In this major assignment, you are tasked with describing and
analyzing the membership of a specific digital community or
subculture in order to be able to write a post or other text that
would fit into the discourse of the community. How is language use
and communication in this context shaped by the community, its
purposes, and its goals? What “unwritten rules” exist in this
space? How does this affect the group’s purpose and how members
interact with each other? You may think about your own membership
in a digital community- how is your language use in this context
shaped by your audience? How does conforming/not conforming
reinforce or otherwise affect a member’s role?
You need to accurately describe this community so that it is
clear to your reader.
In this assignment, you will write a 2-page proposal
exploring the purpose, audience, conventions, style, tone, stance,
and design of your particular digital community. You should
consider all aspects of this community; for example, if members
often use visual elements (memes, gifs, etc.) include analysis of
those aspects.
Then, you will compose a text that would fit into the
community, given what you learned in your analysis of the
community. In order for me to understand your finished text and its
level of success, your proposal is vital. Essentially, your
proposal will outline the criteria for evaluating your chosen type
of writing in your digital community, and you will be graded using
that criteria. This means your proposal must clearly analyze your
chosen community and its conventions.
Possible options (there are many more):
· A particular subreddit
· Online gaming
· Social media- Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc
· Wikis
· Fan fiction
The options are endless. Select a digital community that
matters to you so you’ll have a better chance of establishing that
community’s criteria and then meeting that criteria in your
finished text. Once you have chosen your community, you should
think about elements from Units 1 and 2 (literacy and rhetorical
analysis)- what literacies do members of this community need to
develop in order to interact effectively and complete their
purposes? How are these interactions expressed? You should think
about:
· The conventions in this community – Written or spoken?
Both? Images and words? What is the tone? If it changes, how so?
· The context – Who is this community for? Where is it
located? When? How? Why?
· The appeals presented – Ethos, Logos, Pathos
PROPOSAL REQUIRED
Two page proposal (60%)
MLA, 12pt. Times New Roman double-spaced
(Any proposals not following these directions will not
receive points for this task.)
Clearly establish your community’s purpose, audience, conventions, style, tone, stance, and design. You may consider the use of visual elements (memes, gifs, etc.)/audio elements. What are the expectations of this community? How does one successfully insert oneself into this community? What is necessary to create a successful and well-received text within this forum? Likewise, you should outline what is not acceptable (this should also help me understand what “rules” you are following in your own textual product.