COMMS 212 Semester 1 2024Haskell

Java Python MID-TERM REVIEW ASSIGNMENT

COMMS 212 Semester 1 2024

Please note the following:

- This assignment is worth 20 points in total, and the points value for each individual question is noted below.

- For the short-answer questions, please write in complete sentences.

- For questions that ask you to provide examples to support your answer, you are permitted to include examples discussed in class if you wish, but you should try and give your own perspective on them, rather than simply repeating what was said in classes. You are also encouraged to bring in your own examples where possible.

- This is a four-page document, please make sure you read it and respond to each question.

Multiple choice questions (answer all four questions):

For each multiple choice question please select one answer only:

1. Rhetoric can best be defined as:

 Manipulation of beliefs through signs and symbols

 The formulation of persuasive argument

 A system of taken-for-granted knowledge

 Communications that derive from government/the state

(0.5 marks)

2. True or False: A rhetorical opening is a moment in which uncertainty within climate change rhetoric can be used to build an argument for scepticism or denial.

 TRUE

 FALSE

(0.5 marks)

3. Which of the following is NOT something you’d be looking for when analysing the Ethos of a particular communicator?

 Vocabulary and intonation

 Viewpoint and position

 The range and diversity of arguments presented

 Structural organisation

(0.5 marks)

4. True or False: Crawford et al (2019) write that the rhetorical strategy of the claim refers to a personal belief or value statement.

 TRUE

 FALSE

COMMS 212 Semester 1 2024Haskell (0.5 marks)

Short-answer questions (three in total, please answer all three)

5. From the following list of examples that we have looked at in lectures, select ONE that you found most interesting. Explain what struck you as interesting about the case study and what you think we can learn from it as students and/or practitioners of social change communication.

a) The discourse of period poverty

b) The discourse of confidence culture

c) The rhetoric of climate change in Aotearoa

Your answer to question 5 (expand box as required):     (Write 300 words. Worth 6 marks)

6. Choose ONE example of a communicator you are familiar with (it could be a public figure, a politician, an activist, a media commentator etc). Using the concept of either ETHOS or LOGOS, describe how this communicator uses rhetoric and how successful they are.

Your answer to question 6 (expand box as required):     (Write 300 words. Worth 6 marks)

7. In Week 5, we looked at a few examples of the rhetoric of climate change activism. Discuss how climate activists use PATHOS in their communication, using an example (either from the lecture, tutorials, or your own).  

Your answer to question 7 (expand box as required):     (Write 300 words