assignments ENGL303 Writing Our Heritages:
Overview of Final Project
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OVERVIEW: This serves as an overview of what will become the final project for our course. You will find more information about each of the six mini-assignments that First, let me refresh your memory. In the course description for this class, I wrote:
“It is interesting to consider the root ‘heri’ that anchors the title of this course. We understand ‘heritage’ as not our individual story, exactly, but the story of those who came before us and, as well, how that story (or stories) leads, organically, naturally, ironically, surprisingly, to who we are in this present moment--so how the whole of our history and the people and places that make it up is represented in our own story.
And then this. . .
“Thinking more on this, consider the word ‘inherit’ and, of course, ‘inheritance.’ What do we inherit from the past that informs who we are? What is the value of that inheritance? What are we individually rich in, in terms of family, tradition, material things, stories? Also important, what are the ethical implications of exploring that possible wealth, that potential privilege, or the lack of either? It is easy to imagine that writing our heritage is an easy act, but the point of this course is to complicate that idea: what is hard, but important, to tell about our own stories? What rhetorical positions are we taking and decisions we are making as we tell the story of our past and the past of those connected to us through country, class, and biology?”
Details
At the end of the semester you will produce something called a multi-genre essay. Here is a definition for you:
“Discussed in the field of education by Tom Romano, a multigenre paper consists of two parts: creative writing in multiple genres and the writer’s analysis of the genres.”
So you should understand your work semester as largely creative, with a final reflective piece that brings together all of the various parts of your work and explains how they are connected by theme and argument. In some ways, this project is a blend of a creative multi-genre essay and a multi-genre research essay in that while the way you express your story will be highly creative and highly individualized, several of the mini-projects that will make up your final longer piece will require research.
Over the Course of this semester you’ll complete up to 6 mini-assignments:
Everyone will write for all of the six assignments. You’ll typically workshop them in class. And I will give you feedback on them as well with an eye towards how you might bring it all together in a final project. Near the end of the semester, you will pick between four and five of them to include in your final, finished, revised piece.
Final Introduction/Analysis
As part of your final project, you’ll look at all of the material you’ve put together and make a final decision on what it all means. Consider the questions from above:
You may not answer all of these questions in your introduction/analysis of your six pieces, but you should be able to answer some. So your introduction will essentially explain how the four or five mini pieces that follow are answers to some of those questions and, ultimately, provides a reader with an argument that brings thematic cohesion to the entire project. Your introduction/analysis should be between 750-1000 words. We will workshop that intro in class. And you’ll have the opportunity to have a conference with me to get one-on-one feedback before you turn it in as the main component of your final portfolio.
A Reflection On Process
In addition to the above, I will ask you to write about the process of writing and revising your work from the semester into a final project. I’ll ask you to write about how you thought about and used (or didn’t use) the feedback you got from me and your classmates. You’ll identify what you think really ended up working out great in the piece and what you would perhaps change if you had one more revision. And, finally, you’ll write about what you learned about doing writing and research through this process.
You’ll get time on the day that the final project is due to write this reflection in class. You’ll bring a computer to do this. The reflection should be about 500 words.
How You Will Be Evaluated On Your Final Project
The Final Project makes up 15% of your Final Grade and is the bulk of your final portfolio. In order to earn a B for that 15% you must:
In order to earn an “A” for the 15% that this project is worth you must:
In order to earn a “C” for the 15% that this project is worth you must:
If you do not do the work required for at least the “C” grade you will earn an “F” grade for the 15% of the final project.
“It is interesting to consider the root ‘heri’ that anchors the title of this course. We understand ‘heritage’ as not our individual story, exactly, but the story of those who came before us and, as well, how that story (or stories) leads, organically, naturally, ironically, surprisingly, to who we are in this present moment--so how the whole of our history and the people and places that make it up is represented in our own story.
And then this. . .
“Thinking more on this, consider the word ‘inherit’ and, of course, ‘inheritance.’ What do we inherit from the past that informs who we are? What is the value of that inheritance? What are we individually rich in, in terms of family, tradition, material things, stories? Also important, what are the ethical implications of exploring that possible wealth, that potential privilege, or the lack of either? It is easy to imagine that writing our heritage is an easy act, but the point of this course is to complicate that idea: what is hard, but important, to tell about our own stories? What rhetorical positions are we taking and decisions we are making as we tell the story of our past and the past of those connected to us through country, class, and biology?”
Details
At the end of the semester you will produce something called a multi-genre essay. Here is a definition for you:
“Discussed in the field of education by Tom Romano, a multigenre paper consists of two parts: creative writing in multiple genres and the writer’s analysis of the genres.”
So you should understand your work semester as largely creative, with a final reflective piece that brings together all of the various parts of your work and explains how they are connected by theme and argument. In some ways, this project is a blend of a creative multi-genre essay and a multi-genre research essay in that while the way you express your story will be highly creative and highly individualized, several of the mini-projects that will make up your final longer piece will require research.
Over the Course of this semester you’ll complete up to 6 mini-assignments:
- Artifact memoir
- Naming What we Know (mini-assignment about your name)
- Your life in pictures (mini-assignment that looks at a series of photos from your past)
- We are What We Eat (a mini-food memoir)
- Your in the system now (mini-research assignment using government documents)
- Read All About it (mini-research assignment that looks at historical documents, including newspapers and magazines to tell a story).
Everyone will write for all of the six assignments. You’ll typically workshop them in class. And I will give you feedback on them as well with an eye towards how you might bring it all together in a final project. Near the end of the semester, you will pick between four and five of them to include in your final, finished, revised piece.
Final Introduction/Analysis
As part of your final project, you’ll look at all of the material you’ve put together and make a final decision on what it all means. Consider the questions from above:
- What do we inherit from the past that informs who we are?
- What is the value of that inheritance?
- What are we individually rich in, in terms of family, tradition, material things, stories?
- Also important, what are the ethical implications of exploring that possible wealth, that potential privilege, or the lack of either?
- What is hard, but important, to tell about our own stories?
- What rhetorical positions are we taking and decisions we are making as we tell the story of our past and the past of those connected to us through country, class, and biology?”
You may not answer all of these questions in your introduction/analysis of your six pieces, but you should be able to answer some. So your introduction will essentially explain how the four or five mini pieces that follow are answers to some of those questions and, ultimately, provides a reader with an argument that brings thematic cohesion to the entire project. Your introduction/analysis should be between 750-1000 words. We will workshop that intro in class. And you’ll have the opportunity to have a conference with me to get one-on-one feedback before you turn it in as the main component of your final portfolio.
A Reflection On Process
In addition to the above, I will ask you to write about the process of writing and revising your work from the semester into a final project. I’ll ask you to write about how you thought about and used (or didn’t use) the feedback you got from me and your classmates. You’ll identify what you think really ended up working out great in the piece and what you would perhaps change if you had one more revision. And, finally, you’ll write about what you learned about doing writing and research through this process.
You’ll get time on the day that the final project is due to write this reflection in class. You’ll bring a computer to do this. The reflection should be about 500 words.
How You Will Be Evaluated On Your Final Project
The Final Project makes up 15% of your Final Grade and is the bulk of your final portfolio. In order to earn a B for that 15% you must:
- Have turned in all six of your mini-assignments for feedback when they were originally due.
- Include at least four of the six mini-assignments in your final multi-genre essay
- Include an introduction/Analysis of 750-1000 words
- Participate in the workshops leading up to turning in the final project due date, which includes also turning in any writing/worksheets that you are asked to complete.
- Show evidence of revision from the mini-assignments to the final project.
- Write thoughtfully about that revision in the Reflection on Process (500 words)
In order to earn an “A” for the 15% that this project is worth you must:
- Do all of the things required for the B grade
- Attend a one-on-one conference with me with your draft of your Introduction/Analysis
- Include at least 5 of your mini-assignments in the final project
- Be a thoughtful and helpful workshopper to your classmates
- Include in your Introduction/Analysis a thoughtful thesis for your entire project that reflects the ideas about “heritage” that we talk about all semester.
In order to earn a “C” for the 15% that this project is worth you must:
- Include at least 3 of the 6 mini-assignments in your final piece.
- Include an Introduction/Analysis, even if it falls short of the word count
- Include your Reflection on Process, even if it falls short of the word count
If you do not do the work required for at least the “C” grade you will earn an “F” grade for the 15% of the final project.