As of Fall 2006, there are nine alternative syllabus approaches that have been approved by the Introductory Writing Committee that instructors can choose from to guide their teaching of English 106. Click on an approach below for more information, including a brief description of the approach and access to detailed syllabus plans and websites maintained by each syllabus group.
The academic writing approach to English 106 introduces students to common genres of academic writing through a sequence of increasingly complex yet related assignments. Each assignment is designed to prepare students for the next by introducing reading, research, and writing strategies that students can incorporate in subsequent work. The approach is supported by the coursepack Academic Writing and Research.
A list of assignments from current and former teachers
1. “Aesthetic Rhetoric, Rhetorical Aesthetics” attempts to combine and explore as mutually constructive and beneficial two ways of perception and application of a written word—rhetorical and aesthetic. Thus, on the one hand, this course will look into the conditions of the rhetorical effectiveness of the idea. It will delineate the various trajectories—cultural, historical, social, local, and global—according to which such an idea developed. On the other hand, however, the course will look into the transformation of the idea under the immediate conditions of language and written word—never ceasing in its desire to dislocate meanings, to create allusions, to trespass limits of what is given, known, or understood.
2. This approach suggests that the rhetoric of language should be discussed and analyzed through the aesthetic considerations of the text. In doing so, the approach pays special attention to the text’s individual style—constitutive of both the text’s rhetorical intentionality and dislocation of this intention due to what is often called a “play” of the linguistic sign. Thus style is considered in terms of the relation between form and content of expression, which—under the influence of the text’s aesthetic component—fail to correspond to each other in absolute terms. Here the concept of the close reading of the text becomes central to the analysis of the text’s individual style. It is the close reading that allows for the movement towards the self-consciousness of the rhetorical construction and invention.3. Following the particular discussions of the postmodern thought with regard to writing, we suggest that writing as an aesthetic phenomenon should be placed and studied in the context of literature. Thus, on the one hand, literary works are firmly based in the experiences, perceptions, and needs of the writer, more so than other genres; studying literary texts provides students with the chance to connect with a diversity of experiences and agendas, to see the complex rhetorical “maps” at work within those authors. On the other hand, literature provides a space of the aesthetic pleasure which motivates both reading and creation of literary texts. While literature is an excellent way of illustrating the presence of the rhetorical and aesthetic dimensions of the text, it is not the sole material used in this course. The tension between rhetoric and aesthetics is explored also in paintings, photography, sculpture, and modern forms of art, as well as in music and popular culture.
4. While argument construction is crucial to the teaching agenda of this course, other forms of composition—in which the argument is no longer explicit—become meaningful in the exploration of the unique nature of literature and art.. Thus, along with the assignments, requiring the attentive exploration of argument, and of its constitutive parts (author, message, audience), other assignments underscore the fictional dimensions of literature (predictions, study of autobiographies, Portrait assignment). It is the fictionality of the text and the opportunities that it offers to a writer that adds yet another dimension to the composition—whose argument becomes dispersed in the aesthetic life of a text.
5. “Aesthetic Rhetoric, Rhetorical Aesthetics” emphasizes as its strength the particular grounding of its method in theoretical foundations of the course. This connection transpires both in the conceptual framework, according to which the teaching process is structured, and in the actual incorporation of the theoretical texts into class discussions.When choosing a painting for your analysis, think about the time period in which you are interested the most. You might also think about why this or that particular painting appeals to your personality. What is it, in your view, that the painting should affect the most in its audience? For example, some of you might find the realist painting responding the most to your sense of form--with its (realistic) precision of lines, clearly cut distinction between the background and the foreground, unequivocal presentation of the object--all, to a certain degree, assisting in your search for the accuracy of the message. Others, on the other hand, can be intrigued by the uncertainty and vagueness of the forms (those in modern art, for example). One can even find pleasure in this imprecision of the portrayal, for it might go well with the person's lived experiences--never stable, changing at every step of our movement in this world.
--Adapted from Jane E. Aaron's Model Essays and John Schilb and John Clifford's Making Arguments about Literature
For your Project 2, you will have to develop an argument about literature or art. An argument involves six basic elements. When you argue, you attempt to persuade an audience to accept your claims regarding an issue/subject by presenting evidence and relying on warrants/assumptions. Remember that argument is not simply about proving a point. It is about exploring an issue that matters to you.
Issue:
An issue is a question with no obvious, or immediate, answer. You can start identifying issues by noting questions that occur to you as you read. Often readers demand a text to be clear, and they get annoyed if it leaves them puzzled. Of course, certain texts ought to be immediately clear in meaning; think of operating instructions on a plane's emergency doors. But the value of a literary work often lies in the work's complexities, which can lead readers to reexamine their own ways of perceiving the world. Also, your paper about literature or art is likely to be most useful and interesting when it goes beyond the obvious to deal with more challenging matters.
One way to recognize an issue/subject is to compare the text under consideration with other texts.
While looking for an issue, consider themes developed by the writer/artist, imagery and the way the author employs language/color/lines/shapes, etc., the atmosphere/tone he or she creates, and the work's structure. Also, look at a broader--cultural and historical--context to it.
Claim/thesis:
Basically, a claim is a statement that is spoken or written in the hope that it will be considered true. If an issue is a question with various debatable answers, claim is the debatable answer. Even though your thesis may change over the course of the writing process, it's a good idea to draft it early on because it can help you keep focused as you generate more ideas, seek information, and organize your thoughts.
Evidence:
Evidence is the support that you give your claims so that others will accept them. I want your evidence to include:
Page length: 5-6 pages + a Works Cited page; MLA format
". . . And since what interests me today is not strictly called literature or philosophy. I am amused by the idea that my adolescent desire--let's call it that--should have directed me towards something in writing which was neither the one nor the other. What was it? "Autobiography" is perhaps the least inadequate name, because it remains for me the most enigmatic, the most open, even today. . . Well, what happened then was just like an autobiographical desire. . . Deep down there was something like a lyrical movement towards confidences or confessions. Still today there remains in me an obsessive desire to save in uninterrupted inscription, in the form of a memory, what happens--or fails to happen. . . in other words, the unique event whose trace one would like to keep alive--is also the very desire that what does not happen should happen, and is thus a "story" in which the event already crosses within itself the archive of the "real" and the archive of fiction."
