Presentation and Project Updates

In regards to the "Going Public" assignment...
I'm hoping to put together a workshop on style for my co-workers at the Writing Center. We've all come across writing that is "dense" and hard to read--but expressing why it's dense and how to clean it up becomes more challenging, especially if you perceive the writer as far more intelligent than yourself! This issue is addressed by Joseph Williams in his book, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Using Williams's book as the foundation, I would set up a workshop that is part presentation, part group discussion and practical application through a series of practice exercises. Though much of the material would come directly from the book, the presentation would nonetheless be very much my own rhetorical creation as I have to decide which topics and "hints" take precedence over the others. The obstacles facing this workshop are 1) figuring out a date and 2) motivating people to actually come.

In regards to the "Montana Rhetoric Project"...
Erin, Danae, Anjeli, and I are planning to analyze the rhetoric underlying historic vigilante activity in Montana. What did both proponents and opponents say about it? What did vigilance reveal about the times? Have cultural views of justice changed over time? This is a sample of the questions guiding our inquiry. We still have yet to decide a specific location or context on which to focus; for example, we've mentioned the vigilantes associated with Bannock City, Virginia City, or Helena as well as events such as the hanging of Henry Plummer.