TUESDAY FEBRUARY 7THIntroduction to Project 2

AGENDA

Writing Journal

Project 1 Check in

Introduction to Project 2

Discussion: What makes a good audio essay?

Homework

WRITING JOURNAL

Pick a favourite song, album, or any piece of music.

Freewrite why it’s meaningful to you.

How does it make you feel? Do you have positive/negative memories attached?

PROJECT 1

Thank you for your

submissions

Graded with a little feedback within a week

Creating the class blog shortly!

REFLECTION

What have you learned (or practiced) from Project 1?

Take a few minutes to think.

INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT 2

Project 1 will hopefully

have taught you the

importance of:

Rhetorical choices when addressing a

specific audience

Writing for a purpose in an unfamiliar

genre

Basic visual rhetoric

PROJECT 2 WILL:

Give you a chance to write in an

exploratory, personal

way

Get you thinking about

making purposeful rhetorical

choices for your

composition

Introduce a new genre

of communication: the audio

essay

Focus on the relationship

between sound and

rhetoric

Practice your oral

presentation skills

Introduce technology

you are likely to use in careers

Get you thinking about

revision in a different

way

HOW CAN SOUND BE USED RHETORICALLY?

Take a few minutes to think about instances where you have been affected or persuaded by sound.

What are these?

RHETORICAL SOUND

Music (changes mood)

Speeches (motivational)

Music for theme park rides

Associated with work and getting stuff done

Video advertisements with voice overs & sound effects

Audio essays/podcasts!

LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE ASSIGNMENT

RHETORICAL SITUATION

Audio essays, also known as podcasts, are scripted pieces of text that are written for the purpose of being spoken and listened to.

This genre can take three forms that vary in their purpose and structure, these are commentary, narrative, and documentary.

Generally, the need for audio essays arose from similar requirements of other creative non-fiction genres, to express an unusual story that is entertaining or thought provoking to tell, or to fill a gap in the reader’s knowledge.

Audio essays are written first before they are recorded and published to the audience.

RHETORICAL SITUATION

After publishing, the listeners have an opportunity to respond to the essay on the internet, sometimes through written comments, or by sharing it on a social media site.

Often audio essays are produced by a large team to form a regular public radio show, examples include This American Life, This I Believe, and Radiolab,and the topics spoken about are broad in theme, but usually non-fiction.

Individual ‘episodes’ can have a single or many contributors, with one or more stories or ‘acts’ within a set time of production.

PURPOSE

Audio essays are created for the main purpose of entertainment, often telling unexpected narratives.

They can also give insight into a particular topic and be used to inform the audience in this way.

Commentary essays are for the purpose of communicating an individual’s beliefs, narratives tell stories, and documentary essays describe and share some form of research.

For the purposes of this project, you will create an exploratory, personal narrative.

PROJECT 2

Genre: Audio essay

Topic: Intercultural Experiences

(broad)

Purpose: ? Audience: ?

PROJECT 2 OVERVIEW

There are two parts to Project 2:

• The Script

• The Audio Essay

Overall, it will be similar to any other essay you have written. There needs to be a clear introduction, conclusion, theme, and supporting evidence.

• What is different is that you can include things you can’t with just the written word. Your voice is powerful! As are sound effects and music. We’ll look at these in more detail as the project progresses.

• The focus of grading will be on the script, so don’t worry if you aren’t familiar with the technology; you don’t need to be an expert for this

DISCUSSION: WHAT MAKES A GOOD AUDIO ESSAY?

Let’s listen to a short, commentary audio essay.

http://thisibelieve.org/essay/85637/

I Believe in Philadelphia by Sozi Tulante

“This I Believe, Inc., was founded in 2004 as an independent, not-for-profit organization that engages youth and adults from all walks of life in writing, sharing,

and discussing brief essays about the core values that guide their daily lives.”

FIRST IMPRESSIONS?

What did you think?

How was it listening to an essay versus

reading it?

What did you notice about his voice?

DISCUSSION: WHAT MAKES A GOOD AUDIO ESSAY?

Let’s listen to a longer, narrative audio essay.

In The Event Of An Emergency, Put Your Sister In An Upright Position.

by Susan Burton

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/175/babysitting?act=2#play

“This American Life is a weekly public radio show broadcast on more than 500 stations to about 2.2 million listeners. It is produced in collaboration with Chicago

Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards. It is also often the most popular podcast in the

country, with another 2.4 million people downloading each episode.”

FIRST IMPRESSIONS?

What did you think?

How was it listening to an essay versus

reading it?

What did you notice about her voice?

FIRST IMPRESSIONS?

Tonal shifts – the author changes their voice to get their point across

Easier than reading – more engaging, more enjoyable

The music – helped transitions

Didn’t like it – hard to concentrate and get every word

It’s easier than reading and you can stick get the visual created in your mind – left up to the listener to paint the picture – somewhere in between visual

and written communication

HOMEWORK

Reading (and listening!)

Audio essay samples on bblearn

Radio: An Illustrated Guide: https://store.thisamericanlife.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RADIO%3AANILLUSTRATEDGUIDE

Writing

For Sunday – Topic Proposal

THURSDAY

Please bring in a device – a cell phone is fine. You’ll be accessing the internet at some point