English 2070: Literacy Studies Section I: Course …personal.bgsu.edu/~aathon/media/CurriculumProject.pdf · English 2070: Literacy Studies Section I: ... basic steps of using the

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Amanda Athon

Prelim Portfolio

Curriculum Project & Afterword

English 2070: Literacy Studies

Section I:

Course Policies and Syllabus

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English 2070: Intermediate Writing

Literacy Studies

Spring 2012

MWF 11:30 – 12:20

Instructor: Amanda Athon

Greetings and welcome to English 2070! Throughout this course, we will engage in and experiment with different types of literacy, including traditional print literacy as well as various methods of digital literacy. Our course readings focus on authors who describe their own experiences with literacy and issues of access and barriers. Throughout the semester, we will analyze audience, purpose, language, and style in the writings of others and ourselves. Our course ends with the construction of a web portfolio, highlighting the major assignments and revisions.

Prerequisite: GSW 1120

Required Course Materials:

• Writing: A Manual for the Digital Age by Blakesley/Hoogeveen. Centgage Publishing: 2011. ISBN: 9781111344542.

• BGSU Falcon Mail • Flashdrive (available at the BGSU bookstore) • A computer to use outside of class, equipped with internet access and ability to download

software for the course as needed (Note: Many BGSU labs come equipped with the software we will use).

• Access to our course wiki at http://eng2070.bgsu.wikispaces.net/ • A blog, hosted at wordpress.com

Learning Outcomes

• To become proficient in multiple modes of composing. • To revise, draft, and edit both written and multimodal texts. • To think critically about rhetorical features of writing including language, style, purpose,

and audience.

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• To engage in reflective practices and use these reflections to progress in the writing process.

• To think about traditional notions of literacy and language and how this shapes our perceptions of both author and society.

• To understand and utilize visuals as a form of argument and persuasion. • To conduct primary research in both traditional print and visual formats.

Course Policies

• Attend all class sessions and actively participate in each session. More than three absences will negatively impact your grade.

• Be respectful of other’s opinions and allow for thoughtful discussion. It is inevitable that we will disagree on some issues; everyone is entitled to share their views when applicable to the course discussion.

• Turn in assignments on time. No late work will be accepted unless otherwise arranged with me.

• I’d rather have you come late than not at all, but do your best to be on time. Repeated lateness will count as an absence.

• Due to our course being held in the computer lab, no food is permitted. • Challenge yourself to do your best work in each and every class.

Description of Graded Assignments:

Literacy Narrative

Throughout the course, many of our readings will deal with issues of literacy and barriers to literacy. To begin our discussion, you will create a literacy narrative detailing your own history as a reader and writer. As you create this assignment, think about your attitudes towards literacy, any successes and challenges with literacy, and how technology has shaped your history as a reader and writer.

Rhetorical Analysis

The Rhetorical Analysis involves a detailed discussion of an author’s appeal to audience. This assignment correlates with our study of visual literacy. Choosing from either a traditional print-based or a visual argument (advertisement, public service announcement, or political campaign), you will think critically about the author’s use of style, language, tone, and content to determine how effective the author’s argument and style is. This assignment will allow you to understand that “appropriate” language and tone depends entirely on context.

Website Analysis

For this assignment, you will analyze and critique a website. While many of you have encountered this assignment in GSW 1120, this assignment asks you to think about the website as someone who is in the process of creating one.

Digital Demo

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Working in small groups, you will choose from a list of free software that may be helpful as you create your web portfolios (and beyond). You will construct a “how to” handout detailing the basic steps of using the software and give a short presentation modeling the technology. You will be graded collaboratively on this assignment via my feedback as well as the feedback of your peers.

Web Portfolio

Your web portfolio is an online portfolio/website that hosts all of your major assignments for the course. The portfolio should contain at least two revisions (although all assignments must be included) out of the following: Literacy Narrative, Rhetorical Analysis, or Website Analysis. The portfolio may also have a link to your blog, handouts from your digital demo, a CV, or other pertinent materials.

The Web Portfolio must also contain a short reflection (1 – 2 written pages or a 30 second audio or video recording) reflecting on your successes and challenges in the course.

