Day 1:
Objectives: Students will be able to become familiar with the WRT 105 syllabus and course expectations.
Do Now: What do you think can be the focus of a college writing course?
Write-Pair-Share
Lesson activities:
- Teacher-led: Review the course goals and students interpret the meaning of the goals.
- Independent Practice:Jigsaw puzzle activity
a. Students in small groups focus on a specific part of the syllabus and identify key ideas they want to present to the class.
b. Ask questions and park them if necessary - Visit http://supa.syr.edu/ about course registration
- Summary of the lesson: What do you think is the most crucial element of the course? Why?
Homework: Read and annotate “Coming to Terms” By Joseph Harris. Annotate the piece by noting places that will help you become a more active reader. Also note any challenges or limits this approach might have. Be prepared to discuss in class. We will be referring to this piece throughout the course, so it is important to read it closely.
Day 2:
Objectives: Students will be able to for m their ow view of academic writing by synthesizing various perspectives on academic writing.
Text: “Coming to Terms” by Harris
Do Now: Create an account in Turnitin.com
class code: 16241291/ passcode: supa2017
Agenda
- Share in a small group key terms and passages in turnitin by using notes from an individually created dialectical journal
- Discuss posted questions on ” Coming to Terms” in the discussion forum
Concept of Rewriting :
– Rewrite or paraphrase a text or dialogue so that the idea makes sense to you
– Concrete example is Don Quioxte, written by Miguel de Cervantes, and interpreted by Pierre Menard
– Coming to terms is a phrase that suggests an agreement made between the reader and the writer
A project is usually something far more complex than a main idea, since it refers not to a single concept but a plan of work, to a set of ideas and questions that a writer “throws forward”
As a reader tries to unravel the writer’s project he/she must analyze beyond the text and ask:
-What is the writer’s goal?
-What is the relation between examples and ideas?
-What are his/her cited examples? Is there any significance within his evidence?
Assesssing Uses and Limits
Coming to Terms
– phrase suggests an agreement between the reader and the writer.
– The idea of coming to terms entitles the reader to own up to the portion of text he/she is using, meaning interpret/paraphrase and then to elaborate on the text.
The Three Moves:
- Define the project of the writer : Define the project of the writer in your own terms:As a society, we are used to establish two definite points of view. We either lose or win, we are right or wrong, etc. Harris tells us to “assess both the uses and limits of their work”.
- Note keywords or passages in the text: In order to come to terms with the text, you need to be able to cite key passages.
-Your quotes should be concise and the point
-A good quote should show the project intent of the writer
-reveals why you view the text the way you do - Assess the uses and limits of this approach
- Uses: Highlight the strengths of the text. Establish them, comment on them; bring out why they are important, and how are they useful.
- Limits: Do not simply disagree! Look for a reason that makes it a limit.
- Tone: Always keep in mind to use a generous tone, but also to include skepticism.
Summary:
In his article “Coming to Terms,” Joe Harris describes three things for a writer to think about when interpreting the texts of other writers. First, Harris talks about a short story called “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote,” in which the main character, Pierre Menard, rewrites some of Cervantes’s Don Quixote. Harris’s point is that Pierre Menard needed to rewrite Don Quixote in order to understand it. We rewrite texts because “we need to make sense of them” and “all readings are interested.” “You thus need not only to explain what you think it means but to say something about the perspective from which you are reading it” (13).
Next, Harris talks about “Defining the Project of a Writer,” which may be something you have to do before your can figure out your own ideas. The writer’s project might not have a thesis, and so you have to ask yourself the questions “What is this writer trying to do in this text? What is his or her project?,”which means that you should look for the ideas and questions that the writer “throws forward” .Harrisrecommends we should be generous with other writers and describe their moves, aka their “aims, methods, and materials,” not their thesis statements, which might end up not showing a lot of respect for their whole thought process (18-19).
Thirdly, Harris discusses “Noting Keywords and Passages,” which is about quoting and when to do it. Here you have to ask “What aspects of this text stand out for me as a reader?” (20). It’s important not to quote too much,but to choose quotes that direct readers’ attention to what you thought was important about a text, especially quoting “when it is more contentious” and these are “flashpoints, moments given a special intensity” in the text (21-22).
Finally, Harris writes about “Assessing Uses and Limits.” Here he asks us to think about when texts “have moments of both insight and blindness”,which gets back to his idea about generosity (25). You have to find the limits of the argument, without dismissing it entirely. Overall, Harris’ essay is helpful to a writer who is learning how to use texts, paraphrase, quote, etc. when you are using someone else’s work.
