Getting the Gig: Citation and Rhetorical Signaling

In this improvisational role-play activity, journal editors interview writers as part of a job selection process. 

Author: Eldon Pei

Course: PWR1 / PWR2

Schedule: TiC and research proposal stages

Activity length: 40-65 minutes in total

• Framing and instructions 5-10 minutes
• Preparation of biographies 10-15 minutes
• Two rounds of interviews 20-30 minutes
• Debrief and reflection 5-10 minutes

Activity Goals: 

• To explore the role that academic citations and signal phrases play in communicating a source’s kairos, exigence, and ethos.
• To recognize citations and signal phrases as intentional rhetorical tools that may strengthen an argument.

Instructions for Prep:

This is an improvisational activity where students take turns role-playing journal editors and writers at a group job interview. To prepare, they gather in teams of three and help one other come up with unique writerly profiles for themselves. By the end of this group work, each student should have:

1. A fictional name or nom de plume
2. An occupation (e.g., journalist, scientist, blogger)
3. At least one field of subject-matter expertise
4. Credentials and affiliations
5. The titles of several publications
6. Their formats (e.g., journal articles, opinion pieces)
7. The names of their publishers
8. When they were published

The profiles students create can be realistic, humorous, or whimsical. Encourage maximum creativity. 

Instructions for Play:

Each three-person team joins with another three-person team. Together they decide which team will play the editors first. When play begins, editors will take turns asking the following questions:

1. You have a month to research and write a 1500-word piece for [invent a journal and make up an editorial focus for it]. How would you structure your writing and what sources would you rely on?
2. Pitch us an idea about an emerging trend and explain why it will be interesting to our readers. We primarily publish for people who might also be into [invent descriptive names for similar journals].
3. Come up with a title for a feature article you feel you’re qualified to write for our upcoming special issue, [make up an issue title].

Instead of preparing together in advance, editors will make up the details of their journal as they go, building on one another’s statements. 

After a question is asked, the writers take turns responding based on their fictional profiles. While the default objective is to “get the gig”, players can pursue whatever rhetorical objectives they choose. Similarly, editors are not bound to play it straight and can adopt any motivations they wish.

The first round of the game lasts ten minutes. Afterward, the teams switch roles and play again for another ten minutes. Additional rounds can be added by mixing up the teams.

During the postmortem debrief and reflection, invite students to look back on the fictional author and journal profiles they invented while playing:

• What do the parts of a writer’s profile and the details of a publication and publisher convey? How do they influence perceptions of authority, credibility, and relevance? 

Ensure students understand that they have been playing with the main elements of well-formed citations and convincing signal phrases. Each element has meaning.