Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Toscano, Aaron, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of English

Resources and Daily Activities

  • Conference Presentations
    • SEACS 2021 Presentation
  • Dr. Toscano’s Homepage
  • ENGL 2116-083: Introduction to Technical Communication
    • ENGL 2116 sec. 083 Major Assignments (Summer 2020)
      • Final Portfolio Requirements
      • Oral Presentations
    • June 11th: Continue with I, Robot
    • June 15th: Ethics and Perspective Discussion
      • Ethical Dilemmas for Homework
      • Ethical Dilemmas to Ponder
      • Mapping Our Personal Ethics
    • June 16th: More on Ethics
    • June 1st: Effective Documents for Users
    • June 2nd: Final Project and Research Discussion
      • Epistemology and Other Fun Research Ideas
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters Better
      • Research
    • June 3rd: Technology in a Social Context
    • June 8th: Information Design and Visuals
    • June 9th: Proposals, Marketing, and Rhetoric
    • May 18th: Introduction to the course
    • May 19th: Critical Technological Awareness
    • May 20th: Audience, Purpose, and General Introduction
    • May 21st: Résumé Stuff
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters More Effective
      • Peter Profit’s Cover Letter
    • May 25th: More Resume Stuff
    • May 26th: Plain Language and Prose Revision
      • Euphemisms
      • Prose Practice for Next Class
      • Prose Revision Assignment
      • Revising Prose: Efficiency, Accuracy, and Good
      • Sentence Clarity
    • May 27th: More on Plain Language
    • May 28th: Review Prose Revision
  • ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing
    • August 21st: Introduction to the Course
      • Rhetorical Principles of Information Design
    • August 28th: Introduction to Information Design
      • Prejudice and Rhetoric
      • Robin Williams’s Principles of Design
    • Classmates Webpages (Fall 2017)
    • December 4th: Presentations
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4182/5182 (Fall 2017)
    • November 13th: More on Color
      • Designing with Color
      • Important Images
    • November 20th: Extra-Textual Elements
    • November 27th: Presentation/Portfolio Workshop
    • November 6th: In Living Color
    • October 16th: Type Fever
      • Typography
    • October 23rd: More on Type
    • October 2nd: MIDTERM FUN!!!
    • October 30th: Working with Graphics
      • Beerknurd Calendar 2018
    • September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”
      • Theory, theory, practice
    • September 18th: The Whole Document
    • September 25th: Page Design
  • ENGL 4183/5183: Editing with Digital Technologies
    • April 14th: Cohesive Rhythm
    • April 7th: Rhetorical Effects of Punctuation
    • Efficiency in Writing Reviews
    • February 17th: Verb is the Word!
    • February 24th: Coordination and Subordination
      • A Practical Editing Situation
    • February 3rd: I’m in Love with the Shape of You(r Sentences)
    • January 20th: Introduction to the Course
    • January 27th: Rhetoric, Words, and Composing
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4183/5183 (Spring 2021)
      • Rhetoric of Fear
    • March 10th: Midterm Exam
    • March 17th: Choosing Adjectivals
    • March 24th: Choosing Nominals
    • March 31st: Stylistic Variations
    • March 3rd: Form and Function
  • ENGL 4275: Rhetoric of Technology
    • April 13th: Authorities in Science and Technology
    • April 15th: Articles on Violence in Video Games
    • April 20th: Presentations
    • April 6th: Technology in the home
    • April 8th: Writing Discussion
    • Assignments for ENGL 4275
    • February 10th: Religion of Technology Part 3 of 3
    • February 12th: Is Love a Technology?
    • February 17th: Technology and Gender
    • February 19th: Technology and Expediency
    • February 24th: Semester Review
    • February 3rd: Religion of Technology Part 1 of 3
    • February 5th: Religion of Technology Part 2 of 3
    • January 13th: Technology and Meaning, a Humanist perspective
    • January 15th: Technology and Democracy
    • January 22nd: The Politics of Technology
