music and labor 0ct 6 2024

Sarah Reis

English Composition

Professor C Lavigne

September 2024

Rhetorical Analysis

In her essay, "Four Things Social Media Can Teach You about College Writing—and One

Thing It Can't," Ann N. Amicucci explores how students can transfer rhetorical skills they

already practice on social media to their academic writing. She identifies four key composing

practices that can be repurposed for college essays: imitating successful formats, targeting

specific audiences, shaping one's ethos, and making strategic literary choices. Amicucci extends

this with ideas of intertextuality and interdiscursivity. This explains how writers 'borrow' from

pre-existing texts and rhetorical strategies. She concludes through practical examples such as,

"riffing off" model essays, thinking about "hashtag audiences," and choosing "filters"and how

these practices can enrich academic representation.

This essay is important to the field of composition studies because it links daily digital habits of

students with their academic writing assignments. The approach connects their informal,

everyday digital communication with formal conventions at an academic level.

Addressing students who may struggle to write at the collegiate level, Amicucci places

academic writing in social media practices in a way that makes complex rhetorical theories more

understandable. Her essay contributes to the ongoing conversations in composition methods on

how to incorporate students' digital literacies into the classroom and offers students a set of

strategies to help transition from informal to formal writing contexts. The approach engages

more students and develops writing abilities.

Amicucci applies real-life social media examples to critically analyze rhetorical moves

while emphasizing compositional values as relevance, approachability, and skill transferability.

A good composition argument is one that links theory with practice. In discussing intertextuality

and interdiscursivity through the use of social media examples, like Hashtags in an Instagram

post, Amicucci is trying to get students to interpret rhetorical choices in meaningful ways. These

interpretations help them learn about complex concepts involved in writing.

Amicucci argues that "students can effectively transfer rhetorical resources from social

media to academic writing.". She explains how writers "borrow" from existing texts and

rhetorical moves through the use of intertextuality and interdiscursivity. She identifies four key

strategies: imitating formats that work, targeting audiences, shaping one's ethos, stylistic choices.

She illustrates how to do these things in social media-specific ways that then can be transferred

into academic writing to support students in using their digital literacy skills in formal writing.

Amicucci uses hedges and boosters as linguistic means of negotiating the details of

writing. Hedges, as shown in her statement, "You might think of social media as completely

separate from the writing you do for college, but the truth is, the two aren't that different," make

propositions more tentative and avoid strong claims. In that example, the verb "might" shows

uncertainty and invites a cautious and reflective style of composing. This attention to the

complexities in the writing process speaks to the current emphasis in composition studies on

critical thought and multiple points of view.

On the other hand, boosters make a statement sure and confident; they reinforce an

argument. In this context, her remark, "nothing you write exists in a vacuum," is telling that all

writing is joined. By balancing the boosters and hedges, Amicucci elicits a text to be persuasive

and nuanced to enable the student to transfer their skills from informal to formal with sensitivity

to diverse views.

Reader pronouns, like "you" and "we," establish a connection with the readers and allow

the argument to be relatable. For instance, she asks, "Have you ever had a writing assignment to

work on but find yourself scrolling through social media instead?" This gives a direct invitation

for the readers to think about their experiences. The use of such inclusive language will bring a

sense of unity among the users of social media and allow the text to sound even more

conversational.

Rhetorical devices differ according to discipline: they reflect the values and norms of

each discipline. Which are more or less common can sometimes provide a way of gauging what

types of arguments and evidence are most convincing in which contexts. Terms, for example, and

citation style illustrate how disciplinary conventions are reproduced. The ability to understand

these rhetorical conventions provides insight into the epistemological assumptions and

argumentative moves that underlie various academic disciplines.

The essay will, therefore, effectively illustrate how rhetorical techniques apply to various

forms of writing, from social media posts to academic essays. It introduces the generally

applicable concepts of intertextuality and interdiscursivity. It is explained that rhetorical moves

may transcend genres. Amicucci points out the convergence of rhetorical strategies in the use of

social media and academic writing and emphasizes the possibility of students' skills transfer

across contexts.

The essay gives emphasis on the integration of writing skills in social media into

academics, but, however, also provides recognition regarding tensions between the casual tone of

social media and traditional academic conventions. An invitation for stylistic experimentation

and personal voice may run in conflict with expectations of formality, particularly in certain

disciplines.

Admittedly, much of the rhetorical work present in day-to-day writing transfers into the

academic work. In this regard, students can begin to consider the ways in which they already

know so much about rhetoric and learn to accommodate that knowledge within the disciplinary

norms of the class. A clear academic voice arises from a balance between one's personal style

and the conventions of the field and allows for a more active and inclusive writing.

1. Amicucci, Ann N. "Four Things Social Media Can Teach You about College

Writing—and One Thing It Can't." 2018.

2. Thaiss, Chris, and Tara Zawacki. "What is Academic? What is Alternative?" , 2006.