--"This Strange Institution Called Literature" (An Interview with Jacques Derrida)
Part I AutobiographyThere are various ways in which we choose to present ourselves and others: from direct and unambiguous to obscure and at times fictional. These choices are determined by the particular cultural and social environment and by the purposes and expectations of the audience in the presence of which we attempt to construct and project our identity. Thus we "produce" the images of ourselves and others as responses to the demands of the outside world; we form and employ certain rhetorical strategies which help us attain our aims (whether they pertain to job, personal relationships, or social exchange). It is true, however, that audience, and context in general, is not the only factor that prompts our decisions and motivates our choices. There are spaces in our lives which remain inaccessible to the outside viewer; there are sides to the character which fail to appear "true" or "real" to the observer and thus can not be measured against what some of us call the "correct perception." It is here that the construction of the image (in writing or the art form) allows for the so called "suspense of truth," for the internal polylogue which no longer attempts to live up to "reality." In this project, you are going to create a portrait of yourself by implementing the elements of both realistic and fictional discourse. In a certain sense, the project is a combination of rhetorical "purposefulness" and aesthetic "incompleteness." It is both the reconstruction of your personal experiences through memories and the freedom to avoid the truth of such reconstructions due to the experience of another kind--that of the fictionality of language. I would like you to write your portrait in the genre of autobiographical fiction, for it is this particular genre that allows for these two aspects of writing--reality and fiction, or rhetoric
and aesthetics, to be presented on equal footing.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines autobiography as "the story of a person's life written by that person." The entomology of the word "autobiography" is autos meaning self, bios meaning life, and graphe meaning writing. Notice that autobiography is different from biography in that it contains this moment of reflection, or subjective evaluation of the objective fact--otherwise straightforward and unambiguous. Thus autobiographies include the fictions that are part of people's lives: their dreams, values, memories, and fears. They also contain a significant message or life lesson the author has learned and wishes to convey to their audience.
Part II Visual PresentationThe second important part of your portrait is its visual aspect. Here, we are going to combine the use of print- and graphic-based technologies in order to create a portrait. The visual presentation will supplement your autobiography as an important rhetorical and aesthetic instrument. That, for example, can be an image (or a combination) or images which help you identify the moment which is important to your narration and which allows to convey feelings and emotions that you believe are insufficient enough to be uttered in simple words.
You should remember, however, that both parts of your Project respond to one and the same purpose which you set for yourself before you begin your work. As you try out different ideas, images, and descriptions, you should be constantly asking yourself questions:
I. Proposal
Proposal (1 page) is the crucial part of your project. It requires a great deal of thought processing, creativity, and emotional investment on your part. Appropriate your newly acquired skills and language to create a composition which is unique and distinctive in its rhetorical expressiveness.
II. Create your own portrait
You will then work on creating a portrait, both its written and visual parts. Your autobiography should be 5-6 pages long. The visual components of your portrait can either supplement your writing, or “intertwine” with the text itself. Thus images, for instance, can in a certain sense "follow" your writing, or serve as illustrations of the ideas, or they can function as part of the overall design of your writing.
III. Peer Review
In the end, I would like you to evaluate another person's project based on the assessment criteria that you will develop yourself. These criteria should reflect, among other qualities, the consistency of the written piece with the expectations of the autobiographical genre.
Project 3 Check-ListWrite 1.5-2 pages explaining goals, means, and theoretical foundations of your work. Note that all three parts of your proposal are closely connected, and when considered together, contribute to the central important aspect of your work--the demonstration of the integral connection between text as a content and composition as a form.
Goals:
Means:
Theoretical part:
Your response essay is a short informal paper that explores your personal reactions to the text (or two texts if you find the ground for their comparison) and examines
how your personal knowledge, prejudices, and life experiences influenced your reading. These are some of the issues that might be addressed in a response essay:
Your paper will be graded for clarity and development.
You can write your essay on any of the stories that we have discussed in class. I would like you to develop an idea and address it through your critical thinking as
well as the appropriate allocation of evidence pertinent to this idea. I suggest that you approach your writing in a series of steps.
I want your response essay to be 1 page long, double-spaced and with font size 12. Write your name and the number of the essay in the right-hand corner. The essay should begin with the title reflecting the main idea that you wish to explore.
The most successful short papers focus on a specific problem and explore it in some depth. They develop an idea, or an angle, about the problem, an insightful approach to it. They show evidence of careful, perceptive reading and clear critical thinking; they avoid summary but use details and brief quotations as support and expansion of their idea or interpretation; they avoid broad generalizations; they grow out of asking probing questions
--Peter Schakel, Approaching Literature in the 21st century
Your response essay is a short paper, which attends to a particular problem in the text (or two texts if you find the ground for their comparison). I would like you to develop an idea and address it through your critical thinking as well as the appropriate allocation of evidence pertinent to this idea. I suggest that you approach your writing in a series of steps. These steps may overlap or be followed in a different order depending on your writing habits:
When choosing the topic, think about the ideas that most engaged you--ones that intrigued you, or puzzled you, or opened up new perceptions, or insights. Topics that struggle with a problem, suggest ambiguous solutions, or explore the conflict often work well. You may also look for an unusual technique or approach in the work, something that made you struggle with the text when you were reading it.
The next key aspect of planning a paper involves narrowing that broad topic to a clearly defined topic. Literary papers are argumentative papers in the sense that they develop and present a reasoned argument in support of a position with which someone could disagree. If you don't focus on a disputable issue you might end up with an illustrative paper instead of an argumentative one.
Once you have narrowed the topic, you need to sharpen what you want to say about the topic. At this stage it is important to notice the difference between a topic and a thesis. A topic just names the subject area. It merely states the fact. A thesis adds a comment about the subject and turns it into something disputable. A thesis states an idea that readers could disagree with or reject. Your job is to convince them that your point is worth accepting.
The key to a successful paper lies in its development and support of its ideas. There are two ways of doing it:
Once you finished a draft of the paper the next steps are to revise and then proofread them. Revising means examining closely what you have written, thinking through it again, and trying to find ways to improve its content, organization, and expression. Proofreading is correcting spelling and grammar errors. It is a final step.
I want your response essay to be 2 pages long, double-spaced and with the font size 12. Write your name and the number of the essay (for example Response Essay 1) in the right-hand corner. The essay should begin with the title reflecting the main idea that you wish to explore.
Click on the pdf link: Bryson Fall 2006.
English 106 – First-Year Composition
Aesthetic Rhetoric, Rhetorical Aesthetics
Olga Medvedeva omedvede@purdue.edu
Office: HEAV 214
Time: 10:30-11:20 a.m. M-F
Office Hours: 12:30-1:30 W
Spring 2006
English Office Phone: 494-3740
Syllabus
Welcome to English 106, the First-year Composition course at Purdue. We'll be working in three different spaces this semester—a traditional classroom, a conference room, and a computer classroom. And we’ll be engaging in challenging activities that will involve reading, writing, group work, visual design, and rhetorical/creative uses of technology.