    • January 27th: Discussion on Writing as Thinking
    • January 29th: Technology and Postmodernism
    • January 8th: Introduction to the Course
    • March 11th: Writing and Other Fun
    • March 16th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 1 of 2
    • March 18th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 2 of 2
    • March 23rd: Inception (2010)
    • March 25th: Writing and Reflecting Discussion
    • March 30th & April 1st: Count Zero
    • March 9th: William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984)
  • ENGL 4750-090 & ENGL 5050-092 Video Games & Culture
    • Assignments for Video Games & Culture
    • August 25th: Introduction to the Course
    • November 10th: Aggression & Addiction
    • November 3rd: Moral Panics and Health Risks
    • October 13th: Narrative, ludology, f(r)iction
    • October 20th: Serious Games
    • October 27: Risky Business?
    • October 6th: Hyperreality
    • September 1st: History of Video Games
    • September 22nd: Video Game Aesthetics
    • September 29th: (sub)Cultures and Video Games
    • September 8th: Defining Video Games and Critical Theory Introduction
      • Marxism for Video Game Analysis
      • Postmodernism for Video Game Analysis
  • ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory
    • April 13th: Umberto Eco & Jean Baudrillard
    • April 20th: Moving Forward on Theory
    • April 27th: Last Day of Class
    • April 6th: Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition
      • What is Postmodernism?
    • February 10th: St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine [Rhetoric]
      • Oratory and Argument Analysis
    • February 17th: Knoblauch on Magical and Ontological Rhetoric
    • February 24th: Rene Descartes’ Discourse on Method
    • February 3rd: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Books 2 and 3
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 3
    • January 13th: Introduction to Class
    • January 27th: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Book 1
    • March 16th: Friedrich Nietzsche
    • March 23rd: Mythologies and Meaning of Meaning (part 2)
    • March 30th: Derrida’s (refusal to have) Positions
    • March 9th: Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women
    • Rhetorical Theory Assignments
  • LBST 2212-124, 125, 126, & 127
    • August 21st: Introduction to Class
    • August 23rd: Humanistic Approach to Science Fiction
    • August 26th: Robots and Zombies
    • August 28th: Futurism, an Introduction
    • August 30th: R. A. Lafferty “Slow Tuesday Night” (1965)
    • December 2nd: Technological Augmentation
    • December 4th: Posthumanism
    • November 11th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2)
    • November 13th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2 con’t)
    • November 18th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)
      • More Questions than Answers
    • November 1st: Games Reality Plays (part II)
    • November 20th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 2)
    • November 6th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 1)
    • October 14th: More Autonomous Fun
    • October 16th: Autonomous Conclusion
    • October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere
    • October 23rd: Social Aphasia
    • October 25th: Dust in the Wind
    • October 28th: Gender Liminality and Roles
    • October 2nd: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • October 30th: Games Reality Plays (part I)
    • October 9th: Approaching Autonomous
      • Analyzing Prose in Autonomous
    • September 11th: The Time Machine
    • September 16th: The Alien Other
    • September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds
    • September 20th: Dystopian Visions
    • September 23rd: World’s Beyond
    • September 25th: Gender Studies and Science Fiction
    • September 30th: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • September 4th: Science Fiction and Social Breakdown
      • More on Ellison
      • More on Forster
    • September 9th: The Time Machine
  • LBST 2213/HTAS 2100: Science, Technology, and Society
