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CRAFTING THE MESSAGE

Spring 2011. Mondays. To find out if classes will meet in bad weather, call 704-337-2567.

_____________________________________________________________________________ Instructor: Office: Phone: Leanne Pupchek, Ph.D. 101 Dana (704) 337-2240 (Office TW) (704) 663-4861 (Home M/Th/F 10 a.m. 3 p.m.)

Office Hours: Tuesdays & Wednesdays 9:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m. After class and by appointment. Textbooks: Yahoo (2010). The Yahoo Style Guide. Eckhouse (1998). Competitive communication: A rhetoric for modern business.

Other resources: All kinds of resources such as these are available on the internet: http://scripped.com/help/nav/script_format http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/howtoformatascreenplay http://www.online-communicator.com/writaud.html http://www.imapbuilder.com/customization/interactive_flowchart.php http://www.docstoc.com/docs/32188490/Two-column-script-format Course Prerequisites: Graduate standing. Course Description: This course examines how writers can use strategic constraints and creative opportunities to plan, compose and publish effective messages in different forms. Strategic communication is intentional communication. Whether you aspire to inform through news, move emotions though film, persuade through public relations or advertising, or transmit culture through stories, you communicate expecting that your audience will respond in a particular way and that your audiences response will serve a predetermined goal.

2 You will plan and craft elements of a harmonized multimedia message for or against a policy (this may include for a non-profit organization.) You will choose a client or policy for which you will create messages that incorporate the styles and strategies we discuss. The course integrates two texts: The Yahoo Style Guide will guide you through developing a contemporary writing styles that consider their effects contemporary platforms; Eckhouses Competitive communication: A rhetoric for modern business applies the strategies of classical rhetoric to analyze and explain how to create and refute arguments to support a claim. We will also consider these important formats to plan audio, visual and multimedia communications: scripts, storyboards and flow charts. Behavioral objectives will help us evaluate our success. Course Objectives: After successfully completing this class, you will be able to: 1. Apply rhetorical concepts to compose an argument for or against a policy or platform. 2. Analyze arguments for fallacies and opportunities to refute them. 3. Plan an argumentation proofline to guide research and communication strategies. 4. Write clear, concise, intentional multimedia messages that support an argument. 5. Write effective messages that consider screen size, Search Engine Optimization and legal requirements. 6. Write effective multimedia messages that work in concert. 7. Demonstrate insights into how media constraints influence multimedia rhetoric and argumentation. M.A. Students: Keep this syllabus and your completed assignments for your Capstone portfolio. Learning Management System: Moodle Submit course assignments and other requested materials using the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). To be able to use this system, your computer equipment must meet these specifications: PC: Access: 56.6 Kbps modem or cable modem/DSL if available Operating system: Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, ME, XP or Vista Browser: Explorer 5.5 or later, Firefox Mac: Access: 56.6 Kbps modem or cable modem/DSL if available Operating system: OS 9 or OS X Browser: Firefox For help with your technology needs, call the QUEST help desk at 704-3372323. For Moodle training, contact williamsja@queens.edu. Course Responsibilities: READING: Please keep up with the assigned reading and respond to it in a page or two of writing before class time.

3 ATTENDING: Please participate in synchronous activities online or on campus. Review this syllabus to confirm the nature of the scheduled class and visit the course homepage for announcements. Call classmates to review class activity. Students who miss more than three classes should meet with me to determine their likelihood of success. That being said, we all want you to miss face-to-face classes if you are sick. Really. CONFORMING TO PROFESSIONAL WRITING STANDARDS: To meet my expectations for the style of your formal written work, please ensure you: 1. Review and follow the honor code. Cutting and pasting anything from the web without attribution is plagiarizing, even if you mix up the order of the words or change them to synonyms. (You can always go to the writing center in the basements of Sykes if you want to improve your prose.) 2. Submit all formal documents word-processed, double-spaced, in 12-point type. 3. Conform to a standard academic reference and citation style. In the graduate program, we prefer American Psychological Association (APA) style. The library has quick reference guides, as do many websites. 4. Use standard print fonts (Arial, Times Roman, Helvetica). 5. Number each page of your document in the upper right-hand corner. 6. Ensure your name, course number, and e-mail address appears on every the document. (Even if you e-mail the assignment to me, once I have opened an attachment and saved it the course file, I cant put the e-mail address and the assignment together.) COMPLETING ASSIGNMENTS: Submit assignments by the beginning of class on the due date. Reflections on the readings Demonstrate how you are engaging the readings and apply the style techniques from Yahoo and Eckhouse (Ch. 8-12) as we discuss them. Due: Weekly Value: 5% for 8 weeks Analyzing Web Communication Apply the Yahoo checklist on p. 108 to a website to analyze its accessibility and effectiveness. Due: Feb. 7 Value: 15% Proofline Follow the proofline of an argument (Ch. 4) put forth in a documentary, recommendation or proposal that may be related to your chosen client or policy.