Required Texts:
Anderson, Daniel – Writing about Literature in the Media Age
Additional readings available as .pdf files
Recommended Materials:
A good college dictionary
A college writing handbook
MLA Style Manual (6th edition)
A Stapler
Literature and the Modern World It would be no exaggeration to say that the pressing demands of our modern high-tech and rapid paced world have changed our sense of education and literacy. We live in the information age where the ability to communicate is given the primary importance. The advent of the computer and the Internet, and the new forms of communication that emerged with it, are continuing to revolutionize our society. We are inundated with words, spoken and written, but also visuals, from simple images to the most sophisticated forms of film and video. Hence is the demand for the productive and prolific writing responding to the needs of the rapidly changing culture and economy. But what makes one a good writer? What are the essential conditions that inform writing with the sense of harmony, beauty, and peculiarity of language and style? How does a good writing function? The present course will address these questions through examining the works of literature which, we believe, both contribute to our practice of communication (historically, culturally, ideologically) and allow the reader to experience the phenomenon of pure language, to develop the taste for beauty of the individual style, to connect with the mystery of the indirect, or “counter-communication.” We will examine the various elements of literature and art, engage actively with texts, familiarize ourselves with the stages of the writing process, as well as explore some of the fundamental skills for becoming critical thinkers and good writers.
Rhetoric and Aesthetics Among other central concepts, rhetoric and aesthetics will figurate frequently throughout the course in our readings and discussions. In fact, exploration and understanding of their complex and multi-faceted functioning in the text will constitute the central task and goal of the course. It is these two concepts that will help you cultivate and employ in your own work the considerations of the particular genre (literary or rhetorical), as well as recognize the various ways in which these genres interact. The present course will suggest looking at the rhetoric of language through the aesthetic figurations of the text. We will explore the notions of rhetoric, rhetorical construction, rhetorical awareness, etc. as well as try to position these notions within the context of the literary language. We will also see how the language of literature may agree with and thus enhance the rhetorical message, and how it may undermine the straightforwardness of the message, how the style can break with representation.
Means or What Needs to be Done With this approach to writing, I want you to do the close reading of texts, both verbal and visual. We will learn how to read carefully and critically, how to tease out the meanings of the language, how to establish connections between various parts of the text and the broader culture. From this initial stage we will proceed to writing response essays which aim at showing how your personal knowledge and experiences influenced the reading of the text. An annotated bibliography assignment will help you collect material for further analysis, introduce you into research strategies, and provide you with examples of critical reading and background material. The first half of the semester culminates with writing a literary based essay which examines either a particular element of the text or looks at more than one text (a comparison of literary texts, a literary text and a painting).
The Portrait Assignment (weeks 9-16) is a multi-media project. It will encourage you to utilize the acquired analytical skills to create a portrait of your own as well as to look for technology that suits your rhetorical needs. This invention sequence starts with writing predictions and speculating in writing upon the direction the text may take. This assignment will challenge you to make your personal choices within plot, images, and language. After this preparatory exercise you will be asked to create a portrait – both verbal and visual – and to write an essay in the genre of autobiographical fiction. The sequence ends with written critiques to evaluate the qualities of the portraits created by you peers.
With two major projects, you are supposed to produce 7,500 words of polished writing during the semester.
The length of the passage is up to you, but keep in mind that we only have ten minutes. The purpose of the pre-conference writing is to get you to work through some specific ideas, issues, or insights beforehand so that we can get the most out of our conference time, and do so in a manner tailored to your specific needs. If you do not bring your passage and your half-page, or you’re late to your appointment time, I’ll count you absent.
Assignments and GradesYou have three major projects to do throughout the semester. Each of these projects will include several parts, involve composing in various mediums, and lead to multiple revisions. These will be the main focus of the course. However, other, short homework and writing assignments will be integral to the composition of the larger projects, and I will be making such assignments regularly. For example, a homework assignment might ask you to answer a question that emerged from our class discussion. To prepare for class, I may ask you to respond to a couple of our readings in specific ways. In class, I may ask you to revise parts of your projects. You may be asked to visit places like the DLC and others and write about them. You may go out and do some field work like interviews or observations and write a report of your process and findings.
Week 1 | Introduction: Relating Thinking and Writing
9 Jan. Course Outline. Brief introduction of students followed by an in-class writing sample and conference sign-up. [Introduce yourself as a character through a writing sample. Briefly describe your writing rituals. OR: What kind of writings assignments do you prefer to work on? OR: What are your greatest strengths/weaknesses as a writer?]Week 3 | From Analysis to Synthesis
23 Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” pp. 60-69. Discussion: Abstractness and Concreteness (from Milan Kundera); excerpts from Nietzsche’s “On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense.”(How does literature helps us to break with the correct perception.Click on the pdf link: Lyaskovets Spring 2007.
Click on the PDF link: Medvedeva Spring 2007
Click on the pdf link: Bryson Spring 2007.
| Week 1 | Task: Ø To introduce students to the main concepts which will be addressed in the course of the semester: literature, rhetoric, aesthetics, and context (immediate, broader, intertextuality). Ø To point at the complexity that exists between the rhetorical and aesthetic components of any text and the literary text in particular. Ø To lead them to think about different genres in which various texts are composed, paying the particular attention to the choice of the genre as constitutive of the writing process (rhetorical or literary). Process:
The discussion leads them to think about the role of literature and how the literary work always eludes the completeness of representation, how it avoids the straightforwardness of the message.
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| Week 2 | Task: Ø To look at literature in the “fluidity” of its form and content. Literature suggests a constant movement away from content in the direction of a new form, which in its turn leads to the new meanings. The emphasis is made on the possibility of writing and portrayal of characters (in the analyzed stories) in the incompleteness of their representation. “Hills Like White Elephants” and Chrysanthemums” are the very typical examples of such incompleteness in literature. Ø To introduce students to process of textual analysis and critical writing by using a specific example from literary criticism. Milan Kundera’s article serves as a demonstration of such critical writing. He distinguishes between art of the traditional novel (which aims at the completeness of representation of characters, time, setting, events) and art which breaks with such tradition by emphasizing or magnifying the details of the moment. Ø Introducing the concept of close reading Process:· Discussion and close reading: Ernst Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants” (See the hand-out). · Discussion and close reading: John Steinbeck, “The Chrysanthemums” · Discussion: Milan Kundera, “Testaments Betrayal” (See the hand-out) · The week is concluded with the discussion of the first essay and the common mistakes that the students make as far as the structure, grammar, and presentation of the ideas (hand-out with the excerpts of student’s writing). The students are asked to revisit and revise their papers. |
| Week 3 | Task: Ø To recapitulate the difference between the abstractness and concreteness of representation in literature via Kundera. Abstractness: aims at the content of the described object or event (developed plot and characters, dramatic situation, unity of time and place). Concreteness: tries to capture the moment (as if through the magnifying glass) – the reader sees the part of the event, or a trait of character but is not able to perceive completely the overall picture, or structure of the situation Ø To introduce students to the concept of metaphoricity of language. Underscore the influence of metaphor on the formation of the concept. Process:· Discussion of Kundera cont. · Nietzsche, “On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense” (abstract). · Discussion: Raymond Carver, “Cathedral.” · Discussion: Georgina Kleege, “Blind Rage” · The week ends with writing of the second response essay. |
