Incorporating AI Literacy Instruction into Rhetorical Analysis Assignments

As generative artificial intelligence (gAI) tools become increasingly prevalent, writing instructors face challenges in addressing their ethical and pedagogical implications. In response to a rise in unethical gAI usage among students in English 5 at Sacramento State, graduate teaching associates in the English department incorporated AI literacy into their sections of English 5 through a revised rhetorical analysis assignment. This study examines the implementation and impact of this instructional shift during the Fall 2024 semester, when four graduate teaching assistants (TAs) introduced ~100 students to AI literacy through structured rhetorical analysis activities. The assignment sequence included identifying rhetorical moves in scholarly articles, collaboratively constructing a rhetorical moves chart, prompting and analyzing ChatGPT outputs, and composing a comparative rhetorical analysis essay. Findings indicate that explicit AI literacy instruction significantly reduced unethical gAI usage, as reported by TAs who observed declines from 15-25% in Spring 2024 to under 5% in Fall 2024. Students engaged critically with both human-authored and AI-generated texts, recognizing limitations in gAI’s rhetorical sophistication and citation accuracy. Additionally, integrating gAI into coursework fostered a shift from a punitive approach to a collaborative learning environment, allowing students to explore AI’s strengths and weaknesses responsibly. This study underscores the importance of proactive AI literacy education in writing pedagogy, demonstrating how structured engagement with gAI can enhance critical thinking and ethical technology use in academic settings.