Grading Courses in the department of English are graded A, B, C, D, F. Grade Breakdown: Attendance and Participation (in-class assignments, blogs, wikis) 10% Group Project- Technology Demonstration 5% Literacy Narrative 15% Rhetorical Analysis 15% Website Analysis 15% Web Portfolio 35% Disabilities and Accommodations If you have a disability, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), you should register with the appropriate office, Disability Services at (419) 372-8495, 413 South Hall.

Technology Accessibility Statement I do my best to use software that is free or available for a significant trial period to ensure that all students may participate. Most BGSU computer labs offer the paid software that we will use in class. See me if you have questions about this.

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English 2070: Intermediate Writing

Literacy Studies

Spring 2012 Course Schedule

In Class For Homework

Week 1

1/9 - Welcome to ENG 2070! - Student introductions - Syllabus review

- Review Syllabus and Course Schedule - Come to class with any questions about the

syllabus

1/11 - Introduction to blogs - Set up Blog accounts - Go over Literacy

Narrative Project

- Review the blog site and attempt a test post.

1/13 - Visit from the Writing Center

- Discuss Assignment #1. - Begin working in

Dreamweaver and brainstorm ideas for a literacy narrative, using Dreamweaver as a composing tool.

- Read “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie; post response to course blog. (available via the course blog).

Week 2

1/16 - No Class, MLK Jr. Holiday

- Continue to work on literacy narrative.

1/18 - Whole group reflections on Alexie essay.

- Reflections on how our composing process in Dreamweaver may or may not be different than Microsoft Word.

- Read in-class “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes (available on course blog); whole group discussion.

- Post to course blog: what similarities do you see in both the Alexie and Hughes writings? How are they different? Think about tone, style, and content.

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1/20 - Take the first few moments of class to read through the course blog. Respond to at least two of your peers with feedback.

- Discussion of context and audience and how it shapes our language; view YouTube clips that demonstrate difference audiences and language.

- Read “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris (available on course blog).

- Blog a response to the following questions: “What did you find most interesting about Sedaris’s attempt to learn a new language? Give one quote from the text to support your views. How, in a way, do we have to learn another version of English when we compose in the classroom?”

Week 3

1/23 - Volunteers for sharing blog responses.

- Practice with VoiceThread; create a short clip discussing your relationship with writing and language.

- Read Blakeslee “Using Visual Content to Inform”, p. 315 – 319. Create a short response, either on the course blog or on VoiceThread, discussing what visual content you might include in your literacy narrative.

1/25 - Composing in Dreamweaver

- Peer sharing session of our in-progress literacy narratives. Note that narratives do not need to be complete but you should have something for review.

- If you have no done so already in class, write a paragraph responding to the literacy narrative(s) that you viewed today. Think about what worked well in the narrative and consider if there any other images that you’d like to view or information that you’d like to know. Post this to our course blog, with your partner’s name as the title.

1/27 - Discuss criteria of a “good” literacy narrative

- Discussion of Creative Commons and copy-right issues of multimodal composing.

- Review of Digital Literacy Narrative Archive

Optional: Post one question/comment/concern about the literacy narrative assignment to the course blog.

Week 4

1/30 - Discussion of wikis and how they may be useful to our work as college

- Continue to work on your literacy narrative.

- Read Blakesley “Wikis” p 359 – 361.

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students and beyond; visit Eng2070.bgsu.wikispaces.net for our course wiki.

- Small group work; think about the principles of good design that you brainstormed for homework. Add these principles to our wiki.

2/1 - Workshop/Open Lab

- Complete your literacy narrative. Bring completed literacy narrative to class tomorrow. If it’s a Word document, bring a hardcopy. VoiceThreads, PowerPoints, .html files or other visual forms may be emailed to me.

2/3 - Completed Literacy Narrative Due

- In-class sharing of narratives.

- Discussion of Assignment #2: Rhetorical Analysis

- Although you have completed your literacy narrative, you may decide to revise it for your final web portfolio. Begin thinking about ways you might revise it.

- Read excerpt from Reading Lolita in Tehran; come to class prepared to discuss.

Week 5

2/6 - Small group discussion on Reading Lolita in Tehran excerpt

- Skim Blakesley “Making Choices About Style” pp. 405 – 427 (no written homework on this)

2/8 - Post to course blog: how would you define your writing style?

- Whole group discussion of sample rhetorical analysis

- Read “Read “Straightening Our Hair” by bell hooks

- Post to course blog: Who do you think the audience is for this selection? Why do you think so many of the previous week’s selections have included personal experience?

2/10

- Whole class discussion of rhetorical style/structure

- Continue to work on rhetorical analysis

Week 6 Conference Week

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2/13 -View advertising campaigns and sample visual rhetorical analysis

- Continue to work on Rhetorical Analysis. - Read “Hidden Intellectualism” by Graff

(available on blog). Post response to course blog.

2/15 Conference Reminder – attend your scheduled conference

- Continue to work on Rhetorical Analysis.

2/17 Conference Reminder – attend your conference

- Bring complete draft of Rhetorical Analysis to class tomorrow.

Week 7

2/20 - In class peer review of Rhetorical Analysis

- Read Blakesley “Using Visuals” p 315 – 321

- Read Barbara Ehreinreich, “Dirty Laundry: United Colors of Benetton” (course blog)

2/22 - Whole group discussion of readings

- Thinking back on the selections we’ve read the past few weeks and your literacy narratives, has your idea of what makes “good” writing changed? Create a short VoiceThread, PowerPoint, or blog post in response to this question. Reference examples from the texts.

- Read excerpt from Malcolm X’s autobiography; post response to course blog.

2/24 - Review homework. - View web clips

discussing audience and style; whole class discussion

- Continue to work on Assignment #2.

Week 8

2/27 - Rhetorical Analysis Due

- Discussion of Assignment #3: Website Analysis

- Post your reflection on your work to our course blog.

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2/29 - Discussion of gender neutral and racially sensitive language (from Blakesley)

- Bring to class the URL of the site you plan to analyze.

- Read Blakesley “Writing and Rhetoric on the Web” p 356 – 358.

3/2 - Discussion of Final Assignment: Web Portfolio

- View clip: “Digital Nation”

- During the break, continue to draft your website analysis.

- Read Blakesley “Designing Multimedia Projects” p 381 – 401.

Week 9

3/5 No Class – Spring Break



Week 10

3/12 - Small group activity: brainstorming ideas for website analysis; post responses to course wiki

- Continue to work on website analysis; studio review date is 3/21.

- Consider scheduling a conference with me to discuss your website analysis.

3/14 - Discussion of consistency in web design; in-class read “Reading Images Critically” in Blakesley p 77 – 83

- Post your website to the course board so that the class can review it.

3/16 - Workshop/ Open Lab


Week 11

3/19 - Sharing of websites - Discussion of effective

website navigation


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3/21 - In- class Peer Review of Website Analysis

- Post a short revision plan to our course blog considering the feedback you received today.

3/23 - Meet with your group members to finalize plans for your digital demo.

- Complete Website Analysis.

Week 12

3/26 -Website Analysis Due

- More on Dreamweaver

- Continue to work on your final web portfolio and digital demo.

3/28 - More on Dreamweaver

- Continue to work on your final web portfolio and digital demo. Make plans to meet with group members, either in-person or virtually, if not already done so.

3/30 - More on Final Portfolio

- Continue to finalize your digital demo. Post handouts for the class to our course blog.

Week 13

4/2 - Group Presentations

- Begin thinking about what software you might use in your final web portfolio.


- Continue thinking about what software you might use in your final web portfolio.


- Post a response to our course blog: which software might you use for your revisions to be included in your web portfolio?

Week 14

4/9 - Working in Dreamweaver: more on tables

- Schedule a conference with me to discuss your final web portfolio and its overall design.

4/11 - Discuss Reflective Narrative

- In class, work in small groups to read the sample reflections

- Begin to draft your reflective essay. - Begin to draft your reflection, continue to

work on your web portfolio.

4/12 - Composing a Website - Add at least two files to your web portfolio and save to your flash drive.

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Week 15

4/16 - Studio Review of Web Portfolios (Bring completed revisions to class) Overview of FTP process

- Based on your feedback, post to the course blog what you plan to revise/improve upon in your final portfolio.

4/18 - Review Assessment Criteria for final portfolio

- Continue to work on your final web portfolio.

4/20 - Workshop/Open lab


Week 16





4/27 Portfolio Presentations. All work due in class today.

Finals Week

4/30 Presentations Continued - Schedule a conference with me to discuss your final grade in the course.

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Section II:

Assignment Sheets

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English 2070 Composing a Literacy Narrative


The Assignment: In this course, we will think about the ways that we and others use language and literacy to communicate. For this reason, I’d like you to think about your successes and struggles with gaining literacy and compose a literacy narrative. A literacy narrative tells the story of how you came to feel about language learning and what key people or places shaped your feelings on language. It explains your history as a reader and writer.

