4.25 - 5.2 Workshop + presentations

Presentations 4.25
Nahimot, Arlette, Corinne, Alison, Liana

Presentations 5.2
Daniel, Jessica, Sara, Brigit, Allison

Presentations 5.9
Yasmin, Allyson, Erin, marietta

4.18 Personal Statement + Introductory letters

In class today you worked on your personal statements and introductory letters.  While we referred to guidelines at the links - today's real lesson was that your personal statement + introductory letter needed to address the particular demands of your profession and of the group/institution you were writing to.

For example, we did a sample rhetorical analysis for Yasmin's personal statement.  We thought about the purpose of her statement (what she wanted her statement to do); the audience, and the form.

For her purpose - she wanted to identify herself has having the right "politics" with respect to dogs, to demonstrate her writing abilities, and to distinguish herself as creative and a self-starter

Audience: staff at Bark magazine - and she had to do some thinking about who they were and what they expected (for example - what is THEIR idea of good writing?) in order to get down the details for her purpose.

The form of her personal statement would be determined partly by general reading patterns for this kind of document (first and last sentences are what really counts because that is what the reader sees on a quick read = but the WHOLE document needs to stand up to careful reading if you make it to later stages for consideration), and partly by Yasmin's sense of which information about herself she wanted to highlight.

Finishing the portfolio:
After the break we went through the portfolio site (sample portfolio to the left) and spoke page by page about how to present your work.  See the sample portfolio + the portfolio assignment sheet for complete directions.

Presentation schedule. You also signed up for presentations on your portfolios.  So far, the schedule is as follows:
April 25:  Liana, Corinne, Marietta, Nahimot, Alison
May 2:  Daniel, Jessica, Allison, Sara
May 9: Yasmin, Allyson

Sarah, Bridget, Arlette, and Erin can fill in the blanks next week.

The last part of class was devoted to identifying your writing samples, and analyzing what you wanted to put in your introductory letter.  Again, these choices will depend on your future profession.  See sample portfolio/assignment sheet for information about reflective writing/introductions associated with each piece.

For next week:
We will begin class with presentations - and the remainder of the class will be devoted to workshopping.

4.11=> next class will be Introductory letters + personal statements

In class today we talked about resumes.  Links to the OWL sites discussing resumes are posted earlier.  Our use of Wysoki + Lynch's criteria for a rhetorical analysis of a sample resume made pretty clear how important audience considerations are for writing a resume. As Yasmin pointed out - there ISN'T going to be one rule for the "right" way to create your resume = it is going to depend on your audience.

Next week we will continue working on your portfolio.  Write drafts for an introductory letter and for a personal statement.  They may or may not be for the same application.  For example, if you want to write an introductory letter for an internship at a law firm, but would also like some help with your personal statement for law school => go for it!   Useful links (as discussed in class) are listed below.


Introductory letters
Cover letter = jobs
sample job letter
Cover letter = academic

Personal statements

Good class today = and see you next week.  I will get your process essays back to you ASAP.

schedule for rest of the term

W April 11
discuss reading= workshop portfolio= resumes

presentation on letters and personal statements

W Apr 18

workshop  letters and personal statements

Sign-up sheet for final presentations

get started on writing samples

W Apr 25  Sign up for conferences on portfolios

Presentations

workshop
W  May 2presentations 
workshop

W May 9

final presentations

portfolio due at end of class

Resumes!

Use the framework from Wysoki & Lynch to evaluate your resume

1. What is your purpose?  What are you communicating?  What do you want to achieve?

2. What will your audience be expecting?  How can you turn those expectations to your advantage?

3. How will the place & time of the communication affect its outcome?

4.  What are the strategies that will help you achieve your ends?

5.  What do audiences tend to expect about this genre/medium?  Can you choose a different medium?

6.  How will your audience respond to the organization?  Is there a better organization?

7.  Test!

See Purdue OWL resume design

Try the 20 second test

The quadrant test

Look at your use of headings + fonts

4.4 History of Writing & Final Project

We started out with a discussion of what we considered the important accomplishments of representational technologies.  Our list included the facilitation of:

• global trade (for the individual as well as for companies)
• tracking economic exchanges
• record keeping
• personal communications
• access to writing & self-representation for EVERYBODY (not just the rich)
• the professionalism/quality of those self representations
• direct access to audiences

As we reflected on these accomplishments of writing technologies, we started to think about what drove the kinds of inventions that brought about changes in writing processes and practices.  We noted that what we want out of our writing "hardware" and "software" includes:

• ease of use
• speed (immediacy )
• autonomy for the user
• multti-channel experiences (as if it is "real") = immersion in the feel of 'being there"
• interaction

We then made a quick timeline of the history of revisions to communication technologies - and in light of that timeline = you chose 3 inventions that you saw as the most important in bringing about the cultural changes or accomplishments that we identified at the beginning of class. (You sent me an email with your perspective on this discussion).

The second half of class was spent reading through the portfolio assignment.  The timeline for the assignment is as follows:
April 4 : Your focus/career for your portfolio + identify preliminary list of writing genres to submit with your portfolio
April 18: Workshop resumes
April 25: Workshop introductory letter and personal statements
May 2: Workshop longer writing samples + reflective writing
May 9: Complete portfolio due


In addition to completing the writing, each one of you will be required to make a presentation on your portoflio and writing in your profession.  This is part of the workshopping prcess and will begin April 18.  I will pass around a sign-up sheet next week.

For next week:
Write: resumes for your chosen profession: general resume + a "dream" resume; after workshopping your resumes - you will work on the reflective writing to bridge the two.
Read: "A Rhetorical Process for Designing Compositions," Anne Wysoki & Dennis Lynch

3.28 Revision!

Revision memo:  You started class by writing a revision memo in response to the comments I wrote to your text.  This memo was for you, and in it you noted what you agreed with, what you disagreed with, what you didn't understand - and anything else that seemed important for you to think about.

Patterns (from the class as a whole)  in process drafts:  I then gave you some general feedback about what kinds of revisions drafts by the class as a whole would benefit from.  This list includes work on the introduction and conclusion; making clear distinctions between style (what is on the page) and process (how you write what ends up on the page) and discarding material focused on style (this essay is focused on process); use of specific examples (MORE!), organization (we discussed different organizational strategies- 1) going through each different process from beginning to end; 2) talking about invention across processes, then drafting across processes, revision across processes, and then reflecting on exceptions across processes), and making a series of clear observations/points with respect to your writing process.  These observations/points should go beyond the obvious (=> I need to revise more) and get into planning how to change (what is the source of resistance to revision?  how can it be overcome?  what kinds of revision practices feel like you might WANT to do them - it is OK to refer to the handouts. . .).

Bishop.

We talked in depth about the tensions Bishop points out in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic goals and demands imposed on your writing.  Extrinsic demands are from the outside - put on you by others in ways that make you feel like the writing does not really belong to you.  Intrinsic goals are about what you want out of writing for yourself.

We came up with the following lists.
Extrinsic demands:
due dates
assignment criteria: constraints on content and organization, language style, content requirements, length, focus,
outline/templates;
citation-formatting;
stylistic demands,
grammar-correctness, ideas,
outside references,
standards for evidence + authority
* taking risks
*engaging in meaningful learning

Intrinsic goals
being able to distinguis genres
have authority w/i different genres
identify personal style
get "better"
better editing skills
take risks
grow as a writer
vocabulary
meet external + internal expectations (at the same time)
achieve credibility
clarity/precision of language

Bishop's essay makes the point that despite the conflicts between these two sets of goals/expectations- everything you write is YOUR writing.  It belongs to you and you will grow through its practice in terms of what you put into it.  The rest of her essay is a discussion of creating fat, generous, full-breath drafts that offer lots of room for experimenting and growing = revising.  Revision is growing.  And thinking.

You then broke into groups and placed your self into one of Bishop's 4 stages - and picked two practices from her stages. = and gave them a shot.

Ostram
I gave a very bried presentation on Ostram's essay.  His essay talks about the different ways writers see themselves (p. 29) and points out that most of us see ourselves in many different ways as we write=> that we have many, conflicting writing selves who direct our relationships to and feelings about our writing.