    • December 10th: Violence in Video Games
    • December 15th: Video Games and Violence, a more nuanced view
    • December 1st: COVID-19 facial covering rhetoric
    • December 3rd: COVID-19 Transmission and Pandemics
    • December 8th: 500-word Essay
    • November 10th: Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 27-end
    • November 12th: Frankenstein (1818) Preface-Ch. 8
    • November 17th: Frankenstein (1818) Ch. 9-Ch. 16
    • November 19th: Frankenstein (1818) Ch. 17-Ch. 24
    • November 3rd: Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 1-17
    • November 5th: Planet of the Apes (1964) Ch. 18-26
    • October 13th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 5 and 6
    • October 15th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • October 1st: The Golem at Large Introduction & Ch. 1
    • October 22nd: The Time Machine
    • October 29th: H.G. Wells and Adaptations
    • October 6th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology) Ch. 2
    • October 8th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 3 & 4
    • September 10th: Science and Technology, a Humanistic Approach
    • September 15th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 2
    • September 17th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 3 and 4
    • September 22nd: Collins & Pinch Ch. 5 & 6
    • September 24th: Collins & Pinch Ch. 7 & Conclusion
    • September 29th: Test 1
    • September 8th: Introduction to Class
  • New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology (Spring 2021)
    • April 6th: Capitalist Realism
    • February 16: Misunderstanding the Internet
    • February 23rd: Our Public Sphere and the Media
    • February 2nd: Introduction to Cultural Studies
    • January 26th: Introduction to New Media
    • Major Assignments for New Media (Spring 2021)
    • March 16th: Identity Politics
    • March 23rd: Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality
    • March 2nd: Foundational Thinkers in Cultural Studies
    • March 30th: Hyperreality
    • March 9th: Globalization & Postmodernism
  • Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020)
    • Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture
    • Cultural Studies and Science Fiction Films
    • June 10th: Interstellar and Exploration themes
    • June 11th: Bicentennial Man
    • June 15th: I’m Only Human…Or am I?
    • June 16th: Wall-E and Environment
    • June 17th: Wall-E (2008) and Technology
    • June 18th: Interactivity in Video Games
    • June 1st: Firefly (2002) and Myth
    • June 2nd: “Johnny Mnemonic”
    • June 3rd: “New Rose Hotel”
    • June 4th: “Burning Chrome”
    • June 8th: Conformity and Monotony
    • June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty
    • May 18th: Introduction to Class
    • May 19th: American Culture, an Introduction
    • May 20th: The Matrix
    • May 21st: Gender and Science Fiction
    • May 25th: Goals for I, Robot
    • May 26th: Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot
    • May 27th: Hackers and Slackers
    • May 30th: Inception
  • Teaching Portfolio
  • Topics for Analysis
    • American Culture, an Introduction
    • Feminism, An Introduction
    • Fordism/Taylorism
    • Frankenstein Part I
    • Frankenstein Part II
    • Futurism Introduction
    • Langdon Winner Summary: The Politics of Technology
    • Marxist Theory (cultural analysis)
    • Oral Presentations
    • Our Public Sphere
    • Postmodernism Introduction
    • Protesting Confederate Place
    • Punctuation Refresher
    • QT, the Existential Robot
    • Religion of Technology Discussion
    • Rhetoric, an Introduction
      • Analyzing the Culture of Technical Writer Ads
      • Rhetoric of Technology
      • Visual Culture
      • Visual Perception
      • Visual Perception, Culture, and Rhetoric
      • Visual Rhetoric
      • Visuals for Technical Communication
      • World War I Propaganda
    • The Great I, Robot Discussion
      • I, Robot Short Essay Topics
    • The Rhetoric of Video Games: A Cultural Perspective
      • Civilization, an Analysis
    • The Sopranos
    • Why Science Fiction?
    • Zombies and Consumption Satire

