First-Year Composition

Leslie Davis and Kiley Miller

First-Year Composition by Leslie Davis and Kiley Miller is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

This book was produced with Pressbooks.

Contents

- Introduction

- Using This Resource (for instructors)

- 1. Literacy Narrative

- 2. Academic Summary

- 3. Academic Summary & Response

- 4. Research Report

- 5. Multimodal Argument

- 6. Reflection

- Additional Resources

1

Introduction

First-Year Composition was created to act as a guide for instructors and students to achieve CO1 course objectives and to create a consistent, cohesive experience across CO1 courses at universities in Colorado and Wyoming that participate in gtPathways. We have provided a variety of assignments that can be adapted to various teacher interests and student experiences with writing. First-Year Composition keeps the student in mind, allowing them the opportunity to include their own voice and experience in their communication while retaining and reinforcing central  academic writing principles. These modules provide a variety of ways to approach the course objectives while improving writer’s critical reading strategies, research skills, argumentation, awareness of the rhetorical situation, and use of different academic genres.

CO1 Content Criteria:

- Develop Rhetorical Knowledge

- Focus on rhetorical situation, audience, and purpose.

- Read, annotate, and analyze texts in at least one genre of academic discourse.

- Use voice, tone, format, and structure appropriately.

- Write and read texts written in at least one genre for an academic discourse community.

- Learn reflective strategies.

- Develop Experience in Writing

- Learn recursive strategies for generating ideas, revising, editing, and proofreading.

- Learn to critique one’s own work and the work of others.

- Develop Critical and Creative Thinking

- Identify context.

- Present a position.

- Establish a conclusion indicated by the context that expresses a personal interpretation.

- Use Sources and Evidence

- Select appropriate evidence.

- Consider the relevance of evidence.

- Develop Application of Composing Conventions

- Apply genre conventions, including structure, paragraphing, tone, mechanics, syntax, and style.

- Use appropriate vocabulary, format, and documentation.

CC license info

This handbook is an Open Educational Resource. It is adaptable and sharable for non-commercial purposes, and any revised versions must use the same CC license.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA

2

Using This Resource (for instructors)

Overview

This chapter is intended to help instructors decide how they will use this resource.

Module Format

Tailoring Your Curriculum

Suggested Sequences

Contact the Authors

First-Year Composition was written with flexibility and individuality in mind, while still being aware of common course objectives and the transferability of the course; once you learn more about the students you have in your class, you can feel free to take and adapt the resources found here.

Before you begin: This resource provides instructors with the complete curriculum for CO1. There are three steps you will need to take before assigning this to your class.

1. Decide on your assignment sequence. We have included suggestions below, which you can tailor to your student population.

2. Choose the readings that your students will summarize, respond to, or use for research. We give some suggestions for reading level below.

3. Adjust the due dates for each assignment to fit your semester schedule.

First-Year Composition is under a Creative Commons license that allows edits, so feel free to make any other changes you feel would be beneficial for your students.

Module format

Each module begins with suggestions for how the instructor could pace the assignment and which other assignments would be a good fit to come either before or after to provide scaffolding. The organization of each module is as follows:

1. Assignment overview

2. Course objectives

3. Module objectives

4. Summative assignment sheet

5. Important concepts and prompts

6. Assignment rubric

7. Scheduling and pacing notes

8. Notes on assessing the final assignment

Tailoring your curriculum

We have included a few considerations for choosing assignments and readings; while they are not exhaustive, they can help guide you in choosing which assignments, readings, and activities would be most appropriate for your group.

Beginning the semester by asking students about their high school experience, education in a foreign country, or how long it’s been since they’ve written a paper for school can help inform many of your decisions moving forward. CO1 tends to have students with diverse life experiences, such as ESL students, adult/veteran students, and students with learning disabilities. Each of these comes with their own strengths and challenges.

Students’ familiarity with academic genres: Throughout the semester, the genre of the main assignments will take sometimes subtle and sometimes large shifts from one to the next. Depending on how you structure the assignments, the topics may remain the same from one assignment to the next, ensuring that writers need to carefully consider how and why they would change their strategies when writing about the same topic using a different genre.

Reading level: We recommend easing students into reading scholarly, peer-reviewed sources; there are two research assignments that require students to find their own sources. The emphasis on reading strategies in the first modules can help to mitigate challenges with academic sources that they may not be used to reading. However, we recommend using a resource like Readable.com to verify the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

Other considerations include cultural or historical references within chosen readings. If your class has a significant population of ESL/international writers or students who have lacked access to technology in the past, they may not understand the full impact of what they have read. An example we have experienced is references to figures like Rosa Parks, or religious figures. While those can be discussed in class, it’s important to anticipate that not everyone will automatically have access to that cultural knowledge.

Familiarity with finding and reading academic sources: Many CO1 students will be new to reading scholarly or peer-reviewed sources, and have little to no experience using academic databases. A good strategy would be to constrain students’ research to a resource, such as 88 Open Essays or a list of acceptable publications.

Familiarity with attribution, paraphrasing, and citation conventions: Over-reliance on direct quotes can happen because students misunderstand what they’ve read or don’t know how to appropriately summarize. They may also have difficulties with development and substitute direct quotes for more meaningful content, like analysis or evaluation.

Suggested sequences

The assignments in this resource are scaffolded to build on one another. However, there is more material here than could be utilized in a 16-week semester. Some of the assignments focus on reading while others focus on research or a blend of reading and writing. Depending on the population you are teaching, you might choose to use assignments that focus on one of those aspects more than the other. Alternatively, you could choose assignments that balance reading, research, and argumentation.

Below we have included a few different sequences you could use in a 16-week semester where the 16th week is reserved for completing the final assignment and doesn’t include instruction.

Potential course sequences

Reading focus

Reading and research focus

Reading, research, and argument focus

Reading, research, and argument focus

Research and argument focus

Literacy narrative (3 weeks)
Summary (3 weeks)

Summary & response (3-4 weeks)

Multimodal argument (5 weeks)

Literacy narrative (3 weeks)
Summary (3-4 weeks)

Research report (3-4 weeks)

Multimodal argument (5 weeks)

Literacy narrative (3 weeks)
Summary (3 weeks)

Research report (3 weeks)

Multimodal argument (5 weeks)

Reflection letter (2 weeks)

Summary (3 weeks)
Summary & response (3 weeks)

Research report (3 weeks)

Multimodal argument (5 weeks)

Reflection letter (2 weeks)

Summary & response (3 weeks)
Research report (3-4 weeks)

Multimodal argument (5 weeks)

Reflection letter (2-3 weeks)

Contact the authors

This resource was written by Leslie Davis and Kiley Miller at Colorado State University. It was funded by the state of Colorado via the CSU Morgan Library. We’d like to thank Khaleedah Thomas and Stan Kruse for their assistance with Creative Commons and Pressbooks.

For inquiries, comments, or suggestions, please contact Leslie Davis at Leslie.Davis@colostate.edu

1

Literacy Narrative

Overview

The foundation of our course is built on the ability to read closely and critically. To engage with this skill, and the multiple literacies we navigate on a daily basis, this first major essay is a personal piece in which you will explore a significant moment regarding your own literacy; you may approach literacy either in the traditional sense or using our expanded, modern definition.

Course Objectives
Assignment Sheet
Week 1: Introducing Rhetoric
Week 2:  Defining Narrative and Organization
Week 3: Peer Review and Revision
Assignment Rubric
Suggested Schedule (for instructors)
Assessment Notes (for instructors)

Course objectives

This assignment meets the following CO1 course objectives:

- Develop rhetorical knowledge

- Develop critical and creative thinking

- Develop rhetorical knowledge

- Develop experience in writing Recall previous experience with various types of reading

Module objectives

During the process of completing this assignment, writers will:

- Recall previous experience with various types of reading

- Identify personal goals for academic reading and writing

- Distinguish the different purposes for academic reading and writing

- Give examples of familiar genres

ASSIGNMENT SHEET

Assignment Sheet – Literacy Narrative: Click to download a printable version of this assignment

The foundation of this course is built on your ability to read closely and critically. To engage with this skill, and the multiple literacies we navigate on a daily basis, this first major essay is a personal piece in which you will explore a significant moment regarding your own literacy; you may approach literacy either in the traditional sense or using our expanded, modern definition.

Purpose :

Literacy is a key component of academic success, as well as professional success. In this class and others, you will be asked to read and engage with various types of texts, so the purpose of this assignment is twofold. First, this assignment will allow you to write about something important to you, using an open form and personal tone instead of an academic one, allowing you to examine some of your deepest convictions and experiences and convey these ideas in a compelling way through writing. Second, this essay provides us an opportunity to get to know each other as a class community.

Audience:

For this assignment you should imagine your audience to be an academic audience. Your audience will want a good understanding of your literacy, past, present, or future, and how you seek to comprehend the texts around you.

Requirements:

Choose ONE prompt below to tell about an important time in your life when you engaged with or were confronted with a type of literacy. We’ll discuss various types of literacy, so you will identify and define the type of literacy you’re discussing.

1. Describe a situation when you were challenged in your reading by describing the source of that challenge (vocabulary, length, organization, something else). How did you overcome that challenge to understand what the text was saying? What strategies or steps do you plan to take in the future to make the process easier?

2. Describe the type of texts you read (watch, listen to, etc.) most often. What makes them easy or challenging to read and interpret? What strategies do you use to ensure that you fully understand them or can apply them?

3. Describe what kind of texts you think you will have to read or interpret in the future and where you will encounter these texts (i.e. future classes, your career, etc.). How do you think they might challenge you? What strategies will you use to overcome these difficulties?

Formatting:

- Narratives should be between 500-600 words (around 2-3 pages). Be concise, and choose your details carefully.

- Your work must be typed in size 12, Times New Roman font and double spaced, 1” margins, following MLA requirements.

Week 1: Introducing Rhetoric

The foundation of our course is built on your ability to read closely and critically. To engage with this skill, and the multiple literacies we navigate on a daily basis, this project is a personal piece in which you will explore a significant moment regarding your own literacy; you may approach literacy either in the traditional sense or using our expanded, modern definition.

Exploring Literacy

What comes to mind when you hear the term “literacy“? Traditionally, we can define literacy as the ability to read and write. To be literate is to be a reader and writer. More broadly, this term has come to be used in other fields and specialties and refers generally to an ability or competency.

literacy: the ability to read and write; more broadly, a specific ability to navigate a specialized discipline

For example, you could refer to music literacy as the ability to read and write music; there are varying levels of literacy, so while you may recognize the image below as a music staff and the symbols for musical notes, it’s another thing to name the notes, to play any or multiple instruments, or to compose music.

Or, you may be a casual football fan, but to be football literate, you would need to be able to understand and read the playbook, have an understanding of the positions, define terms like “offsides” or “holding” as they relate to the sport, and interpret the hand signals used by the referees.

Educator and writer Shaelynn Faarnsworth describes and defines literacy as “social” and “constantly changing.” In this unit, we’ll explore literacy as a changing, dynamic process. By expanding our definition of literacy, we’ll come to a better understanding of our skills as readers and writers. We’ll use this discussion so that you, as writers, can better understand and write about “…what skills [you] get and what [you] don’t, [and include your] interests, passions, and quite possibly YouTube.”

Checking In: Questions and Activities

1. Consider our expanded definition of literacy. In what ways are you literate?

2. When, where, and how do you read and write on a daily basis?

3. Thinking of traditional literacy (reading and writing), what successes or challenges have you faced in school, at home, in the workplace, etc.?

Close Reading Strategies: Introducing the Conversation Model

Reading is a necessary step in the writing process. One helpful metaphor for the writing process is the conversation model. Imagine approaching a group of friends who are in the middle of an intense discussion. Instead of interrupting and blurting out the first thing you think of, you would listen. Then as you listen, you may need to ask questions to catch up and gain a better understanding of what has already been said. Finally, once you have this thorough understanding, you can feel prepared to add your ideas, challenge, and further the conversation.

[INSERT GRAPHIC]

Similarly, when writing, the first step is to read. Like listening, this helps you understand the topic better and approach the issues you’re discussing with more knowledge. With that understanding, you can start to ask more specific questions, look up definitions, and start to do more driven research. With all that information, then you can offer a new perspective on what others have already written. As you write, you may go through this process — listening, researching, and writing — several times!

Close reading: a process to understand what is being said

This unit focuses first on the importance of reading. There are two important ways we’ll think about reading in this course. Close reading and critical reading are both important processes with difference focuses. Close reading is a process to understand what is being said. It’s often used in summaries, where the goal is to comprehend and report on what a text is communicating. Compared to critical reading, an analytical process focused on how and why an idea is presented, close reading forces us to slow down and identify the meaning of the information. This skill is especially important in summaries and accurately quoting and paraphrasing.

Close reading, essentially, is like listening to the conversation. Both focus on comprehension and being able to understand and report back on what is written or said. In this project,

Checking In: Questions and Activities

1. Within close reading, your processes could be further broken down into pre-reading, active reading, and post-reading strategies. What do you focus on before and after you read a text?

2. There are many ways to read closely, and studies show that active reading is more effective — does this need a citation?. However, there are many ways to actively read. Consider assignments you’ve been given in the past:

- Have your instructors asked you to annotate a text?

- Do you find yourself copying down important lines, highlighting, or making notes as you read?

- What strategies do you rely on to actively and closely read?

- What are your least favorite strategies?

The Rhetorical Situation

You may have heard of “rhetorical questions” or gotten frustrated watching the news when a commentator dismisses another by saying “that’s just empty rhetoric” — but what does rhetoric mean? With definitions dating back to Aristotle and Plato, this is a complex concept with many historical and contemporary definitions. We define rhetoric as the ways language and other communication strategies are used to achieve a purpose with an audience. Below, we’ll explore the rhetorical situation, examining how many different factors contribute to how a writer can achieve their goals, and what may influence them to make different decisions.

rhetoric: the ways language and other communication strategies are used to achieve a purpose with an audience

[INSERT GRAPHIC – rhetorical situation]

The rhetorical situation is composed of many interactive pieces that each depend on the other. Let’s start by defining each component:

- Author: The creator. This is the person responsible for making the decisions in a text. For your writing, you are the author, even though you’ll get ideas and feedback from many other places. Though it seems like this component may be an easily determined constant, sometimes publishers have an idea and then approach a specific writer to accomplish the task, which could limit the choices and decisions that the author makes.

- Ask yourself: Who created this?

- Audience: The intended readers or viewers. There are many ways to identify this group — you may describe characteristics of the group, like their nationality, gender, age, or other relevant factors. It may help to think of the audience as an identity group: for example, you probably identify as a student, and that means you have something in common with other readers of this text: you are interested in learning, you are educated, and you speak English. You may have different backgrounds and experiences, but there are some qualities we can assume a student possesses. Your role and experience with this text as a student is different than the role of instructors who are using this book for their course, and instructors similarly share some qualities while others differ. This process does force you to make some assumptions, but taking steps to define and describe the readers of a text helps understand who they are, what’s important to them, and how they’ll interpret a text.

- Ask yourself: Who is likely to, or supposed to, see this?

- Text: The artifact. This paragraph is a type of text, which is a little different than this entire book as a text. More broadly, we can think about texts as whatever is being consumed: the billboard on your drive home, the trailer you watch before the actual movie, the clothes you’re wearing, and the birthday card you’re sending could all be interpreted as different types of texts, each with a different author, intended for different audiences. Often in academic contexts, we’ll use the term text and genre interchangeably because they both refer to the category type of what is being read or consumed. For example, novels are categorized by genre, such as science fiction or romance. There are many academic genres that we’ll review, such as editorials, book reviews, peer-reviewed journals, and more.

- Ask yourself: What am I looking at?

- Purpose: The goal. Whatever the text, every genre or author has a goal in mind. This can be more simply reduced to a strong verb that describes the goal: to persuade, to refute, to argue, to defend, to sell, etc. Some genres have easily identifiable purposes. That billboard is clearly trying to sell the product, while the movie trailer is trying to entertain or to sell tickets. While texts may have several goals, we’ll try to identify the primary, most appropriate, goal to help focus our close and critical reading of the text. In this book, our goal is to educate you by introducing all these new concepts so you can apply these strategies in your writing.

- Ask yourself: Why was the text created?

- Context: The situation around the text. Context is compiled from a lot of different factors. When reading, you may have been told to guess the meaning of a word based on context clues and this definition is similar. Consider the situation around the text and what influenced the creation of the text, and how it may influence the other components. For example, reading a text about rhetoric from 400 BCE would be very different than one written 100 years ago, and this one you’re reading now is also different. Or, 1,000 words may seem like a lot, and it would make for a very long poem or text message, but the average novel is at least 50,000 words and hundreds of pages. All of these different factors fall into the context that shapes what is created. The writing you’ll do in this course is shaped differently than what you might accomplish for your history or psychology courses because the context changes for each course and assignment.

- Ask yourself: When was this created? How did it get developed? Where was the text published? What shaped the creative process?

Each of these categories intersects and influences the other. When we think about a complete rhetorical situation, you’ll need to define all these different pieces to best understand the text. As we begin practicing close reading, drawing the rhetorical situation will be a helpful tool.

Let’s examine this project, the literacy narrative.

- Author: You! While you have a unique background, you’re a student in this course, and your individual writing experience will influence what you write about.

- Audience: Your classmates and instructor. This is a collaborative course, and your instructor will read what you produce.

- Text: Literacy Narrative. This type of text has different goals and requirements. We’ve examined literacy already, and we’ll review narratives soon. Together, these guidelines will help us construct this specific type of text (rather than a poem about reading or your personal memoir about how you became a writer!).

- Purpose: To reflect. To introduce yourself. To define your literacy. These are all goals of this assignment. Throughout your assignment, you’ll want to check in with yourself and ensure that you’re accomplishing these goals. If not, you won’t meet the demands of the assignment.

- Context: This assignment — the assignment sheet above has specific requirements that will influence what you create. Your writing background — no one else has the same life experience with reading and writing as you. The goals of the course — there are specific tasks to accomplish with this project that are specific to CO1 objectives. Each of these aspects will influence how you put the project together. Since you didn’t just wake up and decide to write about literacy, the context of this assignment will determine what you create.

Checking In: Questions and Activities

1. Which of the elements of the rhetorical triangle influence your writing decisions most? Why?

2. Are there any elements you don’t consider? Why don’t they seem as important?

Week 2: Defining Narrative and Organization

This week, you’ll review the assignment more fully, begin drafting, and work more closely with feedback from others. A literacy narrative is a specific type of genre, so there are certain requirements for this text. Using examples from other students, we’ll begin to develop your first draft.

Introducing the Literacy Narrative

narrative: a method of story-telling

A literacy narrative is a common genre for writers who want to explore their own experiences with writing. Just Google “literacy narrative” and find endless examples! While this assignment will respond to specific prompts and follow a more specific structure than some of the examples you’ll find on Google, there is a common theme in each essay that revolves around your relationship with literacy. Week one defined literacy,  but what about narrative? Narrative can be defined as a method of story-telling. In the simplest terms, your goal in this literacy narrative, in this assignment, is to tell the story of your personal experience with literacy, either from a past event, something you’re working with now, or looking to the future. Let’s review the three sets of prompts from the assignment sheet:

- Describe a situation when you were challenged in your reading by describing the source of that challenge (vocabulary, length, organization, something else). How did you overcome that challenge to understand what the text was saying? What strategies or steps do you plan to take in the future to make the process easier?

- Describe the type of texts you read (watch, listen to, etc.) most often. What makes them easy or challenging to read and interpret? What strategies do you use to ensure that you fully understand them or can apply them?

- Describe what kind of texts you think you will have to read or interpret in the future and where you will encounter these texts (i.e. future classes, your career, etc.). How do you think they might challenge you? What strategies will you use to overcome these difficulties?

Each of these prompts gives you the chance to tell your story and examine your experience with a specific type of literacy. As you consider the prompts, think about how you could tell a story to answer these questions. With this frame of mind, review the questions and activities below.

Checking In: Questions and Activities

1. Which prompt from the assignment sheet will you address? Why does this prompt appeal to you?

2. Consider the brainstorming you did about the ways that you are literate. Which prompt matches those skills best? Are these skills you struggled with at first, skills you currently practice, or a skill that you’re learning and will use in the future? Use these notes to decide which set of questions you’ll focus on in this project.

Organization: PIE Method

Each prompt includes three questions, which we’ll use as the starting point for three paragraphs. In each set of prompts, your first paragraph will describe the text; remember, when thinking about reading a text, we can interpret this broadly, like with music and sports. The second paragraph will explore the challenges or successes you’ve experienced. Then, the third paragraph will focus on strategies and techniques for improvement. This way, you can tell a more complete story of your experience, sharing the details and emotions along the way and making readers feel like they’re right there with you. But how do you capture all this detail in a way that helps you organize your thoughts and keep your reader interested in the story?

We’ll use a formula for the paragraph structure called PIE, which stands for Point, Information, and Explanation. This method will help you plan what you want to say, and then give examples so you can show why each step was so important to you. Let’s review each part of the paragraph, and then we’ll look at how this applies to your literacy narrative with a student sample.

- Point: To start, every paragraph needs a Point, a main idea and the reason you’re writing. The goal of this first line is to summarize what you’re going to tell your readers.  You can usually present this idea in a single sentence. Introduce the main idea of the paragraph.

- In the literacy narrative: Since each paragraph responds to a question from the prompt, the Point of each paragraph should tell readers which question you’re answering. By rephrasing the question in your Point, you can signal to your classmates and instructor so that they know which question you’re answering.

- Information: Every paragraph needs evidence or specific examples. These are the details that you can report. You may have several examples in mind, and you may need to offer names, quotes, or paraphrases of what you said or read. This could take multiple sentences to describe but should rely on the facts that you can name, NOT your reaction or analysis.

- In the literacy narrative: Most of your evidence, in a narrative, will be from your experience. Report what happened, what you read, or what you learned. Naming these details can help your readers see through your eyes when you give specific examples.

- Explanation: This is how you make your examples come to life! In the Information, you reported on the what, and now it’s your chance to describe the why  and how. This is the most important, and therefore the longest, part of the paragraph where you make sense of the Information and tell your readers what it all means to you. The explanation includes analysis that builds on the evidence provided.

- In the literacy narrative: Help your readers get inside your head and feel like they’re with you. Keeping the Point in mind and showing how all these ideas relate will bring the paragraph together by developing each example clearly and offering a thoughtful response to each prompt. How did you feel about the examples from the Information? Why was it was so significant? Why should your readers care about this experience? Answering these questions will help show your readers what you experienced so they can understand the significance and connect with you.

Together, these pieces all come together to create a strong, developed paragraph that responds to the question from the prompt more fully.

Checking In: Questions and Activities

1. Below is a sample paragraph that follows the PIE structure. It is coded for the different parts of the paragraph above, with the Point in bold, the Information in italics, and the Explanation underlined. The second paragraph has been shortened and has not been coded. First, review the parts of the coded example. Then, review and identify PIE in the paragraph.

When getting into different types of literacy the hardest part of interpretation and understanding for me was in calculus.   For example, when learning calculus (a type of literacy in cases) the difficult aspect of the class is actually learning the meanings of certain letters or numbers, such as x and y, and how to apply them to the course.   The reason this is so tough is because I feel uncomfortable and feel jumbled when learning new things. Application of these newly learned terms takes time and practice to join the base set of literacy that I use on a day to day basis.   Another illustration of why calculus is hard comes to test day .   When I sit down for that big exam, I never feel at ease. I first have to remember what I learned in class and then apply it to the new problems. This is the most frustrating part because I practiced for so long, but the test always makes me question myself. On top of that, the anger I experience with this difficult task of learning will slow down this process making it hard to focus, so the test is the most challenging portion.

When learning different types of literacy, there are a lot of good strategies that I use. One comes from a very cliche quote, “Practice makes perfect.” For instance, when learning a new calculus formula the best way to engrave it into my head is to continuously use it over and over until it becomes muscle memory for the brain. This is a good strategy for application of information specifically because when practicing with something for a long amount of time, my brain begins to recognize certain patterns that correlate with the task at hand. These patterns allow the brain to recognize learned information and apply that knowledge in a certain situation or “pattern” that I have experienced previously.

Planning a Draft

Now that we’ve reviewed all the components and the foundation for this assignment, you’re ready to begin your draft! We’ll focus just on the first paragraph here, but you can use these steps for each paragraph to construct your draft.

Consider the first question from each prompt, copied below, to decide if you’ll focus on a past experience, the present, or the future:

- Describe a situation when you were challenged in your reading by describing the source of that challenge (vocabulary, length, organization, something else).

- Describe the type of texts you read (watch, listen to, etc.) most often.

- Describe what kind of texts you think you will have to read or interpret in the future and where you will encounter these texts (i.e. future classes, your career, etc.).

Literacy Narrative Rough Draft

Using your brainstorming from previous weeks, and using the student sample as a reference, begin drafting using the PIE structure, following these steps below to build the first paragraph of your draft. This is just a first draft, so let yourself write freely! This doesn’t need to be perfect or even good — instead, the goal is to put ideas on paper.

1. In your Point, rephrase one of the questions above. You can borrow some of this same language to signal to your readers and show which question you’re answering. Remember, this only introduces the main idea — no details yet!

2. Review your brainstorming. Did you name specific examples? Add these to your paragraph to develop the Information. Name at least two examples. Each example you give should connect to the Point, providing evidence from your experience.

3. Review the examples and start to Explain. How did you feel about the examples from the Information? Why was it was so significant? Why should your readers care about this experience? Ask yourself these questions for each example you include.

4. Repeat this process for each paragraph, answering the second question from your prompt in the second paragraph, and the third question in the third paragraph. For this assignment, try writing everything first — resist the urge to go back and review and edit right away! Instead, give yourself permission to write and respond to each prompt.

1. Depending on your drafting process, it might be easy to tackle all three paragraphs at once and get everything down, or you might prefer to write one paragraph at a time.

2. Throughout the course, practice with drafting one paragraph per day, or setting a timer to see what you can write in a specific amount of time.

5. Review what you’ve written, and see if there are more details to add. Remember, the goal is to get as much as you can out of your head. Revisions will take place next.

Week 3: Peer Review and Revision

Peer Review

Peer review is an important part of the drafting process. It helps us learn from our classmates and see our own work in a different way. Writing can be a lonely and isolating experience that makes the process frustrating and unsatisfying. Getting to share your work with others can break that uncomfortable pattern!

That said, you may be new to sharing your work or have different experiences with peer review. Good peer reviews can spark creativity, help build on good ideas, and revise the rougher ideas. But, sometimes peer review can be challenging if your peer is too critical or too complementary, or maybe you can’t read and understand what they wrote! The tips below will help reinforce best practices, as well as avoid some common mistakes with peer review.

When completing peer review, one important rule is to focus on the big picture and NOT to edit. Think about it like this: If you add a comma, then you’ve helped make one sentence of the paper better. In a paper that’s 1,000 words long, that’s not so helpful! Instead, consider the rhetorical triangle. If you can make observations and ask questions to help your classmate understand the audience or the genre better, then the entire paper is going to improve, because you focused on a higher order concept that affects not just one sentence, but the paragraph and the whole paper. Throughout these projects, we’ll practice several strategies for peer review so you can see several example methods and find what works best for you.

Peer workshop

When you sit down with your peer’s paper, we’ll practice a three-step process. This gives you a chance to explain exactly what you mean while offering specific advice for your peer. Review the steps below:

- Observe : Make a statement or summarize what you see. Identifying a pattern in your peer’s work or repeating what you think your peer is saying can help your peer know if they’re communicating clearly. Using the rhetorical triangle to support these observations could be a helpful strategy!

- Explain : Critique what you see, explaining if the writer has a strong idea or if it might need work. U sing adjectives to describe what’s going well or what’s not working is important so that you peer can learn more about your observation. Was this “clear” or “confusing”? Is the writer “engaging and interesting” or is the writing “plain and repetitive”?

