Week 4/Day 11– Friday, September 15th
Homework Due
· Critically read Eli Saslow’s article “Food Stamps Put Rhode Island Town on Monthly Boom-and Bust Cycle” in the Food reader. After reading it:
o Make a list of the stakeholders you believe have a stake in the issue, based on our definition of the term during class, and explain what their stake is – that is, what they have to gain or lose in the context of the issue.
o Come to class ready to discuss the stakeholders and their stake in the issue.
· Critically read about “writing to solve problems” in pp. 154-155 of your JTC.
· Spend some time looking through the Food Reader. Jot down a few topics that potentially interest you. Skim articles that are about that particular topic. Closely read at least one. Brainstorm stakeholders in the issue that’s discussed in that article and think through what they have to gain/lose in the context of the issue. From your list of stakeholders and what they have to gain/lose, begin brainstorming specific aspects of the issue that you want to focus on. What problems are associated with this issue? What possible solutions could help solve that problem? Hold onto this document. You will add to it in the coming days.
Lesson Objectives
· Make connections between stakeholders and potential audiences;
· Learn about synthesis as a way of offering something new to a conversation on an issue;
· Learn about exigency and its importance in rhetorical writing;
· Consider the important link between purpose and audience when writing.
Prep
Re-read the “Food Stamps…” article and be sure you have drafted your own list of potential stakeholders for the issue. Review the assigned readings in JTC to familiarize yourself with the info your students read for homework. Though you’re not formally introducing A2 until later in the week, it could also be helpful to review it just so you better understand what today’s lesson is leading up to. For homework students were also asked to look at an article in the Food Reader and begin thinking about stakeholders in that issue, so you may want to have your own list of stakeholders for the A1 articles.
Materials
· WTL Questions Overhead/Slide
· Definition of Synthesis & Exigence Overhead/Slide
· Materials for the “practicing problem-solving” activity (varies, depending on your use of technology. See below for more info.)
Lead-In
Today’s class focuses heavily on introducing some rhetorical vocabulary that will be essential throughout the rest of the semester (including “synthesis” and “exigency”), as well as establishing the important link between purpose and audience in writing rhetorically. In a problem-solving proposal, as students will be doing for A2, it’s important for them to understand the way the audience will shape the proposed solution (since the solution they propose must be logical and able to be implemented by their stakeholder audience.) The purpose of today’s lesson is to help students understand that an audience cannot be chosen without also thinking of the purpose of the writing, since one will heavily influence the other.
ACTIVITIES
Attendance (1 minute)
Transition: Last time you turned in A1 and we began talking and thinking about stakeholders. To further explore stakeholders, you read “Food Stamps…” for homework and thought about the stakeholders who have an interest in the issue. We’re going to start today by doing a bit of writing about the things you read for today.
WTL: Identifying Stakeholders and Emerging Issues (10-15 minutes)
· Based on your reading of the “Food Stamps…” article, identify two stakeholders in the issue and explain what their stake in the issue is and why (i.e., what they have to gain and/or lose in the context of the issue and why).
· Be sure to be clear, thorough, and specific (since part of your purpose here is to demonstrate your close and critical reading of the text).
After students are done writing, lead a brief discussion of the students’ responses. What stakeholders did they identify? What is their stake in the issue?
(As you discuss the stakeholders, be sure to eventually lead students to this question): Of the many groups who have a stake in the issue, which stakeholder(s) seems to be the audience for the article? How do you know?
Help students understand that writers have to carefully consider stakeholders when writing about issues but they must also choose an audience that makes sense for their purpose, which is what we’ll focus on today.
Transition: Explain that when you’re going to write about an issue for an audience who cares, as we’re doing for A2, identifying stakeholders is a first step in choosing an audience. After all, if the person/group to whom you’re writing doesn’t care and has no stake in the issue, they’re unlikely to read what you’ve written. But there’s more to it than just choosing a stakeholder as an audience, which we’ll explore now.
Understanding the Link between Purpose and Audience, Defining Important Terms (10 minutes)
· Draw the rhetorical situation model on the board and have students help you label it. Explain that as we embark on the second assignment, we’re going to develop some important skills and better understand writing as a rhetorical practice.
o Point out TEXT/GENRE: This is something we’ll focus on in A2 since we’ll be writing in the genre of a proposal for Assignment 2.
o Point out AUDIENCE: an important focus for our second assignment since we’ll be choosing a stakeholder to be the audience for our project and we’ll have to consider and appeal to their needs, values, and knowledge as we write for this audience;
o Point out PURPOSE: also something we’ll emphasize over the course of this unit. We’ll have a few purposes with this assignment: identify a problem and explain its exigency, as well as synthesizing multiple sources to offer something new to the conversation.
§ Define exigency. First you may see if any students are familiar with the term; if not, offer the following definitions: “something that is necessary in any particular situation” (Merriam-Webster.com); “the state or quality of requiring much effort or immediate action; a pressing or urgent situation” (thefreedictionary.com). You could write these definitions on the board or project an overhead slide, in order to allow students to copy these definitions down.