| Week 4 | Task: Ø To introduce students to the concept of a comparative essay. Ø To introduce students into the concept of “art as text”—which can be perceived, thought, and analyzed in the same way as literature is thought and analyzed. Ø To show how various movements in art coincide, or display similar tendencies as literary movements. Ø To demonstrate, using the particular examples from traditional art and modern art, the shift in the perception of the world, namely the movement of art from general to particular, from the totality of its presentation to the concreteness of the detail, to the simultaneity of presentation of its various parts. To discuss how this movement, or shift, is affected by the particular historical conditions of the era. Ø To emphasize the complexity of the interplay between the rhetorical and aesthetic components of art. Too show how art, and visual text in particular, carries the most vivid characteristics of both rhetoric and aesthetics. Process:· Discussion: Talking about literature and art (see the hand-out). Tim O’Brian, “The Tings They Carried” and Picasso, “Guernica.” · Analyzing modern art (see examples on WebCT). Problems of interpretation. Aesthetic and rhetorical components of art. · Discussion: How to analyze a painting (see guidelines for painting presentation). · Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author” is introduced. |
| Week 5 | Task: Ø To discuss Barthes’s argument and examine its relevance to the pieces of art under consideration. Question: What forms of art (art movements) represent the idea of the death of origin to a larger – and which to a smaller – extent? Ø To discuss the differences/similarities (as far as rhetorical and aesthetic considerations of art) between painting and photography. To underline the connection between the increase in the communicative value of art and the obliteration of its original meaning—which is indicative of the movement from aesthetics to rhetoric. Ø To point at this difference through the comparison of pop-culture images and paintings in their original sense.Process: · Favorite painting presentation. · Discussion: Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author”· Discussion: “The Most Photographed Barn in America” (from White Noise by Don DeLillo. Question: Why is “the most photographed barn” is photographed the most? · The week ends with writing a response essay (or a comparative) on painting. · Mapping assignment from “Picturing Texts”
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| Week 6 | Task: Ø To consider the rhetorical situation of contemporary images and advertisements. Ø Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of images before the written word. Discuss the similarities between a written word and image. Ø Discuss the aesthetic value of a photograph/image/advertisement. Process:· Discussion: Mitchell Stephens, “By Means of the Visible”(.pdf). · “Mona Lisa” assignment: explores the influence of pop-culture on classical art. Question: Is this influence diminishing or enhancing the value (rhetorical, aesthetic) of art? · Discussion: Bell Hooks, “In Our Glory: Photography and the Black Life.” Question: How does the personal perception affect the meaning of photography? Connection with the symbolic “death of the author.” · Discussion: How to write a response essay on image or artifact in popular culture (see the hand-out) · The week ends with writing of a response essay on image/artifact in popular culture. |
| Week 7 | Task: Ø To discuss the formal elements of the analytical essay assignment. To identify the differences between this essay and previous response papers. Introduce MLA style of documentation. Ø To summarize the themes and strategies utilized in the first half of the semester: Why “Aesthetic Rhetoric, Rhetorical Aesthetics”? What is the significance of the rhetorical and aesthetic appreciation of the text/art? What are the characteristics of each model? And how do these models influence each other? Ø To introduce students to the research strategies and ways of collecting the information for their analytical essay. Ø Introduce MLA style of documentation. Emphasize the correlation between the lest of works cited and references to these sources in the text. Process:· Discussion: Argument vs. Response. Question: What is the place of rhetoric and aesthetics in the argumentative essay? · Discussion: What are the formal elements of the rhetorical situation? Emphasis on author-message-audience triangle, context and intertextuality, interdependence between form and content (see the hand-out). · Discussion: How to write a proposal. · Discussion: Annotated bibliography (see the hand-out). Two entries are due by the end of the week. · Library Search Group Project (see the hand-out). · The week ends with the proposal writing |
| Week 8
| Task: Ø To emphasize the importance of individual research in the creation of the argument. Ø To bring to students’ attention the difference between the research paper, which bring out the writer’s own opinion and makes a statement about the researched issue, and the so-called “paper as a report.” Process:· Discussion of the Proposals and paper drafts. · Two more bibliographical entries are due. · Peer Review of the Analytical essay assignment (see the hand-out). |
| Week 9 | Task: Ø To introduce Project 3 and complimentary assignments. Ø To discuss the difference between biography and autobiography. Ø To discuss the relationship between image and text via Barthes’ piece from Image, Music, Text. Explore the function of “anchorage” and “relay” in the construction of the visual argument. Ø Emphasize the connection between the choice of this function and its effect on the rhetorical and aesthetic elements the students’ portrait. Ø Emphasize the difference between fiction and fictionality. Process:· Read and discuss the Portrait assignment in class. · Discussion: Roland Barthes, “The Linguistic Message” (see the hand-out)· Predictions 1: serve as the actual example of the discourse in which the elements of truth and fiction work together to create a sense of fictionality in writing. |
| Week 10 | Task: Ø To discuss the role of technology as the means of creating the Portrait. To underscore the connection between means and goals of the assignment. Hence is the discussion of “anchorage” and “relay” as the two different rhetorical means of connecting language with image. Thus the Portrait—depending on the means of the construction—could tend to be more rhetorical than fictional, and vice versa. Ø Emphasize the individual, or subjective, experiences, versus objective, universal, or general statements.Process: · Proposal Writing (see the hand-out). Emphasis on the structural elements of the proposal: goals, means, and process. Is the task doable? · Portrait Proposals are presented in class and followed by brief discussion/feedback on genre, language, purpose, etc. · Discussion: How does the choice of technology (or means of creation in general) affect the message of the composition? Or, how do the composition and text influence each other? · Visit to DLC: online sources of images databases. |
| Week 11 | Task: Ø To discuss the formal elements of autobiographical fiction via particular examples. Emphasize the various ways in which fictionality transpires in the text: through reminiscences, reflections, portrayal of emotions, subjective evaluation of details. Ø To explore the ways in which the message of the written discourse becomes transformed through of language. Ø To discuss the concepts of style, mood, and tonality as constitutive elements of autobiographical fiction Ø To explore the voices which become visible in the text. Introduction of the concept of narrative techniques. Process: · Proposal Presentations are cont. · Discussion: Tillie Olsen, “I Stand Here Ironing,” Dorris Betts, “The Ugliest Pilgrim.” Question: What is the difference in the ways the genre of autobiography transpires in these texts? · Comparing biography and autobiography discussion of students’ findings in class (see the hand-out). Students are asked to compare the actual autobiography with biography as far as style, mood, tonality, rhetorical and aesthetic components. Question: What is this that allows us to hear, in autobiographies the author’s individual voice? Or, how is the rhetoric of the message is influenced by the aesthetics of the text? |
| Week 12 | Task: Ø To continue the discussion about language and style, particularly the influence of language on our thinking. Ø To discuss writing via Blanchot: elusiveness of work, word, language. Ø To language of poetry. To emphasize poetry as the mode of literature in which aesthetic elements (due to the metaphoricity of the poetic language) dominate their rhetorical function. Process: · Discussion: Maurice Blanchot, “Orpheus’ Gaze” · Discussion : William Blake, “Songs of Innocence and Experience.” Illustrating your text. · Online William Blake archive. |
| Week 13 | Task: Ø To discuss the non-textual elements of the Portrait such as music and video, for example. Ø To discuss the role of music as both the means and the actual content of the creation. Ø Layout and typeface as the elements of visual rhetoric. Ø To discuss and create the criteria for evaluating Project 3. Process: · Discussion of the relation between music and text via Bob Dylan. The students are asked to choose there favorite song and interpret it. Question: What is the affect that music produces on our overall perception of the lyrics? What is central, and what is supplementary. · Connection with the discussion of “anchorage” and “relay.” As in relay, music and text complement rather than “remote-control” each other. Consider the examples in which rhetoric of the voice begins to prevail the aesthetic pleasure derived from music. · Students create their own criteria for evaluating portrait assignment. · Discussion: Writing critiques. |
| Week 14
| Task: Ø Recap on Project 3: Organization, unity, genre, and style. Immediate and broader contexts Process: · Students work on the rough draft of their Portrait and submit it next week. |
| Week 15 | Task: Ø In the process of presentation various questions concerning genre, purpose, composition, autobiography and the combination of linguistic and visual elements are discussed. Ø The presentation posits the questions the effectiveness of the conveyed message in relation to the audience Process: · Students present their Portraits in class. · Students submit their rough drafts. |
| Week 16 | Task: Ø To recap on student’s presentations. To discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their Portraits. What was easy and difficult in the process? Ø To discuss the requirements of the rhetorical analysis of the students’ Portraits. Process: · Writing critiques. · Rhetorical analysis · Students submit their Portrait Assignment |
The following is a list of textbooks that have been used with Aesthetic Rhetoric, Rhetorical Aesthetics to date. These titles are meant to be suggestive--feel free to experiment with similar publications.
