Action Steps

Introduction Weve essentially been studying rhetoric all semester: or rather, weve been studying how, in various genres and for various audiences, we create discourses that alter reality in a way that induces new thoughts and actions in an audience. As Bitzer reminds us, rhetoric is about mobilizing others to do something, or the action of bringing into existence a discourse. But as Warner reminds us, when making public arguments, you cant have an impact unless you can effectively circulate your argument to invested audiences. Anything Rhetoric is a mode of altering that addresses a public, he writes, is meant to undergo circulation realityby the creation of (63). So not only do we need to create change through action, but we discourse which changes reality also need to be able to effectively recreate the world of our publics, through the mediation of thought giving it a livable shape through circulation. When making public and action. Thus, the job of the arguments, then, it seems that the rhetor is to alter reality by concept of action plays a huge bringing into existence a discourse role. Coincidentally, action is of such character that the also a key-word in businesses and All discourse or performance audience, in thought and action, is community organizations for addressed to a public must so engaged that it becomes the helping people visualize the characterize the world in which mediator of change. Lloyd change they want in to see in the it attempts to circulate, Bitzer world, whether its through projecting for that world a creative projects, sustaining and concrete and livable shape, and growing business, or organizing attempting to realize that world communities. Thus the objective through address. Michael in this assignment is to take the Warner main idea of your argument and the genre in which youve chosen to make it and envision a detailed action plan thatas fully as possibletakes your argument public, which includes both action and circulation. The Assignment This assignment asks you to map out a step-by-step Action Plan in which you take your argument from the semester before a wider public. You can compose the Action Plan in a variety of formats as long as you include the following information: 1) Action a. What do you plan on doing in public? What are the logistics of making this argument? What will the argument look like? What information will be included in this argument? Are there certain people youll need to get in touch with? Are there certain orga nizations or institutions with whom youll need to consult? Describe this process in detail in order to visualize how your argument might really go public 2) Circulation a. How is your argument going to be heard/read/seen/viewed by your chosen public? What steps will you take to ensure that your argument undergoes circulation by, as Warner writes, postulating and characterizing the world of the public whom you are addressing?

3) Process a. Make sure your Action Plan is between 3-5 pages, well-organized, polished, detailed, and cited properly (if needed)in other words, the draft needs to be indicative of a productive writing process Strategies Be extremely detailed. Think about this practically: if you really wanted to make this argument in this particular genre and have it circulate to the point where you consider it effective how would it happen? Who would you need to call? What would you need to organize? How many components would your argument consist of? For instance, if part of your argument involves making a Twitter feed, dont just say, I will create a Twitter feed. Instead, think about the name of the Twitter account. Is it linked to any other social media accounts? Why Twitter? What kinds of information would be contained in the tweets? Or, as another example, if part of your argument involves arranging physical objects spatially on campus, dont just say: I will place posters on campus. First of all, are you allowed to put posters on campus? Do you need approval first? If so, who do you contact? Do you need to partner with an organization in order to do this? What are some potential organizations that could help you? Or if you want to intentionally break the ruleswhen would you make this argument? In the cover of darkness? Why is it worth the risk? Would people get to see it before it gets taken down? All that this really means is: think critically about the details of your action steps in order to visualize a real public argument before a real audience to enact real change Reflect on your method of circulation. First: what kind of circulation is important to you? Is it important to get 100 followers on Facebook or just to get your argument heard by the right people? Is it somewhere in the middle? In either case, how will you accomplish this? Be specific about your desired circulation first, and then outline your approach to achieving it. Be creative. This goes for all three aspects of the assignment. Be creative in how you enact your public argument. Nothing is off limits. Think big if you want! As long as you present a reasonable action plan to achieve that goal, any kind of argument that conveys the main idea of your original argument is acceptable. Be creative in how you circulate your argument. How will you get followers on social media? How will you ensure your infographic gets seen by the public you want to see it? What encourages us to circulate informationand how can we recreate that impulse for others? Think outside the box if you need to. And finally, be creative in how you write the Action Steps. You can separate the text into headings and write it in a narrative. Or perhaps you can make a timeline. Or maybe you want to incorporate visuals or other digital media. Any way you want to convey this Action Plan is acceptable as long as it adheres to the expectations of the assignment and makes sense to the class.

Action Circulation Process

Action Steps X X X

Scale: 0 3; 0 = no contribution; 1 = some contribution; 2 = valuable contribution; 3 = outstanding contribution