This assignment asks you to apply what you’ve learned this semester through our course texts, discussions, and presentations in order to make an argument for how a postmodern, posthumanist, feminist, decolonial or postcolonial theoretical framework can help us address one of the societal/global issues we are currently facing or an issue we are working through in Rhetoric and Composition.
A Case for Revisited Ideas Final Essay (30%)
1. You will write a 16-20 page (4,000-6,000 word) essay in which you make an argument for the value of one of the non-contemporary theoretical frameworks we have studied during the semester addressing a societal/global issue or an issue being currently discussed in Rhetoric and Composition.
2. If you choose to address a societal/global issue, you should:
Select an issue we’re undergoing as a society or globally. The possibilities are wide open. You can choose to address political issues, activist and protest movements, environmental and social issues, a situation that a particular country or group of people are facing, issues faced by women, people of color, queer people, disabled people, working-class and poor people, etc. You will need to research that issue through scholarly writing, news articles, statistics from credible organizations, etc.
Create arguments for the ways in which some of the postmodern, posthumanist, feminist, decolonial or postcolonial theory we’ve read helps us address the issue you want to research.
As you build that argument, explain the issue you are addressing and cite the sources you researched as you do so. Use sources we read in class to explain how the particular theoretical framework you selected could help us find a new way in which to engage with the issue. You need to substantially cite our course readings. Please engage with our readings extensively.
Although you are certainly welcome to do additional research on theorists from the theoretical framework you select, the gist of your argument should come from the readings we’ve done in class.
Don’t feel like you need to solve the whole issue for us. Your task is rather to propose alternative ways of thinking about the situation and new ways of thinking about solutions, possibilities, etc.
Make sure to also point out the weaknesses in what you are proposing, which is a sign that you’ve done deep thinking about the issue and about how theory can and can’t apply to it.
3. If you choose to address the an issue in Rhetoric and Composition, you should:
Look at some of the questions we are currently asking in the field or some of the theoretical arguments we are engaging in. In order to do so, you can look at recent issues of some of our journals, read/watch recent talks by CCCC Chairs, or look at interactions happening on our listservs.
After having looked at the possibilities, select one issue that interests you and think about how some of the postmodern, posthumanist, feminist, decolonial or postcolonial theory we’ve read helps us address that issue.
As you build that argument, explain the issue you are addressing and cite the sources you researched as you do so. Use sources we read in class to explain how the particular theoretical framework you selected could help us find a new way in which to engage with the issue. You need to substantially cite our course readings. Please engage with our readings extensively.
Although you are certainly welcome to do additional research on theorists from the theoretical framework you select, the gist of your argument should come from the readings we’ve done in class.
Don’t feel like you need to solve the whole issue for us. Your task is rather to propose alternative ways of thinking about the situation and new ways of thinking about solutions, possibilities, etc.
Make sure to also point out the weaknesses in what you are proposing, which is a sign that you’ve done deep thinking about the issue and about how theory can and can’t apply to it.
Essay Delivery Please complete your essay in Microsoft Word and title it using Revisited Ideas Essay and your last name, i.e. Revisited Ideas Essay Arola. Email your essay to [email protected] by 5/1 by 11:59pm. The subject of your email should be Revisited Ideas Essay.
Initial Thoughts on Final Essay Presentation (5%)
1. Put together a 5-minute Powerpoint/Prezi presentation where you tell us whether you’re going to work on a societal/global issue or on a field issue. Then tell us which issue you’re thinking of addressing. If you’re trying to decide between various ideas, feel free to talk about them and ask for help choosing.
2. Discuss the theoretical framework (postmodern, posthumanist, feminist, decolonial or postcolonial) you’re considering. If you’re trying to decide between various frameworks, feel free to talk about them and ask for help choosing.
3. This is your time to make sense of the project with a group of people who are embarking on a similar journey. Make sure to ask the questions you want answered as the project takes shape for you.
Delivery You will deliver your presentation on 2/25. Please add your presentation titled Initial Thoughts Presentation and your last name, i.e. Initial Thoughts Presentation Sullivan to the folder titled Initial Thoughts Presentation on our course Google drive. Please be mindful of time. You have five minutes to present and we’ll have five minutes for questions from your classmates.
Final Essay Ideas Reshaped Presentation (5%)
1. Put together a 5-minute Powerpoint/Prezi presentation where you give us a summary of the societal/global issue or field issue you have selected for your final essay and tell us which theoretical framework (postmodern, posthumanist, feminist, decolonial or postcolonial) you will apply to it.
2. Explain to us how you think your chosen theoretical framework will help address the issue you have selected.
3. List five sources you aim to draw from about your chosen issue and at least two sources you aim to use for the theoretical framework you have selected. At least one of the latter sources must come from our course readings.
4. List any issues that worry you as you work on your essay and any questions you would like the class to help you with.
5. This is your time to make sense of the project with a group of people who are embarking on a similar journey. Make sure to ask the questions you want answered as the project takes shape for you.
Delivery You will deliver your presentation on 3/31. Please add your presentation titled Ideas Reshaped Presentation and your last name, i.e. Ideas Reshaped Presentation Milanés to the folder titled Ideas Reshaped Presentation on our course Google drive. Please be mindful of time. You have five minutes to present and we’ll have five minutes for questions from your classmates.
Questions
If you have questions about this assignment, feel free to email me, stop by my office hours, or make an appointment.