· The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, Ed. Richard Bausch and R. V. Cassill
· The Cheese Monkeys, Chip Kidd
· Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv
· The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Syllabus approaches are archived when fewer than three instructors are teaching them or when they are not renewed in a renewal year. Approaches can be reinstated via the renewal process, when at least three instructors will be teaching the approach.
Contact Kristine Johnson, Assistant Director of ICaP, for information on the renewal process.
We use the skills of ethnographic research in our everyday lives: watching, listening, interpreting, and writing. By asking students to complete ethnography, we also promote the students' awareness of how writing and research shape our views of our own and other cultures. It asks students, through their writing, to take part in the local community. It also asks students to become 'experts' in a chosen area by practicing original and creative research. When students are empowered to make their own decisions about interpretation and meaning, they also learn to apply the skills throughout their academic careers.
Approach Leader
WebmasterThe resources below were created for the Fieldworking approach. Please feel free to use and/or adapt them, and if you would like to contribute resources you've created for other Fieldworking teachers to use, please contact Amy Ferdinandt Stolley. If you use or adapt any of these handouts, please make sure you give credit to the original author.
SHORT ANALYSIS EXERCISES
BIG ETHNOGRAPHY
ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM PROJECT
BOOK PRESENTATION
VISUAL LITERACY/RHETORIC
CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
SUBCULTURES
PORTRAITS
INFORMATION LITERACY
URBAN LEGENDS
WEB-BASED PORTFOLIO
Through literature-rich investigation, students can explore the world and issues around them vis- -vis-vis a central lens of intertextuality--the differences and/or complementarities of texts--and extra-textuality, or what texts tell us about ourselves and our culture.
Annotated Bibliography (AnBib) (5% of final grade)
Here is the link to Purdue's OWL that we'll use as the basis for this assignment. You will annotate five sources, and will include summary, assessment, and reflection for each source. See the link above for insight on how to summarize, assess and reflect on your five sources. These three ideas should allow you to write 150-200 words for each source. Consider writing 50-75 words per idea. Sometimes, annotations are shorter depending on what your instructor wants. I want 150-200 words. Also, only include page number in parenthetical citations in annotation.
This link shows you the proper format for the AnBib while offering excellent questions and guidelines to get you started on your annotations.Format and Content Example
This link shows an example for a science-related research paper. The annotations are shorter than our 150 word requirement and don't do as much summary, assessment and reflection as required by this assignment. Science Annotated Bibliography Example
Learning Goals:
Research Practices
Summary
Assessment
Reflection
Research Analysis
Annotated Bibliography
Objective Language and Writing
MLA citation anf format
Nuts and Bolts:
5 sources
150-200 words per source
Paper Guidelines
ar•gu•ment - noun 1. a. A discussion in which disagreement is expressed; a debate. b. A quarrel; a dispute. 2. a. A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood. b. A fact or statement put forth as proof or evidence; a reason. c. A set of statements in which one follows logically as a conclusion from the others.
We see arguments every day. Even if the argument is to go to Taco Bell instead of Burger King, we should know how to research and argue in support of or against a particular position. The Paradigm Online Writing Assistant has a good introduction here. You can also think of arguments as involving logos, pathos and ethos, which you can learn about in our class dictionary. Arguments should be properly researched and properly written from that research to best achieve satisfactory support for the topic. You need to pick a specific topic and keep a tight focus. Topics such as abortion, capital punishment, church and state, gun control, and gay marriage are overdone and are highly personal arguments based on personal judgements and have no place in this assignment.
Prompt: Write an argument paper that takes a stand on a controversial issue. You can also think of this paper as a position paper or persuasive paper. Your introduction should present your issue, provide background of the issue, and the state the claim you intend to support. The body of your argument will summarize and respond to opposing views as well as present reasons and evidence in support of your own position. You need to choose whether to summarize and refute opposing views before or after you have made your own case. Try to end your essay with your strongest arguments. The UHWO Writing Center reading has an excellent example for paper structure. We'll work through that reading and others in class.
Relevant Links:
Hamilton College Writing Center - Persausive Papers http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/Resource/WC/Effective_essays.html
Paradigm OWA - Argument http://www.powa.org/argument/index.html
UHWO Writer Center - Position Paper http://homepages.uhwo.hawaii.edu/~writing/position.htm
UNC Writing Center - Argument http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/argument.html
Learning Goals:
Argument
Research
Objective Language and Writing
MLA parenthetical citation
MLA format
Nuts and Bolts:
5 sources
3-4 pages (750-1000 words)
MLA Works Cited page (separate page)
Course Policy Paper Guidelines
For our first project of the semester, we will develop a class dictionary that will centralize many important ideas and terminology that we will use through the semester. Some of you may have one word and some may have two or three, but I expect about a 250-word entry in paragraphs with proper documentation and a list of three recommended links along with a Works Cited with five sources. Some of you might need to include examples that illustrate the meaning of your word. Do not simply cut and paste: that's plagiarism. The entry should be gathered from at least five sources. This will allow you to develop your own definition that is more closely tailored to the needs of the class. The project will introduce us to many important concepts for the semester, including research, documentation, peer review, group conference and drafting, and also for our course website functions such as forum topics, posting, comments and book pages. Follow along with my entry on the terms wiki and blog in the Class Dictionary Forum. See my "wikie and blog" book page for final submission format at the bottom of the Class Dictionary - Final Book page.
