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WRITING 201

  2. ★ Writing Support
  3. Writing Guides
  4. Courses
    1. WRITING 160
    2. WRITING 200
    3. WRITING 201
    4. WRITING 220
    5. WRITING 229
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  6. Minor in Writing
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Writing with Digital and Social Media Mini-Courses

Credits: 1 | May be elected 3 times for credit | May be elected more than once in the same term

In WRITING 201, students analyze and apply rhetorical principles in their writing with digital media. A variety of topics and innovation in pedagogy are hallmarks of this course. Why pay attention to multimedia in a writing course? As members of a media-saturated culture, we know that print text is only one form of "writing" and communication, and sometimes it is not the most effective choice. Because all of us make sense of texts and issues in a variety of ways, this course will ask students to utilize multimodal (visual, aural, kinetic, etc.) forms of communication and become more informed and critical consumers of digital media writing themselves.

WRITING 201 - LSA COURSE GUIDE LINK

Writing 201.001 - The Rhetoric of Instagram: A Workshop for Content Creators

Aristotle defined rhetoric as the faculty of observing, in any given case, the available means of persuasion. In this course you will experiment with different ways of making meaning on Instagram by identifying and interrogating all of Instagram’s available means of persuasion—of which the visual image or video is only a part. We’ll accomplish this by composing a range of rhetorically-situated, course-inspired IG content, including posts, reels, and stories, which we will workshop every week. (While the workshop process is aimed at improving your technical skills and vision, you will also draw inspiration from seeing how others in class are handling the assignment.) From this corpus of weekly content, you will select several posts or videos to refine, revise and submit at the end of the semester as part of a final IG portfolio.

Writing 201.002 & 201.004 - How To Be an Internet Cult Leader

From fitness culture and curated 'ideal' lifestyle aesthetics, to trad wives, the manosphere, and even official state-run social media accounts—it's no secret that digital landscapes are arenas of both influence and controversy. But when passionate adherence is in the mix, does culturalproduction turn into plain cult production? And can a search for community lead to a dangerous zone for groupthink? Each week we will look at a different online community with an eye for the human desires these digital worlds tap into to garner ardent loyalty, as well as the rhetorical techniques used to create togetherness/separation and share a central cult-ural message.

Having interrogated the ethics and responsibility of this digital mode of production, you will be granted great power of your own. In your new position as your own culture leader, you have the power to select which thoughts you want to share to shape your community, and the world, through weekly low-stakes exercises where you practice producing using different digital platforms. This culminates in a final cult-folio where you compile and spread the message you find most important with your (imagined, for now . . .) loyal followers.

Writing 201.003 - The Art of the Photo Essay

Art of the Photo Essay is a half-semester mini-course wherein we experiment with different ways of making meaning and telling stories with photographic images.  Technically, this course will introduce you to the many elements of visual composition, from timing to technique and everything in between.  Narratively, you will learn how to craft complex essays using both images alone as well as combinations of image and text. Throughout the course you will keep a googlesite that visually documents the evolution of your projects as well as your development as a photographer.  This class is very social and collaborative: we will make progress in the craft of the photo essay by regularly discussing our successes and failures as we workshop formal studies, in-class labs and photo essays.  While this process is aimed at improving your technical skills and vision, you will also draw inspiration from seeing how others in class are handling the assignment.

Sweetland Center for Writing
105 S. State Street
1310 North Quad
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285
734.764.0429
734.763.9148
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