How Digitally Rhetorical Are You?

Invention
You tell students "to begin your next paper, start with one of your classmates previous papers. Pick one that you know was successful or highly graded if you can. Copy and paste all of the text into a new file and begin systematically editing the file at the word and sentence level to allow it to suit your current topic and context more readily."
Been there, done that.
I might give this a shot as an in-class exercise.
Um, I don't know about that.
That's cheating! (but do you have an old committee report I could look at, I have one due next week...)
That's it! I am not reading any further!.

Arrangement
You say "I don't want you to think of 'paragraphs' as the important chunks in this writing assignment. Each chunk - whatever its size - should have the same overall structure and should stand alone. If a reader encounters it, they should be able to understand it in isolation from the other chunks. No transitional statements or indexicals allowed!"
Been there, done that.
I might give this a shot as an in-class exercise.
Um, I don't know about that.
That's cheating!
That's it! I am not reading any further!.

Style
You explain "we are going to think of style information as metadata, a layer of information that helps to describe how our message should look on the page, who its should address itself to, and how these factors should influence the way audience members, overall, experience that message. I want you to compose two distinct metadata layers for your message, encoding them in a formalized way using Cascading Style Sheets, in order to customize your message for two different audiences."
Been there, done that.
I might give this a shot as an in-class exercise.
Um, I have no idea what you're talking about.
That technobabble doesn't belong in my classroom!
That's it! I am not reading any further!.

Memory
You say "when you turn in your assignment, please make sure that I have read/write/execute access to your public web directory so that I can access the change histories of your drafts."
Been there, done that.
I might give this a shot as an in-class exercise.
Um, is this a portfolio we are talking about? 'cause I have some manilla folders on hand...
I teach writing, not computer science!
That's it! I am not reading any further!.

Delivery
You implore: "No print please! I can't evaluate the transformations you've designed if I only have static views on paper!"
Been there, done that.
I might give this a shot as an in-class exercise.
Um, I think I might need to upgrade my browser.
You mean I have to sit in front of a computer all day to grade these things?
That's it! I am not reading any further!.