Learning Goals
Research and Documentation
Peer Review and Conference
Drafting
Course Website Functions
PowerPoint Presentation
This presentation can take on different forms. The goal of the presentation is to communicate important aspects of your research paper to other members of the class. You will present in front of class during your regular class time, and must show up to your other class meeting times. I prefer that you present with a person with a similar topic, but you can present by yourself. Everyone does not have similar, related topics. At this time, a PowerPoint presentation is the most relevant way to present this information. Many of your future classes will involve PowerPoint presentations. If you can present with another person in another class at a relevant, you can do so. But Purdue's many night tests make presentations at that time a problem.
Each presentation should include:
- 4-6 minute talk about your topic based in part on your slides. (If you have a partner, it will 8-12 minutes together.)
- 2 visual elements, such as pictures, clipart, graphs, video clips, charts, etc., that enhance the information being presented. (4 for partners)
- At least 5 PowerPoint slides, which consider the audience and presentation conditions when designing the background and/or color scheme, and also
provide enough text to keep the audience focused on the information being presented. (10 for partners)
Relevant Links:
Microsoft PowerPoint Handouts:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010774051033.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010685111033.aspx
MOST RELEVANT LINK: Purdue OWL Handout on PowerPoint:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/writewithppt.ppt
Other good link: Rhetoric of PowerPoint
From class in 'readings - handouts': Notes on PowerPoint - Nov. 18th
NOTE: These links may be updated with other readings we do in class
Learning Goals:
Multi-media Presentation software
Presentation skills: Delivery, Audience Consideration, Talking Points
Presentation design: Content, Slide design (color, font, size, readability, white space)
Nuts and Bolts:
5 - 6 slides
2 visual elements
Research Paper (20% of final grade)
The research you collect for this paper will influence 51% of your final grade for the class. The work includes a proposal, an annotated bibliography, the research paper, the multi-media presentation and a webpage. We will devote the rest of the semester to these various projects. The project is set up so that you utilize a writing process and improve revision skills. Other goals of the project are to continue to develop good researching skills on the internet, and more importantly, at the dreaded library. Finally, pick a good topic that will interest you for the remaining 6 weeks. If it interests you, and you research it well, your audience and your grader (me) will be interested. The research can result in a presentation of facts, an analysis, argument or persuasion of a certain issue, or a combination thereof that demonstrates your mastery of the collected research and your ability to communicate it to your audience in a written manner.
Learning Goals:
Research Practices
Research Writing
Proposals
Annotated Bibliography
Objective Language and Writing
MLA parenthetical citation
MLA format
Nuts and Bolts:
10 sources (2 books; 2 academic, scholarly print journals, see Library Guide page)
8+ pages (2250+ words)
MLA Works Cited page (separate page)
Paper Guidelines
This is the first step of our research paper. You may be required to write something similar to this in future classes that require long-term projects. The purpose of the proposal is to help you identify a specific topic, decide on the amount and availability of research, and determine whether or not the idea is sustainable for 8-10 pages. The proposal is a way for you to communicate your initial ideas and research to me and allows me to respond to those ideas and research.
What is a Research Proposal? A research proposal is a short document of 1 to 2 pages that identifies and outlines the main components of your research. Questions to consider and write about are: 1. What is the purpose of your research?
Find a topic that interests you. If it interests you, and you research it well, your audience and your grader (me) will be interested. The research can result in a presentation of facts, an analysis, argument or persuasion of a certain issue, or a combination thereof that demonstrates your mastery of the collected research and your ability to communicate it to your audience in a written manner.
2. Who is the intended audience?
As usual, the class. You want to write your paper so that it is specific and can be picked up by anyone in the class, no matter their interests, majors, or prior knowledge. You want a high level of readability. For this question, consider what your readers may not understand and what you might have to explain in more detail.
3. What is your role?
How are you going to collect research? How are you going to process the research into usable pieces? How are you going to write about your research?
Other questions to consider and write about:
4. What is an initial thesis or opening statement?
5. What is a brief description of the intended methodology for research collection?
6. What the expected outcomes of research and writing?
7. What are three sources for a preliminary Works Cited page?
8. What group are you in and who are some of the group members?
Is this a binding contract of your paper topic?? No, but please don’t change it. Pick something out in the first week that you can keep for the duration of the project. Spending more time now on choosing a topic will give you more time to not only finish this paper, but also work on other projects.A NOTE ON WRITING: Keep in mind that I do NOT want short answers to the questions above. Think of them as guidelines to help you develop content and responses, but be sure to craft good paragraphs. Another goal of this proposal is to consider different writing styles, audiences and tones. I would like for you to write in a semi-conversational style. You will be writing directly to me and your peers. So you can be less objective and use “I/me/my” and “you.” But be sure to continue using good verbs and good sentence structure.
Learning Goals
Proposal Writing
Audience
Research
Nuts and Bolts
3 sources
1-2 pages (400-500 words)
Preliminary Works Cited
Paper Guidelines
This paper focuses on a greater consideration of a text as a whole. I want you to focus on the literary merits of the work, as well as its place in the world. You are responsible for learning and incorporating the terms from the class dictionary into your own writing.
Prompt: In this paper, you will take a work from our readings (except O'Connor), or find one of your own, and analyze its literary implications, as well as its implications in the greater world. Novels are too long, but magazines articles, some newspaper articles, stories, poems, comic books, blogs, the Onion, and about any form of text (as long as it's at least 1000-2000 words) would be appropriate for this topic. First, pose an interpretive question about the work and respond to it analytically in forums and in freewrites.
In the introduction to your essay, make an interesting, problematic, or significant assertion about the work, one that can be explored in several different ways according to evidence in the text. Look for an assertion that might lead to differences in opinion among your classmates and that offers readers new insights into the work. Show your readers where and how the text of the story supports your interpretation.
Your task in this assignment is not to discover the right way to interpret the text, but to explain, in objective terms, your way of reading some aspects of the text. Summary is only a small part of this paper; assume your audience has the literary work in front of them. After the introduction and a brief summary, explicate the work in terms of theme, metaphor, symbol, and other literary terms we've learned. Before the conclusion, a paragraph or two about its worldly implications where you relate the text to gender/race/class, or satire, or historical or current events. You will need sources to analyze the worldly implications, and you might need sources to explicate the text.
Learning Goals:
Analysis
Focused Explication
Objective Language and Writing
MLA parenthetical citation
MLA format
Nuts and Bolts:
4 pages (1000 words)
5 sources
MLA Works Cited page (separate page)
Course Policy Paper Guidelines
In this project, you are responsible for three webpages based on your research that will be posted on you webspace at http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~username. You will use text from your research paper and other images. I expect two pages with text and images and another page with links.
