Rhetoric-in-Practice (RIP) Project and Essay

PURPOSE
This project shifts the rhetorical situation from being the audience of a message (trying to build a deep understanding of the meaning of the text, the context in which the sender created it, and the audiences to which it speaks) to one in which you yourself are a creator, producing a text that is relevant to the class theme or texts. The Rhetoric-in-Practice assignment is intended to give you a deeper appreciation of what it means to make specific rhetorical choices to serve your message and an opportunity to reflect on how those choices affect the message you are sending and the audience that you reach with it. In this way, the RIP is a culmination of the work you’ve done in this class with respect to your understanding of both genre and rhetoric.

ASSIGNMENT
The RIP assignment, again, has two parts: project and essay.

Project: You will craft a creative text, having selected a purpose and audience that addresses the class theme (or responds to one of the class texts). You will then select an appropriate genre for this project, and demonstrate your rhetorical know-how by selecting appropriate rhetorical choices for this situation. In other words, your create text will operate within a clear rhetorical framework—with a clear context, belonging to an identifiable genre, and with a clear purpose and audience—that addresses the class theme (or responds to one of the class texts).

The RIP project should involve a text-based genre and can involve, but is not limited to, the following:
• Academic or scientific article for a specific audience/publication
• Dictionary/travel guide/educational materials
• Philosophical treatise
• Website/blog
• Op-Ed or other news genre
• How-to/instructional manual
• Manifesto/policy statement/mission statement/platform/declaration
• Letter (personal, business, etc.)
• Review for a specific publication (book, film, game, restaurant)
• Speech or presentation (with speaking notes) for a specific audience/purpose

Essay: You will also write a companion essay that describes your creative and revision process, analyzes the rhetorical choices you made and assesses your success at meeting your goals in this project. (Think of a “making of” documentary.) The essay should build on your work in the RA essay and include secondary sources that demonstrate, among other things, your understanding of your chosen genre and your understanding of the texts/ideas you’ve studied throughout the quarter.

REQUIREMENTS
Because this is a project that may take time, the planning for the RIP project starts in week one. Written proposals (from an informal “ideas” dump, to a more formal and detailed proposal) will be turned in at key points during the quarter, and should show that you’re engaged with the creative work of planning all parts of the project (purpose, audience, genre, etc.) Drafts, peer review, and revision are required elements of the assignment. Your instructor will coach you about projects that do not have a clear purpose or audience, seem to misunderstand the chosen genre, or are likely to be too ambitious, but you need to show ownership of your own process and product.