He then goes on to suggest that our relationship to revising can be intentionally shaped by stepping into different selves/personae.  These selves define specific relationships to writing and allow us to see our work in new ways.  I suggested that you read through these selves (masks = from theater, where the performer sybollically becomes a different character) and step into masks that you feel would allow you to re-vision your work constructively.


For next week:  turn in the final draft of your process narrative.  Due as an attachment to the Writing account.
We will talk about Gee (which we didn't get to this week); and about "History of Writing Technologies," Brian Gabrial, "Through the Door: Digital Production," Scott McCloud.


I will also introduce the portfolio project.



Great class and see you next week.

3. 14=> 3.28 Process narrative + process reading.

You turned in your process narratives.  I have most of them, if you have not yet turned yours in - send it before the weekend and I will provide *written* comments by 3.28  (since I missed class on 3.14).

In class on 3.28 we will catch up in terms of the process narrative, go over Bishop and Ostram (readings from last class) and we will talk about  James Gee (now available in the online readings list=> Introduction to Social Linguistics & Literacies).

Have a great break!

3.7 Conferences for process narrative

** Notes from today's class were published in the previous post.

Wednesday March 14
10:00 Liana
11:40 Allyson
1:00 Yasmin
1:20 Daniel
1:40 Arlette
4:30 Jessica
4:45  Brigit
5:00 Marietta

Thursday, March 15
10:45  Nahimot
1:15 Allison
3:30 Sarah
3:45  Sara
4:00 Alison

Erin - break for ENG 3029 (though I may be pretty braindead - we will give it a try).

3.7 Cooking for process narrative

Today's entire class was spent on braintroming for the process narrative. We used  techniques described by Elbow's chapter on cooking to guide our work so that in a sense - we not only talked about cooking as an abstraction - you explored and enacted the processes it entails.

Cooking experiments

1. Interacting with others
After reviewing the assignment - we started with cooking through talking to others.
In groups you had a discussion focused on :

• how do you write
• what strengths and challenges arise from this process?
• reflections on what you might change

You then wrote a one-sentence summary to describe your writing process.  Some summaries included:

• Straight forward = sit down and write in one stretch
• Process differs by feelings
• For material uninterested = straight forward BUT  for material deeply interested in = much more preparation and thinking
• Organic = spur of the moment => can’t pre-write, it either comes out or it doesn’t honest/ from the heart – but unorganized = freewrwite with fix later
• Detail oriented – can help to make effective texture – but can lose focus
• Strategic = planning + thinking = go back to story – can do too much (lose rawness) or too little
• Consciously aware of audience

2. . Exploration of conflicts:You used your one sentence description of how you write and then thoughtabout times when you wrote differently, or when your experience of success was related to a different writing process, or when your parts of your process both were and were not the way you said they were. . .look for writing practices you actually use that do NOT fit into your general characterization.

For example, in my one-sentence description I had described myself as an "unconscious" writer where I have to trust that my meaning will be there - yet at so many points in my process I actively & consciously analyze my writing (through reverse outlines) or use model texts as templates for how to present meanings, or


3. Moving between working ideas and working in words.  In our discussion of "spring break" we noticed how moving back and forth among different ways to "say" what we felt about spring break  - we moved toward an opening statement that "spring break should be sooner" to a statement that spring break for universities should all be at the same time because. . . "  It took a number of statements - back and forth to get there - and new "ideas" were introduced with each new way of "saying" what we meant.

4. Exploring metaphors.  As Brigit was talking about moving back & forth between ideas and words - she mentioned that she had come up with a list of metaphors for what she did when she wrote.  Her metaphoric positions to write from - along with metaphors from some of the rest of us in the class included:

• a philosopher
• a chemical engineer
• a war/writing strategist
• a mother
• a ship on the ocean
• a musician
• an artist (painter)

Each of these metaphors for writing identities suggests different ways to thinking and acting -as well as different relatinships to writing.  They open up ideas that you can then look for conflicts and connections that reflect what you actually do when you write.  They are ways to help you define your process in more detail - and to distinguish your process from other general approaches.  This sets you up to present both a more nuanced description of how you actually write, and therefore puts you in a better position to think about strengths and weaknesses, and what (and how)you want to change.

5 Switching up perspective or mode;
In teaching writing - patterns for writiing are sometimes defined in terms of mode.  These modes are generally identified as: narrative, persuasive, expolition, definition, slassification, description, analysis.