- Suggest : Tell the writer what to do about your comment.  This is most important! In order for your peer to know what to do with the information above, you need to make a suggestion. You could share a strategy that you use, or refer your peer to the assignment sheet and readings so that they can make changes or keep up the good work. If you’re not sure, you can always ask questions, too! Questions will help your peer think more critically about their writing.

- EXAMPLE: 1) You give a few examples for information, then a sentence of explanation. 2) It doesn’t look like this meets the word limits from the assignment sheet, and I’m not sure which part you’ll focus on as the main form of literacy. 3) Could you clarify this? More explanation about why these are important could help you meet the word limit, too!

All together, these comments will need to be a few sentences long. Since we’re NOT focused on grammar or editing, the changes that your peer can make will have a big effect on the final product. With these more developed comments, your goal is to make 1-2 comments per paragraph. Give your classmate something to consider, using our course vocabulary, to really help them improve. As you read and practice this method, it’s likely that you’ll get ideas for your own paper, which makes this process doubly helpful!

Assignment Rubric

An “A” (excellent) summary (90% +):

- Will clearly and accurately define a specific type of literacy, explaining the connection and development of literacy. Will clearly establish the identity of the writer and the influence and importance of literacy.

- Will communicate significant experiences to an academic audience. Will give the reader something new to consider. Will interest the reader through storytelling.

- Will remain focused on literacy and the individual prompts. Will include specific details from a variety of experiences. Will engage readers with details and examples. Will explain the connections and development of growth through chosen examples.

- Will follow PIE structure closely.

- Will be clear and readable without distracting grammar, punctuation or spelling errors.

A “B” (good) summary (80% +):

- will define and discuss literacy for an academic audience with examples and explanation of significance but may have one or two of the following issues:

- The concept of literacy may not be as clearly connected or central  to the writer’s development.

- More attention could be paid to engage or interest the readers. May lack context to help the reader understand the writer’s experience.

- Focus may lack through discussing events outside of the prompts. May include few specific examples. May lack explanation to show connection between examples.

- PIE may not be followed in one paragraph. Either the point, information, or explanation could be further developed or clarified within a paragraph.

- The writer may need to work on communicating information more effectively. The narrative will be generally clear and readable but may need further editing for grammatical errors.

A “C” (satisfactory) summary (70% +):

- Will discuss literacy for an academic audience with examples and explanation of significance but may have more than two of the following issues:

- Literacy is not defined or explained clearly in connection to skill.

- Awareness of audience is lacking, making sections confusing for an unfamiliar reader.

- Prompts may not be clearly connected to the paragraphs. Examples are not included or are not clearly explained.

- PIE may be missing or underdeveloped in multiple paragraphs.

- “C” narratives may also need more editing for readability.

A “D” (poor) summary (60% +):

- Will show an attempt toward the assignment goals that has fallen short. May have several of the above problems.

An “F” (failing) summary:

- ignores the assignment.

- has been plagiarized.

Checking In: Questions and Activities

1. Review the same sample paragraph below from a previous student. Identify one strength and one area for improvement in the draft, following the 3-step method above. As you review, consider how to balance praise and criticism. Something is going well in your peer’s draft, and something can be improved!

When getting into different types of literacy the hardest part of interpretation and understanding for me was in calculus. For example, when learning calculus (a type of literacy in cases) the difficult aspect of the class is actually learning the meanings of certain letters or numbers, such as x and y, and how to apply them to the course. The reason this is so tough is because I feel uncomfortable and feel jumbled when learning new things. Application of these newly learned terms takes time and practice to join the base set of literacy that I use on a day to day basis. Another illustration of why calculus is hard comes to test day. When I sit down for that big exam, I never feel at ease. I first have to remember what I learned in class and then apply it to the new problems. This is the most frustrating part because I practiced for so long, but the test always makes me question myself. On top of that, the anger I experience with this difficult task of learning will slow down this process making it hard to focus, so the test is the most challenging portion.

Most of this week revolves around drafting activities. This week brings our first revisions and peer reviews, an important part of the writing process. With your peers, you’ll get to review what they’ve been working on while receiving feedback on your own work. Similar to the sample, it will be your responsibility to identify strengths and praise your peers’ writing, as well as identify areas for improvement and explain why this is an important revision they must make.

Applying Peer Review: Taking Suggestions and Revising

Once you’ve completed peer review, you’ll likely have lots of ideas — reviewing others’ work often ignites a creative spark for your own work! You should feel free to apply strategies from your peers and reexamine your work, but you want to focus on your peers’ suggestions for you. This way, you can see how your ideas and their commentary lines up. In our 3-step feedback process, the last step is to make a suggestion. While the notes from your peers should be valuable, it’s ultimately your draft and your decision about what feedback to include. As you read through the commentary, review the assignment sheet, and begin making changes to the draft. This is one of the most important steps in the writing process and what makes the difference between a rough first draft and a polished, complete draft.

Suggested schedule and pacing

This module is intended to take 3 weeks and would work well as a first, introductory assignment or as a final, reflective assignment. Each unit is designed to help instructors offer feedback at critical stages of the drafting process, assisting writers strategically before they offer their drafts for peer review. This does require a quick turnaround from instructors; for planning this three-week unit, drafts would be due to you after the two-week mark, and peer review is recommended to take place a few days after, once your feedback can be reviewed and used for revisions. This necessarily leads to less intensive feedback on the final drafts, helping to disperse workload and making for faster turnaround of final submissions.

Writers may experience typical growing pains throughout these assignments, especially when used as a first assessment and adjust to your style and teaching practice. Overall, writers seem motivated and engaged in the narrative aspect and less intimidated when starting the course with a less formal, less academic assignment. This is intentional so that everyone begins from a familiar place. As a last, reflective project, this can be used to help writers process and digest rhetorical concepts and their growth throughout the semester.

Assessment notes

This project includes three, three-part prompts. Writers are given the option to review their literacy of the past, present, or future — some writers will try to respond to all nine questions provided. The separation of these prompts has been emphasized through multiple assignments and as writers begin to draft; reinforcing this through direct feedback will be an important reiteration to keep writers focused.

Instructor Note 1

Through this three-week unit, students will explore their past literacies and expand the definition of literacy beyond the traditional sense to grow comfortable and familiar with the idea of reading and writing in academic English.

This unit focuses on close reading skills and introspection to allow students to orient themselves to writing in a constructive and open-minded way. By focusing on literacy and setting the tone for the semester.

2

Academic Summary

Overview

The academic summary provides readers an opportunity to practice their reading skills and strategies. Reading is an active process; we must do more than merely glance at words and sentences to understand the full scope of a text. To learn and apply knowledge, we must practice close and critical reading strategies in order to understand the main idea, supporting ideas, and to consider connections to other aspects of the academic conversation around that topic.

Course Objectives

Assignment Sheet

Week 1: Reading Strategies

Week 2: Academic Summaries

Week 3: Revising Rough Drafts

Assignment Rubric

Suggested Schedule/Pacing (for instructors)

Assessment Notes (for instructors)

Course Objectives

This assignment meets the following CO1 course objectives:

- Develop rhetorical knowledge

- Develop experience in writing

- Develop critical and creative thinking

- Use sources and evidence

Module Objectives

During the process of completing this assignment, writers will:

- Practice close and critical reading strategies

- Identify main and supporting ideas

- Demonstrate understanding of a text

- Describe a source for an audience who has not read it

- Attribute other’s ideas via direct quotes and paraphrasing

Assignment sheet

Summary Assignment

Purpose

Effective summary writing is an important academic skill that enables us to make sense of others’ arguments. As academic writers, we need to take time to “listen to the conversation” about different issues, showing an understanding of what others write by paraphrasing their writing. For this assignment, you will need to explain and describe an article in order to demonstrate that you have closely and carefully read the article.

Audience

For this assignment you should imagine your audience to be an academic audience who has not read the article you have summarized. Your readers will want to understand the thesis and main ideas, but will not need to know details or your opinions about the article.

Choice of readings:

- Please see your instructor for a choice of readings for this assignment.

Requirements

1. Summaries should be between 150 and 250 words. Be concise.

2. Your work must be typed in size 12, Times New Roman font and double spaced, 1” margins.

3. Your paper should follow the guidelines of an effective academic summary, outlined below.

4. You should use proper MLA attribution, including appropriate paraphrases, in-text citation, and a Works Cited page.

Week 1: Reading Strategies

Reading is an activity we participate in daily, whether it’s watching tv, listening to music, or scrolling through social media. Much like writing, we can have different purposes for reading. This module will ask you to become an intentional reader by thinking about why you are reading while you read, rather than after.

Usually, when we read something in our spare time, we don’t need to prove or demonstrate our understanding to anyone else. However, reading for academic purposes often means that you will need to use the information you’ve read in some way. For example, you may read from a textbook and then need to demonstrate that you have understood and retained that information when taking an exam. You may read scholarly articles and need to apply that information by conducting an experiment.

Before we talk about how to read for academic purposes, think about your own experiences with reading:

1. What type of reading do you do most frequently?

2. What do you do when you don’t understand something you’ve read?

3. Can you think of a time when you had to read something for school and then use that knowledge in another situation, such as for a paper or project?

4. What is your process for reading something for college?

Hopefully, those questions have sparked some reflection about what you do (and don’t!) know about how to be an effective reader. Now, we’ll explore some ways in which you can be more intentional when you read for college.

Reading Strategies

Below are some of the most common strategies you might use when reading for academic purposes. These strategies can help you not only understand what you’ve read, but will help you take that information and use it for various purposes. Feel free to tell your instructor and peers about other strategies that you have found useful.

- Read more than once.

- The first time you watch a tv show, what do you pay attention to? You’re probably getting to know the characters and trying to figure out the plot. When you watch the show again, you might notice things like foreshadowing, the location, dialogue, and how the show is similar to (or different from) others in the same genre. The same process will happen when you reread. Once you’ve understood the main idea, go back and see if you can distinguish the supporting ideas, or better understand how the text was organized to achieve its purpose.

- Skim and scan.

- This process is similar to what you did when you first joined this class. You likely took a look at the syllabus or the online material and skimmed through to see what sections were included. Once you saw the sections or modules, that helped you understand what to expect before you delved into the details of reading the syllabus.

- When skimming and scanning, look for: the index, headings, chapters, titles, and subtitles. You can practice skimming and scanning in this text! Each module in First-Year Composition includes an index and different level headers to signal what’s coming next.

- Highlight important words, phrases, and concepts.

- In textbooks, the author may highlight, bold, or underline these for you. What if you’re reading a newspaper article or a scholarly article where the author assumes that you can figure out the important ideas yourself? Look for common themes, metaphors, references, or ideas that connect to or contrast with one another.

- You can also highlight words or phrases that stand out to you. Was there a particularly impactful quote or example? Perhaps there was a story or piece of evidence that helped you better understand the main idea, a supporting idea, or the topic.

- Avoid going overboard with your highlighter! If you highlight too much of the text, it will be difficult to go back and try to identify the information you really need.

- Look up words, events, people, and concepts you are unfamiliar with.

- You’ll encounter unfamiliar words often when reading for different classes. You may even see different authors using the same words to mean different things! Understanding the various meanings of words, especially in different contexts like biology, psychology, literature, or another field of study, can help you understand exactly what the author meant.

- Chances are, if an author has referenced a historical event or an important figure, they did so for a reason. Don’t let that reference pass you by! You can learn a lot about what the author believes if you understand most, if not all, of their references. Think about the impact of a meme that you understand, versus one that’s so obscure that it evokes no reactions. You don’t want the full impact of the text to pass you by.

- Take notes. You can make notes in various ways:

- Your personal reaction or opinions. Write notes in the margins as if you are responding to the author during a conversation. You can use this to prompt your own response or argument later.

- Connections between what you are reading, and other articles, news, or ideas. Does the text remind you of anything else you’ve read or heard? How does it relate to recent news or events in the world? Has anything happened since the text was published that makes you think about the topic differently? You can use this information to analyze and evaluate a text, or to better understand the conversation about that topic.

Check-in and Questions

1. Which of the above strategies do you already use?

2. Which do you think will be the most helpful for you in this class?

3. Are there any additional strategies you would add to this list?

Close and critical reading:

Reading academically means understanding what you’ve read and having the ability to think critically about it. The first time you read a text, concentrate on reading closely. This will ensure you’ve understood the basics of the text.

To read closely, think about the WH-questions:

- WHO wrote it? This is the author(s).

- WHEN did they write? The date of publication can tell your audience a lot about the context.

- WHERE did they write it? This usually refers to the publisher (e.g. The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, etc.) but it can also refer to the part of the world the article was published in. This is also an important part of the context.

- WHAT did they write? This includes the main and supporting ideas.

These four questions will help you to summarize; to be intentional readers, identify them while you are reading. The above reading strategies can help you identify and make note of those aspects of the article.

You likely noticed that there are two WH-questions missing:

- WHY did they write it?

- HOW did they write it?

While these are useful questions for reading critically, for now we will leave them aside. Critical thinking is a necessary step to achieving many different writing purposes, such as applying, analyzing, evaluating, defending, arguing, critiquing, or creating ideas. For this assignment, concentrate on understanding and describing the texts you’ve chosen by answering the first four WH-questions.

Week 2: Academic Summaries

As you read the articles for this unit, don’t forget to read with intention. That means you are not only thinking about what you need to understand, but why. What is your purpose for reading? In this case, you should explain the full scope of the text to your audience.

What is an academic summary?

Academic summaries help you demonstrate that you’ve understood something you’ve read, and test your ability to communicate what you’ve learned to an audience who is unfamiliar with the text. As a distinct genre, your audience will have specific expectations of an academic summary. Academic summaries help audiences to understand long, often complicated texts without having read them. They can also help audiences decide if they want to read the complete article.

As with other genres, your audience will expect there to be certain information present in your academic summary. This information will help you achieve your purpose (to explain and describe) more effectively.

Check-in and Questions

1. Think of a time when you’ve explained the plot of a movie or book to a friend. What kind of information did they want to know?

2. How do you think an academic summary is different from the previous experience with your friend?

Remember!

An academic summary helps your audience understand WHAT the article said, WHO said it, WHEN they said it, and WHERE they said it; concepts like the rhetorical situation helps you answer WHY and HOW. Do not confuse the two! Often, the elements of the rhetorical situation are unnecessary when writing an academic summary.

What to Include in an Academic Summary

If your purpose is to demonstrate understanding and describe the article to your audience, then you’ll need to make sure you include enough information so that they get a complete picture of what the author said. There is some basic information that every academic summary should include:

- Author, place, and time of publication: This information is usually located at the beginning of the article. Don’t forget to include when and where the article was published! This is important contextual information for your audience because it tells your audience what was happening around the time of publication, and what type of publication accepted their ideas.

- Main idea: This includes both the topic of the article, and the author’s point. What is their argument or claim?

- Key points: The key points help the author to demonstrate why their argument or claim is true. They may help the audience understand the topic better, or they may be persuade the audience to agree with the author’s view of the topic.

- Connections between ideas. Remember that a summary is not a bullet-point list of the ideas in the article. In order to give your audience a complete idea of what the author intended to say, explain how the ideas are related to one another by using transition phrases.

Characteristics of Academic Summaries

Academic summaries are more than a list of information; your audience will have other expectations of the tone, voice, length, and format of your summary. Below are some other characteristics to keep in mind.

- Concise. All summaries are concise, meaning they are shorter than the original text. They will typically take complex ideas and put them into fewer words. After all, why would someone read a summary of an article that’s longer than the article itself?

- Objective. A summary is about description, not evaluation. While you may have strong feelings about what the author wrote, the audience just wants to know what was written. Don’t forget your purpose for writing!

- Accurate. Readers will expect your summary to accurately represent the ideas, opinions, facts, and judgements made in the text. Don’t misrepresent or manipulate the author’s words. Being accurate relies heavily on your ability to understand the article, so you may need to reread or revisit your notes to ensure accuracy.

- Comprehensive. A summary covers the entire text. Don’t avoid sections you didn’t understand, or didn’t think were important. Each key point should be present in your summary.

- Include attribution. Your summary describes someone else’s ideas, and not your own. Whether you are writing in MLA, APA, or another citation style, you need to be very clear that any facts, opinions, or ideas are coming from the author of the article that you are reading. Never assume that your audience knows where information is coming from!

- Clear to an audience who has not read the source text. Check your summary for any complex terms, ideas, or references that your audience might be unfamiliar with or may have a difficult time understanding. If the author explained those ideas to you, it’s likely that you will need to explain them to your audience as well. Remember, you know far more about the text than your audience does, so it’s your job to anticipate when they may or may not understand.

Summary Rough Drafts

This week, you will write summaries of two of the three articles we’ve read as a class. For each article, write:

- The author

- Date and place of publication

- Main idea

- Supporting ideas

These bullets are the pieces of your paragraph, but you’ll still need to provide the paragraph structure. Remember that your audience has not read the articles and will likely need to know the context and main idea before you get into the supporting ideas or details.

Introduce the context of the article first. For example:

In the article “The Danger of A Single Story” by Chimananda Ngozie Adichie, published in 88 Open Essays in 2018, she argues…

Once you have accurately described the main idea, think about how you want to organize the supporting ideas. You have a couple options for organizing these ideas. If you are unsure about which you should use, double-check with your composition instructor.

Follow the author’s organization: If the author has clear, distinct sections in their article, then you can easily follow the same organizational structure that they used. This is easiest when the author has stated their main idea early on and then followed that with their supporting ideas. Be careful about using “first, second, third” to connect ideas, as those phrases don’t fully illustrate the relationships between ideas.

Identify themes in the article: Sometimes, authors will return to the same ideas over and over, somewhat like loops on a rollercoaster. For example, they may mention their main idea, then a supporting idea, then return to their main idea, then explain a second supporting idea before returning to the main idea, and so forth. In this case, it might be easier for you to discuss one idea at a time, rather than going back and forth as the author did. This will also make it easier to be concise, as well as easier for your audience to understand.

Week 3: Revising Your Rough Draft

By now, you have written two rough draft summaries. Now it’s time to review others’ final drafts and revise your own before submitting your final draft.

Your summary might read like a checklist of information, rather than an explanation of what the author discussed in their article. An important aspect of your summary is the use of strong and neutral verbs.

Strong and Neutral Verbs

Strong verbs indicate the author’s main idea. Since the main idea is not just the topic, but how the author feels about the topic, use a strong verb to tell your audience what the author believed about the topic, or what they wanted the audience to believe.

Some examples of strong verbs include: argue, assert, claim, believe, think, dispute, disagree, allege, stress, stand up for, defend

Neutral verbs tell us about the supporting ideas. Because these ideas aren’t the main focus of the article, the verbs you use to describe them should indicate examples or ideas that the author shares to support their main idea.

Some examples of neutral verbs include: state, describe, explain, say, explore, express, present, give, discuss, mention, report, suggest, communicate, remark

As with all writing, these are guidelines, rather than rules. You may find it appropriate to use a strong verb to discuss a supporting idea because the author expressed a strong opinion about that idea.

Remember!

When describing a text, avoid verbs and adverbs that analyze or evaluate! Your purpose in this assignment is NOT to give your opinion. These words could indicate your agreement or disagreement with the article, which is inappropriate in this context.

Some verbs and adverbs to avoid include: misrepresent, tries, falsely claim, attempt, exaggerate, distort, embellish, accurately, flawlessly, incorrectly, confuse, exemplify, appear

Peer Workshop & Sample Summaries

Below is a sample paper that is lacking much of the information that an academic summary requires. Based on what you’ve read in this module, read the sample and then answer the following questions.

In this article the author first of all tries to explain his experience on college campuses. Next, he says that students have to work hard for their education. Then, he explains how students are not happy with their lives if they choose a major based on money. Next, he provides his viewpoint that students should choose their majors based on their own interests. College is a place to find yourself, and “The best reason to read them is to see if they may know you better than you know yourself.” Then he talks about what his dad told him which seems really unrelated to the article. Finally, college should only be for people who like school. This was an interesting article that relates a lot to my own life.

1. What are some of the issues present in this academic summary?

2. What suggestions would you give the writer if you read this academic summary during workshop?

Peer workshop

Practice good reading strategies while completing workshop:

- read through your partner’s draft once before making any comments

- remember why  you are reading: to provide concrete, constructive, helpful feedback to your partner(s)

- keep in mind the assignment sheet and rubric to guide your suggestions

- try to respond as their audience (an academic audience who has not read the article) and don’t make any assumptions about what your partner meant to write

You can begin making comments and responding to the following questions after reading through the draft once.

1. Is all required summary information present? If not, what’s missing?

2. Does the main idea accurately and completely cover both the topic and the author’s argument or claim about the topic?

3. Is the summary objective, or does the writer include their opinion? Remember to check for words that imply evaluation or judgement.

4. Is the summary accurate?

5. Is the summary comprehensive, or are any of the key points missing?

6. Does your partner attribute ideas to the author?

7. Is the MLA citation accurate, including both the author(s) last name and the page number (if applicable)?

8. Is the Works Cited page present? Are there any errors in the citation?

9. Identify two priorities for revision:

10. Identify two strengths of the academic summary:

Summary Assignment Rubric

An “A” (excellent) summary (90% +):

- will convince your reader that you have read the article closely and represent its argument well. will not only accurately and objectively report the argument, but will focus on showing the article’s thesis and demonstrating how the main ideas support the thesis.

- will report main ideas, omitting details.

- will rely mainly on effective paraphrasing but will quote key words, phrases and/or sentences effectively.

- will contain frequent and varied author tags.

- will contain no misreading.

- will be clear and readable without distracting grammar, punctuation or spelling errors.

A “B” (good) summary (80% +):

- will also show that you have read the article closely and represent its argument well.

- will report the thesis and reasons of the argument but may have one of the following problems:

- The writer may need to organize the thesis and reasons more effectively, showing a stronger connection between the main claim and how it is supported.

- The summary may be slightly long, containing one or two unnecessary details, or language that is not concise. Or, the summary may be slightly short, omitting one supporting idea.

- The summary may need more work on balancing quoting and paraphrasing and/or attributing information. However, it will still have effective paraphrasing.

- The writer may need to work on communicating information more effectively. The summary will be generally clear and readable but may need further editing for grammatical errors.

A “C” (satisfactory) summary (70% +):

- will show the writer is learning to read closely and to summarize but has more work to do fully achieve all of the goals of the assignment.

- will be generally accurate, but may contain one or two the following problems:

- This summary may contain minor misunderstandings of the article.

- This summary may contain subjective responses to the article as well as objective information.

- This will show an effort to focus on the argument, but may get sidetracked by giving too many details.

- These summaries may need much stronger organization to show how the argument’s reasons support its thesis. They may list points, not showing a how they connect.

- These summaries may have some problems with paraphrasing, either not paraphrasing enough, not using the writer’s own language (rather than that of the text), or causing the reader to misunderstand the text.

- “C” summaries may also need more editing for readability.

A “D” (poor) summary (60% +):

- will show an attempt toward the assignment goals that has fallen short.

- will show significant problems with close reading and will not communicate effectively.

- will contain serious misunderstandings and inaccuracies.

- may not focus on reporting the argument at all but instead list information from the article.

- may have serious paraphrasing problems.

- These summaries often may need significant editing to be clear.

An “F” (failing) summary:

- ignores the assignment.

- has been plagiarized.

Suggested schedule/pacing

The academic summary should take about three weeks to account for reading the available articles as a class, discussing academic summaries and identifying main ideas and key points, MLA, and revision. As one of the assignments with a heavy emphasis on reading, it could be used in place of the summary/response or in conjunction. After reading the two rough draft summaries (and/or the literacy narrative) you should have a better idea of whether your class would benefit from more time on close and critical reading, or if you can move on to more research-focused assignments.

For students to gain more practice and feedback on summary writing, one option is to have them complete two rough draft summaries, turn them in for feedback, and then choose one that they will revise for the final draft. That process would take more advanced planning in order to account for the extra feedback.

Students’ success in this assignment relies heavily on the correct understanding and interpretation of their chosen text. Because of this, allow them and yourself enough time to draft 2 summaries that they can receive feedback on before revise for the final workshop.

Assessment notes

Since discussion of the main ideas, supporting ideas, and evidence generally takes place in class, some of the more challenging aspects of this assignment are connecting ideas. Writers sometimes assume that their audience understands ideas the same way that they do; it’s a logical temptation, since their peers in workshop have read the same articles. Lack of transition phrases or other indicators of the connection between ideas can show that while writers understood distinct facts or concepts, they may not have been able to understand how those were related to the bigger picture.

Writers who are able to not only accurately describe the article, but can also demonstrate how the main idea and key points are related to one another, are typically more successful in completing this assignment.

3

Academic Summary & Response

Overview

The summary/response builds off of the summary by asking you to reflect on how the text connects to your experiences and knowledge. Where an academic summary restricts you from including your reaction or opinions of what the author said, this assignment will allow you to include your own voice in the conversation. In addition to understanding the full scope of an article, you’ll need to distinguish between types of ideas, such as the difference between a fact and an opinion. Then you’ll work on developing your ideas by providing evidence from your own experience or prior knowledge.

Course Objectives

Assignment Sheet

Summarizing a Text

Responding to a Text

Revision & Workshop

Assignment Rubric

Suggested Pacing & Scheduling (for instructors)

Assessment Notes (for instructors)

Course Objectives

This assignment meets the following CO1 course objectives:

- Develop rhetorical knowledge

- Develop experience in writing

- Develop critical and creative thinking

- Use sources and evidence

Module Objectives

During the process of completing this assignment, writers will:

- Recognize the structure of a text, including main and supporting ideas

- Paraphrase outside sources effectively and appropriately

- Demonstrate close and critical reading skills

- Summarize a source for an audience who is unfamiliar with it

- Reflect on personal experience as a source of support for response

Assignment sheet

Academic Summary & Response Assignment

Overview:

Showing that you understand the conversation around you is an important aspect of academic conversation. In this assignment, after summarizing a source you will add your own voice and consider how your experience contributes to your understanding of what you’ve read. This is an important aspect of academic discourse as you begin to add your own thoughts to the conversation.

Purpose:

In this assignment, you will:

- demonstrate your critical reading skills by:

- summarizing what a speaker says and then thoroughly

- reflecting on the points the author makes.

Audience:

For this assignment you should imagine your audience to be an academic audience who has not read the text you are writing about. Your readers will want to understand the thesis/argument and main ideas as well as what you think about the text. Your readers will need to easily know which ideas are the speakers and which are yours through your author tags and citation.

Readings:

- Please see your instructor for a choice of readings for this assignment.

Requirements:

You must show a thorough and accurate understanding of your chosen text and use your personal experience and critical thinking skills to explain to what extent you agree, disagree, reflect on, and/or question the speaker’s points.

- Show your ability to logically connect your ideas to the text, with sufficient development for your reader to fully understand your position.

- This paper must be double-spaced, typed in size 12, Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins

- You must use paraphrases, direct quotes, and attribution to show which ideas are not your own. This will follow standard MLA conventions, including the author(s) last name and page number for in-text citations, and a full MLA citation in the Works Cited page.

- Your essay must be between 900-1,000 words.

Use the following questions to brainstorm ideas for your body/reflection paragraphs.

1. What new ideas has this text given you? Why is this idea insightful to you? How might you apply it?

2. What did you agree with in this text? Have you had experiences that confirm what the author is saying?

3. Where do you disagree with this author? Why do you disagree? What experiences have you had that contradict what the writer says?

4. What points has the writer omitted? (What else could be discussed?) Why do you think the writer omitted them? Why do you think that these ideas should have been addressed?

Week 1: Summarizing a Text

INSTRUCTORS: Please see the scheduling and pacing notes at the end.

Week 2: Responding to a Text

Responding to a text is a crucial part of the academic conversation. Now that you’ve read and chosen an article, it’s time to start organizing your thoughts about and reactions to what the author said. But how do you know what’s an appropriate reaction in an academic context? Are you allowed to disagree with an expert? What if you learned something new and aren’t sure what you think about it yet? This week, we’ll talk about how you can thoughtfully respond to an author’s ideas and join a written conversation.

Types of Ideas

As you read, make notes, and summarize the article you’ve chosen, you’ll undoubtedly have immediate reactions. Perhaps you are nodding along vigorously or frowning in confusion. Taking those reactions and putting them into a piece of academic writing can be challenging because our reactions are personal, based on our history, culture, opinions, and prior knowledge of the topic. However, an academic audience will expect you to have good reasons for why you responded to a text in different ways.

In order to better understand your own reactions, we should first identify the types of ideas you’ll encounter. Here are some types of ideas you are probably familiar with:

- Fact: an observable, verifiable idea or phenomenon

- Opinion: a judgement based on fact

- Belief: a conviction or judgement based on culture or values

- Prejudice: an opinion (judgement) based on logical fallacies, incorrect, or insufficient information

So how can we respond to those ideas? From the assignment sheet, you have four options:

- Agreement. Did the author write a convincing argument? Were their claims solid, and supported by credible evidence?

- Disagreement. Do you have personal experiences, opinions, or knowledge that make you come to different conclusions than the author? Do your opinions about the same facts differ?

- Reflection. Did the author teach you something new? Perhaps they made you look at something familiar in a different way.

- Note omissions. If you have a lot of experience or prior knowledge on the topic of the article, you may be able to identify important points that the author didn’t include in their article.

The next step is putting these together. Can you agree with a fact? What if you realize you’re agreeing with a prejudice? These are some important questions to consider because they may or may not be logical reactions to discuss and develop in your paper. Your audience will also wonder why you are reacting in those ways, so it’s important to be able to explain what knowledge, experience, or values that led you to that reaction.

Check-in

1. Make a list of the main idea and key points you described in your academic summary. For each one, decide what type of idea it is (fact, opinion, belief, or prejudice).

2. For each idea, what was your response? Did you agree, disagree, reflect, or notice an omission?

3. Are your reactions appropriate for the idea type? Make note of which ideas and reactions you’d like to explore for the body paragraphs of your summary/response.

Developing Your Response

Once you know what ideas you will respond to and how, the next step is to explain why you had that reaction. This reaction is personal to you, which means you will not need to use any outside sources to justify your response. Instead, you’ll use your personal experience, values, or knowledge to help explain your reaction to different ideas in the article.

Each body paragraph should be structured similarly so that your audience knows what you are responding to, how you are responding to it, and why.

- Paraphrase the idea you are responding to. This could be the main idea or one of the key points. Because you’ve already summarized the article, this paraphrase should only be 1-2 sentences. Remember that the purpose of your body paragraphs is to respond.

- Respond by telling the audience if you agree, disagree, are reflecting in a specific way, or noticed an omission. Make sure that your response is appropriate for the type of idea you have paraphrased.

- Develop your response by including evidence from your personal experience, values, or knowledge to tell your audience why you had that response. You can refer to the article again throughout your development. Don’t get off track! If you are agreeing with an idea, the entire paragraph should be about why you agree. If you are reflecting on an idea, the entire paragraph should be reflection on that idea.

Read the following sample response paragraph, then answer the questions below.

Bostock makes a point that made me think a lot about my own family experience. One of her key points is that social media helps families communicate, especially if they live far apart (Bostock 23).  Having lived in Colorado my entire life I only knew of the family that lived nearby. When I traveled to meet more family that I realized blood connects me far further than what I knew. I met so many family members that my head hurts trying to remember them all. I started to use social media more frequently and I started recognizing names and faces in the suggested friends list on Facebook. It was truly an amazing feeling, but then something  fantastic happened. A page was formed though my grandfather’s side of the family . On this page, family members were posting great-grandparents and uncles and aunties that passed away. They shared the lives of their loved ones with the rest of the family. It was a chance to acknowledge previous roots. Because of this information, I got to see my heritage and where I came from, what made me, me. Like one of the positive aspects that Bostock mentions, social media allows me to connect with those that are alive that are scattered throughout the United States, but it also allows me to dig deep into my roots.

1. Bostock says that social media is positive because it helps family connect; what kind of idea is this?

2. What kind of response did the writer have to this idea?

3. How did the writer develop their response? What kind of “evidence” did they use?

Contrast the previous paragraph with the following. What suggestions would you give this writer during peer workshop?

I  agree that the use of social media makes it easier for people to seek like-minded peers and anyone they want to have connection with which is impossible in reality. For instance, we are capable to join various online communities under the guidance of common interests rather than just gathering together according to family or geographical limitations. We can even talk to the big stars and gain response from them timely on the social media in recent years. It can not be imagined before the emergence of social media. Moreover, the author emphasizes that social media didn’t replace face-to-face interaction, but instead, strengthened its breadth and depth to a large extent. For those who are active in real social activities, social media increases the convenience of interaction. And for the group who probably feel awkward in face of offline communication, social media provides an open, comfort, reliable, and alive channel for socialization. Thus, the unmet needs of these people are satisfied and they are not the minority in the masses.

Week 3: Revision & Workshop

Transition phrases are an important part of connecting your ideas and quickly, concisely telling your audience how different ideas are related to one another. Some ways that ideas may relate to one another include:

- Complementary. Usually, key points are complementary, meaning that they work together to prove or explain the same claim. In this case, the ideas work together to reinforce the author’s main idea.

- Contrasting. Ideas can contrast with one another, meaning that they may show different sides of the same issue. For example, the author may discuss the impact of a problem on different populations, or the author may talk about how the law is viewed from the perspective of a police officer, a lawyer, and a judge. These ideas may agree or disagree with one another; contrasting ideas generally help readers understand multiple perspectives.

- Contradicting. The final option is that the authors or research may come to different conclusions or prove one another wrong. In that case, the author may be trying to show how complex an issue or event is.

There are two main places where you might use transition phrases to tell the audience if ideas are complementary, contrasting, or contradicting in multiple places in your paper: within paragraphs and between paragraphs. In your summary paragraph, you may want to use transition phrases to show how the author’s ideas are related to one another. In your body paragraphs, you may want to use transition phrases to show the similarities or differences in your responses.

In addition to the above relationships, transition phrases can also show time, cause and effect, emphasis, and sequence.  Here are a few examples of transition phrases you could use in your writing.

However

Therefore

Despite

In addition

In conclusion

Supporting

Because

Then

Afterward

Indeed

Subsequently

Currently

For example

Nevertheless

Earlier

On the other hand

Thus

But

Return to the sample paragraphs above:

1. What transition phrases did the writers use?

2. How did those phrases help the reader understand how the ideas were connected?

3. Are there any other transition phrases you would add to the chart above?

Peer Workshop

Read your partner’s paper once through before making annotations or answering questions. As always, focus on whether or not your partner is achieving the purpose of the assignment before referring to grammar. And remember: YES/NO answers are NOT as helpful as EXPLANATION. Take direct quotes from your partner’s paper or point out specific paragraphs in your response. This will help your peers know exactly where they need to focus their revision.

Introduction/summary:

1. Does the introduction explain the title of the text , where the text was published , who wrote it, and when it was published? What could be improved (i.e. transitions, style, organization)?

2. Does the introduction summarize the article? Does it clearly explain the thesis of the article and then show the key points? Explain what the writer could do to improve.

3. Does the introduction contain a thesis statement for the response that is a clear essay map with main points the author agrees/disagrees with? (Example: Although I think some of Carey’s ideas are helpful, I do not agree that changing study locations is beneficial). Are these points clear? Could they be clearer? Explain what the writer could do to improve.

Body paragraphs/response: for each body paragraph, answer the following questions.

1. Does the paragraph clearly refer to the article using a paraphrased main idea and quoted or paraphrased evidence for support? List the ideas that your partner is responding to:

2. Is the description of what the article says accurate and thorough ? Give suggestions for any clarifications or improvement.

3. Does the writer clearly explain whether they agree, disagree, gained insight, or found an omission ?

4. Is their description of what they think logical? Why or why not? (Think about facts, opinions, prejudices, and beliefs.)

5. Does the writer explain the response with reasons and evidence from personal experience, their values, or prior knowledge? Could this be explained more?

6. Does the writer conclude the paragraph with a transition, referring back to the article?

What are your two main suggestions for revision?

What are two strengths of this summary/response?

Assignment Rubric

The following criteria define an “A” (excellent) response (90% +):

Understanding the text (close reading): Your essay convinces the reader that you have read the text closely and understand its purpose. The summary accurately represents the author’s central claim and key supporting points. In the body paragraphs you clearly and accurate ly show what the writer says be fore you respond with your own ideas.

Critical thinking (response): You critically respond to the writer’s ideas, connecting them to your own experience. You share a range of valid opinions (e.g. agreement, disagreement, new insigh ts, questions) about the ideas presented in the text and discuss multiple points. The ideas are logical and clearly connected to the article.

Development (use of examples): The response provides appropriate examples from the text to show the original writ er’s ideas. You describe your response fully and provide examples from your personal experience to support your opinions and connection to the text.

Organization: The essay is well organized, connected and easy to follow. The introduction includes a clear thesis statement and essay map and body paragraphs focus on just one idea at a time. Ideas within body paragraphs are organized and connected well, using topic sentences and transitions to introduce and connect the ideas. The essay flows well from one poi nt to the next.

Quotes and paraphrases: The essay contains both paraphrases and quotations from the article. The paraphrased and quoted passages are chosen appropriately and integrated effectively.

Conventions and style: You have followed MLA conventions and made appropriate choices for an academic essay. The essay is carefully proofread and edited for grammar and punctuation errors.

The following criteria define a “B” or “C” (satisfactory) response (70 – 89%):

Understanding the text (close reading ): Close reading of the text is evident. You understand the text and its purpose, but the summary could be more complete to represent the author’s central claim and supporting points. The body paragraphs could show a stronger understanding of what the text said ab out each idea but the descriptions are accurate.

Critical thinking (response ): You critically respond to some of the writer’s ideas, connecting them to your own experience. The range or number of opinions you share ma y be limited and or could be im proved to show stronger critical thinking skills. Some of the ideas may not be logical or may not seem to connect to the article.

Development (use of examples ): The response provides some appropriate examples from the text to show the original writer’s ideas, bu t more may be needed. You could also better support your opinions by providing more personal experience and connection to the text.

Organization : The essay is generally organized well, but some improvements could be made. The es say map could more accurat ely introduce the organization of the ideas. Connections between ideas could be clearer. More than one idea may be present in some paragraphs. The essay could flow better from one point to the next.

Quotes and paraphrases : Paraphrasing is generally used a ppropriately, but some could be improved (i.e. they may be too close to the original or inaccurately represent the idea). Some quotes could be in tegrated more effectively.

Conventions and style : While the essay generally follows MLA conventions, it would benefit from more careful proofreading and editing for grammar and punctuation errors.

The following criteria define a “D” or “F” (unsatisfactory) response (0 – 69%):

Understanding the text (close reading ): Close reading is not apparent. The summary is mini mal, inaccurate or missing. In the body paragraphs the descriptions of what the text said are minimal, inaccurate or missing. Your essay does not show a complete understanding of the article.

Critical thinking (response ): You have not critically responded to the writer’s ideas. The paper focuses on the writer’s i deas, not your response to them, o r your response does not fully relate to the writer’s points.

Development (use of examples ): This essay is not effectively developed. T he response does not includ e ap propriate examples either from the text or personal experience.

Organization: The essay is poorly organized. There is no clear essay map and ideas are not presented clearly. The same ideas may be presented several times in the paper. Or, paragraphs ma y often contain more than one idea.

Quotes and paraphrases : Paraphrasing and quotation may be missing. Most paraphrasing may be inaccurate or too close to the original and quotes may be in inappropriate or integrated poorly.

Conventions and style : The do cument is difficult to read due to mechanical errors. Attention to grammatical or MLA conventions is needed to make the writing clearer.

Suggested schedule/pacing

There are two approaches to the first week of this assignment:

1. Copy content from the summary assignment if that was not taught, or

2. Rely on the students to review the summary concepts together.

In the first scenario, you can copy and paste content from the Summary module to cover during week one. Because that might be overwhelming to cover in one week, you may consider extending this assignment to cover four weeks rather than three.

In the second scenario, use the first week as an opportunity for students to reflect on what they learned in the last unit, their strengths, and what they could do better for this assignment. You could have them review topics in small groups and then split them into different groups to teach the material to one another again; you could also rely more on students to describe the main ideas and key points in the articles you’ve selected for this assignment. This option has proven effective in the past.

A final option for the entire module would be to use the same articles from the previous assignment, essentially splitting this paper into two modules where the focus in the first portion is the summary and the focus in the second portion is the response. These choices will depend on your student population and their facility in reading the articles you’ve chosen.

Assessment notes

Writers tend to restrict themselves to thinking only about the main idea, which can make their response feel repetitive or vague. Identifying the supporting ideas or key points as valid ways in which they can respond to the text may help them to practice more critical thinking in their response.

When responding to an article, students can sometimes have difficulty distinguishing between distinct ideas in a text. For example, they may try to respond to the main idea in multiple ways, rather than delving into some of the supporting points. On the other end of the spectrum, they may find themselves stuck in response to details, rather than the consequences and purpose of those details. Spending time discussing the difference between facts, opinions, and prejudice is well worth your time. Those distinctions can help students avoid the pitfalls of agreeing with a fact or failing to recognize a prejudice (for example), which would then lead to failure to develop the paper.

Paragraph focus and cohesion is a big aspect of this assignment. While this isn’t a research paper, their body paragraphs should follow a familiar structure: claim from the text, their response to the claim, followed by evidence from their own experience and/or previous knowledge that supports their response. Stronger writers are able to distinguish between the ideas in the article, how those ideas are related, and clearly identify a response with reasoning.

