Our midterm will be another writing assignment similar to our short papers. There is not a minimum length requirement; instead, there is a minimum time requirement. You should spent at least the equivalent of one class period (an hour and fifteen minutes) writing the midterm. You would be welcome to do this during our actual class time on Tuesday, March 16, as the midterm is due at the end of class that day (submitted via email). You would be welcome to write the midterm outside of our normal class time if that works better for you.
You should also spend your normal homework time for Thursday, March 11 and Tuesday, March 16 preparing for the exam. It could help to look back over our readings, any notes you have taken, and your Short Papers. You are welcome to look at all these materials as you complete the midterm, and you are welcome to discuss and share your work with classmates as well.
Here are the prompts for the midterm. You will likely focus on answering just one of these prompts, but you are also welcome to address multiple prompts if you see a connection between them you want to address in your writing.
- Pick some aspect of digital culture and analyze it through the lens of Aristotle, Burke, and Bogost. How would we understand this example from the different perspectives of our readings? Your should look at an example that does not come from our class readings. Successful answers will draw on specific ideas from our class readings and apply them to a specific example from digital culture.
- How would you combine, synthesize, and/or compare Aristotle, Burke, and Bogost? What new understanding of rhetoric do we arrive at when we consider them together? Successful answers will draw on specific ideas from the readings while also adding your own ideas and insights.
- What do you want to add to the understanding of rhetoric we have developed from Aristotle, Burke, and Bogost? What is not addressed in their thinking on rhetoric? What do we need to add to our understanding of rhetoric to further account for digital culture? Successful answers will draw on specific ideas from the readings and specific examples from digital culture while also adding your own ideas.
- How would you define rhetoric? This is similar to the previous prompt, but this gives you more room to develop your own thinking on your own terms. Successful answers will articulate and support your own definition, applying it to an example from digital culture, while drawing on the class readings as a point of comparison.
- How do our readings from Aristotle, Burke, and Bogost help you understand some aspect of your own experience? Successful answers will draw on specific ideas from the readings and specific examples from your experience.
Matt King 