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

Resources and Daily Activities

  • 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
    • 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)
    • 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)
    • 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)
  • 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
  • SEACS 2021 Presentation
  • Teaching Portfolio
  • Topics for Analysis
    • American Culture, an Introduction
    • Feminism, An Introduction
    • 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 4275: Rhetoric of Technology » Assignments for ENGL 4275

Assignments for ENGL 4275

Participation (Every Class Meeting)

This is not a drill-and-skill type of course. I expect everyone to be involved in class discussions, which are extremely important for critical thinking. You must contribute to class discussions. Twenty percent (20%) of your grade is based on participation.

In-class participation means you are ready to be called on at any time to respond to a question, prompt, and/ or suggestion about the course material. Yes, I will call on you in class periodically, so be prepared to demonstrate that you’re reflecting thoughtfully on the readings. Thoughtful reflection doesn’t mean you give THE answer; instead, it means you show awareness for the complexity of our subject by describing your interpretation or asking questions that demonstrate critical thinking (as opposed to certainty). We embrace ambiguity in this course.

Additional-class participation means you respond to questions, prompts, and/or suggestions about the course material without being called on or through the Supplemental Participation section on Canvas.

Merely showing up will not get you participation credit—you must engage the course materials. 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 some garbage reality program does not warrant thoughtful participation. Doing work for another class or distracting other students will lower your participation grade—even to the point of falling below 15% (meaning, you can have a negative 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 April that you didn’t participate because you’re the quiet type or because you didn’t understand what “thoughtful” meant will be too late. The purpose of participation is for students to have control over their own learning and to reinforce critical thinking generally and “critical technological awareness” specifically. 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. One alternative is to do class reflections you post online. Please discuss this alternative with me early in the semester…like today!

Online Presence

SEE CANVAS DISCUSSION POSTS FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT

This is not a web development class. You are not expected to be super savvy online, but you are expected to be able to reflect upon technology. The webpage (or website) you’ll create is to showcase your understanding of our course material. In lieu of reading quizzes, I’m asking you to maintain a website that helps you reflect on what we’ve covered in class. In 2014, after 7 years, I finally abandoned my previous webpage design and system for this Word Press format (preferred by UNC Charlotte’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences). There are lots of things that are easier than the way I used to update my website, but there are things that annoy me greatly. In both cases, though, I’m conforming to the technology’s rules as opposed to the technology fitting my preferences.

More on my issues later…You are to maintain a website all semester. You can use any format you’d like, but I’ll take time to show you how to use UNCC’s system. DON’T PANIC! If you can “Save As…” and drag and drop with a mouse, you can maintain a website. Besides weekly reflection on the readings and other course materials or discussions, I want you to have the following items on your homepage:

  • Your name or alias
  • Link to ENGL 4275’s Homepage
  • Link to your Major’s Department Webpage
  • Link to a classmate’s Homepage
  • Visuals and links representing or demonstrating or explaining concepts you’ve encountered

I will most likely add some more items, so stay tuned. One suggestion is to have a homepage and have separate pages you link to. For instance, this page is one of several different pages within my entire website. Each class period has its own date page.

Technology and yourself, a reflective essay (due 2/03 rev. due 2/19)

This is a personal essay, but it has to show you’re thinking beyond the function of the technologies you use. I want you to discuss your feelings, beliefs, and goals surrounding technology. It’s best to focus on a single (or a few) technologies than to try to cover many different ones. This essay is reflective and should show you’re critically thinking about the technologies you use. Don’t make surface observations or discuss how it works.

The overall goal is to identify to what extent you’re critically aware of how technology permeates your life. Remember, this essay isn’t about the function (i.e., use) of technologies; instead, I want you to reflect upon your feelings, associations, and projections (assumptions of the future) about technology. What does technology mean to you?

Below are the format logistics (I don’t take off for formatting, but I am always asked about formatting so…):

  • Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
  • 1-inch margins all around
  • Page numbers (anywhere)
  • A title other than “Technology and Yourself [Essay]”
  • First draft at least four (4) pages; Final draft is at least six (6) pages
  • In-text citations: you must use quotations from the course reading and, if you choose, outside reading
  • Works Cited/References page (if you use ANY sources)

Although this is a personal reflection, it’s not an unorganized “freewriting”; it’s supposed to be a polished work. You’ll have a chance to workshop these essays and revise. It is due on 2/03/2020, and your revision is due on 2/19/2020.

Social Construction of Technology Essay (due 3/18; revision due 4/01)

As you read and participate in class discussions, consider the technologies that you’ve come across. You’ll need to choose a technology and describe how it represents the society from which it comes—be that American, Western, Industrial, etc. In order to do that, you’ll need to identify a few cultural values that your technology conforms to. Also, you shouldn’t just list or state the values. You must describe (make an argument for) why you feel those values are part of a culture.

I do not expect you to go into a tremendous amount of technical or historical detail in your essays; instead, try to pick a technology that might fit our discussions regarding American values in general (of course, you may use a technology from any culture, so refer to those values). 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.

After you identify and describe the values, you must describe how those values are embodied in the technology. You may use “I” and even bring in personal examples, but you have to defend your reasons for arguing the way you do. You are required to use outside sources–sources from the class reading and sources outside of our readings. A nice split would be to cite at least 4 sources from our class readings and 4 sources from outside our class readings. Below are the format logistics (I don’t take off for formatting, but I am always asked about formatting so…):

  • Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
  • 1-inch margins all around
  • Page numbers (anywhere)
  • A title other than “Social Construction of Technology [Essay]”
  • First draft at least nine (9) pages; Final draft at least twelve (12) pages
  • In-text citations: you must use quotations from the course reading and, if you choose, outside reading
  • Works Cited/References page (I don’t care which style–MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.–you use for your paper, but please choose one)

Over the course of the semester, the above ideas should make more sense. You’ll have a chance to workshop these essays and revise. Please start thinking about a contemporary technology you can identify as embodying values of a culture. You’ll turn it in on 3/11/2020 and have a revision back to me on 3/18/2020.

