Matt King



English 102: Writing IISpring 2020Policy Statement – 2 Schedule – 7Assignments – 8English 102: Writing IISpring 2020Professor: Matt King (he, him, his; more on pronouns here and here)Email: mrking@sbu.eduPhone: 716.375.2457Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10:00-11:30 and by appointmentOffice Location: Plassmann D6Class Website: and MoodleUniversity Writing and Communication GoalUniversity Learning Goal 3: Students will develop competence in multimodal communication with special emphasis on oral, written, and digital communication, including an understanding of key issues relating to their use. Learning ObjectivesStudents identify and respond to contexts using appropriate processes and modes of delivery.Students use effective content and approaches to organization, style, and design that are appropriate for the discipline and genre of communication.Students demonstrate control of syntax and mechanics by using language that communicates with clarity, fluency, and minimal errors.Course DescriptionA composition course emphasizing writing as academic discourse, with attention to academic argumentation and expectations for research, structure, and style. Course assignments emphasize intensive research and disciplinary conventions, as well as professional and digital communication. (3 credits)Course GoalsStudents who successfully complete the course will be able to:Demonstrate an advanced writing process with attention to academic research, argumentation, structure, and style;Understand writing as a disciplinary endeavor;Analyze texts in terms of disciplinary conventions;Document sources in standard academic formats;Produce writing that addresses different audiences and purposes and makes use of different modalities. Deliver content through advanced digital media and modes.Class Texts- Bullock, Brody, and Weinberg. The Little Seagull Handbook, 3rd ed.- Other readings made available online as needed.Student Success CenterRevising and responding to feedback will be an invaluable and necessary part of your development as a writer this semester. Toward this end, you are strongly encouraged to visit me during office hours and to visit the Writing Center on the first floor of Plassmann Hall. Bring your work with you to your appointment.Academic HonestyThe writing you submit for our class should be your own; when you draw on the work of others, you should acknowledge it and include appropriate citations. Instances of plagiarism can result in failed assignments and potentially failure of the course. A list of unacceptable practices and procedures to be followed in prosecuting cases of alleged academic dishonesty can be found here.Students with Disabilities Students with disabilities who feel they need academic accommodations should contact Adriane Spencer (aspencer@sbu.edu), Director of Disability Support Services Office, 100D Plassmann Hall (Student Success Center), 716-375-2065. Please reach out early in the semester so that they can assist you as soon as possible. Documentation from the Disability Support Services Office is required before I can make accommodations.EmailEmail will serve as an official means of communication for this class, and you should check the email account you have registered with the university regularly. Feel free to email me with your questions and concerns. Title IXTitle IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender are Civil Rights offenses subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected categories such as race, national origin, etc. If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted, you can find the appropriate resources at the Health and Wellness Center or at the Campus Safety Office. For on-campus reporting, see the Title IX Coordinator (Sharon Burke, Director of Human Resources) and Residence Life Staff (RAs, RDs, and other professional staff). The University's policy and procedures regarding gender-based and sexual misconduct can be found online.In the event of an emergency, call Campus Safety at 716-375-2525 or contact Nichole Gonzalez, Residential Living and Conduct, 716-375-2572, ngonzale@sbu.edu. Be aware that most university employees are mandated reporters.Other ConcernsIf you have any other concerns that affect your ability to succeed in this course – for example, affording costs related to the class, having regular shelter and food, dealing with mental health issues, etc. – please let me know, and I will do what I can to help.Grading PolicyOver time, I have come to agree with teachers and researchers who have found that giving students grades does not enhance learning and may even be detrimental to it. There are many reasons for this. For example,Learning is better achieved through intrinsic motivation (you want to learn) than extrinsic motivation (you want to get a good grade).Learning involves taking risks and being comfortable with failure, and you are more likely to take risks if you are not worried that your grade is at stake.Learning can happen in unexpected or unpredictable ways, and what you learn does not always match exactly what I think I am trying to teach you.The quality of your learning does not always match the quality of your performance. One student’s “B” might take them more work and involve more learning and personal development than another student’s “A.” Similarly, the “A” student might take a risk and try something new in their writing, ending up with “B” quality work but having learned more than if they wrote an “A” paper that did not challenge them.With this in mind, I will not be grading your work on individual assignments throughout the semester. I will provide feedback on your work in writing and through individual conferences, and I am always happy to meet with you in office hours or by appointment to discuss your work and your learning further.Of course, Bonaventure requires that you receive a grade for this course, and I will submit midterm and final grades. However, you will be responsible for helping to determine and assign your grade based on your understanding of your learning and efforts this semester. Toward this end, you will complete a Midterm and Final Reflection where you will write about your experience in the course and make an argument for what grade you should receive. Assignment descriptions will be provided for these reflections.Here are some guidelines to give you a sense for what to expect. In order to earn a B, you must achieve the following:Regularly attend class, complete assigned readings, and participate in class activities (see “Attendance” and “Content” below);Meet the due dates and criteria for all main assignments (see “Late Work” below);Miss no more than one short assignment throughout the semester;Put in a good faith effort on all assignments (including revisions for main assignments), using our assignments as an opportunity to learn, challenge yourself, and do good work.You can move into the B+ or A range by exceeding these expectations, particularly through the amount of effort you put into the class and the quality of your work and your learning. You can move into the B- or C, D, or F range by failing to meet these expectations, particularly through a lack of effort or engagement with the class, failing to submit work, or submitting work that is incomplete or fails to demonstrate a good faith effort. I am happy to discuss grading expectations further if you have questions about how to achieve or avoid a particular grade.Attendance.??You should arrive to class on time with all assigned readings and assignments completed. Absences can affect your grade for the course as follows:For MWF classes, in order to grade yourself in the A range, you should miss no more than 3 classes; for the B range, no more than 5 classes. If you have more than 8 absences, you will automatically fail the course. For MW and TTh classes, in order to grade yourself in the A range, you should miss no more than 2 classes; for the B range, no more than 4 classes. If you have more than 6 absences, you will automatically fail the course.Tardiness can also contribute to your absences; every 3 instances of tardiness will count as an absence.This policy does not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences except for athletes or other students with official university responsibilities. For athletes, students who provide documentation for absences related to athletic competitions will be excused for all such absences. Student athletes can also miss two more class periods throughout the semester without a grade penalty. If you have three or more unexcused (non-athletic) absences throughout the semester, then all your absences will be counted toward the attendance policy.Note: You can have up to two absences excused if you complete the activities we did in class the day you were absent and you meet with me to discuss what you missed. So, you could miss five MWF classes or four MW/TTh classes and still score in the A range if you make up two of those classes; you could miss seven MWF classes or six MW/TTh classes and still score in the B range if you make up two of those classes. It is your responsibility to complete the activities and meet with me in office hours or set up an appointment to discuss what you missed.I understand that attendance concerns are sometimes beyond our control: mental health concerns related to anxiety or depression, extended illnesses or medical concerns, family or other personal issues – all these and more can result in unexpected or unwanted absences. If you have a circumstance or situation that makes it difficult for you to conform to the attendance policy outlined above, please let me know.Late Work.? I am pretty flexible concerning late work as long as you let me know ahead of time. I would rather you spend the time you need on your writing in order to succeed, and if you need time beyond the deadline or due date to achieve that, I want you to take advantage of that time. That being said, excessive or unexcused late work will not be acceptable and will negatively impact your grade. If circumstances prevent you from being able to submit an assignment on time, you should discuss the situation with me in advance.Content. While I expect you to complete all readings and in-class activities, I understand that certain types of content may be difficult for you to engage with depending on your experience and background. For example, reading or writing or talking about issues such as racism, sexism, abuse, assault, or harassment might be difficult if you have had traumatic experiences related to these issues. Many of my classes take up challenging content, and I will ask you to engage with this material and with your classmates to the best of your abilities, in a respectful and responsible manner. Taking up ideas and topics that make you uncomfortable can be a valuable part of learning. At the same time (again, depending on your background and experience), sometimes this content is too much – too personal, too closely associated with trauma, etc. – and engaging with it will be a negative rather than positive learning experience for you. If you ever need to opt out of a particular reading or in-class discussion or writing activity based on the content, please let me know and we can figure out another reading or activity that will help you accomplish the same learning objective.Course ScheduleSchedule subject to change with notice.LS = Little Seagull HandbookDateMajor Due Dates; Homework (due day listed); In classW 1/22Introduction to Course; Read Burke (Moodle) in class; NotesM 1/27Read LS 83-86, Hunter, and smith; NotesW 1/29Identity Mapping due; Read LS 2-10; Discuss emails, notes, and Lang M 2/3Read Smarsh and Ehrenreich; Discuss notes, analysis rubricW 2/5Short Analysis due (see LS 49-53 for guidance); Short Analysis workshop, researchM 2/10Public Analysis due; Public Analysis workshop; Discuss analysis activities and sample annotated bibliographyW 2/12Public Research (Annotated Bibliography) due by end of Friday; NotesM 2/17Read Villanueva (Moodle);?NotesW 2/19Short Analysis due; Meet in library computer lab for Short Analysis workshop and research activityM 2/24Academic Analysis due;?Academic Analysis workshop; Discuss transitionsW 2/26Midterm Reflection due by Monday (3/2)M 3/9Work on Academic Research and Paper 1; NotesW 3/11Academic Research due; Read LS p. 10-29; Discuss notes and APA worksheetM 3/16Paper 1 due for peer reviewsW 3/18ConferencesM 3/23Paper 1 due with final revisionsW 3/25Paper Reflection due; Discuss argument, “Stasis Theory,” BerlatskyM 3/30Read Kendall and Stewart; Work on Paper 2 researchW 4/1Paper 2 research dueM 4/6Paper 2 due for peer reviewsW 4/8ConferencesT 4/14Paper 2 due with final revisions; Blog post activity, read McIntoshW 4/15Read Febos;?Paper Reflection due by end of Friday; Watch FebosM 4/20Read Petersen and PetersenW 4/22Read Royster (Moodle)M 4/27Paper 3 due for peer reviewsW 4/29ConferencesM 5/4Paper 3 due with final revisions; Paper Reflection due by end of WednesdayM 5/11Final Reflection dueIdentity MappingOur first short assignment (600-900 words) will help establish a foundation for future assignments. Our main papers will ask you to take up some aspect of your identity and analyze it in greater detail. This short assignment asks us to think about our identities more broadly as a starting point. You should submit your paper as an attachment via email before class the day it is due.In the paper, your identity mapping work should address at least two of the following categories (you are welcome to address more than two):RaceClassGenderSexualityReligionAbility (athletics, body size, mental health, learning disabilities, etc. – anything related to how your body and mind contribute to your identity)Culture (related to things you share with a cultural group or a personal interest in some aspect of culture: books, music, sports, fashion, etc.)Note that some of these categories intersect (see here for the origin of “intersectionality”) and shape one another, so you might find yourself looking at multiple aspects of your identity simultaneously. You are also welcome to consider some aspect of your identity not addressed in these categories.For each aspect of identity you discuss, your thinking should address the following prompts. Consider as many different aspects of your thinking and experience as you can, and be specific in your answers.Describe how this aspect of your identity shapes your experience. Are there any privileges or disadvantages that come with this identity?Describe how this aspect of your identity shapes your orientation in terms of your attitudes, values, beliefs, assumptions, investments, and expectations. Also, how does it function as a trained incapacity, limiting your thinking or experience in some way?Are there any tensions or conflicts between this aspect of your identity and other aspects?Describe how others (either people you know or society more generally) tend to view this aspect of your identity.What do you like most about this aspect of your identity? Least?Short AnalysisWe will take up rhetorical analysis –?a form of analysis that focuses on purpose, audience, context, and the rhetorical strategies a text employs to achieve its purpose – as one of our main writing genres this semester. This short assignment (600-900 words) asks you to analyze one of our class readings thus far: Burke, Hunter, smith, Smarsh, or Ehrenreich. You should submit your paper as an attachment via email before class the day it is due. Your analysis should address the following prompts:What is the purpose of the text? We can approach this question in a few ways. What is the main argument advanced by the text? What does the text aim to achieve? What does it encourage us to think, feel, or do? What is the text about, and what does it have to say about what it’s about? What is the text’s orientation toward its main subject? How does it contribute to a particular conversation or community? (You don’t have to answer all these questions, just what seems most relevant.) Note that our understanding of purpose could depend on our understanding of the audience of the text, and there might even be different purposes for different audiences. It could help to comment on possible audiences and readers of the text as well.How does the context of the reading shape your understanding of it and its purpose? Context could include a range of factors. When and where was the text published? Does the text draw on or respond to any specific sources, events, or conversations? What else has this author published, and how does this fit into their other work? You don’t need to include all this information just for the sake of including it, but you should consider whether it shapes your understanding of the text. If it does, explain how.Analyze specific elements of the text. What details do you notice in terms of content (language, images, audio, etc.), specific words or phrases, organization, style, and design? How do these elements contribute to the purpose? If the text makes an argument, what are the main claims, and how does the author support these claims with reasons and evidence? How does this line of reasoning help the text achieve its larger purpose? What about structure and style – how does the author’s organizational strategies and specific uses of language shape our understanding of the text? Are there any patterns worth noting? Does the author appeal to our emotions or values in any way? How does the author establish their credibility?Assess the uses and limits of the text. What do you find most effective about this text? What does it do well in terms of advancing an argument or perspective, or in terms of contributing to the identity of a community? In what ways is the text helpful and productive? What sorts of questions, situations, problems, or challenges does it help us address? In what ways is the text limited or ineffective? What perspectives does it overlook? What are its blindnesses or trained incapacities?Even though these are framed as different prompts, you should aim to make connections between your thoughts so that your paper offers some larger insight into the text and how it works. Also, as you address these prompts, you should aim to incorporate specific quotes from the text in order to support and develop your analysis. You should include appropriate in-text citations and a works cited page (the works cited doesn’t factor into the word limit). Our handbook has instructions for citations; use APA citation guidelines.Public AnalysisThis short assignment (600-900 words) asks you to analyze one of the sources you find through your own research related to some aspect of your identity. Your work here will serve as the foundation for Paper 1. You should submit your paper as an attachment (preferably a .doc file) via email before class the day it is due. Your analysis should address the following prompts:What is the purpose of the text? We can approach this question in a few ways. What is the main argument advanced by the text? What does the text aim to achieve? What does it encourage us to think, feel, or do? What is the text about, and what does it have to say about what it’s about? What is the text’s orientation toward its main subject? How does it contribute to a particular conversation or community? (You don’t have to answer all these questions, just what seems most relevant.) Note that our understanding of purpose could depend on our understanding of the audience of the text, and there might even be different purposes for different audiences. It could help to comment on possible audiences and readers of the text as well.How does the context of the reading shape your understanding of it and its purpose? Context could include a range of factors. When and where was the text published? Does the text draw on or respond to any specific sources, events, or conversations? What else has this author published, and how does this fit into their other work? You don’t need to include all this information just for the sake of including it, but you should consider whether it shapes your understanding of the text. If it does, explain how.Analyze specific elements of the text. What details do you notice in terms of content (language, images, audio, etc.), specific words or phrases, organization, style, and design? How do these elements contribute to the purpose? If the text makes an argument, what are the main claims, and how does the author support these claims with reasons and evidence? How does this line of reasoning help the text achieve its larger purpose? What about structure and style – how does the author’s organizational strategies and specific uses of language shape our understanding of the text? Are there any patterns worth noting? Does the author appeal to our emotions or values in any way? How does the author establish their credibility?Assess the uses and limits of the text. What do you find most effective about this text? What does it do well in terms of advancing an argument or perspective, or in terms of contributing to the identity of a community? In what ways is the text helpful and productive? What sorts of questions, situations, problems, or challenges does it help us address? In what ways is the text limited or ineffective? What perspectives does it overlook? What are its blindnesses or trained incapacities?Even though these are framed as different prompts, you should aim to make connections between your thoughts so that your paper offers some larger insight into the text and how it works. Also, as you address these prompts, you should aim to incorporate specific quotes from the text in order to support and develop your analysis. You should include appropriate in-text citations and include a works cited page as well (the works cited doesn’t factor into the word limit). Our handbook has instructions for citations; use APA citation guidelines.Public ResearchThis research assignment aims to prepare us for the Public Analysis short assignment and Paper 1. Your research should focus on some aspect of your work and thinking from the Identity Mapping assignment, and you should find at least four sources related to this aspect of your identity.Our understanding of “public” includes sources that contribute to conversations in the broader public sphere, both print-based and digital. Through our research, we are hoping to find sources that offer some sort of perspective, insight, or argument related to some aspect of our personal identities. This could be broad – e.g., how have various people written about women, about whiteness or people of color, about the working class, etc.? It could be intersectional, drawing on multiple aspects of identity – e.g., how have various people written about latina women, about the white working class, about the black LGBTQ+ community, etc.? You could orient your research in a more specific direction – e.g., how have various people written about expectations and orientations toward women in the workplace, toward political identities in education, toward representations of gay men and women in the media, etc.? For our purposes, you can work with any public source that gives you any insight or any way of discussing this particular issue or aspect of your identity, whether or not it is the main focus of the source.Public Research PaperYou should present your research as an annotated bibliography (see The Little Seagull Handbook p. 74). In terms of structure, you should follow the guidelines from the handbook. Start the bibliography with a one paragraph statement of scope (p. 75) that explains what topic you are covering in your research. After the statement of scope, you should then include the following for each source: complete APA bibliographic information and one or two substantial paragraphs of annotations that summarize the source, capturing its main purpose and argument. Your paper should conclude with a comparison of the sources (250-500 words). This comparison should address the following prompts:How would you compare these sources in terms of their understanding of and approach to this aspect of identity? How are they similar and different? Where do they agree and disagree? To what extent do they share a similar orientation?Which source(s) do you find most helpful in coming to terms with this aspect of identity? Least helpful? How so?You should email your paper as an attachment the day it is due.Newspaper and Magazine ArticlesAs you conduct your research, you should look at a range of different databases. You are welcome to draw on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, but it will also help to look at more specific databases as well. For newspaper articles, use LexisNexis or the sites of specific newspapers, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, or The Guardian. Relevant magazines and sites for cultural criticism include The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, Slate, Salon, The Los Angeles Review of Books, New York Magazine,?Media Diversified, The New Inquiry, Valid, Vox, and Medium. To find other relevant publications, do searches like “publications about people with disabilities” or “magazines about blackness,” or add search terms like “newspaper opinion” or “magazine opinion.”It will also be important to try different combinations of search terms. Note, for example, the different results we get on The New Inquiry when searching for “white women,” “white feminity,” and “women education.” Willamette University offers helpful guidelines on how to generate search terms, particularly by taking one search term and thinking about other forms of the word (“class” > “classes,” “classist,” “working class,” “middle class,” “social class”), synonyms (“class” > “income bracket,” “social sphere”), and related ideas (“class” > “poor,” “poverty,” “wealth,” “wealthy,” “economic privilege”). Try using the University of Texas at Austin’s keyword generator too.Digital SourcesYour research should also involve looking at various digital spaces where people share their ideas, interests, and perspectives. These spaces could include blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, reddit, YouTube, forums, or anything else along these lines. For example, as a professor of writing, I could look at this blog by Alex Reid (he is also a writing professor, he writes about teaching and studying writing, and other writing professors comment on his blog posts); I could look at various hashtags on Twitter, such as #TeamRhetoric, #digped, or #nanowrimo?