MOVING TO ACTION: YOUR POLICY OR AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Due: Multiple dates, see below.

Writing Task: The final assignment for ENC3331 will require you to use the rhetorical analysis
skills youve developed over the semester to respond to a civic problem of your choosing. You
will do this by creating civic engagement policy or awareness campaign. Your campaign should
demonstrate a clear understanding of how to respond to the rhetorical situation and have a clear
civic goal. In order to achieve this, the assignment will be split into multiple parts.

Part I: Identify Your Area of Interest (Blog Post 9: October 8)

What issue, situation, problem, or policy are you worried about, interested in, or angry about?
What changes would you like to see in your school, neighborhood, community, city, state,
country?
Identify one or two specific answers to these questions, and submit them to the instructor for
discussion via your blog.
Part II: Analysis Memo Report Interrogating the Rhetorical Situation (40 points)
Due: Tuesday, October 20
In order to develop an effective civic engagement campaign, you will need to have a thorough
understanding of the rhetorical situation in which it exists. Therefore, you will need to research
your area of interest by reading research reports, surveys, analyses, reports, news coverage and
other documents. You can interview people if relevant.
The following are some questions that can help you interrogate the rhetorical situation (Give
particular attention to Rheingold 109-10 and RCL Chapter 8):

What is the rhetorical situation?

Who is affected?
Who are the stakeholders?
Why does the situation even exist?
Have steps been taken in the past to alter the situation? What was the result and why were
these programs effective or ineffective?
Who can change the situation?

Inform yourself. Search out information and then check the sources of authority for that
information what are others saying out its legitimacy? Who seems to have the most current
information? Who seems to have the most accurate information? Asking these questions will

help you take more appropriate action. Basing a campaign on bad info makes your campaign
look bad or could even lead to failure in achieving your goals. Track several sources through web
searches and blog feeds.
You will turn in a 3-5 page memo report that analyzes the rhetorical situation (follow these
guidelines for a memo report : https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/590/04). The memo
format will help you quickly and efficiently offer information, help your reader stay organized,
and plan your campaign as a useful reference. It should be clear and detailed enough such that
both you and the instructor have a good sense of what the problem is, what its history is, who is
impacted, whats been done and how, what has been effective and not effective. This should
document should help you understand what options you have for making a civic impact moving
forward.
EVALUATION CRITERIA:
- Does the memo demonstrate a thorough understanding of the problem and its history?
- Does the memo demonstrate a clear picture of the stakeholders, including those who may
be on an opposing side of your position?
- Does the memo draw on information that is clearly legitimate or identify problems with
some of the information that is problematic yet important?
- Does the essay discuss past attempts at impacting the problem and explain why the
rhetoric was effective or ineffective?
Part III: Memo Report Identifying and Evaluating Possible Response (Strategy and
Tactics) (30 points)
Due: Tuesday, October 27
In order to move beyond knowing to doing, you are now tasked with using your analysis memo
to outline the responses to the situation. There is a wide array of responses, but your responses
should be clearly motivated by your analysis of the situation. Remember that a strategy is an
overall plan for achieving objectives that will help you fulfill your vision and mission. Tactics
are the methods you use in an action plan to carry out your strategy (Changing Policies: An
Overview). You need to create an overall strategy and then plan and carry out some of the
tactics to carry out your strategy. Remember that to identify tactics, you must first identify a
strategy and a target (see Choose Tactics that Support Your Strategy from Beautiful Trouble).
Developing a strategy requires:
- analyzing the problem (which youve already done)
- identifying your goal
- understanding your target who holds the power to help you meet your goal;
- identifying specific forms of power you have to effect change, and how to concentrate
that power to maximal effect (see Beautiful Trouble for more).
It is important to have a firm grasp on your target, their power to help you achieve your goal, and
the power you have to effect change. I expect to see you clearly show a firm grasp of these when

evaluating possible responses (and then developing a clear proposal in the next step). It is a good
idea to draw on the authors from class to help frame your understanding of power and your own
civic engagement responses.
Examples include:
-

Creating a cultural mural, diversity day, learning about each others cultures (response to
racism at their school) (see Public Achievement)

Coordinating an after-school bilingual tutoring program (response to concern for lack of

bilingual education) (see Public Achievement)

