Introduction for Students

Students spend a lot of time writing essays for teachers. And while some instructors might still ask you to print your work and turn it in on paper, odds are you do most (if not all) of your writing using digital devices, then turn in your work using your school’s learning management system—a digital platform that allows you to upload a digital file or share a link to an online document. Digital spaces change the writing process and the ways we employ rhetoric, leading to questions motivating the content of this book. This book’s authors ask questions such as:

• How do these platforms, procedures, and products (re)shape the way writing and rhetoric work?
• How do efforts to influence others change when computers serve as intermediaries that filter, translate, select, sort, and interpret documents before we see them?
• How much does your computer control you, and how much agency do you have over the ways you engage with others?
• Beyond the words we use, what else influences audiences?
• What is modern rhetoric, beyond ethos, logos, and pathos?
• How should ethics affect the way we use computers?

In each chapter, a student from a previous semester of Writing in Digital Spaces shares with you their insights on a topic from class discussion. These student authors will guide you through key concepts of digital rhetoric, helping both to untangle difficult ideas and to challenge assumptions you might have when starting this course. Additionally, several features make the material in this textbook more accessible. Specifically, authors have created:

• Simplified overview paragraphs to introduce each chapter, letting you see what you’re getting into before diving in.
• Review questions at the end of each section, making it easy to check your understanding as you go.
• Discussion questions at the end of each chapter, showing the extracurricular relevance of each chapter’s subject.
• Shared glossary terms, offering specific and technical, yet consistent and student-oriented, definitions of key vocabulary.

And finally, this book is designed as a living document, made to change and grow as the interests and needs of Kean students or the course curriculum develop over time. If any of the content of this book could be improved or should be updated or replaced, or if material is missing that you think we should add, reach out to your instructor and/or the English Department staff with your suggestions. This book is designed for you, so your feedback is vital to making this textbook the best resource it can be.