(writing professors and other people interested in rhetoric and writing Tweet with these hashtags); I could look at Feminist Ryan Gosling, a Tumblr. page with feminist Ryan Gosling memes. In each case, people are using digital writing and digital writing environments to share content related to this aspect of identity.Here are some other tools that can help with research:Pinboard and Delicious. These bookmarking sites allow you to save and tag online articles and websites.Hypothesis. This tool allows you to highlight and annotate online articles and websites.Skim. This tool allows you to annotate .pdfs (Mac only).Evernote. This software helps you organize research notes, class notes, or anything else along these lines.Short Analysis IIThis short assignment (600-900 words) asks you to analyze Villanueva’s article. You should submit your paper as an attachment via email before class the day it is due. Your analysis should address the following prompts:Academic articles situate their arguments in broader conversations around a particular issue or question. They describe this broader conversation and identify other sources that contribute to the conversation. For the first part of your analysis, describe the larger conversation that this article responds to and participates in. What is the main issue or question? Why is it important? What have others said about it?What does this author contribute to the conversation? What is their main argument?How does the author support this argument? What methods do they use to address the issue or question? What sorts of reasoning, analysis, evidence, or examples are offered?Keep in mind that academic arguments are shaped by disciplinary conventions and expectations. Sociologists make different sorts of arguments and use different sorts of methods, analysis, and evidence than historians or literary critics. To the best of your ability and knowledge, explain how this author’s argument, methods, analysis, evidence, etc. are appropriate for their discipline and academic field. If you are not sure about the disciplinary conventions, focus on describing the author’s approach to key aspects of the text: introduction and conclusion, structure, citations, etc.As you address these prompts, you should aim to incorporate specific quotes from the text in order to support and develop your analysis. You should include appropriate APA in-text citations and include an APA References page as well. Our handbook has instructions for APA citations.Academic AnalysisThis short assignment (600-900 words) asks you to analyze a scholarly source you find through your own research. You should submit your paper as an attachment via email before class the day it is due. Your analysis should address the following prompts:Academic articles situate their arguments in broader conversations around a particular issue or question. They describe this broader conversation and identify other sources that contribute to the conversation. For the first part of your analysis, describe the larger conversation that this article responds to and participates in. What is the main issue or question? Why is it important? What have others said about it?What does this author contribute to the conversation? What is their main argument?How does the author support this argument? What methods do they use to address the issue or question? What sorts of reasoning, analysis, evidence, or examples are offered? What premises support the larger conclusion or argument? What assumptions and beliefs inform the author’s thinking and approach to the topic?Keep in mind that academic arguments are shaped by disciplinary conventions and expectations. Sociologists make different sorts of arguments and use different sorts of methods, analysis, and evidence than historians or literary critics. To the best of your ability and knowledge, explain how this author’s argument, methods, analysis, evidence, etc. are appropriate for their discipline and academic field. If you are not sure about the disciplinary conventions, focus on describing the author’s approach to key aspects of the text: introduction and conclusion, structure, citations, etc.As you address these prompts, you should aim to incorporate specific quotes from the text in order to support and develop your analysis. You should include appropriate APA in-text citations and include an APA References page as well. Our handbook has instructions for APA citations.Academic ResearchThis research assignment aims to prepare us for the Academic Analysis and Paper 1. Your research should focus on the same topic you used for the Public Research, and you should include at least three academic sources in your annotated bibliography. To find academic sources, look at a few different databases. Check out JSTOR, Project Muse, and Academic Search Complete on the library’s website and also try Google Scholar. For books, you can try the library’s book catalog. You should also refer to our research activity.Academic Research PaperYou should present your research as an annotated bibliography (see The Little Seagull Handbook p. 74). In terms of structure, you should follow the guidelines from the handbook. Start the bibliography with a one paragraph statement of scope (p. 75) that explains what topic you are covering in your research. After the statement of scope, you should then include the following for each source: complete APA bibliographic information and one or two substantial paragraphs of annotations that summarize the source, capturing its main purpose and argument. Your paper should conclude with a comparison of the sources (250-500 words). This comparison should address the following prompts:How would you compare these sources in terms of their understanding of and approach to this aspect of identity? How are they similar and different? Where do they agree and disagree? To what extent do they share a similar orientation?Which source(s) do you find most helpful in coming to terms with this aspect of identity? Least helpful? How so?How do these sources compare to the sources from your Public Research? In what ways are the academic sources different from the public sources?You should email your paper as an attachment the day it is due.Paper 1Our first major paper (minimum 1800 words, submitted via email) asks you to put your thinking about some aspect of your identity into conversation with other writers who also take up this topic. Your paper should incorporate at least three sources from your Public and Academic Research work (at least one public source and at least one academic source) and should thus include APA in-text citations and a References page. In terms of the main goals of the paper, we want to reach a better understanding of what others have said about this aspect of identity, and we want to put our own thinking into conversation with theirs in order to generate new ideas and insights.In terms of organization and formatting, your work should follow the expectations for an APA paper (see The Little Seagull Handbook for more information):Your paper should start with a title page (p. 204).The second page of your paper should be an abstract page (p. 205).Although this is not required, it is common for APA papers to be divided into different sections. You are welcome to divide your paper into different sections as you see fit.At the end of your paper, you should include a References page with full APA citations for all sources cited in your paper (p. 207).The following sections outline potential approaches you can take to the paper. You are welcome to pick whichever approach works best for you, and you can potentially combine different approaches.Analysis PaperOne option for Paper 1 involves continuing with the analysis work from our short assignments. For this approach, the main substance of your paper would come from analyzing your sources as you did in the Public and Academic Analysis assignments, and you are welcome to draw on that work here. You would not need to analyze all the sources that you found in your Public and Academic Research, but you would need to include at least three of them. You do not necessarily need to address each of your sources in great detail; you are welcome to focus on the aspects of these sources you find most relevant. It could also work to develop a thorough analysis of one or two sources while using the other sources as points of comparison. In addition to those analysis prompts from the Public and Academic Analysis papers, you should also address some combination of the following:How would you compare these sources in terms of their understanding of and approach to this aspect of identity? How are they similar and different? Where do they agree and disagree? To what extent do they share a similar orientation? How are they similar or different in terms of their methods and types of evidence? In terms of how they use sources and citations? In terms of structure and style?Which source(s) do you find most helpful in coming to terms with this aspect of identity? Least helpful? How so?How does the public conversation compare to the academic conversation on the topic? How do academics look at this topic in different ways than the general public or mainstream media? How does the academic conversation help us look at things in a new or different way? Does it challenge any assumptions or stereotypes in our society?What do you want to add to the conversation? How does your understanding of this aspect of identity compare to what others have said? What has been left out of the conversation? What could be emphasized or developed further?Through your work, you should arrive at a larger argument, conclusion, or insight about this aspect of identity and the conversation around it. Your argument should be supported by and emerge out of your analysis and comparison of the sources, and it should add to our thinking about the conversation, helping us see things in a new way.Argument PaperFor this approach, your main focus would be developing an argument about your topic. Your goal throughout the paper would be articulating and supporting your argument. You would still draw on your sources, but you would be using them to support and develop your own thinking. You could potentially analyze your sources in greater detail, but you would be doing this to show their uses and limits, highlighting where you agree and disagree with them. This approach does not require that you offer a substantial analysis of your sources. Your work should address some combination of the following prompts and questions (whether you answer these questions directly in your paper, we should get a sense for the answers):What is your argument? Why is your argument important? What does it add to the conversation? How does it build on or differ from other arguments from your research?How do you support your argument through reasoning and evidence? Why should we go along with your thinking?How do your sources help you support your argument? What do you agree or disagree with from the sources, and why?Research PaperThis approach to the paper would potentially be similar to the Analysis or Argument approaches, but it would put more emphasis on informing us about the topic and presenting the findings from your research. You would still need to analyze the broader conversation, to give us a sense for the main perspectives and issues around the topic, but you would not necessarily need to analyze your sources in depth. Instead, you could make reference to your sources as needed to provide examples and help explain the main points you want to make about the topic. You could potentially still make an argument, but you would not necessarily focus on developing and supporting your argument throughout the paper. Instead, you could make an argument at the end of the paper after having analyzed the conversation around the topic.Reflection PaperThis approach would allow you to reflect on your own identity. It would likely involve drawing on your personal experience and thinking to offer a perspective on your topic. You would still draw on your sources, but you would do so to put your experience in context or to help you comment on it and analyze it further. The main emphasis would be on your thoughts and experiences, and the sources would be there to help you develop your thinking. You should aim to offer a larger perspective or insight on your topic that adds to our understanding of it.Paper 2This assignment asks you to produce a blog post (800-1200 words) that advances an argument, position, or perspective about some aspect of your identity or an issue related to your identity and interests. Think about the sources you have read this semester, both from your own research and from our class readings; rather than analyzing those sources again, this assignment gives you an opportunity to produce a similar sort of text, to use those sources as a model for producing your own argument. Your post should address the following prompts:To give some sort of context to your argument, you need to ground it in some way. You can respond to a recent event, to another text (including a source from a previous paper), or any other reference point. In other words, even though you are welcome to advance your own argument, you still need to frame your thinking in terms of a broader conversation around this issue or aspect of your identity.Keep in mind your argument can go in a few different directions (see the prompts below) as long as you are making an argument that you have not already made in another paper this semester. Your thinking on argument should draw on stasis theory. As we saw in our recent class readings, there are ways to combine conjecture, definition, evaluation, and policy arguments to make a larger argument. Also, be mindful of how you support your argument through reasoning and evidence: what will persuade your specific audience? Forwarding and countering other arguments, ideas, and perspectives will be relevant here. You don’t have to draw on each of these argument moves and types of argument (forwarding and countering; conjecture, definition, evaluation, and policy arguments), but it will help to draw on some combination of them.Since this is a blog post, you should also draw on the