TOPIC: STUDYING TEXTS

After my students read pp. 1-54 of the textbook The Word on College Reading and Writing, by Monique Babin et al. and accessible through https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks, students had a Blackboard discussion. These pages focused on topics such as reading strategies, note-taking, and basic analysis. Students each wrote a 700+ word response to the readings, with a focus on 1) restating the important information in their own words, 2) explaining why said information is important, and 3) discussing how it applies to college writing. Students then made four substantial replies to classmates’ posts. The overall goal of this activity was to introduce skills vital for college writing and give students an immediate opportunity to discuss this information in a low-stakes forum. Students were then expected to apply this information to short writing assignments and the three major essays.  – Andrew Joseph Pegoda

TOPICS: SOME PURPOSES BEHIND AND STRATEGIES FOR COMPOSING TEXTS

After my students read pp. 56-102 of the textbook The Word on College Reading and Writing, by Monique Babin et al. and accessible through https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks, students had a Blackboard discussion. These pages focused on why people write, audience and purpose, and developing and polishing ideas. Students each wrote a 700+ word response to the readings, with a focus on 1) restating the important information in their own words, 2) explaining why said information is important, and 3) discussing how it applies to college writing. Students then made four substantial replies to classmates’ posts. In addition, as an added challenge, students were asked to discuss themes in this module (especially audience and point-of-view) in terms of the movie Orlando (dir., Sally Potter – not available through Kanopy but available on reserve at M.D. Anderson Library). The overall goal of this activity was to introduce skills vital for college writing and give students an immediate opportunity to discuss and apply this information in a low-stakes forum. Students were then expected to apply this information to short writing assignments and the three major essays.  – Andrew Joseph Pegoda

TOPICS: DEVELOPING IDEAS ACROSS DRAFTS AND POLISHING WRITING

After my students read pp. 103-181 of the textbook The Word on College Reading and Writing, by Monique Babin et al. and accessible through https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks, students had a Blackboard discussion. These pages focused on what I call “writing is rewriting” – basically the idea that writing is never finished and always has room for continued revision. Specifically, pages include information about introductions, conclusions, organization, and sources and citing, for example. Students each wrote a 700+ word response to the readings, with a focus on 1) restating the important information in their own words, 2) explaining why said information is important, and 3) discussing how it applies to college writing. Students then made four substantial replies to classmates’ posts. The overall goal of this activity was to introduce skills vital for college writing and give students an immediate opportunity to discuss this information in a low-stakes forum. Students were then expected to apply this information to short writing assignments and the three major essays.  – Andrew Joseph Pegoda

TOPIC: RHETORICAL ANALYSES

Sometimes, students don’t understand how rhetorical appeals (e.g., logos, pathos, ethos, and kairos) and specific stylistic choices (formality and connotations of words, complexity of syntax) influence a writer’s message until the students compare two articles on the same topic. When I used place as my ENGL 1303 class’s theme, I had my students consider two brief portrayals of London or Great Britain from popular travel websites: https://www.travelodge.co.uk/blog/destination-guides/london/why-everyone-should-visit-london-at-least-once-in-their-lifetime/ and https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/overcrowded-overpriced-and-overrated-welcome-to-britain-2282110.html. But those articles are short and simple. So I also had my students consider more complex articles about Appalachia, articles whose context (e.g., publication venue and apparent audience) we discussed, too. Those articles are accessible at  http://libraryguides.berea.edu/essayappalachia and http://www.nationalreview.com/article/367903/white-ghetto-kevin-d-williamson. Whatever your class or unit theme (if any), consider using two differently written informative articles about a topic. – Nathan Shepley