhetors (remember the Grant-Davie reading?)
- Construct a clearly articulated main argument
- Insert images appropriate to your audience, stance, and genre.
- Focus readers' attention to a 'so what'? Why is rhetorical analysis worth undertaking? For whom?
Though outside sources are not required for this literacy task, feel free to refer to any of the readings we did.
Finally, feel free to take advantage of the wide-ranging digital genres we have at our disposal when making an argument. Would you prefer authoring a traditional essay? Or do you think a video would more effectively make your argument?
Good luck! I’m happy to help if you need some additional assistance at any stage of this paper. My office hours are before and after class and by appointment. You can reach me as well via email at Michael.rifenburg@ung.edu or on Twitter @JMRifenburg.
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