Web writing is different from academic writing in your papers. You must revise parts of your paper before putting them on the web. Use titles and subtitles to more easily organize your writing.
Include hyperlinks to other page(s) and to other websites.
Include an email link so readers can contact you.
Use an anchor to navigate within your page by linking some part your text to another part of you text on the same page.
Use images effectively. Resize them in Fireworks. *NOTE*: 400 by 300 is only a recommended size. You can use a smaller or larger size, but you must resize images in Fireworks.
Use tables or pages templates so that your design moves past the basic left-justified or centered pages so that image and text are side by side and otherwise demonstrate some concern for design principles.
Use color and text effectively. Consider readability. Consider white space. Consider text size and font choice. The 600 words can be split between your two pages.
You must cite sources. You can use MLA format, but I recommend including links to sources in your text or using more attributive tags to incorporate your citation.
Each website must include a webpage that functions as an introduction to the topic and the website. Another webpage must go into greater detail about a specific part of your topic. A third webpage must contain links to other relevant and helpful websites.
Relevant Links:
NOTE: Most directions for website design for this project's needs can be found at the bottom of this page. Project requirements are outlined above and summarized below in Nuts and Bolts.
From our weekly schedule:
Purdue's ITaP Help Detail on Setting up Web Space: https://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/careeraccount/webpage.cfm
Purdue's ITaP Help Detail on Changing Web Permissions:
http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/help/detail.cfm?KBID=844
Writing for Effective Webpages- http://www.studygs.net/writingcontent.htm
Creating Effective Webpages- http://www.uleth.ca/lib/guides/research/display.asp?PageID=40
University of Maine Extension Office- Web Authoring That Works website
In Lesson 3, read:
In Lesson 4, read:
Here's another good overview: Web Style Guide
Refer to direction pages at bottom of this page, but this Dreamweaver Cheat Sheet may be helpful for you.
Learning Goals:
Macromedia Dreamweaver
Macromedia Fireworks
Use of Purdue webspace
Webpage design and writing
Citing sources on webpages
Nuts and Bolts:
2 webpages with 600 words total
1 links webpage with at least 10 links
3 visual elements, properly sized in Fireworks.
Cartoons, photographs, commercials, satire, spin, debates, lies, truths, personal decisions, and infinite amounts of visual media are around us every second for our exploration, analysis and interpretation. We are surrounded daily by visual media in the form of billboards, advertisements, trademarked logos, television shows, commercials, art, and photography. The goal of this assignment is to produce a 4-5 page paper in a group that summarizes and analyzes the important aspects of a visual media you choose.
Prompt: Write a wikipaper in which you make observations about some visual media--except movies--and then push these observations to conclusions and analysis be continuously asking “So What?” questions and making assumptions based on “Seems to be about…”. Be sure to query your initial answers to the “So What?” questions with further “So What?” questions, trying to push further into your own thinking and into the meaning of whatever it is you have chosen to analyze. “Seems to be about…” assumptions will direct your “So What?” questions and your summary.
The best thing to do is to combine and revise the summaries that you each produce. Next, divide up the relevant symbols/themes/parts/scenes/stuff between your group and write the analysis. Combine that analysis in the wikipaper and revise accordingly.
You can read further about using "So What?" questions and "Seems to be about..." assumptions in 'course texts' --> 'Readings for assignments' --> 'Kevin's Write-up' here under 'Visual Analysis Wikipaper.'
NOTE: At the end of the project, you will send an email to Kevin evaluating each person's involvement in the wikipaper. Any lack of contribution will result in a deduction of your final grade.
Learning Goals:
Visual Analysis
Wikis
Collaboration
Research
Objective Language and Writing
MLA parenthetical citation
MLA format
Nuts and Bolts:
6 sources
4-5 pages (1000-1250 words)
MLA Works Cited page (separate page)
Paper Guidelines
106 Goals
1. To help students develop effective and efficient processes for writing by providing practice with planning, drafting, revising, and editing their writing in multiple genres using a variety of media.
The summary/review paper is used to teach writing as a process; Cluster diagrams teach planning techniques; instructor feedback provides ideas for revision; peer review teaches students how to edit and revise other students’ work, which they then can apply to their own papers.
Outlines are used to plan and organize the draft; the Commenting Function in Microsoft Word is taught for peer review sessions; students use scholarly sources as a model for shaping their own essays; the annotated bibliography builds upon skills learned in the summary/review essay
With the proposal students learn to plan ahead about the project they will create for the end of the semester. If instructors are not requiring a visual component for another project, they should use powerpoint proposals to incorporate another media
Students learn that revision is necessary even in multimedia projects. Students doing written projects should incorporate a visual component such as powerpoint into their class presentation
In the shorter response papers students explore and analyze multiple methods of documentation and express their personal opinions in a more informal assignment
2. To provide students with opportunities to write as a means of discovery and learning about themselves; as an integral part of inquiry about the material, social, and cultural contexts they share with others; and as a means of exploring, understanding, and evaluating ideas in academic disciplines.
In the summary/review paper students analyze in-depth a cultural or social topic chosen by the instructor and then learn to approach the issue from an objective standpoint
In the research paper students choose a topic of interest and are required to approach the issue from the appropriate academic perspective
The proposal asks students to justify the choices made for their final project as documenting their reality
The process of documenting an aspect of their life in the final project leads to new insights about their own reality
Shorter response papers allow for exploration of the various ways society documents reality
3. To help students develop their abilities to create, interpret and evaluate a variety of types of texts integrating verbal and visual components.
Students will be encouraged to incorporate images that enhance and/or illustrate the arguments of their Research Essay
Students give an oral presentation that interprets their final project for the class; the project itself allows for the incorporation of a variety of visual components
In order to provide students with a foundation of choices for their own final projects, short response papers introduce the different media used in society to document reality; class discussions allow students to verbally analyze the various media and expose them to alternate viewpoints about the topics
4. To prepare students for writing in later university courses across the curriculum by helping them learn to articulate, develop, and support a point through both first-hand and archival research.
Through the Research Essay and Annotated Bibliography, students learn to state and support a strong argument, learn to navigate Purdue’s library system, and learn to document their research using the proper format.
5. To help students understand that they can and should use writing for multiple academic, civic, and personal purposes.
The research essay allows students to contribute to an ongoing academic conversation about their topic and learn how to write in an appropriate format for the chosen discipline. This project helps students for future research projects.
We analyze different ways proposals can be used, from proposing a topic to changes on campus or certain projects at work or the in the community
The artist’s statement asks students to give their personal interpretation of their final project
Journal-style essays allow for a more personal response to class topics
6. To help students understand the inherent rhetorical situation of writing.
Students consider the rhetoric used by documentary filmmakers and then present an objective review of the topic studied within the class
Students present a persuasive argument using the rhetoric of professionals within the discipline of their chosen topic
Students defend the validity of their choices for their final project in the proposal
Students argue that the chosen issue has had an impact on who they are, and also learn the differences between visual rhetoric and written assignments
7. To teach students to use the conventions of form, style, and citation and documentation of sources that are appropriate to their purposes for composing in a variety of media for a variety of rhetorical contexts.
