In Class

The Smartest Move

The following is a readable text version of the letter to the editor that we are looking at in class:


If you handed this issue and the one that came before it to Shadow, the clever crow on our cover, he’d know something was up. That’s because, as you’ll learn on page 58, crows are scary good at judging volume. And what you’re currently holding—our intelligence issue—is more than 30 percent thicker than the one that arrived in December.

We added 25 more pages to PopSci and increased the quality of our paper. That’s because the company let me do what i pitched when I applied for this job in 2016; transform Popular Science magazine into a quarterly publication. 

After reading that, someone just called me an idiot. But hear me out—this is an awesome idea. Between magazine subscriptions, books, news apps, your favorite websites, Twitter feeds, Instagram rivers, Snapchat stories, and so on, we’re being straight-out assaulted with words, videos, and images—all flinging information at our brains. I do this for a living, and I spend all day trying to keep up. How do you do it when that’s not your job?

Instead of our bimonthly magazine, we’d rather give you four epic printed events a year: sparkling quarterly editions that each dive deep into a single topic to bring you tales of science and technology you won’t find anywhere else. We’ve been honing this idea for the past 16 months with our shift to the themed issues. Now we have more space to explore those subjects in depth, giving you a keepsake that encapsulates the most compelling topics of our time. 

We’re committed to delivering the best science and tech reporting on every platform, every day. With our print and digital channels, Popular Science reaches more people than ever before, bringing you the finest journalism this publication has every produced. Wherever you are and however you choose to read us, PopSci will be there. We’re not going anywhere—except to the future.

Here’s to another 146 years. And hopefully many more


Example News Article

Children's Books

Visual Rhetoric (Blog Examples)

Different Audiences, Different Genres

Part 1: Audience

For the first activity, we are going to work on writing in one genre about one subject matter to multiple audiences.  In teams of 2, you are going to write four letters or emails (your choice), each with a different audience.  

Scenario:  Your parents went out of town for the weekend and you threw a party (if you no longer live at home, pretend that you are roughly 18-22 years old and living at home).  The party got out of hand and was busted up by the police.  You are in trouble for a noise violation, and your parents’ house is trashed. You write an email/letter to the following people regarding this event:

Part 2: Genre

For this activity, the audience and subject matter are going to stay the same, but the genre will change.  Work in the same team that you did for part 1, again on large paper so that others can see what you write.   

Scenario:  In a couple weeks your favorite band/recording artist is coming into town for a concert.  Several of your good friends are out of town that weekend, and the one friend that is in town isn’t sure if they want to go to the concert.  You want to convince them to go to this concert with you. 

Write to your friend to convince them to go to this concert in the following genres:

Feel free to use your computer or smart phone to look up genre examples, if you aren’t sure how to write any of these.

When you are done, swap genres with a team next to you. Read those genres and discuss with your team member what changed between them. 


Genre Scavenger Hunt

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to hunt down SIX genres on campus with your team.  You cannot repeat genres (for example, you cannot have more than one flier or advertisement).  Remember, any type of writing is a genre – so be creative!!!  

You only need six for your entire team, so work together. 

You must bring back copies of the genres, either take a photograph of it (on your phone), or grab a copy if you are allowed to take it with you, like a pamphlet.

When You Return

Once you have all 6 of your genres, return to the classroom and complete the following operational report:

Analyzing Magazines and Ads

Part 1: Looking at the whole magazine

First, let’s try to learn everything we can about the intended audience of this magazine.

Look at ads, articles, photos and anything else that can give you clues.  

Part 2: Analyzing an advertisement

Consider: color, images, objects, people, expressions, words, language choice, font choice, mood/tone, symbols, and so on.  Write each of these items on your paper and explain what is going on with this ad and how it connects to your audience. 

For example:

Color: the colors are bright and attention grabbing; there are lots of pinks, purples and blues. It looks feminine and young to connect to this audience. 

Be thoughtful and detailed about how this advertisement is being targeted to that audience. If we have time, we will swap magazines and do this twice.

Be prepared to share your findings with class!  


Genre Analysis (QRGs)

Writer's Workshop for Project 3

Today we are going to workshop the persuasive papers in small groups. You will read at least two other essays and for each essay, fill out the following form (there are additional forms on the back).  When your group has completed reading all of the essays, you will take turns discussing each essay and what you filled out on the form. You can discuss beyond what you filled out, but use the form as a starting place to discuss the logic and effectiveness of their essay.

For each paper that you read today, answer the following on a separate piece of paper:

(Note: this will be given to the author of that paper at the end of the class)