Each mode emphasizes particular forms, particular language choices, & certain kinds of focus & voice.  For example, we identified "once upon a time" and "he said. . ." and "and then . . ." and "then they lived happlily ever after" as some of the kinds of language moves (even if these are not the specific words) associated with narrative.  For persuasive writing, you identified words & phrases like therefore, because, this shows that, andand  it is proved, and we pointed out that most persuasive writing has a thesis statement - whereas stories definitely don't.

Switching your writing from one mode to another help writers see their ideas differently, and it can help them write (for example, if you have trouble writing persuasive essays - try it first as a story).  Elbow points out the switching perspective in terms of subject position (from I to we, or third person onmniscient to second person) or other features can also open up new information and relationships.

So - you have spent some time with Elbow, and you will have these strategies as resources - if you even get stuck or need a way to dig something out of what you have written that you feel is there - but you have not yet been able to say directly.  I know this wasn't the most favorite class for some of you - so thank you for your patience, and I am looking forward to see what comes up in your process narratives.

For next week.

Read: Wendy Bishop’s “Revising Out and Revising In.”  Hans Ostrom’s “The Masks of Revision.”  (posted in the course library

Write: 

• Post your brainstorming notes from work in class today - and any other brainstorming you have done to your portfolio (create a new page (7. Process narrative, as in the sample portfolio).
• Complete your first draft for the process narrative and 1) post it at your course portfolio; and 2) send it to me. 

Thanks for the good class and see you next week. 

Literacy narratives

I've almost got all of your literacy narratives marked and they are wonderful.  I will have them back to you by class on Wednesday.

2.29 Peter Elbow and Process narratives

We started class with a discussion of Peter Elbow's concepts of doubting and believing as relationships to writing process.  We compared the two processes in terms of the notes below.


Doubting game
Mark things identified as important
Notice “errors” in terms of content or the way it is written
Judge the writing = Find a way to argue against it
Consistent with our experience?
Compare to outside standards
Coherent (any internal conflicts?)
Might challenge style or emotional content


Believing game
Looking for strengths rather than weaknesses
Get into the idea of the paper
Assume the writer (you) have something valuable to say and that they can say it
Affirming the writer’s ideas
Saying back ideas
Not judging encourages writers to take more risks


You then worked in groups to use the believing game as a way to respond to, think into, and receive your literacy narratives.  In class discussion after this exercise, you observed that it was HARD to step out of the the doubting/ciritiquing game - but that seeing classmates work, and receiving it in affirming ways was - as Elbow said - a constructive way to think about how to move forward in your own writing.  


Freewriting
We talked about the two ways freewriting works to turn off the internal editor: 1) by separating the gathering information/creative processes from the selecting the right language/polishing the ideas process; and 2) establishing a habit of mind where ideas and words are welcomed onto the page.  The habit of mind is especially important - because you can step into that mode whenever you get stuck - and simply let yourself write through the tough spots - and then you can come back to them later, when more words are on the page.


After this discussion you did an experiment where you did an open freewrite = to prime the pump, followed by a focused freewrite where you wrote to prompts for the process narrative. For some of you this worked, for some of you- you didn't need any loosening up, and for some of you - it felt like an interruption to switch focus.  So - use the results that apply to you!


Cooking-Growing
We briefly talked over Elbow's rationale and process for his write-the-paper-four-times method before there was an overpowering smell of smoke in the room.  I think you his main idea - that letting go of control and trusting writing as a discovery process can work to create papers - and that it might even create papers with less agony that keeping tight control of the decision making for  all the right language and sentences at the same time you are trying to discover.


For next week:
Read: Elbow, Chapter 3
Write: keep working on your process narrative and bring whatever notes you have to class

An Allegory for Writing Studies Majors

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

2.22 Audience, Literacy Narrative +Process Narrative

We started class with a discussion of audience - and whether (or not) or to what degree writers should write to an audience - rather than from their perspectives.