Please don’t e-mail me a draft and say “look at this.” Office hours are Mondays & Wednesdays 4:00-5:00 pm and by appt. If you’re wondering if one particular technology over another would be better suited, please ask, and I’ll offer some advice.

Technology Project (due 4/22)

This assignment is supposed to be your chance to be creative. I hesitate to give specific guidelines because I want you to be bold and not do a traditional type of assignment. Although I don’t have specific guidelines, you should produce something worthy of a final project for a 4000-level class. It is worth 20% of your grade, so it’s a pretty big deal. I originally wanted to have you do a visual-audio type of assignment, but that would require us to get away from the highly theoretical things we discuss. Also, post-Coronavirus, it seems more appropriate to be flexible. Therefore, I have some options, but they all have to do with showing your understanding of the various subjects we cover within the rhetoric of technology.

Regardless of which one you choose, you must cite all text, visuals, etc. that you use. Therefore, you must do research outside of the class readings.

Option #1

A historical-rhetorical analysis of a technology. This was going to be the only choice, but I’m all for options. We’ve discussed the discourse surrounding technologies all semester, so you have models from which to work. Pick a technology and find historical information about its reception. I’m sure I’ve told you one or two stories about Marconi’s wireless and the popular press, so that can be a model for you, but we’ve also talked about other technologies in society.

Your main goal is to analyze the rhetoric of the discourse surrounding a technology. Consider how the texts communicate and adhere to the values of the time period (progress, military superiority, instant gratification, etc.). Advertising, charities, special interests, politics, sales, and media are several good places to look. Make sure you use vocabulary from our readings and cite enough sources. Page length is at least 6 pages, and this is considered the boldest option, so taking risks and being exploratory will be graded favorably.

If you aren’t finding and discussing what others say about the technologies (their reception and promise), you aren’t fulfilling this assignment’s goals. This discourse you analyze may come from interviews, newspaper/magazine articles, etc., but it should come from a historical context–before the year 2001.

Option #2

Create a webpage (or webpages) that define and describe several of our concepts this semester. It can be all text, but visuals are appreciated. Comparable to a 6-page paper, but it needs to show some creativity. Don’t just put up 6-pages worth of text online and think that’s enough: use hypertext, embed videos, place images, create interactive menus, etc. This requires some web development skills.

Option #3

Do another social construction of technology essay. (This is different from Option #1 because you’ll be using more of your analysis on the technology instead of analyzing the rhetoric of others). Pick a different topic/technology and describe it as a socially constructed artifact. Remember, you have to define the values it embodies first, and then describe how the technology embodies those values. This choice assumes you will do a better job than on your Social Construction of Technology essay (in other words, I’ll grade a bit harder). However, you only need this to be at least 6 pages.

Option #4

The visual “essay.” If you’re savvy with various software, you may choose to create a project that showcases those skills and demonstrates technology from the points of view we’ve taken this semester: rhetoric and culture. You may use audio, video, images, and text to convey your message, but you must cite EVERYTHING you borrow. Consider writing a script for this option.

Please Note: This option, as do all options, requires a separate presentation. Don’t just submit the same thing for both assignments.

Option #5

An essay on rhetoric in society. Advertising, charities, special interests, politics, sales, and media are several good places to look. Make sure you use vocabulary from our readings and cite enough sources. Page length at least 6 pages.

Unlike option #1 where I ask you to consider a historical context, this should be an analysis of discourse after 2001. Focus on contemporary rhetoric.

Option #6–Science Fiction and the Rhetoric of Technology

This is a tradition English paper on literature, but, for this class, you need to focus on Neuromancer and/or Count Zero. In at least 6 pages, explain–make an argument that requires a thesis and proof–how either of these texts relate to our course discussions on the rhetoric of technology. Consider Bazerman’s definition for this assignment and reflect on contemporary cyberspace technologies or situations (e.g. cyber-security concerns) these novels inspire.

Whatever you do, don’t summarize the texts! Also, don’t use long quotations to pad your essays (for any of these options). I expect your writing to be at least 6 pages, and quotations will be in addition to that required writing.

Technology Project Presentations (due 4/22 and 4/27)

Due to our quarantined situation, I’ve updated this assignment on Monday, 4/20’s webpage. Please check that page and go onto Canvas and mark your presentation choice on the “Presentation Survey” before Friday, 4/24 at 5:00 pm.

Basically, you get up and present on your Technology Projects. I will score your presentation on a scale of 1 to 5 based of the following criteria:

  • Appearance of preparation
  • Eye contact
  • Voice Projection
  • Relevance
  • Time—don’t go over five minutes and don’t go under four minutes (practice so you get it just right)

Although it may seem like too much extra work, you should practice your oral presentations in order to gauge how long your part will take. You can’t possibly convey all the choices you made as an information designer in the time you have. Therefore, you must choose your points wisely. Whether you’re finished talking or not, I’ll cut you off if you go longer than your time limit (4-5 min). I will stop you mid sentence if need be.  Again, preparation is crucial. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be prepared for all oral presentations.

Skip to toolbar
  • Log In