Using specific rhetorical devices as springboards, students will learn to channel their creativity into a variety of different art forms, literature, and media (“creative endeavors”). By exploring how a deepening understanding of rhetoric can aid creative processes in these varied settings, students will learn to identify and value the devices and tropes themselves, helping to see them for what they really are: tools that, for thousands of years, have been used (for good and evil) by successful communicators, collaborators, and creatives alike. Once students realize the power of rhetoric through analysis of important works, demonstrations, in-class activities, group discussions, and creating brief sample works of their own, each student will embark on an instructor-approved creative endeavor of their own choosing, create a more substantial work, and share it with classmates in the final class meeting.
Expected learning outcomes
- Students will gain a basic understanding of the power and potential of rhetoric as a tool for various kinds of creative endeavors
- Through testing various modes of creativity, students will learn which forms of media they most resonate with from both analytical and applied perspectives
- Students will increase their sense of artistic voice and confidence in a safe and supportive environment designed to engender a sense of community
- Students will learn about specific tropes and devices used by other creatives so that they can identify them, apply them to their own work, or even go against audience expectations established by these tropes
Instructor: Ryan Tomski
Ryan Tomski is an award-winning multi-genre composer, instrumentalist, and educator originally from Wisconsin. He co-founded a big band called Big Beat based out of the New York/New Jersey area, and in 2018, completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in jazz from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He earned a bachelor's degree in jazz performance from The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and is a graduate of the jazz arranging master's degree program at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. Recently, Ryan has toured and recorded with the dynamic and soulful family band Sounds of A&R under the legendary tutelage of Thelonious Sphere Monk III. In 2023, Ryan was featured on FOX 29 and ABC 6 in conjunction with Philadelphia's premiere steakhouse, Rittenhouse Grill, where he can be seen performing regularly. Ryan has penned approximately thirty works for large ensembles, including big bands, wind ensembles, choirs, marching bands, pep bands, and more. He has performed music in eight countries. Ryan now teaches music courses at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and St. Joseph’s University.