- Respond: How have I come to terms to academic writing?
Homework: Writing Assignment – Write a definition of what Harris means by a writer’s “project”. How is describing a writer’s project similar/different from writing a summary? Read Introduction to summary as a critical practice and Focused Description ( pg.76 , 77W.A.); Read critically “Everything Is a Text”.
Day 3:Text: “Everything is text”
In Turnitin, write about 250 words reflecting on your pre-reading, reading, and post-reading processes strategies (following the guidelines in chapter 2 of EaT)
Day 4: Text: “It’s Complicated” ( Introduction pages 1-27)
How does Boyd’s explanation of the new role of social media add to or complicate our understanding of purpose, audience, persona and genre? How does her overview of the shifts in our culture mesh with your own experience?
We. 9/13 Discussion of Boyd’s chapter and our writing about it. How does new media complicate our literacies in the 21st c.? Practice with Passage-based focused freewriting (handout in class) using Boyd’s intro. Brief introduction to June Jordan and her essay “Nobody Mean More to me than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan.”
Homework: 1)Do quick and dirty research on poet/activist/ scholar June Jordan (not basketball player June Jordan). Keep track of what you find, including urls of websites. 2)Read and annotate June Jordan’s “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan” (on Bb). Use the moves we practiced in class to create a “passage based focused freewrite on Jordan’s essay (bring your writing from this to class). Be prepared to discuss how Jordan’s essay complicates our understanding of purpose, audience, persona and genre.
Examining the college admission process
Thur. 9/14 Discuss Jordan’s essay and share our passage based focused freewrites. plan our blog posts ( response) about her essay. Introduction to Bartholomae’s “Inventing the University”. Quick and dirty research on David Bartholomae and the concept of a “discourse community.”
Homework: Post your blog entry for June Jordan’s essay to turnitin. Read and annotate “Inventing the University” by David Bartholomae. Return again to the questions listed under “…invention tools” in the Unit 1 Assignment. Choose 1 or 2 that you feel might intersect with ideas from any of the readings so far, and write a thick paragraph talking about the connections you see. Bring this writing to class on Monday.
Fri. 9/15 Discuss “Reinventing the University”; examine an example of summary (78): The Artist’s Mother by James Abbott McNeill Whistler,1871; We’ll examine Counterproductive Habits of Mind (pg42-45, W.A); write a 250-word summary of Bartholomae’s piece.
Homework: 1)Read pg. 23-45 in Writing Analytically; 2)Free write on challenges centering on college application process
Mon. 9/18 Words Matter: Becoming Conversant instead of Reading for the Gist ( Pg.106-108,W.A.)
We’ll practice Notice and Focus + Ranking pg. 24 WA.; Introduction to The Method (pg.26-35 W.A.; Study sample responses (pg.28 W.A); page 79 (W.A); how would June Jordan respond to “Reinventing the University?” Introduction to Unit 1 assignment;
Homework: Use the Method to analyze the unit 1 assignment. Bring in your observations and questions for class discussion.
Tue 9/19 Discuss Unit 1 Assignment. Introduction to key terms Purpose, Audience, Persona, Medium, Genre, Context. Groups will be assigned a heading and discuss each heading. Watch Ted Talk “How we’re priming some kids for college- and others for prison” by Alice Goffman. Listen and take notes! What are the “rules” or “guidelines” of a Ted Talk ? Who is the audience? What are the advantages of the medium?
Challenge: Think about what the restrictions are for this genre? Short-comings?
Homework: Read “Make the implicit explicit- Paraphrase x 3” ( pg. 36-39); “What it Means to Have an Idea” pp 70-71 ; Opinions versus Ideas page 49 in W.A. Introduction to synthesis and rhetorical reading, particularly “the pitch, the complaint, and the moment” (WA111-113). Analyze the pitch, complaint and moment of the Ted Talk.
Wed. 9/20 Continue discussing key terms Purpose, Audience, Persona, Medium, Genre, Context as noted in “Everything is Text” by Dan Melzer (Melzer handout). Read and discuss “College Application Essay” by Paul Rudnick.
Take a look at Common Application essay prompts. What is the college essay genre? What are the guidelines? Who is the audience? Purpose? Medium? Context? Comment on Rudnick’s “college essay”. How well does it reflect the guidelines of the Common Application essay? How well does it reflect the writer’s awareness of audience, purpose, medium?
