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Writing Courses in the Spotlight

Spring 2025 Upper-Level Offerings from the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition

WTNG 230: Rhetoric of Film

Professor Alix
M/TH 2:00-3:20

In this course, we will study the basic rhetorical moves, strategies, and genre conventions that filmmakers utilize to convey meaning & mood to audiences and discover that the conveyance of filmic rhetoric relies on formal film techniques such as lighting, ��������-���-����é�Ա�, cinematography, performance, editing, and sound.  

Beyond developing the skills to recognize and describe formal choices & techniques, we will engage in close readings of films, artbooks, reviews, & academic articles, attending to the greater aesthetic significance of formal choices and innovations within a particular film, genre, directorial oeuvre, period, or movement. Understanding form as overdetermined with content, we will look at the conventions of narrative film – specifically, the employment of formal techniques such as the close-up, point of view, editing, and framing – as they function within various filmic contexts.  

Throughout the semester, we will enter into a dialogue with films not only through a discussion-based analysis but through two distinct genres of filmic writing: Commerical reviews and academic analyses. During the writing process, we will reflect on the ways in which the rhetorical moves, strategies, purpose, audience, and conventions of the different genres shape not only our writing but our viewing, as well. Ultimately, illuminating the film, ourselves, and the relation between the two in a new light.  

Films will include Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989), Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (2003), Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo (2008), and Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).  

Given the course’s commitment to close textual analysis as well as visual literacy, this course is recommended for learners in film studies, literary studies, communication, and visual arts.  

A prior understanding of film in an academic context is beneficial but not required.  

Prerequisite: Successful completion (C- or higher) of WTNG 102 
Fulfills the second of two University General Education requirements in the University Writing Program 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor 

WTNG 235: Technical Writing

Professor Capineri
TH/TH  8:00-9:20

Technical writing is everywhere. While it certainly is an important tool in fields like engineering, it is also vital to a wide range of fields and jobs—from education to healthcare and even cooking. In this course, students will examine how to use technical writing to help audiences solve problems. It highlights effective technical writing through case studies focused on addressing real problems, such as RWU’s advising system, Bristol’s bike path, and Rhode Island’s Washington Bridge breakdown. Throughout the semester, students will explore how technical writing can be meaningful to them; they will also consider how to use its concepts to strengthen their writing to set them up for success in future jobs and internships. All majors are welcome!    

Prerequisite: Successful completion (C- or higher) of WTNG 102 
Fulfills the second of two University General Education requirements in the University Writing Program 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor 

WTNG 240: Writing for Business Organizations

Professor Capineri
T/Th 9:30-10:50; 11:00-12:20

Writing is one of the most important parts of a successful business. This course will help students understand how writing can help businesses meet their goals. It spotlights local for-profit and non-profit organizations, including CVS, Hasbro, and local YMCA branches with the goal to help students understand the qualities of effective business writing. Students will practice these concepts with a variety of projects that will help them understand how to apply successful writing strategies to their internships and future jobs in a wide range of fields. All majors are welcome! 

Prerequisite: Successful completion (C- or higher) of WTNG 102 
Fulfills the second of two University General Education requirements in the University Writing Program 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor

WTNG 250: Advanced Composition

Professor Madritch
T/Th: 12:30-1:50

In WTNG 250, we’ll work with Richard Miller and Ann Jurecic’s Habits of the Creative Mind, 3rd ed., to help us question, explore, reflect, and connect. As we do so, we’ll move from personal narrative to public argument--i.e., we’ll take what matters to us and work to make it significant to others. We’ll attend, as well, to questions of voice and style as we consider how best to engage a variety of audiences. And, because this class is a writing class, we’ll draft, revise, and edit our own writing, and we’ll offer feedback to our classmates to help them realize the goals they have for their writing, too. 

