Digital Rhetoric.
When I first read this term, I thought of academia. Jargon. Complex literary theory that was a foreign language. With my zero background in the subject, I assumed the class would be what I interpreted those two words to mean: writing online, and then learning how to do that well.
Turns out, I wasn’t too far from the truth. Digital rhetoric is about writing for digital medias, but it’s more complicated than slapping text into a Word Doc or blog post. It’s understanding the world of visual media, multiliteracies, modes of meaning, and multimodal composition. All of these are terms that overwhelmed me, but I soon found them comprehensible, and even useful, to my journey as a student and writer.
Digital Rhetoric and Writing, ENG 333, when taken with Dr. Kevin Mahoney is a worthwhile experience. I sat in class on day one with low expectations and mere guesses as to what the class would entail. What followed was mind-opening.
First, you’ll create a WordPress. Having already developed my author blog, I made the website with ease and little regard for how it turned out. Yet technological obstacles forced me to depend on the professor and his guidance. His insight on something that seemed insignificant and just-for-school helped open my mind to recognizing the power of something as simple as a blog. It’s a method of communication, of persuasion. It’s a powerful tool for text, videos, and images. It’s published and public, and therefore has the capacity for bringing about change.
So, in a matter of days, I started to enter digital rhetoric with an open mind. That’s perhaps my greatest advice to you. Come with an open mind. Then tuck in your elbows and read the assigned texts, because through them, your entire perspective will change. Mine certainly did.
Step 1: Explore the building blocks.
Your first assigned article will be chapter one of Douglas Eyman’s “Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, and Practice.” Push through this text. Eyman gives you the meta-language vocabulary that prepares you for navigating the course. What is rhetoric? Text? What does digital media encompass? Why is it different? His article discusses these definitions, but brace yourself, because his paper is dense, complicated, and filled with references to all sorts of literary theory that he assumes you understand. Check out these summaries of the text before reading: “Breaking Down Digital Rhetoric” and “Defining Digital Rhetoric, Pt. II”. These videos also provide a visual and audio explanation for these core concepts.
Step 2: Multiliteracies.
Don’t let this academic term scare you. “Multiliteracies: The Beginning of an Idea,” written by Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis, provides a helpful introduction. Then the New London Group’s discussion in “A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies” dives headfirst into its literacy theories. But, being candid, I was lost in the London Group’s paper. It spoke to an audience well-versed in rhetoric, and only a couple weeks into the course, I definitely didn’t qualify as well-versed.
Still give these articles a shot, but this summary might help you understand where the authors are coming from. When you’re done reading, these videos summarize the most important ideas surrounding multiliteracies.
Step 3: Visual Communication.
Visual communication plays a huge role in digital media, and therefore in digital rhetoric. After all, when you go online, text is rarely by itself. You see images, colors, and videos that accompany it. Diana George’s “From Analysis to Design: Visual Communication in the Teaching of Writing” stresses the importance of visuals in this field. Here is a summary of her argument and important terms to know.
Step 4: Composition is Evolving.
With the growth of technology and multiliteracies, composition can no longer be taught just one way. If everyone learns and communicates differently, how can we expect people to successfully create in one cookie-cutter style? Kathleen Blake Yancey expands on this idea in her “Made Not Only in Words: Composition in a New Key” (summary and key terms). While you may not be a teacher who needs to adjust their curriculum to this, it helps to understand how multiliteracies apply in the real world. Understanding is the first step to successfully creating.
Step 5: Aurality.
It’s just a fancy way of saying audio/oral communication. In Cynthia Selfe’s “The Movement of Air, the Breath of Meaning: Aurality and Multimodal Composition,” she helps you to understand how audio, just like visuals, has an important role in today’s world of communication. And if it’s so prevalent, we should consider its uses in composition. Here’s a summary of this, along with some of the overarching concepts that head her argument.
So. In short.
This class introduces big, abstract ideas, but they’re worth your time. With these articles and supplementary material, you’ll have the tools you need to succeed. You’ll have a whole new and profound understanding of how digital media, multimodal composition, and rhetoric affect our lives. And in understanding this, you’ll be equipped to change the world.
Because if we’re being honest, social media posts, podcasts, blogs, Youtube channels, articles, and art grab people’s attentions. They bring about the change.
Learn how to use digital rhetoric. Trust the process.
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