Programs and Areas
Rhetoric, Composition and Literacy
Student Work Showcase
Fall quarter, students in Cindy Selfe’s Digital Media classes learned to use digital media in the composition process. Students in English 880 and English 367 chose an issue they considered of importance to address during the term. They researched this issue, examined how it was currently framed in terms of public perception, and designed a Public Service Announcement (PSA) that was rhetorically effective for a specific audience. They did their own video and audio recording, and employed images and sounds that were licensed for use by other creators – making sure that they respected copyright and intellectual property issues.
A video PSA by Kathryn Comer for English 880: Composition Seminar Digital Media http://streaming1.osu.edu/ramgen/media2/rhetcomp07/KatieComer.rm
A video PSA by Aaron Barber for English 367: The American Experience: Digital Media Advocacy http://streaming1.osu.edu/ramgen/media2/rhetcomp07/AaronBarber.rm
A video PSA by Christopher Lee for English 367: The American Experience: Digital Media Advocacy http://streaming1.osu.edu/ramgen/media2/rhetcomp07/ChrisLeePSA.rm
These individual pieces are part of a longer assignment sequence which involved students in creating print, audio, and video PSAs on the same subject. The sequence as a whole was designed to help students explore the semiotic capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of audio, video, and print as communicative modalities – both practically and intellectually. This goal is especially important in a world where communications are increasingly expected to cross linguistic, cultural, and geopolitical borders, and communicators are expected to take advantage of digital composing environments that allow for communication that exceeds the alphabetic. As part these classes, all students were asked to compare the affordances of the various semiotic modes (audio, video, print) within the context of the specific rhetorical task they were undertaking – and to analyze how to take advantage of various communicative channels as they composed. The assignment sequence helped students to identify a clear rhetorical focus for their message, analyze the rhetorical situation in which that message was to be communicated, and formulate a concise and effective media text for a specific audience.
To read more about Digital Media visit the Digital Media Project web site.
