A 10:002 or 10:003 Unit ~ Rhetorics of Portraits: Controversies of Representation

Introduction and Theme

Rhetorics of Portraits, a four week unit applicable in 10:002 or 10:003, introduces students to the fundamentals of analysis and composition of written and visual texts. Using a combination of readings from the Convergences textbook and a variety of in-class activities, the unit invites students to investigate controversies surrounding representations of the world they inhabit. The readings cross a broad terrain of issues, allowing individual instructors the flexibility to emphasize sub-themes and controversies of their choosing (or of the students’ choosing, if the instructor desires). The unit is not structured around a singular or unified public controversy; rather, it is designed to allow instructors to move among numerous controversial issues that may arise in the readings or in discussion. At the core of the unit are questions of how we represent ourselves, how we represent the world around us, and how we negotiate the representations that fill our daily lives. These controversies of representation offer new ways to engage students who may find these questions less polarizing and more exciting than more familiar debates on controversial issues such as gun control or violent video games or pornography. The unit incorporates a major speaking and writing assignment in which students demonstrate analytic skills using texts of their choosing, thereby creating opportunities to engage in intellectual challenge with media the students find intriguing. The theme of portraits opens pathways for students to explore the use of photography and imagery more broadly in a number of genres and media, and to consider the politics involved in creating and consuming representations of ourselves and others. While the primary rhetorical skill gained is analysis, there are also opportunities to introduce the concept of mapping.

Goals

Students who complete the Rhetorics of Portraits of unit should be able to:

1. Analyze the content and composition of visual and verbal texts using basic rhetorical principles.
2. Consider the role of context in shaping an audience’s response to a text.
3. Discuss the role of captions in shaping an audience’s interpretation of a visual text.
4. Define the concept of persona and the purposes and effect of this strategy for speaker and audience.
5. Describe controversies surrounding themes or issues the instructor chooses to emphasize in the readings, potentially including stereotypes, class, race, gender, capital punishment, representations of violence in the media, notions of family, and rural/urban differences and stereotypes.