Prerequisite: Successful completion (C- or higher) of WTNG 102 
Fulfills the second of two University General Education requirements in the University Writing Program 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor 

WTNG 299: Writing Climate at the Local Level

Professor Moon
M/W/F 12:00-12:50 & 1:00-1:50

A recent New York Times headline reads “We all live in Florida now.” Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and power in all parts of the world, but not everyone knows what they can do to prepare for and help mitigate climate change in the places where they live. This course will address how writing can help real people better understand how to adapt to and help mitigate climate-driven threats in their towns and cities. We’ll study and work with the rhetorical dimensions of writing about climate change for the public, including the key premises of climate communication and the most significant challenges to climate communication. Studying public-facing writing such as the 2020 Bristol “Municipal Resilience Program Community Resilience-Building Workshop Summary of Findings,” and the City of Providence’s “Climate Justice Plan” as well as the work of media organizations like Grist and Yellow Dot Studios, we’ll gain insight into successful climate communication depending on context and purpose. Working creatively in different genres, we’ll compose informative and persuasive writing geared toward Bristol or other towns’ residents. Our work will culminate in a collaboratively composed public document for residents of Bristol. We’ll find theoretical grounding in the 2024 publication A Sense of Urgency by rhetorician Debra Hawhee who writes about the question of how climate change and rhetoric intersect, “At stake is how matters of concern…can be deepened into acts of care.” Through study and practice, we’ll make discoveries about the rhetorical ways that concern about climate can be channeled into collective acts of care at the local level. 

Prerequisite: Successful completion (C- or higher) of WTNG 102 
Fulfills the second of two University General Education requirements in the University Writing Program 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor 

WTNG 310: Rhetoric of Science

Professor Campbell
M/TH 2:00-3:20

Farmers and fashionistas, schoolteachers and stockbrokers, criminologists and citizens, astronauts and artists – we all consume scientific work and scientific writing. Scientific knowledge must be communicated across multiple genres and modalities in order to translate highly specialized research in rhetorically effective ways. From scientific notebooks to peer reviewed articles to podcasts, weather reports, and op-eds, the scientific discourse community comprises a range of rhetorical genres, purposes, and audiences. At the heart of all technical and scientific discovery then, lie rhetoric and the liberal arts. 

Designed for any student with a compelling interest in writing, communication, visualization, public health, the sciences, history, or education, this course uses rhetorical knowledge to explore, engage and experiment with scientific writing.Strengthened by the diversity of our academic and personal backgrounds, we’ll situate ourselves as critical audiences and study the conventions of a range of genres-from scientific notebooks to popular podcasts. Motivated by a spirit of inquiry, we’ll invite guest speakers and research instances of scientific communication that touch our own interests. 

Throughout, we’ll consider the shifting relationship between science and the humanities. Projects may include rhetorical analyses, personal narratives, and public-facing presentations. 

Prerequisite: Successful completion of a 200-level WTNG class 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor

WTNG 321: Multimodal Writing in Public Spheres

Professor Moon
M/W/F 10:00-10:50

This course will explore the possibilities of composing in two or more of the five primary modes of communication -- linguistic, video, audio, gestural, and spatial – for public audiences. We will learn how each mode’s unique affordances, rooted in cultural associations, allow communicators to shape meaning. To assist us, we’ll look at diverse multimodal compositions such as the performance art of Reverend Billy and the Earth Church in NYC, Jim Henson’s art film Time Piece, the graffiti art of London-based artist Banksy, zines, podcasts like Radiolab and social media accounts from designers like Jessica Walsh. We’ll also get into thorny issues around multimodal composing like attribution in the age of online sharing and artificial intelligence-generated content. We’ll build on knowledge gained in prior writing courses to examine how multimodal compositions function rhetorically, ultimately learning to craft our own powerful multimodal compositions for public audiences at Roger Williams and beyond. 

Prerequisite: Successful completion of a 200-level WTNG class 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor

WTNG 479: Writing on the Law for Non-lawyers

Professor Topf
T/Th 9:30-10:50

This course requires no prior knowledge of the law. It is based on the principle that you, like all citizens, should be able to engage in civic discourse about legal issues. Do you want to influence how a legislative committee in your state will vote on a new gun-control bill, or on a voting rights bill, or on funding for assisted suicide? Is your town’s school committee considering a regulation banning certain books from the town’s public library? (These are all actual topics students in the course have chosen.) 

You’ll investigate the role that writing and rhetoric plays in civic discourse on law-related controversies. Such controversies arise from exigencies such as public policy debates that shape a proposed law. You’ll learn how to research and argue persuasively on public policy. The main project for this course is a “white paper” on a live (currently pending) bill or regulation, written for the actual law-making audience considering the bill or regulation. 

Prerequisite: Successful completion of a 300-level WTNG class and junior standing 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor