assignments ENGL 226 Writing About Writing:
Writing Studies Timeline Project
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LEE TORDA, PhD 200 Maxwell Library Bridgewater State University [email protected] [email protected] www.leetorda.com |
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Overview
One of the things that makes ENGL 226 unique and sort of complicated to teach is the responsibility to introduce students to an entire field of English Studies that they perhaps was unaware existed. The counterpart course in literature, ENGL 203, does not need to do that because you've been reading and studying literature all your student life. Further, most of you come to the Writing and Writing Studies concentration out of a desire to write, not to study, necessarily theories of writing. And yet, the reason you even have the option to declare a W&WS concentration or minor comes directly from the development of Writing Studies out of English Studies as a field of scholarship and as a discipline. Thus, the first part of our semester together has been about the field of Writing Studies--sometimes called Composition & Rhetoric--and while I know it can feel tedious at times, it's Important.
In a literature class, you would write a lot of paper's that explicate texts and locate scholarly sources that help you to prove that explication. That's the work of literature. But the work of Writing Studies is wildly varied, and you've had very little experience with the scholarship. Thus, asking you to write a paper on Rhetorical or Composition theory, doesn't seem fair or worthwhile. And, again, my goal in the first part of the semester is to help you understand how the field of Writing Studies has taken shape over the past 50 years and how that impacts your undergraduate education and could impact your future career choices. And, still, there are so many areas of sub-fields within the field of Writing Studies that we couldn't possibly cover all of them.
Thus, to help bring some closure to this part of class and to build your knowledge of what is possible in Writing Studies, I'm asking you to work with group mates to develop a Writing Studies Timeline. To do this, you will read a bibliographic chapter from A Guide To Writing Pedagogies on an important sub-field in composition. Additionally, you will have a chance to meet and hear from BSU faculty who specialize in other subfields in Writing Studies. Finally, you will have the articles in class we've all read to use as source material.
From that reading and research, you will develop a timeline of writing studies specific to your writing pedagogy (process, feminist, or critical). You will have time in class to work on it. You will present your timeline to the class on 15 October 2021.
Details for the Group Work Portion of the Project
In order to construct your timeline, use the following source material.
Details for the Individual Portion of the Project
On the day of the presentation, please turn in 1) your 100 word summary of the article that you wrote for the article you read from the bibliography of your subfield; 2) a 500 word, typed, reflection that answers this question: Based on your work on your subfield (process, feminist, critical), and your reading in and around the field of Writing Studies, what do you understand about the theories/values/arguments that make Writing Studies a discipline in and of itself and how is it like/and different from the other branch of English Studies (literary studies)?
On the Day of the Presentation
Your group will need to present your timeline to the class. You'll have roughly 15 minutes to do that. As part of the presentation, you need to engage your classmates in an informal, in-class writing exercise that is informed by the values/theories/arguments of your subfield. You should be able to explain to the class how that exercise connects to your subfield.
On the day of your presentation, I will ask you to contribute to the evaluation of your classmates by asking each of you to tell me what you learned from the other groups. I will also ask you to tell me what role you played in your group and to identify other students in the group that you think did a really good and important job of contributing to the success of the project.
Formatting your Timeline
I want to give you some freedom here. There is probably fancy software to do timelines (like the one we read in class and that you can view again by clicking here. ) That timeline was done as a website development program called "Sutori". You are welcome to use that program. I am in the process of learning how to do it by putting together an example timeline to show you in class.
However, I don't want the technology to take over the project. Thus, you can use PowerPoint or Prezi software to create your timeline if you are more comfortable with that (I think that in this instance, Prezi could be very effective). You can also use google slides. In other words, I don't really care what software you use to create a timeline and would suggest using something you feel you can learn quickly or know already. The benefit of using any of these programs is that multiple people can work on it simultaneously, which is useful in a group project like this.
That said, there are two things that need to be included in your timeline
1) Some visual way to represent your information as a timeline, so, in other words, in a linear sequence.
2) Images that compliment the text. Again, I refer you back to the timeline we read for class. There aren't a ton of images, but they work well.
3) Succinct text. There is a reason I'm asking for 100 word summaries of articles. Nobody wants paragraphs upon paragraphs of text in a largely visual project. This is a test of your ability to write with clarity and brevity at the same time.
Optional Group Zoom conference
You are not required to have a group conference with me to earn the "B" grade, but I will make it possible for groups or parts of groups to meet with me for a draft conference in the week prior to when the presentation is due. Attending a conference is a requirement of the "A" grade (see below). More information to follow as we get closer to that date.
How you will be evaluated
This portion of the class, your Writing Studies project, counts as 15% of your final grade. In order to earn a "B" grade you must
In order to earn an "A" grade you must
In order to earn a "C" grade you must
If you do not meet the requirements for the "C" grade you will earn and "F" for this 15% of your final grade.
One of the things that makes ENGL 226 unique and sort of complicated to teach is the responsibility to introduce students to an entire field of English Studies that they perhaps was unaware existed. The counterpart course in literature, ENGL 203, does not need to do that because you've been reading and studying literature all your student life. Further, most of you come to the Writing and Writing Studies concentration out of a desire to write, not to study, necessarily theories of writing. And yet, the reason you even have the option to declare a W&WS concentration or minor comes directly from the development of Writing Studies out of English Studies as a field of scholarship and as a discipline. Thus, the first part of our semester together has been about the field of Writing Studies--sometimes called Composition & Rhetoric--and while I know it can feel tedious at times, it's Important.
