In my Spring 2010 sections of WRTG 3020: Rhetoric of Gender and Sexuality, I gave students the option to develop their final projects using whatever mode of delivery seemed appropriate to their message. Some chose to write traditional print-based essays, some chose to make PowerPoint presentations, and some chose to make videos. Some of the videos were mini documentaries about issues such as identity based on sexual orientation or cross cultural attitudes towards gender roles, while others served more as advocacy pieces on behalf of marginalized groups.
One student wrote a personal essay and then recorded her voice reading it aloud to accompany a series of photos from her childhood that illustrated the themes of gender socialization she discussed. Most of the projects reflected a good understanding of rhetorical awareness and stayed focused on developing a relevant thesis, although there was plenty of room for improvement. Those who chose multimodal approaches worked hard to compose their messages using tools that were brand new to them, without any good models to follow, and I was impressed at the level of effort.
The personal essay photo slide show was particularly powerful, and I would love to give students the option to do that in the future. The student’s message would’ve been moving enough just delivered as a print-based essay, but the addition of audio and visual elements made it much more so. The student took a great deal of time to consider the placement and timing of every image in terms of its relationship to the specific place in her narrative, which required a kind of rhetorical sensitivity that an essay alone would not have. But it was a very personal project, not suited for a group project.
I would definitely like to have the whole class work on videos the next time around, so that we all become immersed in the rhetoric of communicating in the video medium. I haven’t yet decided how to frame the assignment, but I do want them to work in groups on the project. One possibility is to ask them to do mini-documentaries that showcase the lives and experiences of people who violate gender or sexuality norms. Another possibility is to use images and video to illustrate the ways that society constructs our ideas of gender identity and sexual orientation. I’m still thinking it over!