I was afforded a unique opportunity this summer to work with Dr. Jennifer Abbott in conducting research for the purpose of revising the content of Public Speaking and Democratic Participation, the primary textbook currently used to instruct Wabash’s Rhetoric 101 public speaking course. This revision process was done in order to set the stage for an upcoming 2nd edition of the book. My 4-week internship as a researcher began with absorbing a comprehensive breakdown of how the 1st edition was structured. My work with Wabash Democracy & Public Discourse regularly provides me with chances to conduct research for various projects and events that we put together, so it was a pleasure to apply the skills I’d picked up from that line of work. Another main goal of my research was to find updated examples of public speaking that embodied the core tenets of good-faith civic engagement. As a textbook that was originally published in 2015, Dr. Abbott and I saw it fitting to replace a lot of the relatively more dated examples with instances that resonated with the current day, and had occurred within the last year or two. It was exciting for me to delve into the text in this sort of manner; reframing my approach to the book allowed me to gain a new appreciation for how academic works are compiled, and the strategies employed therein which aim to make the content more accessible. Dr. Abbott and I agreed that when attempting to educate an audience, one should write in such a way that makes the lesson material intuitive and straightforward to grasp upon first reading. That said, our goal was not necessarily to “dumb it down” when it came to revising chapters, but rather to eliminate any superfluous academic jargon and emphasize a clear focus on the do’s and don’ts of conducting various forms of public speaking. The aspect of this internship
that I personally found to be the most fun and engaging was the opportunity for hands-on revision of the language of the text. The bulk of my work for this internship position involved meticulously scouring several key chapters for potential revision in the language that would result in a more personal and conversational tone, yet also aimed to capture a broader audience. In its current state, the 1st edition is very clearly tailored specifically towards RHE-101 students. I’d like to give my sincere thanks to Dr. Abbott for allowing me this opportunity to intern as a researcher for the Wabash College Rhetoric department. I did not begin my Wabash career with an appreciation for what “rhetoric” really was, let alone having the desire to major in the subject. Three years later, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have become involved with the study of rhetoric. I cherished the work I did this summer as a way for me to give back to the department in return for how much it has helped me grow as a person, both intellectually and socially.