functionality of WordPress by incorporating images, videos, and/or links. For example, it would help to include links to sources that you draw on or respond to; it would help to include an image or video that supports your argument.You do not have to include formal citations in your blog post, although I would note that academic blogs normally do include them. Another option would be to embed links to any online sources you draw on.Argument PromptsIf you are not sure what argument you want to make about your identity or an issue related to it, try drawing on one or more of these prompts.Look back over your sources for Paper 1. Where do you agree and disagree with these sources? Can you forward or counter these sources in your blog post? What do you want to add to their thinking? How do you want to push back against their thinking?Look back over our class readings from the semester. Where do you agree and disagree with these sources? Can you forward or counter these sources in your blog post? How does your experience and perspective help you build on or push back against these sources? Can any of these sources serve as a model for your blog post?Think about an issue related to some aspect of your identity. For example, student athletes face issues related to how much they can practice, whether they should get paid, and what academic expectations they should face; women face issues related to the wage gap, employment opportunities, and body image in the media. For an issue related to your identity, what is your perspective? How would you frame the issue? How do you want people to think about it? What do you want people to do about it? What is causing the issue? How would you define the issue or a key term in the issue? How would you evaluate some aspect of the situation?Look over student blog posts from previous semesters. Do any of these give you ideas for how you can develop your own blog post?Paper 3Our third paper (minimum 1200 words) asks you to theorize and reflect on your identity by drawing on the concepts and perspectives of McIntosh, Febos, Petersen, and/or Royster. These readings direct our thinking in a new direction by offering a broader framework for theorizing our identities and experience. McIntosh helps us look outward toward the larger social structures and dynamics that shape our experience; Febos helps us look inward toward aspects of our experience we don’t always think, talk, or write about; Petersen helps us think about how the pressures of life weigh on us; Royster helps us address personal experience in an academic context.Your thinking in this paper should look both outward and inward, reflecting on your personal experience and how it fits in a larger social dynamic or context. We want to take our individual experience as meaningful and worth addressing, but we also want to put it into conversation with how identity works more generally. In this sense, you are not making an argument about your identity so much as theorizing how identity works and how it shapes and fits with your experience.You should accomplish two main things in this paper. First, take up some aspect of your experience and describe it in detail. This might be one specific event or a series of related experiences that happened over time. Either way, include a detailed description/narration of your experience. Second, analyze and reflect on this experience, helping us see how it is significant, how it shaped you as a person and how it adds to our understanding of identity.As you work toward these two main goals, it will help to take up your experience through the lens of one or more of our readings, focusing on some combination of privilege, merit, trauma, difficult experience, burnout, busyness, exhaustion, etc. You are not required to address the following prompts, but it could help to address one or more of them as you develop your thinking:What are the main aspects of your identity that shape your experience? What does it mean to occupy your various identities? How do your various identities shape your experience in, understanding of, and orientation toward the world?How has your experience embodied a sense of privilege, merit, trauma, burnout, etc.? What was important about this experience for you? What do we learn from studying this experience?How does your experience shape our thinking about identity? How does it shape and add to our thinking about the ideas and concepts from McIntosh, Febos, Petersen, and/or Royster?Try to draw on some of the strategies employed by our writers. For example, you could include a list of experiences similar to McIntosh. Febos and Petersen draw on examples from other people and also make reference to things they have read. Royster looks at different types of experience to capture a larger dynamic. It could help to draw on strategies from our writers or otherwise model your writing on theirs to help develop your thinking.This paper does not require research, but you are welcome to draw on outside sources if they help you develop your thinking. You can include quotes from McIntosh, Febos, Petersen, or Royster as well. If you do include any sources, be sure to include appropriate MLA or APA citations.Paper ReflectionsWe will complete these reflections (500-700 words) after you submit the final draft for any of our main papers. This is a separate assignment, but your grade on the reflection will be factored into your paper grade. Your reflection should address the following prompts and questions.What do you like most about your paper? Where was your writing most and least successful this unit? What made this work particularly effective or ineffective? What were the main comments you received on your work, whether from peers, your instructor, or other outside help? What steps did you take to address these comments? How effective were the revisions?How would you describe the efforts you made during this unit? Consider both the amount of effort you put into your work and how productive and effective this effort was. How much time did you spend on different aspects of the writing process – reading, researching, brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, etc.? Which efforts felt most productive and effective? Least so?How would you describe the context of your writing process? What was your writing environment like? What technologies did you use? How long did you spend on writing at a given time? How many writing sessions did you have for the papers?How would you compare your work in this unit to your work on previous papers? How did your efforts or writing process change for this paper?What goals do you have for the next paper? What aspects of your writing do you want to develop further? Do you want to make any changes in terms of the nature of your efforts or your writing process?Midterm