Students learn how to incorporate sources into their text as well as learn the appropriate documentation method in the research paper
8.To demonstrate that coherent structure, effective style, and grammatical and mechanical correctness contribute to a writer’s credibility and authority.
In order to be a credible reviewer, students learn the importance of coherent organization, clear style and expression of ideas, and mechanical correctness.
In order to present a convincing argument, students must learn to effectively present their ideas and also consider alternative viewpoints
106 Means
Completion of textual interpretation and production assignments in a variety of genres and a variety of media, including print, computer-mediated, and mass media
Students interpret the genre of film (or any of the various other means for documenting reality)
Students locate and interpret outside sources to discover their main arguments and how they can be incorporated into the student’s essay
If powerpoint is used, students learn to combine visual and written rhetoric
Students are allowed to produce a project in the medium of their choice; the assignment also incorporates verbal and written interpretations of the project
Students analyze the various media through which we document reality
Frequent, periodic review of and commentary on successive drafts of writing projects by peers and instructor.
Students receive written feedback from a peer review partner and the instructor; also conferences allow the instructor to provide verbal feedback
Peer review of both outlines and drafts; conferences provide additional feedback
Instructors conference with each student to discuss the graded proposal and give feedback for the project; also peer review
Students learn the importance of revising multimedia projects
Production of 7,500-11,500 words of polished writing (or 15,000-22,000 words, including drafts) or the equivalent.
Summary Review: Prewriting, 3-5 page draft and final version
Research-based Argument: Prewriting, outline, 7-9 page draft and final version; annotated bibliography draft and final version
Proposal: 2-3 page draft and final version
1.5-2 page artist’s statement plus multimedia project
Response Papers: Fifteen 1.5-2 page responses
Weekly small-group or bi-weekly individual writing conferences with the instructor.
Each project incorporates either bi-weekly individual or group conferences with the instructor.
Weekly in-class instruction in using computers to compose.
Students use the internet to learn more about the topic they will write about in their essay; drafting
Students learn the Commenting Function in Microsoft Word, evaluating web sources, and researching with THOR; drafting time
Students learn powerpoint
Twice-weekly instruction in conventional classrooms using a variety of modes for learning, including attending to lectures, participating in class discussions, contributing to collaborative learning in small groups, and providing critiques of peers’ writing.
Group and class discussions on the topic with some lecture
Lectures on researching, MLA, developing and supporting arguments
Students share final project ideas
Students are exposed to samples of prior projects; lectures on giving oral presentations and artist’s statements
Class discussions of each topic plus reality TV group work and presentations
106 Outcomes
Demonstrate familiarity with concepts used to describe writing processes (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading) and effectively use variation of these processes in their writing.
o Use appropriate and effective planning and organizing strategies.
o Evaluate others’ commentary on early drafts and incorporate useful suggestions into subsequent drafts.
o Edit and proofread their papers to maximize their credibility and authority.
By collecting everything from prewriting ideas to drafts to finals, instructors can track the progress of ideas, revisions, and editing. By collecting peer review comments, instructors can address the quality of feedback given and assess the author’s ability to incorporate these revisions (this applies to the Research Essay/Bib and Proposal as well).
Students learn the same skills but learn to adapt them to visual projects
Identify and state the purpose of a writing task they have completed.
Students learn the skills of unbiased summary and evaluation which they will build upon in the next assignment
Students use skills from the previous assignment to summarize and evaluate sources; they also incorporate alternate viewpoints to continue learning credibility and how to present unbiased standpoints; students learn to develop an argument from a review to presenting a clear and well-supported stance on a topic
Students use the persuasive techniques learned in the argument paper and justify the choices for their final project
Students verbally justify the project to the class and through writing to the instructor; students learn to create a project that has a purpose outside of the classroom
Students gain exposure to various documentary forms that provide options for the final project
Adapt their writing in ways appropriate for different audiences.
Students learn to write for peers
Students learn to write for the academic audience appropriate for their topic
Students learn to persuade their instructor that their final project is appropriate
Students learn to decide who the appropriate audience is for their project
Students learn to use personal reflection and understand the importance of writing for oneself
Explain why a piece of writing is or is not effective and suggest strategies for improvement.
Effectively evaluate others’ writing and provide useful commentary and suggestions for revision where appropriate.
Students learn to evaluate others’ writing through peer review sessions and the analysis of sample papers and projects for each of the four main projects
Distinguish among conventions for citing and documenting sources in various genres and various media for various audiences.
Students learn to document sources using the format appropriate for their field
Students will learn that research will inherently be incorporated into their projects, even though not in the traditional sense learned in the Research Essay
For each response topic, students will be required to perform some outside research to inform themselves about the topics in order to complete an effective response paper and engage in class discussion.
Make stylistic changes to improve the effectiveness of their writing
Students are taught to make content-based revisions and not focus so much on editing for each of the main written projects
Students consider how the visual rhetoric of multimedia projects can be revised
Demonstrate an understanding of the basic elements of visual rhetoric.
o Know how to use commonplace software to create visuals that effectively make or support arguments.
o Distinguish between information that is best communicated in visual format and information best communicated in text and make transitions and connections between visual and textual elements.
o Be able to critique visual designs and formats.
After watching and analyzing a documentary film, students are asked to choose a topic appropriate for a documentary film but must use written means instead of visual to convey their argument
Students learn powerpoint
Students are asked to determine which multimedia method would best capture their reality; students analyze and critique sample projects in various forms
Students compare and contrast the various methods for documenting reality and analyze the appropriateness of each method for the given topic
The initial idea for this approach was conceived while watching two news broadcasts covering the beginning of the war in Iraq. Both stations had reporters stationed in the Middle East, giving live reports on the situation. The first station’s caption for the report was labeled “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” while the second station labeled their caption “The War in Iraq.” These two very different labels for the same situation led us to consider the various ways that the reality of the world can be presented to us, depending on the underlying motives, philosophies, and potential bias of the source. This led us to consider the ways in which other documentary forms construct reality and the social and cultural implications of these realities.
The Documenting Reality syllabus approach asks students to explore and critique the various methods that society uses in order to document the world around us. Students analyze familiar methods of documentation from a more critical perspective, such as websites, television, newspapers, and magazines. They are also challenged to consider the effectiveness of less obvious media that purport to document reality, such as art, film, and music. In addition to analyzing these media, the final course project allows students to participate in the production process as they document their own realities. Using a genre approach to writing, this syllabus asks students to adapt their writing to a variety of rhetorical situations and audiences, allowing them to better understand the multifaceted purposes to which writing can be directed.
While this approach allows for analyses of various documentary methods, instructors have the freedom to focus upon methods that interest them or lie within their area of expertise. Instructors also have the option of choosing one overarching theme for the entire course, such as an environmental or multicultural approach. The course could a