4

Research Report

Overview

This three-week unit will lead you through specific steps of the research process so you can investigate and discover more about an issue. With your classmates, you’ll practice this process in a purposeful way that will help you be focused and open-minded. This unit is just about the research: focus on your sources first, and resist the urge to take a stance.   In the end, you’ll be ready to move onto other argumentative projects, so hold that thought.

Course Objectives
Assignment Sheet
Research-Based Inquiry
Evaluating Sources
Analyzing and Applying Research
Workshop & Revision
Assignment Rubric
Suggested Schedule (for instructors)
Assessment Notes (for instructors)

Course objectives

This assignment meets the following CO1 course objectives:

- Use sources and evidence

- Develop rhetorical knowledge

- Develop application of composing conventions

- Develop application of composing conventions

Module objectives

During the process of completing this assignment, writers will:

- Select appropriate evidence and consider its relevance

- Read, annotate, and analyze texts in at least one genre of academic discourse

- Use appropriate vocabulary, format, and documentation

- Apply formal conventions of writing, including organization, content, presentation, formatting, and stylistic choices, in an annotated bibliography

Assignment Sheet

Research Report

Research can take many forms in academic writing. The purpose, however, remains the same: to gather sources, summarize, and evaluate them. These notes are a tool for individual researchers to keep track of their own research and thinking; however, when shared within a writing community, it becomes valuable tool for many researchers and allows researchers to more critically approach sources.

Purpose:

This project focuses on investigating an issue, continuing your ability to summarize sources and analyze their credibility and relevance. You will choose an issue within the guidelines of the course theme that you are most interested in researching, pursue an individual inquiry question, and explore the research that begins to answer your question.

Audience

For this assignment, your primary audience will be yourself. You’re creating a resource, a tool, for your future self. This assignment will eventually be useful to make an argument, though your instructor and your classmates will also benefit from and view your work.

Requirements

Research can take many forms, and this assignment will focus on your process as you explore, collect, and evaluate sources while remaining neutral. Collecting information from different perspectives is crucial to a thorough investigation, so one source will be a scholarly source and the other will be a popular source. This assignment will consist of three sections:

- Introduction: In around one paragraph (4-6 sentences), describe your research process, addressing:

- Why did you select this issue?

- What did you know about the issue before you started your research? What personal experience (if any) do you have with the topic or issue?

- Present your inquiry question in the form of a question.

- Research: For each source, introduce the source with a complete and accurate citation in MLA. Follow the citation by presenting:

- Article Thesis: Explain the main idea of the text, identifying the purpose and audience.

- Key points: Practice summary by identifying key points of the text, using at least one quote to capture the main ideas. Pay close attention to author tags and in-text citation.

- Evaluate: Explain what makes the source trustworthy, as well as why you may be skeptical about the source.

- Discussion of Significance: Review why your research is relevant to your inquiry by showing how it answers the research question. In a few paragraphs, discuss:

- How are the articles similar? In what ways do they work together?

- In what ways are the articles opposing? What discrepancies did you find in your research? Where do these disagreements come from? How can they be explained or resolved?

- What information is missing? How can you better respond to your inquiry question to provide a more complete answer?

- Why is this research important in the discussion about your issue? How could these sources contribute to an argument (e.g. present one position, present multiple sides of an argument, give background information, motivate and encourage action, etc.)?

Formatting:

- Reports should be between 750-1,000 words (around 3-4 pages), following the prompts for length within each section.

- Your tone and voice should be appropriate for an academic audience. Your writing should be carefully proofread and grammatically correct.

- Your work must be typed in size 12, Times New Roman font and double spaced, 1” margins, following MLA requirements.

Week 1: Research-Based Inquiry

Research begins with a question you want to answer. In academia, this process is generally referred to as inquiry  and  invite s  a range of answers and perspectives. These points of view  are illustrated in  a variety of sources , which can be identified as either scholarly or popular. This week, we’ll navigate the research process  and your instructor will place you in a group based on your interest .

Research and Inquiry

research: to collect and study information to draw conclusions

We perform research every day, which we can define as collecting information to study and draw conclusions. Whether we’re comparing prices for a big purchase, finding a new restaurant to try, or looking up the bus route to a friend’s house, each of these processes starts with a question and the need for a specific solution. In academia, this process is a little more developed. First, we’ll start with inquiry. We can define inquiry as an investigation to ask narrow and refined questions to develop knowledge and ideas about an issue. This process invites a complicated range of answers and perspectives, and the goal is to remain neutral and discover conflicts, rather than finding a quick answer and moving on. By starting with a strong, open-ended inquiry question, you can help ensure that your research will be well-rounded and complete.

inquiry: an investigation to ask narrow and refined questions to help develop knowledge and ideas about an issue

As you begin your inquiry, you have to first decide what you’ll investigate. Your class may have a theme or specific area of focus, so within those limitations, you can identify a topic, or a broad category of interest. Generally, these are big, neutral categories like “education” or “athletics.” They begin to define what you’re interested in. Within a topic, you can begin to define issues, which may be more controversial or have multiple sides. For example, within education, issues include the cost of college education, or the use of standardized tests in K-12. Each of these spark specific discussions with evidence for and against that make these issues complicated and engaging.

Recency and Relevance

When thinking about issues, the relevance and recency of the issue is also important. For example, standardized tests may have been really important for you to get to college, but they aren’t used as often during college courses. This means that standardized tests may be less relevant to college students; however, if you’re studying education or have children who are taking these tests, then this issue is likely to be more relevant to you!

With recency, you should consider timing. Some issues have been resolved or were more popular a decade ago. Other issues might be so new that we haven’t had time to study them yet. While you don’t have to choose something from the front page of the newspaper, considering the timeline of your issue will help you find a more engaging issue.

Checking In: Questions and Activities

Answering the questions below will help you develop and focus the Introduction of your project, exploring your interests, why this issue is important, and how to transition from your brainstorming, to a topic, and then to your specific issue.

1. Brainstorm some topics and issues you may be interested in researching. It will be helpful to find a balance of an issue that concerns you and that you want to learn more about, but not something you feel strongly about or have argued about before. If you feel as if you already have all the answers, you won’t be able to complete this process and it makes your job of representing all the sides much harder! The issue you choose must also be relevant so that you can find appropriate research to help your investigation. Consider:

- RELEVANCE: Who does this issue affect? Who cares about this, and in what ways is this issue still affecting people ? Does the issue have multiple perspectives? Would people take different positions on this?

- RECENCY: Has this situation changed recently? Did we recently learn something new? Have people changed their minds?

Week 2: Evaluating Sources

Now that we’re familiar with the research process, it’s time to dig in and find some sources. Using the reading skills we’ve been building this semester, you’ll review and select the best sources to answer your research question. Remember, we don’t know much yet, so maintain a neutral stance throughout your investigation!

Conducting Research

Additionally, the research process is complicated, so you may still need to make adjustments to your issue — what if you can’t find enough information, or your idea is still too broad or narrow? Through the research process, you’ll be able to decide, with the help of your classmates, instructor, and university librarians, you can adjust your issue to make sure you can find enough evidence to complete your investigation.

During your research, you’ll need to represent multiple points of view by reviewing and citing a variety of sources. Broadly speaking, sources can be categorized as popular or scholarly.

Popular Sources

We interact with popular sources every day. The articles linked in your social media feeds, the magazines at the grocery store checkout, and the evening news are all considered popular sources. To identify a popular source, these are some common, rhetorical characteristics:

- Author: journalists and editors

- Audience: written for large, general groups of people; not always specified

- Texts: magazines, newspapers, many books

- Include photos, are shorter in length, more easily understood, often persuasive

Popular sources are great tools to learn about a topic quickly and are published daily. This means you can find information on brand new topics and current events, and there will be a variety of publications on the topic that draw varying or contradictory conclusions. This helps diversify your research and learn more very quickly.

However, because these sources are written so quickly, may be based on opinion, and sold or make profits from clicks and views, they’re not as trustworthy. Writers who produce popular sources are often not specialists or authorities in the field; instead, they report on and make sense of daily events, significant studies from experts, or try to persuade readers to adopt their points of view.

Scholarly Sources

To access scholarly sources — also known as peer-reviewed or refereed sources, or even journals — you’ll likely need to use your university library. These journals typically require subscriptions and special access, which universities typically pay for with your student fees. Once you’ve accessed your university’s subscriptions, you’ll have access to hundreds, if not thousands, of journals on specific topics within your major and everything else. You can likely tell by looking that you’re reviewing a peer-reviewed source from these rhetorical characteristics:

- Author: often multiple authors, hold advanced degrees, lists what university the author works with

- Audience: written for others in this specific field, readers need understanding of the jargon, or specialized vocabulary

- Include long reference lists at the end, often uses tables and graphs to communicate data, longer texts with sections such as: abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion

These texts are much more complicated and sophisticated, so be patient as you read. A good first step — before you try to read the entire text! — is to focus on the first paragraph, which may be titled as the abstract. This paragraph summarizes the entire article, explaining the end result. Unlike popular sources that may try to keep you guessing, the purpose of scholarly sources is to present the findings. If you read the abstract and the article seems like a good fit for your research, download or save it to read more closely. If not, try your search again! Once you have a few or several scholarly texts that seem like a good fit and you’ve evaluated their credibility (explained below), prioritize your reading and start with the text that’s the best fit for your research question. Throughout the sections of scholarly texts, the most relevant information will come from the Discussion and Conclusion sections. While the other sections provide context and specific details on how the research was completed, you’ll focus most closely on the Discussion and Conclusion, where the authors will explain their significant findings and why this new information is so important.

If you’re having trouble finding appropriate sources, this may mean that you need to adjust your topic. You may have too narrow of a search. Or, you may just need to revise your search terms. Unlike Google, where you can type in a complete question and find answers, scholarly search engines are very particular about your searches. Consider your key words again, consult your instructor and librarian for assistance, and make adjustments as needed.

Evaluating Sources

Once you have some sources, it will help to verify their credibility. This will save you time and help make sure you’re using the most trustworthy and relevant information in your research. When deciding to use a source, there are some specific characteristics that we can review and evaluate to prove whether or not the source is ultimately trustworthy:

- Author: What experience (time working in the field, lived experience, etc.) or expertise (degrees, awards, other publications, etc.) does the author have?

- Evidence: Where does information in the text come from? Are other sources cited?

- Bias: Is the author objective? Do they have something to gain or lose in the issue? Do they represent and explain both their point of view and others’?

- Timeliness: Is the article recent and relevant? Are the sources recent and relevant?

If your source passes  all or most of these checks, you likely have a credible source! It’s okay to have some questions and to challenge the information, but if your source fails more than one of these tests, you’ll likely want a different, more credible and reliable source. This skepticism will improve your research and get you thinking critically about where the information comes from, who’s behind it all, and why they’re writing.

This assignment requires one popular source and one scholarly source, so keep this in mind as you evaluate and critique your sources. Make sure that they work together well, focusing on the same issue, and are credible and reliable.

Research Rough Drafts

This week, you’ll submit your Introduction and at least one Research entry for your instructor’s review. You should have drafts of these pieces so far, and the feedback you will receive will help with your revisions, as well as prepare you for the Discussion section.

Review the prompts for each section and review your work to make sure you answer each question thoroughly.

- Introduction: In one complete paragraph (4-6 sentences), explain:

- Why did you select this issue?

- What did you know about the issue before you started your research? What personal experience (if any) do you have with the topic or issue?

- Present your inquiry question in the form of a question.

- Research: These entries will be almost a page long, including the citation, thesis, key points, and evaluation. Below, the prompt and additional notes are included to help you complete each section for at least one source. Remember, both the popular and scholarly sections will be around the same length.

- MLA Citation: Introduce the source with a complete and accurate citation in MLA. Use the library’s resources or consult Purdue OWL for information on citation.

- Article Thesis (1-2 sentences): Explain the main idea of the text, identifying the purpose and audience.

- Key Points (3-4 sentences): Practice summary by identifying key points of the text, using at least one quote to capture the main ideas. Pay close attention to author tags and in-text citation.

- Evaluate (2-3 sentences): Explain what makes the source trustworthy, as well as why you may be skeptical about the source. If you’re including the source, you should ultimately trust the information and include more reasons to  believe the text than to criticize it.

Checking In: Questions and Activities

- Once you have your sources, you’ll be able to complete the Research section of this project. These each have multiple pieces, including the MLA citation, summary (thesis and key points), and evaluation. Review the summary units to make sure you can write a strong key point summary to represent your research clearly and fairly in the Research section.

Week 3: Analyzing and Applying Research

Your research is coming together! This week, you’ll continue to closely and critically read your sources as you complete your draft. This week focuses on the Discussion. Similar to your scholarly sources, this is the chance for you to make sense of what your research is saying. It’s time to answer the research question.

Analyzing Research

So far, you’ve drafted the Introduction to your research, and completed the Research section to report on what your sources say and why they’re trustworthy. Now, you can analyze these ideas to answer your research question. An important part of research is to make connections between your sources, so consider how your sources agree and disagree with each other. If there are still questions about the issue, what information is missing? Asking all of these questions will help you draw conclusions from the two sources you have, as well as continue planning your research. Just like your scholarly articles that outline the next steps of the research process, you want to think ahead about what comes next so you can strengthen your ideas and anticipate the arguments on this issue.

This is your chance to make sense of your sources and show why they’ll be important for your group to use. Your Research section began to summarize and evaluate sources, and now you can illustrate why these resources matter. You’ve done all the background work you can do, and it’s time to take the last step of the Conversation Model and make a contribution, based on the information you’ve found.

[CONVERSATION MODEL GRAPHIC]

Throughout this project, you’ve listened in the Introduction by checking in with yourself and explaining how you arrived at your issue. Your Research forced you to ask questions and learn more about the issue, exploring multiple angles and forms of evidence. Now, as you draft the Discussion, you get to make a contribution by showing the connections and creating something new out of the evidence you’ve accumulated. By completing this portion and outlining the answer to your inquiry question, you’ve completed the research cycle.

