COM 4424 TU Communications on Medias view on Leadership Paper

Rhetorical and Communication Theory – COM 4424Expectations for Project
This project requires each student to conduct an original communication study
and write a paper. Students are expected to conduct their own study, not just
report about other studies that have been done.
Methods used may include rhetorical analysis, media framing analysis, or
other content analysis, if the method is appropriate for the question being
addressed. Do not conduct an experiment or survey with human subjects because
that is done in the Communication Research course.
Both the literature review and the paper are expected to be uploaded as Word
documents, each by its respective deadline, and to be typed in English, in complete
sentences, double-spaced in a 12-point font, with one-inch margins, and relatively
free of errors in spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Pay attention to the grading
rubric. Students are expected to put effort into their academic writing. Everyone
makes mistakes, but there’s a difference between a couple of mistakes and careless
work full of errors, misspellings, run-on sentences, sentence fragments, or
expressions that make no sense. Sloppy writing distracts from what you are trying
to say and conveys that you don’t care about the quality of your work.
Emailed assignments are not acceptable. Students who have difficulty
uploading an assignment are expected to contact Canvas help before the deadline.
Literature Review (15% of course grade)
State the topic of your project and include an introduction that explains the
purpose of your study. Describe your idea for your project, how you plan to study it
(for example, a rhetorical analysis or content analysis), and explain why it is worthy
of study as a communication issue.
Construct a preliminary reference list including at least 10 references that are
relevant to your topic. Please note that dictionaries, encyclopedias, and Bibles do
not count as references.
Provide an annotated bibliography describing how each reference is relevant
to your paper using ONLY ONE PARAGRAPH for each reference. Provide enough
information for a reader to understand the reference without merely repeating
every detail. The goal is to summarize each reference in the annotated bibliography
in a way that is both accurate and concise.
All references must be in APA format.
Look at the literature review example on the course website.
Paper (25% of course grade)
The paper may be a rhetorical analysis, framing analysis, or other content
analysis if the method is appropriate for the issue being addressed.
A rhetorical analysis evaluates a non-fictional text, such as a book or speech,
to how examine how messages in that text are created and delivered to create an
effect on audiences. It includes discussion of the context, the speaker or author’s
purpose, and the results or effectiveness of the text. A rhetorical analysis does not
merely summarize a text. It explains how effectively a text communicates a
message.
A content analysis identifies patterns or themes in communication. For a
content analysis, data may be collected from any written, oral, or visual texts
including magazines, newspapers, books, documents, speeches, photographs, films,
advertisements, or social media. Patterns of certain words or themes can
communicate about the intentions underlying messages. To do a content analysis,
you have to choose the texts or content you will analyze and define categories and
rules for coding. A media framing analysis specifically explores how media coverage
of an issue or event shapes people’s understanding. It looks at terms used in
reporting and at how media coverage defines an issue. Do not just choose a
convenience sample to show the results you would like.
Look at the examples on the course website of a rhetorical analysis, a
content analysis, and a media framing analysis.
The paper must include an abstract of 100-150 words.
The abstract should state more than just the process you used; it should
state the thesis or main point of your paper. For example, DO NOT just say “I
looked at how media coverage framed an NFL prospect.” DO say “This study shows
the NFL prospect was framed as an international experiment that produced serious
interest from NFL teams and created a ‘feel good’ story for fans.”
The paper, including all references, must be in the style of the American
Psychological Association with all pages numbered.
The paper is expected to explain what you are doing in your study. Provide a
rationale for your study. Identify the question, problem, or issue you have chosen
to study, explain concepts that are important to studying your chosen topic, and
introduce questions that follow from this knowledge of the topic.
Include and synthesize studies from your literature review. Explain what we
know so far about your topic, what we don’t know – for example, questions you
plan to investigate – and what your paper will add to what is already known.
The paper is expected to indicate the method you have chosen as well as
discussing your analysis or findings.
The paper is expected to answer the “so what?” question by discussing
implications of your findings.
The paper is expected to be at least 10 pages long and must not exceed 25
pages including all references, figures, tables, or appendices.
Each student’s submission is expected to be original work the student
personally researched and wrote for this class. Most of the submission is expected
to be the student’s own writing and analysis in the student’s words, not just
including a lot of quoted material. No more than 20% of an assignment should
match something already in the Turnitin database. Paraphrase or cut quotations. If
the originality report indicates more than 20% of an assignment matches
something already in the database, students may revise and resubmit the
assignment until the deadline. The instructor grades only the last submission.
Turnitin typically gives an originality report immediately for a first submission, but
may take 24 hours or longer to generate originality reports for subsequent
submissions.