You will likely discuss multiple events in this narrative, some of which may include certain classes that you took, a favorite teacher, books that you enjoyed, or perhaps negative experiences which shaped your views on writing and reading.

Organizing Your Narrative: This assignment is called a literacy narrative because it tells a story. For this reason, you should focus your narrative around key ideas. Begin with an introduction and end your narrative with a conclusion that explains your current thoughts on literacy. Although many students choose to tell their story beginning with their childhood and ending with their current college literacy skills, you may choose to follow a different narrative pattern if you wish.

Composing Your Narrative: Visuals are important part of storytelling and for this reason you must find some way to include visuals in your narrative. You might choose to write a word document or .html file and include images of the items or people you discuss. Or, you might choose to record a VoiceThread, either of yourself or paired with images from your story. Perhaps you will decide to create a slideshow in Powerpoint. Finally, you might choose to create a short video in Windows Movie Maker, I-Movie, or another program.

Print documents should be 5 – 6 pages in length.

Powerpoint documents should have at least five slides.

Recordings (either audio or visual) should be at least two minutes long.

See me if you have questions about length guidelines for other formats.

Turning in Your Narrative: You must have some way of turning your narrative into me. Word documents, Powerpoint presentations, and similar files may be emailed to me. VoiceThreads may be emailed to me as a link. Windows Movie Maker or I-Movie can be uploaded to Youtube or Vimeo and emailed to me.

Percentage Points Possible: 15%

Due Date: 2/3

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English 2070

Rhetorical Analysis


The Assignment:

Rhetoric generally refers to elements of persuasion. When you create a rhetorical analysis, you analyze an author’s message and determine how effective this message is at persuading the viewer or listener. For this assignment, you will create a 5 – 6 page written rhetorical analysis of a visual argument: an advertisement, political campaign, or public service announcement. The advertisement may be in print, a website, audio, or video.

When you analyze something’s rhetorical appeal, you decide how effective a speaker’s message is. Criteria on which to base a rhetorical analysis include:

Audience (Who is the speaker addressing? Why?)

Purpose (What does the speaker/advertiser want to make me believe?)

Style (What tone has the speaker/advertiser created? How has the speaker/advertiser used sentence length and word choice?)

Composition (How has the advertiser or speaker used colors, content, or pacing to convince me of his or her argument?)

There are many additional criteria you might refer to, which we will discuss in class. Although you do not need to cover every criteria listed above, you should choose at least two.

What to Include:

You should begin with an introduction, summarizing what you will prove in the essay and how you will prove it. Then, discuss several criteria—though, not necessarily all—that defend your overall evaluation of the piece. Be clear about what your overall evaluation is—positive, negative, or some combination of the two—and why. Although this is a written evaluation, you are encouraged to use visual support such as photographs, images, charts, or graphs.

How to Choose an Advertisement or Speech:

I recommend the following sites for location material to analyze:

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess/

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http://adage.com

http://www.youtube.com/

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speechbank.htm

http://www.ted.com/talks

Tips and Hints:

• This draft should be completed in Microsoft Word or Open Office. However, be thinking about how this could be a multimodal piece. For your final project, you will need to revise 2 or 3 of your major projects and you may decide to turn this assignment into a visual one.

• Think about how the speech or advertisement makes you feel. What is the advertiser or speech writer assuming will please or displease you?

• What visual elements are most memorable? The speech writer or advertiser very likely intended the visual to be memorable.

• Ask yourself, who do you think the speech is intended for? What purpose does the advertiser or speech giver want to accomplish?

Due Date

Studio Review: 2/20

Final Project Due: 2/27


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Evaluating a Website

Eng 2070


The Assignment: This semester, you have spent much time creating and analyzing visuals. You developed a literacy narrative using visuals for Project 1 and chose a visual to support your ideas in Project 2. Now, for your third major assignment, you will critique a visual that someone else created: a website. This project is designed to help you think about what you value in a website for when it’s time to create your own.

The Website: Choose a website that is based on your major area of study or interest, since that will allow you to have “insider information” on what makes a successful website in this area. For example, you might pick a architecture firm’s website or a site that discusses shopping for fashion on a student budget.

