Deadlines:

• Draft #1A (Statement of Purpose and Design Plan) – Monday, November 12th
• Draft #2A (Statement of Purpose and Design Plan) – Wednesday, November 14th
• Draft #1B (Beginning stages of project) – Monday, November 19th
• Individual conference – Monday, November 19th and Tuesday, November 20th
• Draft #2B (Project should be 75% complete) – Monday, November 26th
• Final Draft (All components) – Wednesday, November 28th

This assignment will be based largely on some of the rhetorical considerations found in our reading from Wysocki and Lynch as well as in the handout from class on 11/5 (McWhorter chapter 11). In this final project, we will continue to confront the topic, issue, question, or problem you have been addressing in our previous assignments. You’ll build on the rhetorical and research skills that you’ve developed over the course of the semester to create a multimodal project geared toward a specific audience, using at least one distinct pattern of development, about a localized concern.

This project could take one of many shapes. Some potential options might be:

1. A researched letter (written in APA style) directed toward a person or group with influence over your localized concern. (Remember that this will still have to be multimodal, so think of ways to incorporate modes other than text.)
2. A researched proposal suggesting a potential class, campaign, service, or some other project-based solution to the localized concern you’re trying to address and targeted at an actual, existing grant or CFP (call for proposals). This might take the shape of an expanded version of your Annotated Bibliography and Literature Review. (again – remember that this should be more than just text.)
3. A Kickstarter campaign or a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a project, complete with a proposal video. Note: you are not required to actually publish this campaign, but you can if you wish.
4. An informative, persuasive, researched video with a “call to action” to help educate a group of stakeholders about a problem and a potential set of solutions to the problem. Note: just as you wouldn’t do so for a paper, do not simply present me with unedited video — you must shape and edit your work.
5. A podcast or audio recording to help educate a group of stakeholders about a problem and a potential set of solutions. Note: As I say above, do not simply present me with unedited audio — you must shape and edit your work.
6. A photo essay or art display addressing a specific theme related to the problem you are confronting, complete with artist statements about each piece included in the collection and a proposal for exhibiting the work at a specific location in the future.
7. A website or blog featuring researched discussions as well as personal stories.
8. Have another idea? Run it by me: I’m open to other formats. There are many good ideas mentioned in Wysocki and Lynch’s chapter, too!

Two of the only forms I will not accept are a presentation with a digital slideshow or a traditional research paper. I want you to move out of your comfort zone with this, and to really consider what is both effective and eye-catching.

In addition to the project (whatever form it takes), you’ll need to turn in a statement of purpose and design plan explaining the project, your rhetorical strategies, and the pattern of development (see McWhorter handout) you’ve chosen to use. For this, we will follow the outline described in Wysocki and Lynch’s chapter.

Keep the following elements in mind as you compose this project. Your project should:

• Articulate a clear, specific, appropriately narrowed, local issue in compelling and rich detail using “show-don’t-tell” techniques and appealing to logos, ethos, and pathos
• Interest, engage, excite, and persuade your potential stakeholder and audience
• Include claims, evidence, and warrants (as we discussed in our class regarding source integration)
• Make use of the academic sources in your annotated bibliography (and add in new sources when necessary)
• Cite all sources (including images) using APA or MLA style. If you’re using a medium that can’t elegantly integrate APA/MLA, use an alternate citation system more appropriate to the mode/genre. (We can talk about what that might look like together.)
• Propose, if appropriate, a researched “solution” to the problem you’ve articulated (If you choose to do something like a Kickstarter or a research proposal, it will probably focus on a solution)
• Address a clear, specific, accessible stakeholder or group of stakeholders who you could reasonably access
• Be around 5-7 pages long, if you are doing a project that is mostly text-based. If you do a presentation, a video, an audio recording, etc., you should be aiming for about a 5-7 minutes worth of content.

In your statement of purpose and design plan, keep in mind the following:

• Follow the outline listed in Wysocki and Lynch’s chapter
• Why did you choose this particular medium to deliver your message to your stakeholder? Your reasons should show your knowledge of your stakeholder’s values and your skill in persuading them. Don’t just say something like “The video is more engaging than a research paper, so I did a video,” or “I’m really good at giving presentations, so I decided to make one.” Give a detailed explanation that justifies the decision that you’ve made based on your purpose and your audience.
• Demonstrate how you have engaged, excited, and interested your stakeholder (and not just yourself). Cite specific examples from your project, and give compelling reasons why this would speak to your particular, specific audience (who should not be “humans everywhere”).
• Explain the pattern of development you used. Why did you choose that pattern, specifically? How does it help you engage with the stakeholders more effectively than the patterns you did not choose to use?
• Explain your use of sources in the project. Use APA or MLA style in the rationale each time you reference a source, and explain the source integration choices you made in the project.
• If it isn’t already clear (i.e. if you’re not doing a Kickstarter where the “solution” to the problem is the thing that you’re raising money to do), discuss how your project proposes or begins to address, if appropriate, a researched “solution” to the problem you’ve articulated.
• If it isn’t already a clear (i.e. if the video / podcast / etc. doesn’t state this), mention the specific, accessible stakeholder or group of stakeholders who you could reasonably access.

Having trouble finding an accessible digital app or program to help with your project? Take a look at the list I’ve compiled on the Helpful Resources page.

Draft Requirements:

Draft #1A

• This draft content should be included in the 1st draft Strategy Project doc in your shared folder (document #10)
• Statement of purpose acting as an outline of the project using the format in Wysocki and Lynch’s chapter
  • Consider who is your local audience? what is your purpose? what modes will you use? what tools/platforms will you use to edit the project? what content will you include? how will you arrange that content? what sources will you use? how will you cite your sources? what will your step-by-step process be for completing the assignment? what questions do you have as you move forward? what pattern of development will you use? what rhetorical choices are you making? and why?

Draft #2A

• The content of this draft should be included in document #11 in your Google shared folder
• Should be a revised statement of purpose and design plan according to peer review comments

Draft #1B

• If possible, include this content at the bottom of document #10 in your Google shared folder, after your design plan draft. If your project is taking on a non-text-based format, please include a link to the project there, or images of the physical project there.
• Your project should absolutely be started, although it does not have to be complete at this stage. During our conference, we will look at the project and discuss steps for completing it.

Draft #2B

• Project content should be included or linked in document #11 in your Google shared folder, after your second draft of your design plan.
• Project should be about 75% complete and ready to be viewed, read, listened to, etc. in class
• In class, we will peer review the project

Final Draft

• All components of your project should be included or linked in document #12 in your Google shared folder
• Your statement of purpose and design plan should be completely revised
• Your project should be complete and accessible, with revisions taking into account feedback you’ve received
• All citations should be included appropriately, and you should have a complete, properly-formatted reference page