Rhetorical Situation and Goals:

 

Exigency: The exigency of this project was the need to fulfill the requirement for the ENGL 850 course. Furthermore, it was to ensure my knowledge of Scholarship and Empirical Research Design practices within the Professional Communication field. There was a need to explore avenues to expand children’s curriculum for media literacy education in order to address the gap in research and address the increasing rate of children’s susceptibility to media.

 

While students could opt to follow through with the proposal and conduct the study to satisfy MAPC graduation requirements, I did not do so; rather, I completed a Client Project.

 

Audience: The primary audience for this proposal was the ENGL 850 professor, Dr. Tharon Howard. The proposal needed to satisfy Dr. Howard’s requirements as well as showcase my knowledge of Scholarship and Empirical Research Design. Seminar members were also an audience for a component of the proposal as I gave a brief in-class presentation of my pilot study findings. The proposal analyzed the need for such a research study and expanded upon the study’s relevancy for Professional Communication and related fields.

 

Constraints: There were several constraints that influenced this proposal: 1) resources, 2) time, and 3) access. As a graduate student at Clemson, I was unable to physically be present in the geographic area of the proposed research study. I was, however, able to travel to this targeted area, Sandston, VA, in order to conduct the pilot study. The resources (e.g., parents, children, YMCA recreational facilities, etc.) also proved challenging as I needed to ensure all parties’ availability and consent to pursue the topic and obtain pilot study data. Due to the sensitivity of the topic as well as the lack of time, resources, etc., I did not pursue this proposal beyond the ENGL 850 course requirements.

 

Goals: Fulfilling the assignment’s need was the most important goal of the project. In order to do so, seminar members needed to focus on persuading the reader that the problem being investigated was one worth pursuing and that resulting findings would make a significant contribution to existing literature in the field. It was also a goal to ensure that the proposed approach was feasible and well-conceived. Furthermore, a goal was to establish the need for the proposed research study and communicate its value to ENGL 850 seminar members.

 

 

read Rhetorical Situation and Goals, Design and Development Process or Critical Reflection

back to Scholarship and Empirical Research page