Some possible examples:

Architecturaldigest.com (Magazine)

Pitchfork.com (Music Review Website)

Dave’s ESL Cafe (Education Website)

BGSU.edu (University Website)

Digg.com (Bookmarking Website)

Pinterest.com (Social Networking Website)

Avoid using websites with which your audience is overly familiar. For this reason, do not choose Facebook, Myspace, Amazon, Google, or Yahoo. Avoid general shopping websites. The best websites are ones that have various features, such as news, message boards, etc. (This just makes it easier for you to write about, due to the variety of content).

The Criteria: You must have three. All evaluations are based on criteria, even though we usually don’t think about it. For example, you might decide where you want to eat based on how cheap it is, or you might decide what movie you want to see based on what’s playing nearby. You will choose criteria on which to analyze your website. Some possibilities:

Design (is it attractive? Is it easy to read? Are the colors headache-inducing or pleasing to the eye?)

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Organization (Is it easy to navigate? Can you find what you need?)

Audience Appeal (is there information that you would expect a website on your major to have?)

Variety of Features (is there plenty of interesting content? Would someone get bored easily on this site)

Counterargument: Explain why someone might not agree with you about a feature that you like/dislike. Explain why this person is incorrect.

Possible Outline (for both print and multimodal projects): In your introduction, briefly describe the website and give a thesis that states whether your review will overall be positive or negative and why. Introduce your evidence, which in this case will be the criteria you choose. You must include at least three images in your essay—if you’re working in Microsoft Word, this should account for no more than one page.

Introduction:

Explain your website

Give your thesis (Overall, my evaluation is positive because)

Introduce your evidence (I evaluated this website based on the following criteria…)

Body Paragraph 1:

Discuss your first criteria

Give a topic sentence

Transitions

Examples from the Website

Body Paragraph 2:

Discuss your second criteria


Transitions


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Body Paragraph 3:

Discuss your first criteria


Transitions


Conclusion

Page Length: 4 – 5 pages (or multimodal equivalent)

Sources: None required

Due Date: Studio/Peer Review: 3/21 Final Draft: 3/26


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Eng 2070

Group Project

Digital Demonstrations


The best way to gain a new skill is to teach it to others. For this reason, we will be creating short demonstrations on technology software that might be useful when creating your final project.

Working in groups of four, you will sign up for one of the programs listed below. You can also propose a new software, provided it’s one that a) students probably aren’t already familiar with and b) doesn’t require any download or payment.

Your demonstration should be 15 – 20 minutes. You will receive a letter grade of A, B, or C as long as you complete the project; this grade will be factored into your in-class assignments grade.

Requirements for the Project:

1. Prepare a one-page, double-spaced handout for students serving as a “how to” guide. It may include instructions, links to help guides, or other resources. This should be a new document that you create, not one that you’ve found online. Note: this doesn’t need to be exhaustive, rather it should help students with the activity you’ve planned.

2. Give a short demonstration on how to use the technology. Overview some notable features.

3. Have the class do a short activity using the software. For example, if you were using Youtube Video Editor, you might have them search videos on Creative Commons and edit them.

4. While the class is doing this activity, your group should circulate around the room, seeing if anyone has questions.

5. You might budget a few minutes for questions and answers, though this is optional.

Listed below are the programs that you might choose. There will be a sign-up sheet distributed to the class on Monday, March 19th. Remember, you can also propose your own software as long as it’s free and doesn’t require a download.

Storify

Youtube Video Editor

Google Docs

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Delicious.com

Prezi

Due dates: 4/2, 4/4, or 4/6 depending on the date you sign up for.


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English 2070

Final Portfolio Assignment


During this course, we’ve experimented with various literacies: reading, writing, visual, and now, technology. Since we are so comfortable with our own reading and writing literacy, learning a new type of literacy can help us reflect on the process of gaining literacy and its challenges. For this reason, for your final assignment, you will create an online portfolio showcasing your work in this course.

Although there are different methods for creating the portfolio, it must contain these elements:

• A “Homepage” featuring a short introduction and reflection on your work in the course (no more than thirty seconds if audio/video or 500 words if written)

• All three of your major assignments for this course—literacy narrative, rhetorical analysis, website analysis—each linked from the home page

• TWO of the major assignments must be revised from their original state (unless you’re choosing Option #2… then all three must be revised)

• ONE of your revisions must be in a new format of your choosing • Design elements—including a color scheme, images, and perhaps audio or video

There are two options for this assignment:

Option 1: Create a Web Portfolio

In class, we will work to learn to create basic websites which you can upload to your personal BGSU server. The process for gaining access to your web server has changed and instructors may no longer request space for students. Instead, you must call the technology center (419) 372-0999 to access your space. You do not have to upload your site to a server; you may also simply burn the files to a disc and turn this into me.

