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 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)
  • 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
  • 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
    • 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 » March 11th: Writing and Other Fun

March 11th: Writing and Other Fun

Announcements

I’ve been informed that we’re going to all online classes. It’s no longer a matter of “if we are” but “when we are.” I wouldn’t be surprised if this is our final face-to-face meeting until late April. The UNC System higher-ups are meeting today, and their decree will pass down to us. The English Dept Chair has asked us to be ready. Fortunately, our moving to completely online won’t be as difficult as other classes, but there will be changes:

  • You will have additional Canvas Posts requiring you to respond (at least once) to another classmate’s reflection
  • All assignments from this point forward will be online

The show might go on…As of today, I haven’t heard whether or not “Tales from Down There” has been canceled. It’s still on for Friday, 3/13, in McKnight Auditorium (Cone Center) at 7:00 pm (usually it’s an hour and a half). The Southeastern Women’s Studies Conference (SEWSA) was just canceled as have many academic conferences and entertainment gatherings.

Below are links to resources about the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

  • General Information for UNC Charlotte (faculty, staff, students)
  • Self-Quarantine Form to inform the University your status (Google Docs)
  • Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center

Peer-Review Workshop

Today we’re going to do a peer-review workshop. You’ll read 2 different drafts from your classmates and offer specific kinds of feedback based on the directions below. I know, I know, you’re thinking you could read 2 drafts and offer feedback in 10 mins. Well, not today. Remember, I always have things for us to do that will take up 75 mins, so take this
peer-review seriously. You’ll be spending roughly 30 min on each draft. The left over time is for you to revise your essays. There is never a time when you’re through with revision…we often stop revising because there’s a deadline. Also, you can always write more. If you think you’re done, consider doing some historical research about the value and/or technology that will bolster your argument. This essay will eventually be 12 pages, so do the work now to get your page count up.

Remember, I’ll be coming around to see who has a draft and who doesn’t. This is an in-class participation grade.

Peer Review Round 1

Exchange your essay (hard copy or electronic) with a classmate. Read the draft once. Try to get a sense of the purpose for the draft. A thesis statement could clue you into what the main idea of the essay is, but try to determine the main point from the material.

  • In one to two sentences, restate the main point of the paper. After that restating, list the main supports (3-4 will suffice) for the purpose.
    • In other words, write down what further explains the main point. You will have additionally Canvas Posts requiring you to respond (at least once) to another classmate’s reflection
  • Discuss these with the writer.
  • Explain why you feel those are the main points.
  • If the writer disagrees, that’s fine; they will just need to consider whether or not more explanation is needed in the essay.

Cultural Analysis Cultural Analysis Cultural Analysis

Make sure the essay has at least 3 pages devoted to cultural analysis…yes, make sure the essay has at least 3 pages devoted to cultural analysis. These essays must begin the following way (after some reasonable introduction):

  • Identify a cultural value or multiple values
  • Explain how that value(s) is pervasive or prevalent in the culture–give examples
    • Consider 3 places where this value appears
    • American History
    • Media, education, Family, or any institution would be a good place to find reinforcement of this value
  • Then, after all the previous information, the essay should discuss how the technology you’re covering embodies those values

You should be able to find 3-4 supports for why the writer claims a particular value or ideology is prevalent in the culture they’re focusing on. If the writer brings up multiple values, that’s fine, but you should still be able to find 3-4 supports for EACH value. If not, you’ll need to help by offering ways to analyze culture. Help the writer think about how to incorporate more cultural analysis to fulfill the essay goal of explaining how a technology is a product of the culture from which it comes. Remember, you find prevailing cultural values by noticing what narratives get retold over and over and through your own critical thinking. Commercials, TV shows, films, novels, etc. all hold cultural values, and they can support a writer’s claim about culture.

This should take you 25-30 min. I’ll want to check in and ask global questions around this time and help us expand our discussions of American Values.

Peer Review Round 2

Exchange your essay with another classmate. Do your best not to read what the previous reviewer wrote. Read the draft once. Try to get a sense of the purpose for the draft. A thesis statement could clue you into what the main idea of the essay is, but try to determine the main point from the material. In one to two sentences, restate the main point of the paper. At this point, the writer should have two separate readers giving their opinions on what the main purpose of the paper is. If these two reviews align, that’s fine. If not, the writer will have to consider why there’s a disconnect between the reviewers.*

Everyone can do this unless you weren’t reading. David F. Noble traces a thousand years of history, demonstrating that technological and scientific pursuits were conditioned by cultural forces and, more importantly, hegemony (the elite run things, and their values are considered over the masses). Find two passages (quotations) from Noble or our other readings that can contribute to an analysis on how the technology has or had an origin that was not common (for the everyday person at first) but stemmed from a powerful group. Even if the technology appears to be for anyone, we know that technologies are often pursued by the interests of those more powerful first; then, the technology makes its way to the everyday consumer.

For instance, we’ve talked about how military applications such as the precursor to the Internet was researched and developed by the government. The Internet wasn’t developed to allow online shopping; it started as a way for the military to share information about research. Remember, technologies often trickle down to consumers, and, as we’ve read, it’s not unusual for technologies to be used by powerful groups (the government, the rich, etc.) before being commonplace.

If a discussion on hegemony doesn’t make sense for the essay’s context, help the writer with adding examples of how the technology embodies cultural values. Notice this is different from the 1st peer-review round: In Peer-Review Round 1, you need to focus on culture–not technology; in Peer-Review Round 2, you focus on the technology.

This 2nd peer review round should take you 25-30 min. Make sure the writer follows the formatting directions for the essay.

*Yes, reviewers disagree. Sometimes they disagree so much you’d think they were reading different versions of a piece of writing. In future discussions on writing, we’ll get into some of this. I have examples from my own work.

Post-Peer Review

After you’re done, work on your papers or do this week’s Canvas post! I expect we’ll be in class until 3:45.

Next Class

Whether we meet face to face or not, we’ll be getting into Neuromancer. Your should be finished with it by Monday. Remember, I’m asking you to read and think critically about the text. Keep up with your Online Postings…I may be adding another one.

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