Contact Me

Office: Fretwell 280F
Phone: 704.687.0613
Email: atoscano@uncc.edu
Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020) » Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture

Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture

Below are more details about your assignments. This information will also be on Canvas when it’s closer to the due date. In case you’re wondering why I have 2 websites, I’ll tell you. This website is something the world can see, and you–being I don’t know where–should be able to access it anywhere in the world. Sometimes, Canvas doesn’t allow you in, and you have to search for alternative ways to get information about the class. At least with this website, you can see what’s coming up if Canvas isn’t cooperating.

Please don’t e-mail me assignments. Canvas will allow you to turn everything in. If you have trouble, e-mail me, and we’ll see if we can’t fix things

Canvas Reflection Posts

Twice a week, you will have a prompt on Canvas to reflect upon. I will have them dated Tuesdays and Thursdays, but you have until Friday at 11:00 pm to post. I highly recommend you type these reflections up on a word processor (e.g. Microsoft Word) and then copy and paste the response into Canvas. You don’t want to type directly into Canvas and risk losing your work due to some glitch or timing out error. As you’ll learn from our texts*, machines have minds of their own! There’s no right or wrong answer, but I do expect you to be inspired by the course material.

*By “text,” I mean novels, short stories, articles, films, TV shows, or any media.

These post are to be at least 250 words. This assignment is worth 50% of your grade, so please don’t blow this step off.

Essay #1–American Culture (Draft Due 6/01; Final Due 6/08)

As you read and watch for class, consider the values that are important for a culture (but we’re thinking of American Culture or cultures mostly in this class). I want you to choose an important cultural phenomenon related to our readings. I give you lots of leeway on how you interpret our texts. All I ask is that you make an argument, and, briefly, describe how it is present or manifests itself in American culture. For example, below is a cultural phenomenon I’ve noticed:

Cell phones (or mobile communication devices) are nearly ubiquitous in American culture. People seem to be constantly “glued” to these devices. I see (yes, you may have a first-person perspective using ‘I’) people leave their cars with cell phones at their ears; they walk into the grocery store talking on them; they continue to talk as they browse the shelves; and they even poorly multitask by talking on their phones and navigating the self-checkout (or worse, they talk on the phone while someone checks their items out).

Below is my analysis of the above phenomenon related to one of our texts, The Matrix:

The Matrix reflects the contemporary phenomenon of ubiquitous cell phone usage in American culture because, metaphorically, being jacked into the matrix is similar to the ability to be constantly connected to others. With facetime, Skype, social media, users are virtually connected to each other or potentially can be all the time.

Of course, the above is a start, and you’ll need to use specific quotes, but I would like you to think about (and read about) one of our texts from a cultural perspective. You may also incorporate texts from outside our course assigned material (films, readings, TV shows), but please discuss (but don’t summarize) at least one of our texts.

Prevailing American culture is often seen as Western, Industrial, Democratic, etc. You shouldn’t think of this as “Your view of what the values of American culture should be.” Remember, values aren’t always valued. Racism and sexism are American/Western values. You must describe (make an argument for) why you feel a value is part of this culture. Point to an example outside of the course texts. Although we might all agree that a particular value (e.g., individualism) is an American value, you must offer support for such a claim—you can’t just state it.

I do not expect you to go into a tremendous amount of research for this, but you should relate this to one of our texts (readings, films, TV shows). The above is a guideline, but don’t feel you have to stick to it. I am requiring you to write about one of our texts, but, if you have a different theoretical lens with which you’d like to analyze our texts, please do so. The goal is to show me you’re thinking about the material and can make some kind of cogent argument. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT SUMMARIZE ANY OF OUR TEXTS. If you bring up an outside text, provide some context, BUT DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE PLOT. You are making an argument about how the text works; what is it saying between the lines; what is your interpretation?

After you identify and describe the values, you must describe how those values are embodied in the culture at large. For instance, if individualism is a value you discuss, identify where in the culture individualism is promoted. Think of commercials, political expression, educational norms, cultural behaviors, etc. You may use “I” and even bring in personal examples, but you have to defend your reasons for arguing the way you do. Below are the format logistics:

  • Your draft must include an outline that’s at least a page:
    I. XXXXXX
    A. OOOOO
    B. XXXXXX
    C. OOOOO
    II. XYXYXYXY
    A. OPOPOPO
    B. PXPXPXPX
    …..
  • Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
  • 1-inch margins all around
  • Page numbers (anywhere)
  • A title other than “Essay 1“
  • At least four (4) pages–beyond the outline
  • In-text citations: when you quote–and you will have to for this essay–you must cite where the information came from.
  • Works Cited/References page (I don’t care which style–MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.–you use for your paper, but please choose one)
  • See Purdue University’s OWL for help with in-text citations and Works Cited/References pages