Creating a speaking series with religious leaders of various faiths (in response to US
cultural taboo limiting understanding of others religious beliefs, which can lead to war)
(see Public Achievement)

Writing a proposal to change parking policies at school (in response to the difficulties this
created for undocumented students), then amending school handbook when policy was
changed (see Public Achievement)

Creating a cultural exchange group (in response to segregation by culture and ethnicity at
the high school) (see Public Achievement)

Raising awareness about problems resulting from monolingualism, convincing principal

to hire bilingual staff members (in response to problem that Spanish-speaking parents
couldnt report their childrens absences, and the students were then punished for truancy)
(see Public Achievement)

Surveying ways to change public perceptions about the school, interviewing students,
faculty, and staff; publishing articles in local paper (in response to negative public
perceptions about the school) (see Public Achievement)

Organizing World Trade Organization protests in Seattle (in response to global corporate
power) (see Beautiful Trouble)

Organizing Justice for Janitors Days of Rage leading to unionization and wage hikes (in
response to low wages and benefits for janitors) (see Beautiful Trouble)

Organizing public meetings and forums to increase awareness about and participation in
local and national issues (see National Issues Forum and Keith and Cossart)

Creating the Dont Drink and Drive Thru campaign by University of Dayton premed
students (in response to students drinking and driving to get food late at night)

Your strategy can include a variety of tactics and specific actions or texts to help you reach your
goal. These can include both digital and face-to-face strategies. The possibilities are endless, but
might include:

Forums
Press alerts
YouTube Videos
Op eds
Submissions to news outlet community calendars
Blogging
Vigils
Leaflets
Banners
Petitions
Food or clothing drives
Voter drives
Boycotts
Organizing or recruiting volunteers
Raising money
Citizen journalism
Podcasting
Protesting

Youll outline and evaluate at least two strategies (for example, a campaign or a boycott) and
outline some accompanying tactics (for example, citizen journalism, podcasting, op eds,
petitions) and share them with the instructor in another memo report.
EVALUATION CRITERIA:
-

Does the memo show a clear strategy and tactics for the campaign that is responsive to
the authors previous analysis?
Does the memo show a clear understanding of the target and how that target can help the
campaign achieve its goals?
Does the memo show a clear understanding of the authors own power and the best ways
to use that power to effect change?

Part IV: Producing your Proposal for Action (20 points)

Due: Tuesday, November 3
We will meet to discuss your memo report on the strategies and tactics for your campaign. We
will work together to decide which strategy will be the most effective. Once weve determined
what needs clarified and reconsidered, you will revise the memo report into your Proposal for
Action. Adjustments will likely be based on our discussion of both of your memo reports, so the
rhetorical analysis memo will be a useful reference for Part IV.
EVALUATION CRITERIA:

The evaluation criteria will be the same as Part III, but will concentrate more thoroughly
on one strategy and clarify where needed.

Part V: Producing the Civic Engagement Discourse and Reflection (40 points)
Due: Thursday, November 19
In the remaining time, you will produce an appropriate amount of the materials that you outlined
in your Proposal for Action. This might include producing the op ed, shooting a few YouTube
videos, producing a flyer to inform about a boycott, etc. We will decide together what constitutes
an appropriate amount.
You will also write a reflective rhetorical analysis of your work (3-5 pages). This is an important
piece, because it pulls together everything youve learned in this class about both rhetoric and
civic engagement. In this reflection, you should explain the situation and the issue, outline your
strategy and tactics, and explain the specific rhetorical elements and why you think they will be
effective given your stakeholders and their needs and priorities.
EVALUATION CRITERIA:
-

Is the discourse produced responsive to the rhetorical situation such that each piece
carries out the campaign strategy?
Is the discourse clearly placed within the overall strategy of the campaign?
Does the discourse target particular audiences that can help the rhetor achieve his or her
rhetorical goals?

Part V: Sharing your Campaign: In-Class Presentations OR Civic Engagement Showcase

(20 points)
Rhetoric and Civic Engagement Showcase: December 3
Presentations Due: December 10 (FINAL EXAM)
You will present your work either during an in-class presentation or the Civic Engagement
Showcase that will be open to the public (Location TBD). During whichever presentation, you
will present your work with visual aids in whatever format works for you poster, video,
booklet, power point, etc. (each event will call for different visual aids). You will dress
professionally and be prepared to answer questions from the public, from your classmates, or
from other instructors.