Peer Review

At the top of your draft, identify two concerns you have about your work. What would you like your peers to pay attention to as they review your work? To complete this peer review, respond to each prompt fully while making comments on your peer’s draft.

- Introduction:

- Explain why your peer is interested in the issue

- Identify your peer’s previous knowledge or experience with the issue

- Restate the research question

- Does the question match the group’s goals for the project?

- Research: Fill in the blanks for the rhetorical information and continue providing feedback for the other prompts.

- Author:

- Genre (text):

- Purpose (NOT “to inform”):

- Audience:

- 2-3 key points: Do you have a clear sense of what this article is about?

- Key points are relevant to the research question

- Evaluation of credibility: Is the source trustworthy?

- Discussion:

- The sources are compared to show similarities

- The sources are contrasted to show differences

- Next steps of research are explained

- Importance of the issue is reviewed, showing why this must continue to be researched

- Overall: What additional comments do you have for your peer? Summarize their current strengths and the areas they should continue to focus on most

Research Assignment Rubric

An “A” (excellent) research project (90% +):

- The sources are highly relevant and recent (no older than 5 years), providing a particular perspective on the issue you are researching and providing substantial evidence that helps answer your inquiry question. Research contributes to the group understanding of the issue fully.

- The introduction contextualizes the project and identifies the personal connection to the issue. A developed, open-ended research question guides the project and reflects the group’s goals. The conclusion provides a strong answer or perspective on the research question including the significance of the findings. Different perspectives are accounted for and missing information is acknowledged.

- The research accurately and objectively summarizes the source. Complete rhetorical information and relevant key points are presented. The research effectively evaluates the source’s credibility, authority

- Proper attribution or in-text citations are used. A balance of paraphrasing and carefully chosen direct quotations is also present, including page numbers when available. Quotes are smoothly incorporated

- will be clear and readable without distracting grammar, punctuation or spelling errors.

A “B” (good) research project (80% +):

- Will accomplish the goals of the assignment but may have one or two of the following issues:

- The sources may not meet requirements, and may be of questionable quality, providing limited perspectives on the issue you are researching. The article may lack development or substantial evidence. Research is useful to others but may be repetitive or limited in places.

- The introduction may be missing information to provide context. The connection or interest to the issue could be further explained. The research question is not clearly connected to the group or research. The discussion may summarize the research rather than explain the significance of the findings, leaving questions about the research or conclusion. The importance of the issue may be unclear or different perspectives are not accounted for

- The summary desires development, and may only rely on a single section of the source. Rhetorical information may be missing, or key points are not clearly communicated. Summary may contain some details or irrelevant information. The evaluation may be underdeveloped, reviewing too few reasons to prove credibility. Or, the evaluation may not develop an explanation to show the credibility effectively.

- Attribution or in-text citation may need to be used more frequently to keep ideas accounted for. Summary and evaluative work could better balance quotes and paraphrases or quotes could be better chosen or more smoothly incorporated. Page numbers may be missing in places

- The writer may need to work on communicating information more effectively. The sections will be generally clear and readable but may need further editing for grammatical errors.

A “C” (satisfactory) research project (70% +):

- Will discuss literacy for an academic audience with examples and explanation of significance but may have more than two of the following issues:

- Sources don’t meet requirements or lack substantial evidence. Research is repetitive or limited.

- The introduction does not provide context for the reader or is missing an inquiry question. The discussion is lacking because it does not explain the significance of the findings. The importance of the issue or an answer is not offered.

- The research section provides a vague or overly detailed summary. Rhetorical information is missing and does not capture the content of the source accurately. The evaluation does not focus on credibility. Opinion is included.

- Attribution is missing or unclear in places. Quoting and paraphrasing are incorrectly done or are missing context. Page numbers are not included.

- “C” work may also need more editing for readability.

A “D” (poor) research project (60% +):

- Will show an attempt toward the assignment goals that has fallen short.

- The research is not high quality. It may be a tertiary source (e.g. an encyclopedia entry) rather than a secondary or primary source that illuminates a particular perspective or argument on the issue. The source may provide little evidence or have a disproportionate image to text ratio. Research does not contribute to the group’s understanding of the issue.

- The introduction does not offer context for the issue, missing personal background on the issue or research process. The discussion may be inadequate to provide information about the inquiry question or perspectives addressed throughout the articles. The research question is not answered. The future of the research project is not addressed. The issue is not significant or the importance is not explained.

- Summary is not developed, or provides too many details to be useful in future research. The evaluation does not prove the source’s credibility, either leaving out an explanation or providing irrelevant reasons for credibility

- Attribution is weak because it is unclear which ideas are yours and which are the authors. Quotes are ineffectively chosen or inappropriate for the scope of the assignment (e.g. too long). Quotes may be “free floating” without proper contextualizing. Page numbers are not included.

An “F” (failing) summary:

- ignores the assignment.

- has been plagiarized.

Checking In: Questions and Activities

1. The assignment sheet offers several prompts for this section of the assignment. Take some time to brainstorm and take some notes to answer these questions. Brainstorming through each of these questions can show which areas you know a lot about already, and which sections you may need to spend more time with. If you get stuck, you also still have time to talk with your instructor or share ideas with your peers before you complete your final draft!

Suggested schedule/pacing

This module is intended to take 3 weeks and would work well after any summary assignment and before introducing argument. With rhetorical arguments focusing on sources and research, it’s necessary to introduce students to the research process first. This is the first unit where students will interact with the university’s databases, not only in this course but perhaps in their university career; the range of experience in research is therefore vast and you may benefit from class sessions in the library, or inviting librarians to your classroom as guest speakers to help with this process.

This assignment requires some guidance from the instructor, specifically if grouping students and ensuring that they have a well-designed research question to guide their investigations. This allows you to unite students with similarly themed interests and this model research question should serve as a strong example for students when conducting research in the future.

In groups, it is essential that students all select different articles. This process is designed to illustrate how this genre could be useful in other disciplines, as well as model the research process more authentically as they read and provide notes on sources for each other.

Assessment Notes

Confusion may occur with this assignment since students are not producing a traditional essay. In the past, students have had trouble understanding that the research they’re reporting on and assessing IS the final assignment.

This assignment is purposely structured to have different purposes within each section of the final assignment. The introduction is meant to allow students “to focus” their ideas, while the research section is meant for students “to report” on their sources. Lastly, the discussion section encourages them “to apply” or “to analyze” their selections, moving them toward making an informed argument.

5

Multimodal Argument

Overview

The multimodal argument will allow you to take the work you have done in previous assignments and put it to work for a specific academic audience. The writing process is one of the most important aspects of completing this assignment because you’ll need to research, read complex sources, create an argument applicable to a specific academic audience, and consider how you can use that genre most effectively. Many of these processes we do without thinking intentionally; however, just as you’ve been practicing being intentional readers, you need to be methodical, intentional writers.

INSTRUCTORS – please see the scheduling and pacing notes before beginning this assignment.

Course Objectives

Assignment Sheet

Developing Your Argument

Genre & Multimodality

Understanding Your Audience

Workshop & Revision

Assignment Rubric

Suggested Schedule (for instructors)

Assessment Notes (for instructors)

Course objectives

This assignment meets the following CO1 course objectives:

- Develop rhetorical knowledge

- Develop critical and creative thinking

- Use sources and evidence

- Develop application of composing conventions

Module objectives

During the process of completing this assignment, writers will:

- Exhibit a thorough understanding of audience, purpose, genre, and context that is responsive to the situation.

- Present a position and establish a conclusion indicated by the context

- Select appropriate evidence and consider its relevance

- Read, annotate, and analyze texts in at least one genre of academic discourse

- Use appropriate vocabulary, format, and documentation

Assignment sheet

Assignment sheet – multimodal argument – click to download a copy of this assignment

This semester, you have focused on your reading skills, your ability to convey information to an audience who is unfamiliar with that information, and some of the strategies that we use to ensure our message is understood. For this assignment, you will combine all of those skills – reading, understanding content, understanding audience – and add on by considering your audience and genre.

The final assignment can be any genre you’d like: a paper, a poster, a social media post, an advertisement, a podcast, a letter, a blog post, a song, etc.

Purpose:

In this assignment, you will:

- Research to find four academic sources that are relevant, reliable, and recent. They should be about a topic that would interest the college community;

- You will report that information to your audience using the genre of your choice;

- You will then argue that this is an exigent, relevant issue that your audience should give their time and attention.

Audience:

- Your audience for this paper is your classmates and your instructor.

- In addition, your audience is the CSU community. That could be anyone from students to instructors, administrators to facilities management, dining hall cooks and servers, athletics, TILT, or any other department on campus.

- When deciding on the genre you want to use, you must consider: who reads this genre?

- If you want to appeal to parents in the CSU community, Facebook might be a good option. To appeal to students in the CSU community, Instagram or a song or Tik Tok might be more appropriate. If you want to reach professors, you might use a letter or an article in the Collegian. These are just some examples; you are not limited to these options.

Requirements:

Sources:

- Your sources will come from your previous assignment, meaning that they will be relevant, reliable, and recent.

- You will use at least two sources from the research report that you created.

- Then, you will conduct further research to find a total of four sources to support your multimodal argument.

- At least two of your sources much be scholarly.

The argument:

- In order to successfully and effectively convince your audience of the importance of this issue and to give them a sense of its impact, you will likely need to write at least 600 words.

- You must have at least ONE multimodal element. That means you must use an image, color, sound, or another mode of communication in addition to writing.

- You can use any sort of genre you’d like: song, poem, podcast, infographic, blog post, social media post, poster, advertisement, etc.

- You DO need to use author tags to show that this information is not coming from you. However, you do NOT need to use in-text citation (because we don’t do that unless writing an academic paper!)

- You will have a separate Works Cited page.

Developing Your Argument

It’s time to think about how you can take the research you’ve done and turn it into an argument. This will require a few steps.

1. Decide which sources are the most appropriate to help you and your audience understand the topic.

2. Then, you will define your audience so that you can decide how your audience could be persuaded to care about your topic.

3. Finally, you will decide how to put your research, your knowledge about the audience, and the exigency together in a genre guided by specific expectations.

Research Focus

Focus is a word we hear a lot in writing, but it isn’t always well defined. If your composition teacher tells you that your focus is too broad or too narrow, what does that mean? Essentially, your research focus needs to be balanced; you need to have a specific context in mind, but don’t make it so specific that there is little to no information available. There are a few ways you can put boundaries around your research topic so that you aren’t trying to discuss so much information that you feel lost in front of the keyboard and that blinking cursor.

Place. Is your topic related to a specific geographical area? If you are trying to write about a topic that affects the whole world, an entire continent, or even an entire country, it might be too broad. Can you restrict your topic to how it affects people in certain regions, or contexts? For example, rather than schools, which could mean grade school, preschool, high school, and universities around the world, could you narrow your topic to American universities?

Time. Is your topic relevant now, in 2021, or was it a bigger problem in 2010? If you are researching a topic that has existed for centuries, you likely need to isolate your topic to its effects during a particular century or even decade. For example, homelessness has been a problem for a long time, but you likely don’t have the time to research the entire history of homelessness across the world.

People. Who is affected by your issue? If you can answer “everyone in the world”, you’ll need to rethink your topic. There are no issues in the world that affect everyone in the exact same way. Instead thinking about different populations of people who experience your topic in distinct ways. For example, healthcare is a popular topic. While everyone needs to think about their health, doctors, pharmacists, medical researchers, and people with chronic diseases all have different experiences with healthcare.

Cause/effect/solutions. In terms of your topic, you can categorize it into three main parts: the causes of the issue, its effects, and potential solutions (or actions people take to change the issue in some way). A topic like climate change is a good example of one where you can split the topic in this way: are you concerned about a specific effect of climate change? Or a proposed solution to one of the effects? Are you curious about some of the causes of a specific type of environmental problem?

Narrowing your research topic is a process of trial and error. Start with climate change. As a topic, it’s incredibly broad. It affects all people, has over time, around the entire world, and has hundreds of causes, effects, and solutions. Now, if we consider the criteria above – place, time, people and cause/effect/solution – we can get much closer to a realistic research topic that can be addressed in a one-semester class.

Climate change:

Place – the Pacific Ocean

Time – 2000-2021A.C.E.

People – employees at fisheries around Hawaii

Cause/effect/solution – overfishing and pollution leading to extinction or greatly reduced fish populations

By  narrowing your topic from “climate change” to “how overfishing has affected fisheries around Hawaii in the last 20 years”, your research will be much more effective, making your writing that much easier. The next step? Deciding what information you still need.

Check-in

You likely have a few sources in mind, but will need to find more. Use the following questions to help you decide what kind of sources you still need to find.

1. What have you learned about your topic so far?

2. What questions do you still have about your topic?

3. What do you think your audience will need or want to know about your topic?

4. Are there any important perspectives that your sources don’t discuss?

Find the gaps in your knowledge using the above questions. Then return to the library database to find sources that will help you answer those questions so that you can fully, effectively explain the topic and support your argument.

Developing Your Argument

Now that you have a good sense of how to focus your topic and conducted further research, it’s time to think about how you’re going to develop your argument. What is development, exactly? Think of it as making your paper longer, but without using a bunch of “fluff” or padding the assignment with unrelated information. Developing your writing requires a few different factors: understanding your audience, your topic, and your purpose.

1. What is your opinion about this topic? Why do you think this issue is important?

2. Why do you think that this issue is relevant to your audience (the CSU community)?

3. How would you describe your audience’s relationship to this issue? How are they affected by it?

4. Which sources from your research are you going to use? What did they teach you about your topic?

Check-in

- Make sure that your sources represent different perspectives. Go beyond thinking about pro/con perspectives. Instead, think about different ways in which people view and experience your topic.

- Which perspectives are represented in your sources? Are there any you should add?

- Do you fully understand how your audience is affected by the issue, or what they think about it? If not, you may find additional sources.

- Are there any other sources from the previous assignment that you think could be relevant and useful in supporting their argument?