4 Due: Feb. 21 Value: 15% Audio/Video Script and Illustrated Podcast Argue your side of a policy case. Due: April 11 Value: 30% Students with disabilities: If you are a student with a verified disability and you require accommodations, please provide me with the memorandum from Student Disability Services. If you have questions or need such verification, contact: Sandy Rogelberg, MA, LPC, NCC Phone: 704-337-2508 Email: rogelbes@queens.edu

Proposed Schedule:
Please read the assigned chapters and articles (use the librarys online resources to find the journal articles), prepare a 1- to 2-page response to the readings for class, complete assigned exercises, post assigned materials to Moodle wikis and participate in synchronous activities as assigned. Jan 24 Rhetorical considerations: Film: Hero Discussion: What does Hero have to do with strategic rhetoric? Homework: 1. Choose a political client, non-profit or policy to champion. 2. Complete readings, reflections and exercises. Last day to drop Rhetorical and style considerations: Online class. Reading: Eckhouse Ch. 1, Yahoo! Ch. 1-6 Reflection: Respond to Hero according to concepts in Eckhouse Ch. 1 and post to wiki by 6 p.m. Exercises: Complete these Yahoo Style Guide Exercises before class: 1. Analyze an audience p. 24 2. Chart your voice characteristics p. 43 3. Is your site accessible p. 113. After reading contributions to Wiki, join online synchronous chat 7-8 p.m. to discuss them (7 to 7:30 p.m.) and the exercises (7:30 8 p.m.): Homework: 1. Analyze online materials promoting your chosen client or policy according to the Yahoo. 2. Find out more about Yahoo! and Google analytics and contribute to next

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5 weeks analytics wiki. Feb. 7 Audience considerations: Online. Reading: Eckhouse Ch. 2-3, Yahoo Ch. 7, 8, 9. Due: Web analyses. After reading contributions to Wikis and web analyses, join online synchronous chat 7-8 p.m. regarding audience. Homework: 1. Respond to readings. Argument: On-campus class and discussion. Reading: Eckhouse Ch. 4, 5, 6 Bernhardt, Stephen A. (Feb. 1986). Seeing the text. College composition and communication 37:1, 66-78. Birdsell & Goarke (1996 Summer). Toward a theory of visual argument, Argumentation and advocacy 33, 1-10. Film: An inconvenient truth Online Argumentation and Resources: Online. Reading: Eckhouse Ch. 7, Yahoo 16, 17, 18, 19 Shauf, Michele (March 2001). The problem of electronic argument: A Humanistss perspective, Computers and composition, 33-37. Analyze websites for and against policy according to prooflines. Evaluate according to SEO and legal considerations. Start a wordlist that you think they might need. After reading contributions to Wikis and web analyses, join online synchronous chat 7-8 p.m. Chat: How do these considerations influence the argument(s)? Topic development and research: Online. Reading: Lanham (1994). The implications of electronic information for the sociology of knowledge. Leonardo 27:2, 155-163. Stroupe, C. (2000, May). Visualizing English: Recognizing the hybrid literacy of visual and verbal authorship on the web. College English 62:5, p. 607-632. And as assigned. After reading contributions to Wikis and web analyses, join online synchronous chat 7-8 p.m. 7 11 14 Macintosh workshop: On campus. Reading: As assigned. Last day to withdraw No class. Spring Break.

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6 21 28 Apr. 4 11 18 25 Production. Professor available on campus. Production. Professor available online. Production. Professor available on campus. Presentations, discussion on campus Presentations, discussion on campus. Presentations, discussion if needed.