I will provide feedback on your Essay 1 draft before the final is due. If you need more help coming up with a topic, consider the following questions for the traditional cultural studies essay:

  • Can you easily identify the American (or just cultural) value?
    • Is the value appropriate for the culture?
    • Is there a common example that you can refer to in order to help identify the value?
    • Is there enough support to claim it’s an American value?
  • Can you identify where you explain how the text embodies the value?
    • Are the examples appropriate for the value?
    • Are the arguments (proof) presented valid…do they make sense?
  • Do you have appropriate quotations? Do you have any? You’re supposed to use in-text citations and quote from the class texts to show me you’re reading/watching.

Remember, include an outline. Even if you have to create it after you’ve written the essay, there’s value in the outline.

Essay #2–Social Science Fiction (Draft Due 6/15; Final Due 6/22)

Essay #2 will be at least 7 pages, and the Draft must have an outline.

I’m going to let you choose to do another (but longer) essay on American culture and science fiction as you did in Essay #1, but I’m also providing a second option. If you want to do an essay similar to Essay #1, choose texts later in the term (don’t do all the same texts you covered in Essay #1, but you may, of course, reference earlier texts) and follow the guidelines for Essay #1, but, remember, Essay #2 is at least 7 pages, and your draft (Due 6/15) must have an outline.

The second option for Essay #2 is more related to traditional English essay assignments. For this option, I want you to pick a literary device (irony, foreshadowing, metaphor, sarcasm, etc.) and explore that. Now, you can probably combine option 1–focus on American Culture–and this option where you focus on a literary device. That’s fine. Just don’t summarize the texts; instead, explore a theme or literary device.

Because you’ve watched several texts, you may also discuss film techniques, especially ones that increase the dramatic tension of a film or TV show. For instance, the camera angles and lighting used in The Twilight Zone episode “Eye of the Beholder” don’t reveal the faces of the doctors and nurses in the hospital. This makes the audience uncomfortable, heightening the tension of the show. Contemporary filming relies on CGI for special effects, but camera shots are still important. Notice the way Nolan’s filming of vehicles from the side (forward or behind) mimics the way car chases are filmed in movies such as Fast and Furious. Such a technique puts viewers in the drivers seat so to speak.

If you decide to focus on film techniques, you can’t just state that a technique does what you say; you need to argue, provide proof or sound reasoning that the technique does what you claim. Below are the format logistics:

  • Your draft must be at least seven (7) pages
  • In addition to those seven (7) pages, you must include an outline that’s at least a page:
    I. XXXXXX
    A. OOOOO
    1. FGDGDG
    2. GFGDGD
    B. XXXXXX
    1. FGDGDG
    2. GFGDGD
    C. OOOOO
    1. FGDGDG
    2. GFGDGD
    II. XYXYXYXY
    A. OPOPOPO
    1. FGDGDG
    2. GFGDGD
    3. IOYPTOO
    B. PXPXPXPX
    1. FGDGDG
    2. GFGDGD
    3. IOYPTOO
    …..
  • Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
  • 1-inch margins all around
  • Page numbers (anywhere)
  • A title other than “Essay 2“
  • At least seven (7) pages–beyond the outline
  • In-text citations: when you quote–and you will have to for this essay–you must cite where the information came from.
  • Works Cited/References page (I don’t care which style–MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.–you use for your paper, but please choose one)
  • See Purdue University’s OWL for help with in-text citations and Works Cited/References pages

I will provide feedback on your Essay 2 draft before the final is due. If you need more help coming up with a topic, consider the following questions for the traditional cultural studies essay:

  • What factors of the film, TV Show, or short story support my interpretation?
  • Am I interpreting the text in a surface, literal way, or am I reading between the lines and focusing on metaphor.
  • Do you have appropriate quotations? Do you have any? You’re supposed to use in-text citations and quote from the class material to show me you’re reading/watching.

Remember, include an outline. Even if you have to create it after you’ve written the essay, there’s value in the outline.

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