Option 2: Create a Wiki

Using bgsu.wikispaces.net, you will create your own personal wiki that functions as a website. You will still have a homepage and links to the elements of your portfolio. Because this option is less challenging than creating a web portfolio, you must revise all THREE of your major assignments if you wish to choose this option.

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Note: In the coming weeks, we will have several “workshop” days for you to ask me for help, peer review with neighbors, or simply to work on your portfolio. Take advantage of this time. If you wait until the last minute, you will not do well on this project.

Checklist for Final Portfolio:

_ Have I double-checked that all of my links direct to the proper page?

_ Do my images appear correctly and formatted properly?

_ Have I used a design scheme that is visually appealing and consistent between pages?

_ Do I have a “home page” that includes an introduction/reflection on my work in the course?

_ Are all three major assignments linked from my homepage?

_ Are two of these assignments revised, or three if I’ve chosen to create a wiki?

_ Is at least one of my revisions in a new format, such as Voicethread, Vuvox, Powerpoint, or a youtube video?

Remember, help is always available. Contact me to schedule an appointment. You can also visit the Writing Center or the Technology Center for assistance.

Due Dates:

Studio Review: 4/16

Final Due Date: 4/27


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Section III:

Afterword & Rationale

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“Literacy Studies: An Afterword & Rationale”

I have designed this course for English 2070, Intermediate Writing for Bowling Green

State University. This course is intended to represent a course for English majors in my job

search portfolio and will be paired with additional syllabi for a first-year writing course and a

basic writing course. For this course, students will have completed at least one prior writing

course, General Studies Writing 1120. The majority of the students taking the course will be

Education or Communication majors as this is an assigned course for these students. I have also

designed the course with the assumption that it will be taught in a computer lab, although it could

be adapted for a non-wired setting. The course meets three times a week for fifty minutes and is

worth three university credit hours. Students are assessed via letter grades ranging from A to F.

The theme of the course is “Literacy Studies.”

The pacing of the course allows students ample time to write, revise, and reflect on each

writing assignment. Each unit lasts about a month. The first unit focuses on literacies of the self

and explores literacies in relation to reading and writing. This unit also touches on critical

pedagogy as students explore possible barriers to literacy. The second unit focuses on visual

literacy and emphasizes elements of rhetorical pedagogy. Students are asked to analyze issues of

audience, logic, and credibility. Students read political speeches, view campaign ads and

advertisements, and analyze public service campaigns from a variety of real-world sources. Since

writing is often a form of persuasion, the class needs to have a unit on the persuasive powers of

visuals. The final unit focuses on technology literacy in its relation to digital writing. Students

view websites and analyze a website based on specific criteria. As part of this unit, students work

collaboratively to give a presentation on tools that will help theme build and complete their final

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portfolio, such as Google Docs, Dropbox, Prezi, and other tools helpful to college writing

students. The final course project has students revise two of their three writing assignments for a

digital portfolio of writing. To aid students with the completion of their writing tasks, students

are to meet with me at least twice throughout the semester for private conferences.

I chose the theme Literacy Studies because it is broad enough to allow students to write

about a variety of interests but still provides thematic structure. The course begins with a study

of self-literacy, progressing to the study of visual literacy, and ending with technology literacy

and writing for the web. Each literacy will be viewed in its relationship with composing and

writing, since this is a writing course. Students will explore the meaning of literacy in their lives

and in society through various writing assignments: a literacy narrative in unit one, a rhetorical

analysis in unit two, a website analysis in unit three, and finally the completion of a digital

portfolio of writing. I chose this emphasis because it encourages reflection on writing and the

writing process and because it will encourage reflective practices. NCTE “Beliefs About the

Teaching of Writing” supports reflection in the classroom, stating “The development of

reflective abilities and meta-awareness about writing… helps writers most when they encounter

difficulty, or when they are in the middle of creating a piece of writing.” As such, this is an

important part of my course through the use of personal blogs, a course blog, and student wikis

designed to help students think critically about the texts and assignments.

