assignments ENGL513 Composition Theory & Pedagogy:
Literacy History
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OVERVIEW
For this very short first assignment, I am asking you to start, in the words of Julie Andrews, at the very beginning: in whatever ways writing and reading were are a part of your life now, they’ve been a part of your life for a good long bit of it as a student, as a learner. And whatever might be true about the larger arc of this history of literacy instruction in our nation, your own personal history looms larger for you. That is why, in many first year writing classrooms, a literacy history is the first piece of writing students are asked to produce. And it is why, also, I am making it our first piece of writing that we will complete and share with each other. It's not rocket science: what our own experience of literacy is deeply colors how we think others should experience it. Personal experience as a reader and writer most often defines how we feel about literacy instruction (I love to read so literacy for my students, for example, should look like loving to read).
Some great samples: Salvatore Scibona's "Where I Learned to Read" and Ray Bradbury's "Take Me Home."
DETAILS
A literacy history tends to document one’s experiences as both a reader or a writer and can sometimes span a certain period of time (like a semester or a college education) or a whole life. You can decide what part and what version of your own literacy history you share in this piece. It can be an A to Z accounting. It can be one profound experience. It can be a little bit of both. It can focus mostly on writing or on reading. It is your story to tell, and you can decide how to tell it. The most important thing is that you think about what will give you the best opportunity to write about what you understand about the following:
EVALUATION
The Literacy History Assignment is worth 10% of your final grade.
In order to earn a “B” grade for that 10%, you must:
In order to earn an “A” grade for the 10% you must:
In order to earn a “C” grade for the 10% you must:
If you do not meet the requirements for a “C” grade you will fail the 10% of your grade determined by the Literacy History Assignment.
For this very short first assignment, I am asking you to start, in the words of Julie Andrews, at the very beginning: in whatever ways writing and reading were are a part of your life now, they’ve been a part of your life for a good long bit of it as a student, as a learner. And whatever might be true about the larger arc of this history of literacy instruction in our nation, your own personal history looms larger for you. That is why, in many first year writing classrooms, a literacy history is the first piece of writing students are asked to produce. And it is why, also, I am making it our first piece of writing that we will complete and share with each other. It's not rocket science: what our own experience of literacy is deeply colors how we think others should experience it. Personal experience as a reader and writer most often defines how we feel about literacy instruction (I love to read so literacy for my students, for example, should look like loving to read).
Some great samples: Salvatore Scibona's "Where I Learned to Read" and Ray Bradbury's "Take Me Home."
DETAILS
A literacy history tends to document one’s experiences as both a reader or a writer and can sometimes span a certain period of time (like a semester or a college education) or a whole life. You can decide what part and what version of your own literacy history you share in this piece. It can be an A to Z accounting. It can be one profound experience. It can be a little bit of both. It can focus mostly on writing or on reading. It is your story to tell, and you can decide how to tell it. The most important thing is that you think about what will give you the best opportunity to write about what you understand about the following:
- What does it mean to be literate?
- How do we learn to be so?
- What is the value of literacy in our lives?
- Your essay should be 500-750 words long.
- Double-spaced, 10 or 12-point font that’s legible
- It should have an excellent title that is NOT "My Literacy History."
- Please include your name, date, and ENGL513, single-spaced at the top of your draft. No need for excessive spacing or cover pages. Double-sided is fine. You will email me both a draft and a revision in an electronic format. For the purposes of making it possible to workshop your writing with your classmates next week, and for ease of commenting for me, A google.doc would probably be the best format for writing and saving this document. If you prefer another platform, I'm fine with that. We'll figure it out. I'm just saying that I know google.docs best and know how easy it is to save, share, and comment in them.
EVALUATION
The Literacy History Assignment is worth 10% of your final grade.
In order to earn a “B” grade for that 10%, you must:
- Come with a draft of your literacy history to the whole class workshop (see the syllabus for dates)
- Complete the workshop reader response for at least one classmate during the workshop (done in class on day of workshop)
- Complete your revision plan based on the comments of your reader(s) in the workshop(done in class on day of workshop)
- Turn in your revised draft, with your workshop draft and revision plan, on the day the draft is due in class to turn in to me (see the syllabus for dates)
- Consider my comments and revise as appropriate for inclusion in your midterm portfolio.
In order to earn an “A” grade for the 10% you must:
- Do all of the things required of you for the B grade
- Demonstrate care and attention in trying to answer one or more of the questions identified above
- Demonstrate care and attention to your writing in terms of creativity and readability.
- Be a strong workshop partner to your classmates by providing useful, humane feedback during the workshop.
In order to earn a “C” grade for the 10% you must:
- Turn in your draft on the day the draft is due in class to turn in to me (see the syllabus for dates)
- Consider my comments and revise as appropriate for inclusion in your midterm portfolio.
If you do not meet the requirements for a “C” grade you will fail the 10% of your grade determined by the Literacy History Assignment.