You raised the point that in many ways - the writing piece itself will select the audience, so in some sense, writing to an audience can change what you have to say.  This line of thinking seems to indicate that "writing to audience" might be a kind of compromise in what writers have to say.  At the same time, you also pointed out that writing is about communication, and that it can be important to say things in ways that readers will understand (like filling in enough background) or in ways that readers will be able to hear (like acknowledging their point of view and connecting it to the different point of view in the writing).

You also pointed out that there were different audience considerations for school work and other public writing, for creative writing, and for writing you did for yourselves.  You raised lots of important points about this - but at this point I got so involved in listening to you that I stopped taking notes.  I think the conflicts between "audience" (especially when audience is mostly teachers) and writers authority over their material and the forms they want to explore present lots of problems in writing classrooms.  You pointed out that you wanted to use writing to learn and think - but that often what was "taught" in writing classes (the audience expectations) did not leave room for that = both in terms of the forms and subject matter you were expected to "learn."  I noticed these same themes in your literacy narratives - where many of you had two kinds of experiences with writing: good experiences where you used writing for your own purposes; and not always bad - but often frustrating - experiences where you "had' to write in formulaic patterns on content that was not relevant to you.  We will think about this some more.

I gave you some general feedback on your literacy narratives - mostly about sharpening your focus and developing your stories so they were fully rendered - as opposed to functioning like voice-overs.  Each story should make a particular point to develop your focus.  And your focus needs to be idea centered => some observation or generalization about how your identity as a writer connects to or was shaped by the cultural stories we have been talking about.

We also talked about the process narrative = and about creating data for the process narrative.  The assignment for next class - the first two chapters in the Elbow book - will move us forward in terms of thinking about writing process and how it works.  For now - you are gathering your data.

For next week.
Read:  Writing as process: Elbow.  Introduction to the second edition; Chapters 1 & 2 (Freewriting, & Growing) => think about this as kind of process narrative.


We will talk about Elbow - explore some of his ideas in terms of your writing - and do some more writing for your process narratives.


Due: Final draft Literacy Narrative


Thanks for the good class today.  

Different levels of “freedom” with respect to audience

depending on what kind of writing it is





Writing to audience can

What defines “directness” + what we want to say is kind of shaped by who is going top read





Most of us know who is going to read the paper and how we want them to perceive us =

2.15 Rose and writing process

Main point(s):


Writing is a problem solving process: understanding the problem, processing, solving.

Unblocked writers were less rigid in their application of the rules for writing

Heuristic writers generally less blocked





Important vocabulary:

Cognitive – thought/ thinking processes

Algorithms –precise rules applied the same way

Heuristics – rules of thumb = more flexible and less specific than algorithms

TOTE

Plan: bigger than a heuristic, has a sequence & hierarchy

Set: what you bring from your past, assumptions, values & beliefs + thinking patterns



FINDINGS

How writers got blocked

Blocked writers use algorithms rather than heuristics, and they use rules as absolutes

Sets (assumptions) from past experiences = can interfere with what you need to do for a particular writing task (Martha’s need to see writing as linear, logical and a straight path)

Were resistant to – or didn’t make use of- feedback

Can get stuck in intro paragraph (bad rule = have to write the intro first)

Closed system limits possibilities can lead to conflict (plans don’t take into account unanticipated factors in the audience, purpose or form of the writing task)

Too many rules (without a plan for how to choose among them)


Who didn’t get blocked and why

Just write and look at what happens

Lots of feedback considered

Knew how to respond to feedback

Flexible about finding alternatives = pragmatic approach – if the rule didn’t work, pick another rule

Didn’t take rules too seriously

For next week:
Keep working onyour literacy narrative
Post your notes on your writing process.  Include the writing you did for the prompts 

Workshop your drafts

1. Author: Talk to you coach about what problems you had with your draft + what you want to work on.

2. Author: Read your draft to your coach (mark it as you read);
    Coach = take notes as the author reades

3. Coach:  say back what you heard as the main point + state what you saw each point as showing with respect to the focus

4.  Talk together about issues the author wanted to work on

5.  Make a plan about what you want to change

Writing Option Survey

The writing option pre-survey site has been made available until February 16.  If you have not yet taken the survey, please complete it as soon as you can.

http://ku.us2.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3awximbpv9A45HS

2.8 Becoming literate in the information age

We started class with a discussion of the literacy narratives co-authored by Hawisher, Selfe, Pearson & Moraski.  Melissa & Brittney's life stories provided us examples of how literacies are situated within complex cultural ecologies.

