ENGL 505A

I would like to propose moving the group advocacy assignment to the beginning of the semester.

First, I feel like having the students work together from the start will have a positive impact on the collaborative nature of the class by fostering more cooperation and less competition, especially important in activities like peer review. I also hope that other group projects -- perhaps a multi-media or video one (see Liz's blog) -- could be added later in the semester to help maintain this collaborative spirit throughout.

Second, I think the project should focus specifically on ENGL 106. That is, whether or not 106 should be required for all students entering Purdue University. Students could be exposed to relevant debates on the subject (e.g., David Bartholomae’s 1985 “Inventing the University; Sharon Crowley’s 1998 “A Personal Essay on Freshman English") and then assume and advocate a position: should we uphold, abolish, or reform the class? They would then create a campaign slogan and promote it through appropriate media: posters, flyers, T-shirts, websites, call-outs, etc. They might even be encouraged to extend the campaign beyond the classroom, actually taking their case to the streets, dorms, and dining halls as an exercise in real student advocacy (this part won’t be graded).

Of course, we’re all aware that the situation is unlikely to change, but by giving students a voice in this matter, even one that, if heard, would result in all of us losing our “jobs,” I believe that we can serve two important functions: make students more aware of the social value of writing and, in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek fashion, encourage more critical awareness of their position within the university hierarchy, as well as that of their overworked and underpaid graduate TA’s.