· In our class, specifically, when we refer to exigent issues, we’re talking about issues that matter and need to be addressed. After all, some stakeholders may care about issues that aren’t particularly exigent – that is, issues that THEY care about but that others don’t deem pressing or urgent.
§ Define synthesis. Here, too, you may want to see if students are familiar with the term, and then elaborate on any answer they offer: “something that is made by combining different things (such as ideas, styles, etc.)” (Merriam-Webster.com).
· In our class, specifically, synthesis refers to bringing multiple sources together and, through combining those sources and adding your own unique insights, offering something new to the conversation on an issue.
· In addition to solving a problem, which is an important purpose of A2, another important purpose is synthesis: that is, bringing together multiple sources through our reading, filtering them through our own ideas, thoughts, values, and creativity, and offering something new to the conversation.
· (You could draw or project the image below to help some of your students better understand what you mean by “synthesis” – that is, bringing together sources and the unique, creative ideas of the individual writer to offer something new to the conversation.)
· Explain that a major focus of today’s lesson is on purpose and its relationship to audience.
o Ask: What is the author’s purpose with the food stamps article? And how does that relate to the audience for the article?
§ Help students see that many stakeholders care about the issue, but not all have the power to implement change and solve the problem described in the article. Given that the author published in The Washington Post, at least some of his audience are likely policymakers who have the power to bring about change and potentially help solve the problem.
Practice Choosing an Audience for a Specific Purpose (20-25 minutes)
Transition: Because our purpose with A2 is identifying and explaining a problem and offering a solution, we have to make sure that we choose an audience who is logical for the purpose. After all, proposing a solution to an audience who has no power to implement that solution isn’t logical and could frustrate an audience and keep you from achieving your purpose. In order to better understand how important it is to consider purpose and audience simultaneously, we’re going to spend some time practicing this skill.
Tip: Before showing the video and “diving in” to the activity, preview the entire activity by explaining what will happen and what they’ll do after watching the video.
Explain to your students that you’re first going to watch a brief video to learn about an exigent problem in our world, then:
· Your purpose with this activity is to come up with a creative solution to the problem.
· Work with your group members to choose an audience to “pitch” your solution to. Be sure your audience is logical for your purpose. Does this audience have the power and resources to implement this solution?
· Explain why this issue is exigent for the audience. In other words, why is this issue urgent or timely for this particular stakeholder? Why should they care? What’s their stake in the issue?
· At the end of class your group will turn in:
o An explanation of your solution to the problem;
o Which audience you chose to direct your ideas towards and why they’re a logical audience, given your purpose;
o An explanation of why this issue is exigent for the audience.
Tip: The video you use for this activity can vary widely. One that is fun and funny (but still gets the point of the activity across) is from The Onion, “Bratz Dolls May Give Young Girls Unrealistic Expectations of Head Size” (a quick Google search will find the video for you). Other videos from The Onion could work, also, as could a number of their print articles. If you don’t feel comfortable showing videos or can’t show videos due to technology limitations in your classroom, there are many print articles – both serious and silly – that could work well for this activity, too. Alternatively, you could show a video (or have students read a short article) about a more serious problem related to food or American culture or politics. Whatever video or article you choose, keep in mind: it should be relatively short (a video should be under 5 minutes, an article only a page or two) and it should discuss a problem that students can brainstorm a solution to in their groups.
Watch the video (or read the article) and give students some time to think creatively to solve the problem. As students work, move around the room listening in to their solutions and the audience they’ve chosen. Be sure to help them understand that the stakeholder audience must be logical for the purpose and have the power to implement the solution.
Tip: The critical thinking required for this activity may be harder for students than you initially expect. Students tend to understand the concept of stakeholders fairly quickly, but when asked to think about stakeholders combined with thinking about their ability to implement a proposed solution can sometimes “stump” students. If you find students aren’t making the connections, help guide them to think about potentially changing their solution OR changing the audience they’re “pitching” it to.
· For example, if using the clip about the Bratz dolls, a group may want to solve the problem by shrinking the heads of the Bratz dolls to be in better proportion to their bodies and want to “pitch” that solution to an audience of parents. Help them understand that parents don’t have the power to implement that change (meaning the purpose doesn’t match the audience) and lead them to understanding that the manufacturers of the Bratz dolls would be a better audience for that solution. Alternatively, that group could maintain the audience of parents and think of a different solution, such as forming an advocacy group that petitions the company to change the dolls.
Save some time at the end to hear a few ideas (depending on what problem you want to solve, this can be hilarious!) but make sure that you do a “big picture” connection before showing the homework for next time. Make the point that we’re practicing serious skills. Purpose and audience are at the top of our hierarchy of rhetorical concerns: if the purpose and audience don’t fit together logically, everything else – development, organization, etc. – suffers. It’s vital to think of them together and make sure the audience is logical for the purpose.
Assign homework (3 minutes)
· Print a copy of the A2 assignment on Canvas>Files>Assignment Sheets. (Amend this depending on where you post documents on Canvas). Print out the assignment sheet, critically read and annotate it, and bring questions to class.