In order to explore some of the complex, inter-related factors that "shape and are shaped by" literacy learning and practice in these stories - you worked in groups to analyze the two narratives.  You identified important events, situations, sponsors and experiences; "situated" them within their cultural, material, educational and familial circumstances, and identified cultural stories associatd with these events.

I collected your analysis and wrote it up - unfortunately I lost the notes (complicated story about having "drafts" for this blog post on two different computers).  I am hoping you have good notes from this discussion.  I do remember some of our summing up comments about the different cultural stories the two narratives connected to.

For Melissa - it was a kind of a "bootstrap" - success through individual, hard work; with literacy skills as a foundation for that success.

Brittney's story also connected to a literacy myth kind of version of success, but also connected to "small town girl makes good - goes to big (digital) city" kinds of stories.

Digital portfolio.
We spent the second part of class creating the digital portfolio and talking through how to work up the draft for next week.  You used the model portfolio to create your portfolios (through your kean email).  For now - you only created the the introduction page and page 6 - the literacy narrative page.  You posted your brainstorming writing, and we talked about how to turn the brainstorming into a "narrative" => through a back and forth process where you look at your stories, identify themes, turning points, or etc (listed on page 2 of the assignment sheet) as a way to identify your focus.

In-class writing prompts:
Journal prompt: who owns your literacy practices?  you and who else?
Journal prompt: What themes or patterns are you noticing in your literacy narrative?  How does your narrative connect to what we have been reading?


For next week:
Read: Mike Rose, "Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist's Analysis of Writers' Block"   
Write: draft literacy narratives- sent as an attachment and posted to portfolio
As discussed in class, your narrative should be the whole 5 pages, it should have a focus (or be working on one) and be working on meeting criteria for development & organization.  Don't slave over the language/spelling at this point = think about the how the essay fits and works as a whole.


Also - jot some notes about your writing process.  We will post them to the portfolio next week.

Model Portfolio

https://sites.google.com/a/kean.edu/chandler_eng2020/home

Physical self/material setting <= Experience=> Cultural stories

In today's class we focused on seeing the "cultural stories" that lay beneath our experiences with literacies.  I began with a mini-discussion of how experience is not just "out there" for use to perceive "the way it is."  Rather, I suggested that there are values and assumptions that are more or less "invisible" - because everyone accepts them almost unconsciously - and that these values and assumptions kind of clump together into stories or interpretations that "sum up" or experience without our even knowing.


We read through the first couple paragraphs of Mary's literacy narrative about growing up dyslexic and becoming a writer, and pulled out the "cultural stories" that she used to "make sense" of her experiences.  Using Mary's narrative and your reflections on your own writing, we came up with the following list of "cultural stories" that we (often unconsciously) use to interpret our experience.




Cultural Stories

• good writing = correctness
• "good" writing is defined by external authorities (usually teachers/school) rather than the writer his/herself
• "real" writing does NOT include online writing or texting
• nonstandard writing is "wrong" and has to be corrected
• not being able to read makes you "less than" a person= shameful
• reading "good literature' is "good" for you (make you smarter/a better person)
• you ”have” to be able to do technology
• being smart is bad = cool to hate reading+ (anti story) =geeking out
• online writing is “bad’ is ruining our ability to write
• we can have a tendency to write how we talk
• a love of writing goes hand in hand with a love of reading = to be a good writer you have to read (the right books)
• friendships, peers and role models shape a person’s writing style in ways that school can’t
• good writing is inspired
• writing “proves “ what you know
• grades are the measure of how good your writing is
• knowing more words means you are a better writer
• a “free” place helps you write
• personal writing doesn’t count as real writing
• perfection is expected = mistakes are shameful
• textbooks are not fun to read= but they are real reading = if reading is fun it’s worthless
• learning is “hard” – if it is fun it can’t be real learning
• you need a teacher/school to learn to write

As we noted in class - some of these are "observations" and some are cultural stories.  It is probably worth while to take a hard look at what we see as "real " (observations) and what we see as myth - since often our "assumptions" FEEL like they are real  This is a great list and should be very helpful in writing your narratives.