In a literature class, you would write a lot of paper's that explicate texts and locate scholarly sources that help you to prove that explication. That's the work of literature. But the work of Writing Studies is wildly varied, and you've had very little experience with the scholarship. Thus, asking you to write a paper on Rhetorical or Composition theory, doesn't seem fair or worthwhile. And, again, my goal in the first part of the semester is to help you understand how the field of Writing Studies has taken shape over the past 50 years and how that impacts your undergraduate education and could impact your future career choices. And, still, there are so many areas of sub-fields within the field of Writing Studies that we couldn't possibly cover all of them.
Thus, to help bring some closure to this part of class and to build your knowledge of what is possible in Writing Studies, I'm asking you to work with group mates to develop a Writing Studies Timeline. To do this, you will read a bibliographic chapter from A Guide To Writing Pedagogies on an important sub-field in composition. Additionally, you will have a chance to meet and hear from BSU faculty who specialize in other subfields in Writing Studies. Finally, you will have the articles in class we've all read to use as source material.
From that reading and research, you will develop a timeline of writing studies specific to your writing pedagogy (process, feminist, or critical). You will have time in class to work on it. You will present your timeline to the class on 15 October 2021.
Details for the Group Work Portion of the Project
In order to construct your timeline, use the following source material.
- Using the bibliography and information covered in your chapter of Guide, develop a rough timeline of important ideas/scholars/articles for your subfield. The chapters in guide offer extensive overviews and bibliographies that will help you with this work.
- Identify one article from the bibliography per person in the group to read. Include a short, 100 word summary of each article in your timeline.
- Use the articles we've read in class to anchor your timeline. You don't have to use all of them, but you need to include at least two. Rather than summarize these articles (what would be the point?), instead indicate the you see a connection between what those articles are arguing and what you'r subfield values/teaches/argues.
Details for the Individual Portion of the Project
On the day of the presentation, please turn in 1) your 100 word summary of the article that you wrote for the article you read from the bibliography of your subfield; 2) a 500 word, typed, reflection that answers this question: Based on your work on your subfield (process, feminist, critical), and your reading in and around the field of Writing Studies, what do you understand about the theories/values/arguments that make Writing Studies a discipline in and of itself and how is it like/and different from the other branch of English Studies (literary studies)?
On the Day of the Presentation
Your group will need to present your timeline to the class. You'll have roughly 15 minutes to do that. As part of the presentation, you need to engage your classmates in an informal, in-class writing exercise that is informed by the values/theories/arguments of your subfield. You should be able to explain to the class how that exercise connects to your subfield.
On the day of your presentation, I will ask you to contribute to the evaluation of your classmates by asking each of you to tell me what you learned from the other groups. I will also ask you to tell me what role you played in your group and to identify other students in the group that you think did a really good and important job of contributing to the success of the project.
Formatting your Timeline
I want to give you some freedom here. There is probably fancy software to do timelines (like the one we read in class and that you can view again by clicking here. ) That timeline was done as a website development program called "Sutori". You are welcome to use that program. I am in the process of learning how to do it by putting together an example timeline to show you in class.
However, I don't want the technology to take over the project. Thus, you can use PowerPoint or Prezi software to create your timeline if you are more comfortable with that (I think that in this instance, Prezi could be very effective). You can also use google slides. In other words, I don't really care what software you use to create a timeline and would suggest using something you feel you can learn quickly or know already. The benefit of using any of these programs is that multiple people can work on it simultaneously, which is useful in a group project like this.
That said, there are two things that need to be included in your timeline
1) Some visual way to represent your information as a timeline, so, in other words, in a linear sequence.
2) Images that compliment the text. Again, I refer you back to the timeline we read for class. There aren't a ton of images, but they work well.
3) Succinct text. There is a reason I'm asking for 100 word summaries of articles. Nobody wants paragraphs upon paragraphs of text in a largely visual project. This is a test of your ability to write with clarity and brevity at the same time.
Optional Group Zoom conference
You are not required to have a group conference with me to earn the "B" grade, but I will make it possible for groups or parts of groups to meet with me for a draft conference in the week prior to when the presentation is due. Attending a conference is a requirement of the "A" grade (see below). More information to follow as we get closer to that date.
How you will be evaluated
This portion of the class, your Writing Studies project, counts as 15% of your final grade. In order to earn a "B" grade you must
- Include 3 kinds of source material outlined above, and two of them must be numbers 1 and 2, in your timeline
- Follow the format guidelines for your presentation outlined above
- Include a representative writing exercise during your 15 minute presentation.
- Keep your presentation to the 15 minute limit.
- Turn in your individual article summary and project reflection (500 words) on the day the presentation is due.
- Be present or otherwise represented on the day of the presentation.
- Participate in good faith in the group work in and out of class.
In order to earn an "A" grade you must
- Do all of the things required for the B grade and
- Include all 4 kinds of source material outlined above
- Attend as a group or as a representative of the group one of the optional group zoom conferences.
- Serve as a thoughtful audience to the other groups and take seriously your role in evaluation of the group.
In order to earn a "C" grade you must
- Include numbers 1 and 2 under source material in your timeline
- Follow the format guidelines for your presentation
- Turn in your individual article summary and project reflection (500 words) on the day the presentation is due.
- Be present or otherwise represented on the day of the presentation.
- Participate in good faith in the group work in and out of class.
If you do not meet the requirements for the "C" grade you will earn and "F" for this 15% of your final grade.