Rhetorical Engagements
These assignments ask students to consider how computational machines have already and will become enmeshed in communicative acts and how we work with them to produce symbolic meaning.
- Embodying Rhetoric: Quick Scripts and 'Acts' of Persuasion
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Kristi Girdharry and Beth Wynstra
Babson CollegeThis assignment helps students engage with rhetorical delivery principles by having them create closing statements and arguments for a court case or debate. AI generates closing statements for different sides of the argument along with nonverbal cues, which students perform exactly, including any suggested gestures. While creating the initial script can be time-consuming and inconsistent, using AI streamlines this process and ensures focus on delivery and rhetorical elements. Employed in Public Speaking and Media Studies courses, this playful yet impactful activity enhances delivery skills and explores the ethical implications of AI in rhetoric while demonstrating critical rhetorical principles in action.
- They Say, I Say, Robots Play
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Emily Moore
Stuyvesant High SchoolInspired by my tenth graders’ interest in AI, this assignment extends Gerald Graff’s classic “They Say, I Say” format to include an ethical, correctly cited use of generative AI related to a literary text. Although I created this particular version to accompany our class reading of Sophocles, the assignment can be applied to any text with abundant online scholarly secondary source material as the goal is to teach into this abundance by challenging students to use secondary sources and generative AI in strategic rather than suspicious ways.
- Can AI Read for You? Teaching Rhetorical Reading
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Xiao Tan
Utah State UniversityThis activity is designed to help students understand the concept of “rhetorical reading” (Haas & Flower, 1988) by juxtaposing their human reading and writing experience with the AI-assisted experience. Students become more aware of the rhetorical situation when it is disrupted by the intervention of AI technologies. At the end of the activity, students will gain first-hand experience of reading rhetorically, develop understanding of the limitations and affordances of AI tools, and critically examine the loss and gains in using AI technologies in academic settings.