Developing a rubric and range-finding (making sure we apply the rubric the same way)

Rubric:

Focus (40)=> in addition to specific points in the assignment, an "A" essay needs to make a coherent point

Development (30)

• specific, detailed stories
• reflections on stories
• detailed connections between the focus and the stories

Organization (20)

Correctness/style (10)

We didn't really have quite enough time to compare our scores - but it looked like you were on the right track.   Great!

For next week:

As you might have noticed - we did not have time to create the portfolio like it said on the calendar that we were going to - we will do that next week in class.  So keep copies of your journaling (or make a MS word copy) so that you can post it next week in class.  

Read:  Hawisher, Selfe, Moraski & Pearson “Becoming Literate in the Information Age”

Writing homework:  make some notes on your writing process - for the literacy narrative assignment or any other assignment.  It is OK to write from memory - but it will be better if you write specific observations of what you do as you write - while (or shortly after) you write.

See you next week.

Take the writing major survey

http://ku.us2.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3awximbpv9A45HS

Who are you as a writer? Examining your stories about reading and writing

We spent the first part of class going over the syllabus and the calendar. This was pretty standard - and if you check in with the blog - you should do fine in terms of being on top of what we did + what we will do.

Noticing cultural stories about writing.  
During the second part of class we used discussions of who you are as a writer, and descriptions of your early experiences as writers as a way to do some reflecting on cultural stories about writing.  By a "cultural story" I mean a way of thinking and talking/writing about a particular subject.  In talk about "being a writer," we noticed that being creative and organized (assumption - writers need to be creative and to have "good" organization) came up.  I pointed out that being a "good" writer generally drew from - often unconscious- assumptions connected to audience values and beliefs.  And while there are in fact MANY assumptions, values and beliefs about writing => DOMINANT discourses (sets of assumptions values and beliefs associated with particular groups of readers/writers/storytellers)  will play a disproportionately important role in the selection of writing that is published (successful writing).

The study of college students who told stories about traumatic experiences is an example of how dominant discourses shape what kinds of information about  & representations of trauma are possible to tell. Within this study, certain kind of feelings about/relationships to traumatic experiences were just not "tellable" = at least not for middle-class, white, college students.  This does not mean those feelings/relatinships do not exist - but rather it suggest that subjects in the study not have acceptable cultural forms for telling + receiving them.  If you would like to read the original study, the reference is below.


Thorne, Avril, and McLean, Kate C. (2003). Telling traumatic events in adolescence: A study of master narrative positioning.  In Robyn Fivush, & Catherine A. Haden, (Eds.), Autobiographical memory and the construction of a narrative self: Developmental and cultural perspectives (pp. 169-187), New York: Springer.


Literacy narrative assignment
We spent the last part of class reading about your first writing project. The assignment sheet + the sample literacy narratives are available at the links to the right.


You did some writing about your early experiences with reading and writing - and as we talked about them - we held them up in light of broad assumptions about reading (that it was 'good for you' - as in Marietta's story), that it was "fun" and that teachers valued students who "like" it (Sara's story), that it helps students work through age-appropriate developmental issues (the box car stories, mentioned by Sarah + Alison).  We also noted in Yasmin's story that reading and talking for home and for school can be associated with DIFFERENT languages.     


For next class:
Read the 3 sample literacy narratives.


Come to class prepared to assess these narratives in terms of the criteria for the assignment.  What did these writers do well?  What do they need to work on?  What did reading these samples help you think about in terms of writing your literacy narrative?


Thanks for your good participation, and see you next week.

Lite

ENG 2020: Welcome!

This is your course blog.  It  will be a place for you to check on and keep track of what we do in class.  It is also a "file cabinet" for documents ( assignment sheets, readings, protocols, the syllabus and calendar) - and  a clearinghouse for links to useful sites.

As you can see - this blog takes up where my last ENG 2020 course left off.  I have made some revisions - but browsing back through posts from the previous course will give you a feel for what we will do.

As indicated in the email sent Jan 14, there are 3 sections of ENG 2020 - and although they are offered in different time periods = the content will be the same.

I'm looking forward to meeting you and enjoy the rest of your vacation!