Bowling Green State University’s course catalog describes English 2070 as “Work on

developing mastery of the rhetorical principles of planning, executing and revising prose.

Emphasis on strengthening analytical writing, both expository and argumentative; valuable for

writing on the job” (BGSU Department of English). I have created the learning objectives to

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meet these institutional guidelines of a process-based approach to analytical writing and also to

explore further the themes of literacy. My course objectives are:

• To become proficient in multiple modes of composing.

• To revise, draft, and edit both written and multimodal texts.

• To think critically about rhetorical features of writing including language, style, purpose,

and audience.

• To engage in reflective practices and use these reflections to progress in the writing

process.

• To think about traditional notions of literacy and language and how this shapes our

perceptions of both author and society.

• To understand and utilize visuals as a form of argument and persuasion.

• To conduct primary research in both traditional print and visual formats.

I feel that these course guidelines emphasize writing as the central focus of the course with

additional emphases on literacy, reflection, and multiple methods of composing. They connect

the various parts of the course.

In English 2070, I use the textbook Writing for a Digital Age by David Blakeslee. We

periodically refer to this for basics on mechanics, structure, organization, and citation. I’ve also

used various readings to support each unit. Students read literacy narratives in the first unit,

rhetorical analyses in the second unit, and website reviews in the third unit. These readings are

by a combination of professional authors and student models. Students will also extensively read

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each other’s work as part of their peer revision sessions. I make these readings available via our

course blog, which serves as a central location for readings, assignments, and discussion.

I strive to maintain clear, consistent, and collaborative assessment practices throughout

the course. Revision is an important part of the course and this is reflected through the

distribution of grades. Students are required to complete graded drafts and revise for their final

portfolio. This process encourages students to consider writing as a process. The literacy

narrative, rhetorical analysis, and website analysis are each worth fifteen percentage points. The

final portfolio of writing is worth thirty-five percentage points. Thus, the revised texts are worth

more in determining the final course grade. Participation (including attendance) accounts for ten

percent and a group project where students lead a presentation on various composing tools is

worth five percent. I hope that this grade distribution allows students to feel comfortable

experimenting with each assignment and that the major grade emphasis, the final portfolio, is

where students should revise multiple times for a successful grade. This emphasis on revision is

supported by all major professional organizations in the field of English, including the National

Council of Teachers of English.

I have used a variety of pedagogies when designed the course, namely elements of

collaborative, feminist, critical, and expressivist pedagogies. As Diane George writes, “Critical

pedagogy…envisions a society not simply pledged to but successfully enacting the principles of

equality, of liberty and justice for all” (93). The readings I’ve chosen, specifically the excerpts

from Malcolm X’s biography where he discusses his literacy practices and Langston Hughes’s

“Theme from English B,” focus on the authors’ personal histories with literacy and the

challenges they faced when attempting to gain literacy. I hope these texts encourage students to

reflect on the ways literacy has or has not been available to them. Similarly, Gerald Graff’s

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“Hidden Intellectualism” challenges students to define what it means to be literate. I appreciate

that these texts discuss literacy as not just a classroom act but also a social one. As George

writes, “(Cultural pedagogy can) Introduce students more fully than I could in the first-year

course to the language, images, and cultural phenomena as signifying practices that makes up

what we call a culture” (130). In this way, I’ve encouraged the exploring of multiple cultures and

experiences in our classroom.

This course uses various teaching styles and methods to accommodate diverse learners

and populations. Students improve their analytical writing skills through a process-based

approach and will also gain communication and critical-thinking skills helpful to them

throughout their college careers. The various assignments and readings challenge students to

think about what it means to be a literate individual.

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Works Cited

George, Diana. “Critical Pedagogy: Dreaming of Democracy” A Guide to Composition Studies.

Ed. Gary Tate, Amy Rupiper, Kurt Schick. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. 92-112.

George, Diana, and John Trimbur. “Cultural Studies and Composition.” A Guide to Composition

Studies. Ed. Gary Tate, Amy Rupiper, Kurt Schick. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. 71 – 89.

“NCTE Beliefs About the Teaching of Writing” National Council of Teachers of English. Web.

<http://www.ncte.org/governance/writing>

“Undergraduate Courses” Department of English, Bowling Green State University. Web. <

http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/english/page32634.html>

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