Homework: Write 1-2 paragraphs (2 parts) –
- How do these writing prompts support/hinder the types of writing you will be doing in college based on what we will be doing in this course? What would Rudnick say about these writing prompts? Do you think your high school prepared you to write these essays? Support your claims.
- Reflection: Consider purpose, audience, persona, medium, genre and context of the “college essay” .How will these considerations inform your essay?
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9/21 &9/22: No Class
Mon. 9/25 Unpack the significant impact of understanding genre on writing. Discuss ideas and quotations from “ A Genre approach to Writing Assignment” by Irene Clark( Clark handout).
In a small group, read and discuss “Naked Confession of a College Bound” & “College Admission Passion Play” from Wall St Journal in respect to the author’s use of a typical genre and its effect on the intended messages.
Homework: Read the “The Five Analytical Moves”, pp 53-67 W.A ; Select a paragraph from one of the writings we discussed in class and write an analysis using “The Five Analytical Moves”. Again consider purpose, audience, persona, medium, genre and context of the “college application”.
Tue 9/26 Read “How to Integrate Quotations into Your Paper” pp 270-278 in W.A.; Study “using source analytically: an example” (page 279-280 in W.A.); Read ‘Uncovering Assumptions’ (page 91-92.; “Difference within Similarities” ( page 99-101); “Seems to be about X but could also be about Y ( page 101-103 ) in W.A; and identify “Seems to be about X but could also be about Y” in June Jordan’s “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan”.
Homework: Find a college essay prompt and do the following: 1) What are some of the assumptions embedded in the prompt? What seems to be X but could also be Y? Write a thick paragraph to describe the purpose of your essay: Why do you want to go to college or why do you want to apply for this particular college? Why are you a candidate that will add to the culture or success of the university?
Wed. 9/27 We will share our “purpose” paragraph and assumptions you have uncovered about the college application process.
Homework: Read “ How do I bring diversity to College” by A. Kirkland and B. Hansen? Write a paragraph to respond to a particular aspect of the college essay topic. What additional contributions can you make to the university’s diversity culture?
Thur. 9/28 Unpack “ How do I bring diversity to College”. Share writing from H.W. We’ll discuss and
practice “Making Interpretations plausible”( pgs 140-142) in W.A.
Homework: Read “The Rhetoric of College Application Essay” by James Warren. Identify the “rhetoric” described in Warren’ s essay. Take a flash point from the Warren’s piece and practice MIP.
Fri. 9/29 Unpack Warren’s writing. How does Warren’s “college essay rhetoric” shine a new light on your understanding of the college essay assignment and college application process. For each aspect of the literary situation, provide your personal descriptions.
Homework: Demonstrating rhetorical awareness (establishing critical relationships with sources heuristic).Complete the “Establishing Critical Relationships with Sources” heuristic. How does Warren share his views about college application process with Jordan or Gladwell? In what ways do they differ? Take one idea by Warren and reflect it in your college essay. Read “Class Matters” and Gladwell’s “Getting In”.
Mon. 10/2 Unpack the genre of “Class Matters”. Briefly share Gladwell’ views on college admission process in respect to social, cultural and historical implications and complications. Apply the writing principles in Harris’s “Coming to Terms” to our understanding of the synthesis assignment- the blog entry on college application process.
Homework: Write 500 words toward your blog about college admission process by making meaningful connections between three of the shared readings of the unit. Please directly quote from (and properly in-text cite) your material, and push yourself to develop your ideas, your thinking about the genre of the “admission essay” as well as the college admission process. Bring three copies to class.
Tue. 10/3 Share and discuss the blog. We’ll discuss how to make a thesis evolve ( page 227 W.A); Deepening and complicating the claims in our blogs and strengthening our syntheses. Introduce unit reflection piece.
Homework: Revise the blog; analyze meaningful activities you have done in this unit ( refer to the Unit 1 Reflection descriptions handout).
Wed. 10/4 Class share reflections and provide feedback; share responses to a college essay prompt
Homework: Final draft of the college essay and blog due on 10/10 in Turnitin.com
Thur. 10/5 College Essay workshop.
Fri. 10/6 Reflect on Unit 1
Homework: David Sibley’s Introduction to Geographies of Exclusion (both in CE); Take a stab at defining “public space” including making a list of all the spaces you consider “public”. Review pages 2-8 of “ Everything’s a Text” by Dan Melzer and respond: what does it mean to analyze a text?