ReflectionThis reflection paper (minimum 1000 words, submitted via email) gives you an opportunity to reflect on the work you have done this semester, to assess and evaluate your learning and development, and to think about ways you can continue to improve throughout the rest of the semester.Before you begin writing the reflection, collect all the work you have completed for our class this semester, including all writing assignments and anything you have written during our in-class activities. Review this work to get a sense for how you have done this semester, where your work has been most and least successful, what you have learned, and how you have progressed.When you write the Midterm Reflection, your thinking should address the following prompts. Be sure to include specific examples and make direct reference to experiences you had with our writing assignments, readings, and in-class discussions and activities:How would you describe the efforts you have made this semester? Consider both the amount of effort you put into your work and how productive and effective this effort was. How much time did you spend on different aspects of the writing process – reading, researching, brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, etc.? Which efforts felt most productive and effective? Least so?How would you describe your participation in class conversations and activities? Which conversations and activities have you found most beneficial? What did you learn from or get out of our in-class activities?How would you describe your learning during the first half of the semester? It would help to make reference to the dimensions of learning from the Learning Record. Confidence and IndependenceSkills and StrategiesKnowledge and UnderstandingUse of Prior and Emerging ExperienceReflectionCreativity, Originality, ImaginationIn the last part of your reflection, assign yourself a specific letter grade (you can use +/- grades: A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc.) for your overall grade and support your thinking as to why you should get this grade in our class. Generally speaking, to get an A, you will need to demonstrate that your work, your effort, and your learning have been “excellent”; the B range would need to be “good”; the C range and below would include some combination of “okay” or “unsatisfactory” work, incomplete work, and lack of satisfactory participation or investment in the course. In what ways has your work, your effort, and your learning been “excellent,” “good,” “okay,” or “unsatisfactory” so far? What can you do to improve going forward?Keep in mind our grading guidelines. In order to earn a B, you must achieve the following:Regularly attend class, complete assigned readings, and participate in class activities;Meet the due dates and criteria for all main assignments;Miss no more than one short assignment throughout the semester;Put in a good faith effort on all assignments (including revisions for main assignments), using our assignments as an opportunity to learn, challenge yourself, and do good work.In order to get in the B+ or A range, you need to demonstrate that you are going beyond these baseline requirements in terms of your efforts, your work, and your learning.Final ReflectionThis reflection paper (minimum 1000 words, submitted via email) gives you an opportunity to reflect on the work you have done this semester and to assess and evaluate your learning and development.Before you begin writing the reflection, collect all the work you have completed for our class this semester, including all writing assignments and anything you have written during our in-class activities. Review this work to get a sense for how you have done this semester, where your work has been most and least successful, what you have learned, and how you have progressed. Also, review what you wrote on the Midterm Reflection; this Final Reflection should address your learning and development since the Midterm.When you write the Final Reflection, your thinking should address the following prompts. Be sure to include specific examples and make direct reference to experiences you had with our writing assignments, readings, and in-class discussions and activities:How would you describe the efforts you have made during the second half of the semester? Consider both the amount of effort you put into your work and how productive and effective this effort was. How much time did you spend on different aspects of the writing process – reading, researching, brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, etc.? Which efforts felt most productive and effective? Least so?How would you describe your participation in class conversations and activities in the second half of the semester? Which conversations and activities have you found most beneficial? What did you learn from or get out of our in-class activities?How would you describe your learning during the second half of the semester? It would help to make reference to the dimensions of learning from the Learning Record. Confidence and IndependenceSkills and StrategiesKnowledge and UnderstandingUse of Prior and Emerging ExperienceReflectionCreativity, Originality, ImaginationIn the last part of your reflection, assign yourself a specific letter grade (you can use +/- grades: A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc.) for your overall grade and support your thinking as to why you should get this grade in our class. If you are giving yourself a different grade from your Midterm Reflection, explain why you think your grade should go up or go down. Generally speaking, to get an A, you will need to demonstrate that your work, your effort, and your learning have been “excellent”; the B range would need to be “good”; the C range and below would include some combination of “okay” or “unsatisfactory” work, incomplete work, and lack of satisfactory participation or investment in the course. In what ways has your work, your effort, and your learning been “excellent,” “good,” “okay,” or “unsatisfactory” so far? What can you do to improve going forward?Keep in mind our grading guidelines. In order to earn a B, you must achieve the following:Regularly attend class, complete assigned readings, and participate in class activities;Meet the due dates and criteria for all main assignments;Miss no more than one short assignment throughout the semester;Put in a good faith effort on all assignments (including revisions for main assignments), using our assignments as an opportunity to learn, challenge yourself, and do good work.In order to get in the B+ or A range, you need to demonstrate that you are going beyond these baseline requirements in terms of your efforts, your work, and your learning. ................
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