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 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 13th: Virtually ‘Real’ Environments
    • 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
ENGL 4750-090 & ENGL 5050-092 Video Games & Culture » Assignments for Video Games & Culture

Assignments for Video Games & Culture

Participation (Every Class Meeting)

You must participate thoughtfully during class discussions. Merely showing up will not get you participation credit—you must speak. If you’re not in class, you can’t receive credit, so your participation grade will be affected. I will note your participation (or lack thereof) daily. Thoughtful participation means that you engage critically in our discussions or ask engaging questions about the subject. Simply making jokes or telling the class an irrelevant story about your favorite show does not warrant thoughtful participation. Doing work for another class or distracting other students will lower your participation grade.

Please see me ASAP if you’re concerned about your participation grade because you’re shy or if you don’t understand these requirements. Telling me at the end of November that you didn’t participate because you’re the quiet type or because you didn’t understand what “thoughtful” meant will be too late. I am willing to provide a quasi-alternative to supplement a student’s participation grade, but please note that discussion, which allows speakers to exchange ideas, is an extremely important component of critical thinking. Please discuss an alternative with me early in the semester…like today!

Canvas Prompts

I will have prompts related to our readings and class discussions. In order to foster your understanding of the course material and theories, I want you to interact with other classmates through writing (we’ll do plenty of speaking in class, but feel free to talk about these ideas with your classmates outside of class). Each week, I’ll ask you to respond to a prompt I provide by the Monday after our class meeting. I’ll have these Discussion prompts on Canvas.

Then, on the following week, in addition to a new prompt, I’ll ask you to respond to a fellow classmate’s post from the previous week. Your initial posts should be at least 250 words; your replies should be at least 100 words. I’m not going to assign to whom you respond, but I hope you don’t respond to the same person each time. Doing so WILL affect your grade. Also, posting or responding in uncritical ways–ways that don’t rise to the level of an Honors/Graduate course–will affect your grade.

Theoretical Lens Essay

This essay is an attempt to get you to work towards establishing a theoretical lens from which to analyze texts. Instead of writing about a text, you’ll be doing a meta-essay in a way. You’ll be writing about how you would go about analyzing a text. Our Introducing Critical Theory and Introducing Cultural Studies books are going to discuss many theorists, but they’re brief and don’t go into nearly the detail other volumes would. Consider those textbooks to be introductions to theory.

From the readings, class discussions, and your own research (which isn’t exhaustive), develop an analytical approach to video games or digital media in general. Don’t worry so much about sticking to one theorist; instead, it might be best to consider how the theory (or one school of thought on the theory) answers questions about a topic. You will need to demonstrate how the theoretical lens answers questions about the text, so you will need an example or two. Unlike an essay on a text—where you would focus on the meaning of that text—this essay is more of an outline, a plan on how you interpret a text.

These will be workshopped on 9/15 and are due 9/22. Format this the way an essay should be formatted and aim for 5-6 pages. You will need to cite our readings, so make sure you do that. If you don’t cite—use in-text citations—any of our readings, I’ll hand this back. Therefore, your essay will be late, and your grade will start at 50%.

Video Game Essay

Using your theoretical lens or another lens or a blend of lenses, you must analyze a video game. You may do a rhetorical analysis where you explain how meaning is conveyed in the game or compare meaning across games. The most straightforward approach is to pick a video game (or related video games) and set out to explain what makes the video game a product of the culture from which it comes. Remember, you don’t have to have played the game to focus on a segment of the narrative (or game play). YouTube has so much game play recorded, so, if you’re not agile enough to get through a game, you may watch game play and analyze that. Remember, the YouTube video and the video game itself are both cultural products…

Alternatively, you could analyze games from one of the analysis types we discussed in Understanding Video Games (pp. 11-12). As you know, we focus more on rhetorical and cultural analyses, but there are other analyses you may do. In order not to bite off more than you can chew, I suggest not analyzing gamers playing games. To do such an analysis properly, you would need to interview gamers, record their game play, and transcribe hours of data. You could analyze gaming discussions that you find online or focus on a vlogger’s “walkthrough” of a game (YouTube has 1000s of these). There is plenty of background research—mostly case studies—on video gamers, so, if this is the approach you’d like to do, do your research early.

Regardless of your approach, you are not summarizing. You are doing a critical analysis and making sound arguments about the meaning(s) of a game.

These will be workshopped on 10/27 and are due 11/03. Format this the way an essay should be formatted and make sure it is at least 6 pages. It requires research outside of the class reading, and you will also need to cite our readings (yes, citing readings not assigned), so make sure you do that. If you don’t cite—use in-text citations—any of our readings or outside research, I’ll hand this back. Therefore, your essay will be late, and your grade will start at 50%.

Multimodal Project (Due 12/01)

You have many options for this assignment. Basically, you will make an argument using new media. You have lots of freedom to work with visuals, video, or audio in any way you’d like. Consider creating a project that reflects or is inspired by something from this course. Instead of rigid guidelines, I want you to have plenty of room for experimentation. I’m just looking to see how the course reading inspired you to communicate in a form other than a traditional academic essay. This may (and probably should) be related to your Video Game Essay assignment.

You don’t need to be an editing guru to do this. You can easily create a project using a program like Movie Maker, which is a standard program for Microsoft Windows (if you have Windows, you have Movie Maker…if you have a Mac, you most likely have iMovie). Using text, images, videos, and F/X, make an argument. I will show you a few examples (I hope), but I’m not concerned with how well-edited this is. I’m concerned with your argument.

You have plenty of possible ways you can do this assignments. A video would be a good choice (example). Just make sure I can play the project, and please have citations (URLs and such) for the material you get online. Yes, you MUST cite our readings, so your last frames (or final frames) will have citations from our readings and the material you use from outside of class.

Final Presentation

You will do an 8 to 10-minute presentation on your Multimodal Project. This presentation will be during our Final Exam Time, December 15, 2016. Don’t go under 8 minutes, and I won’t let you go over 10 minutes. We’ll discuss the possible delivery choices later in the semester.

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