Genre & Multimodality

Genre is an important consideration no matter what purpose your writing has. We always have to be aware of what purpose we want to achieve when choosing our genre. Many genres are familiar to us and so we don’t need to think about tone, voice, or format. However, writing in an unfamiliar genre can make us realize how many of those aspects we take for granted in communications like text messages, Snapchats, and notes we take for class.

When thinking about genre, consider:

Tone: does the audience know how the author feels about the topic, or are they supposed to be objective?

Voice: does the author use first person (“I feel…”) or do they use third person (“they think that…”)? What is appropriate for this genre?

Format: does the genre use headings, footnotes, sections, chapters, or images? Does it include greetings and closings? How strictly should we adhere to the format of the genre?

Multimodality: does the genre allow the author to use modes of communication in addition to written words, like images, song, colors, or charts?

Check-in

1. Think about the genres you write in most often. List 2-3 of them.

2. What is the tone, voice, format, and modality of that genre?

3. What is your favorite genre to read? What are the characteristics of that genre?

So How Do You Choose A Genre?

Often, the genre you use is determined by your purpose. If you want to be accepted into a university program, they likely have a strict application format. If you are applying for a job, you will have to write a cover letter. Other genres, like poetry or infographics, can be a bit more flexible in their purpose and genre expectations. However, genres all have one thing in common: each genre is designed to help the author reach specific purposes. Just as you wouldn’t write your instructor a song to ask for an extension on a paper, you probably wouldn’t write an epic poem to convince your boss that you deserve a promotion.

Think back to the previous Check-in activity. What is the purpose of the genres you use most often?

The Connection Between Genre & Audience

In addition to thinking about what purpose you want to achieve, your genre will also be influenced by your audience. After all, how can your purpose for communicating succeed if your audience never reads the genre that you write?

1. What genres does my audience usually read?

2. What genres are used to discuss my topic?

3. What genres would be effective at delivering my message?

4. What multimodal elements are available in these genres?

Multimodality

Every day, we interact with multimodal texts. We have many more ways to communicate outside of the written and spoken word. Some genres only allow written or spoken words; however, many other genres allow other modes of communication.

Mode – a method of communication

Multimodality – making use of many modes to communicate

Some common examples of modes are:

- images, color, body language, sound, music, tone, objects, clothing, charts

- Can you think of other modes?

Many academic genres rely on written text, but often, you will encounter peer-reviewed sources that use charts and graphs to communicate complex information. They serve as a quick reference, and can help the audience find and understand a large amount of data without having to read paragraphs of text explaining that data.

Read and evaluate the image below. What modalities are present? What meaning do they contribute to the image?

Image by Elnaz Asadi on Unsplash

Check-in

1. What genre are you using for the multimodal argument?

2. What modes of communication are acceptable or expected in that genre?

3. Which modes do you think you’ll use in your project?

Understanding Your Audience

Taking a stance on what you’ve learned and communicating that to an academic audience is one of the most common experiences that college students (and instructors!) share. However, the ways in which you can be rhetorically effective depend on understanding who your audience is as a cohesive group of people with shared experiences, knowledge, or opinions about your topic.

Your purpose for this assignment is to argue that your issue is relevant and exigent to your audience. There are many issues and problems happening all around the world that we should care about, so how can you make your audience understand your issue and agree that they should give it priority?

Exigency – urgent, a situation needing immediate attention or action

Here are some questions you should consider when trying to decide how and why your audience should care about your issue.

1. How are they affected by your issue? If your audience is impacted negatively or positively, that will tell you a lot about their attitude towards it. Is this something that affects their lives every day, or something that they just think about every now and then?

2. If they aren’t directly affected, then who is? For example, if your topic is online or distance learning and your audience is parents, perhaps their main connection is the impact on their school-aged children. Your audience doesn’t have to be directly impacted in negative or positive ways, but they still care about your issue for some reason.

3. What are their opinions about your topic? Understanding your audience’s opinions about your issue will help you decide how to talk about it. Remember, your purpose is NOT to persuade them to think differently about the issue; your purpose is to make them understand its exigency.

4. What do they know about it? As you’ve likely read in your sources so far this semester, authors tend to give their audience a bit of context for understanding a topic. If the audience are experts in the topic, they won’t need as much context. If the audience has never heard of the topic, then they will need a lot more context explained to them before you can convince them to care about its exigency.

5. Do they have any control over the issue? This helps you understand your audience’s stake in the issue, or what they could potentially gain or lose.

Workshop & Revision

At this point in your project, you have narrowed the focus of your topic, conducted research so that you understand the topic better, decided which genre you will use to communicate with your audience, learned about your audience and how to convince them that your topic is exigent. One of the most important parts of the writing process in a research-based project is to ensure the effective, accurate use of your outside sources. This not only includes proper attribution, but using enough evidence in relevant parts of your project.

When using your sources, consider the following questions:

Relevant: is the evidence related to the claim or point you are trying to make?

Reliable: can your audience trust the evidence?

Recent: how old is the information? Has it changed since publication?

Sufficient: is there enough proof that your claims or points can be proven true?

Read the sample argument paragraph and evaluate its use of outside sources according to the criteria above:

Internet Language has allowed for the creation and helped with the development of both pop-culture and meme-culture. Many pop-culture references and countless memes created on the digital space would not have been possible without internet language. These aspects of internet language are considered hallmarks of our current generation and are encountered almost daily (both on and off the internet). In a peer-reviewed source titled “ Tweet Me Slangs: A Study of Slanguage on Twitter ” by Robbin Anjola, the author examines the ways in which internet language has contributed to things like slang and memes, specifically on twitter. Anjola explained in the source that “internet language is incorporating slangs which may be incomprehensible without prior knowledge of their meaning irrespective of language competence during communication on and off cyberspace” (Anjola). This essentially means that in some cases references made in person originated online and in order to understand them you must understand what internet language is and how to use it. This same idea is corroborated in the article “ The Philosophy of Meme Culture ” by Ayesha Habib. The author explains that “Memes of today drip with Internet-trademarked black comedy. They’re embellished with a vernacular particular to Internet-moulded youth, making them fascinating and frustrating to older generations.” (Habib). In many cases older generations lack the knowledge to understand and analyze internet memes that have become an iconic part of our culture. This is because they do not understand the basics of internet language or the meaning behind it. Habib goes on to state that “When Gen Z memes remark ‘oof’ or ‘yikes’ to the irreversibility of the Earth’s environmental damage, or express the urge to ‘yeet into the void’ to escape the harsh realities of our times, the blasé responses can be hilarious. But they also contain a blunt and powerful kind of honesty.” (Habib). In many instances research on internet language draws the conclusion that the dialect allows for a more advanced way to communicate that can be extremely meaningful and comical at the same time. It’s likely that this will become a more common occurrence as more users begin integrating into the digital space and fully utilize the benefits of internet language. In many cases understanding internet language is the barrier that divides entire demographics of people and how we perceive/react.

Workshop

Directions

Before you begin answering questions, read through your partner’s draft once. Avoid commenting on grammar or other sentence-level issues and focus on the aspects of the text that have a larger impact on the effectiveness of their argument.

Purpose:

1. What is your partner’s argument? How do you know? Pull 2-3 examples from the text that help you understand their purpose.

Audience:

1. How has your partner appealed to their audience? Have they considered what the audience does and doesn’t find important?

2. As a member of your partner’s audience, tell them if you were convinced by their argument. What would make you more intrigued by their topic?

Sources:

1. Has your partner identified their sources with author tags? Where? Have they done so correctly?

2. Is there information that is not common knowledge, but is lacking an author tag?

Genre:

1. What genre did your partner use?

2. Is this genre appropriate for the audience and purpose? (Remember, you should think about who reads certain genres/sources.)

Multimodal elements:

1. What multimodal element(s) did your partner use?

2. What meaning do those elements add, in your opinion?

3. Do they seem appropriate for the genre, or are they out of place?

Come up with 2 things you think your partner did well.

Come up with 2 parts of the text you think your partner should revise. What are your suggestions for how to revise those aspects of their project?

Assignment Rubric

The following criteria define an “A” (excellent) multimodal argument (90% +):

Purpose and focus: Your purpose and argument are clear. You emphasize your argument in the assignment using genre-appropriate methods. Your chosen topic is specific enough to be relevant to your audience and provides you with a narrow enough focus that you avoid generalities.

Audience: You show awareness and understanding of the CSU community by considering what they do and don’t know about your issue, providing them with evidence to support your claims, and demonstrating that you understand how they are affected by the issue. You have explained complex terms or concepts.

Genre: You have chosen an appropriate genre considering your audience and purpose. You have taken advantage of the various modes that the genre typically uses. The meaning of those modes is clear and connected to your purpose.

Development: The argument provides appropriate key points to support your argument. You further develop those points by providing evidence from multiple sources and connecting your key points to one another.

Organization: The assignment is well organized, connected and easy to follow. The purpose/argument is easy to find, and distinguishable from key points. It is easy to navigate the different parts of your argument given the genre. The argument flows well from one point to the next.

Quotes and paraphrases: The assignment contains both paraphrases and quotations from your sources. The paraphrased and quoted passages are chosen appropriately and integrated effectively.

Conventions and style: You have followed MLA conventions and made appropriate choices for your genre. The assignment is carefully proofread and edited for grammar and punctuation errors. All sources are attributed accurately in the Works Cited page.

The following criteria define a “B” (good) response (80-89%):

Purpose and focus: Your purpose and argument are clear. You emphasize your argument in the assignment using genre-appropriate methods. Your chosen topic is relevant to your audience, but may be too broadly defined, or trying to address too many separate issues.

Audience: You show some awareness and understanding of the CSU community. You might forget to show that you understand specifics about the audience, such as what they do and don’t know about the issue, how they feel about it, or how they are affected by it.

Genre: You have chosen an appropriate genre considering your audience and purpose. You have taken advantage of at least one mode that the genre typically uses. The meaning of those modes might be occasionally obscured or not clearly connected to your purpose.

Development: The argument provides appropriate key points to support your argument. You further develop those points by providing evidence from multiple sources and connecting your key points to one another.

Organization: The assignment is clearly organized, and somewhat connected and easy to follow. The purpose/argument is easy to find, and distinguishable from key points. The audience might have to work a bit to understand how to navigate the different parts of your argument given the genre. The argument might not flow well from one point to the next.

Quotes and paraphrases: The assignment contains both paraphrases and quotations from your sources. The paraphrased and quoted passages are chosen appropriately and integrated effectively.

Conventions and style: You have followed MLA conventions and made appropriate choices for your genre. It is carefully proofread and edited for grammar and punctuation errors. The sources are attributed accurately in the Works Cited page.

The following criteria define a “C” (satisfactory) response (70-79%):

Purpose and focus: Your purpose and argument are not clear or are not consistently addressed.  Your chosen topic is relevant to your audience, but is too broadly defined, or trying to address too many separate issues. General statements or description of the issue is used in place of argumentation.

Audience: You show some awareness and understanding of the CSU community, but are not clearly demonstrating that you are aware of what they do and don’t know, how they feel about the issue, or how they are affected by it.

Genre: Your genre might not be appropriate considering your audience and purpose. You have used few to no multimodal elements. If different modes were used, the meaning of those modes might be occasionally obscured or not clearly connected to your purpose.

Development: The argument provides key points that are not clearly connected to your purpose or need further explanation for your audience to understand those connections. You somewhat develop those points by providing minimal evidence from multiple sources. You don’t connect key points to one another or the argument.

Organization: The argument is organized, and somewhat connected and easy to follow. The purpose/argument is easy to find if inconsistent, and it might be indistinguishable from key points. The audience might have to work a bit to understand how to navigate the different parts of your argument given the genre. The argument might not flow well from one point to the next.

Quotes and paraphrases: The argument contains few paraphrases and quotations from your sources. The paraphrased and quoted passages might be inappropriate (e.g. too long), not explained properly, or not attributed properly.

Conventions and style: You have followed MLA conventions and made appropriate choices for your genre. The essay is carefully proofread and edited for grammar and punctuation errors. There may be minor mistakes on the Works Cited page.

The following criteria define a “D” or “F” (unsatisfactory) response (0-69%):

A D or F project might have serious issues in achieving its purpose, is irrelevant and/or unaware of its audience, or is otherwise lacking in major requirements of the assignment. An F paper may also include plagiarism or improper use of outside sources.

Suggested schedule/pacing

Of all the modules in this curriculum, this largest unit is designed to be the most flexible. Instead of being organized around weeks, we have split this module into topics.

- Scheduling. You could combine this assignment with the previous one, or merge them into one extended research project. Having the Research Report and the Multimodal Argument as separate assignments still has them scaffolding off one another, as the research completed in the first project would support the argument in the second project. In this case, the Multimodal Argument would work well after the Research Report assignment if you’d like students to use the work in that project to support the argument in this one. One benefit is that writers can focus on each aspect of the research process as a discrete activity of searching for, reading, and evaluating different types of sources before moving on to using them. Assigning the Research Report before the Multimodal Argument would allow you time during this unit to focus on multimodality, genre, argumentation, and integration of outside sources.

Merging the Research Report and the Multimodal Argument is another option. In that scenario, you could have students conduct their research with the argument in mind. Take the full five (or six) weeks to work through the research process, discuss how to choose relevant, reliable sources, how to use evidence effectively, how to focus their argument, and how to address a specific audience.

- Genre: There are multiple options in terms of the genre(s) you allow students to use. The assignment sheet is currently written to allow them options; in the past, students have chosen to complete this assignment as traditional research arguments, posters, PowerPoint presentations, infographics, and podcasts. If these options are left open, it would be important to discuss different modalities and genre expectations, as well as how audience and genre interact.

You can also limit the genre of this assignment in order to spend more time on research processes here if you decide not to assign the research report. If you decide to merge the two assignments, we would suggest restricting the available genres for this assignment.

Assessment notes

Many students assume that they know argumentation, and while that may be true, they may have difficulty with the specific purpose of this assignment. They aren’t developing a unique argument based on their research, but thinking about who their audience is in order to better argue the exigency of the issue to that audience.

We have restricted to purpose of this assignment to arguing about exigency because:

1. Students will develop original, focused arguments in CO2, and

2. The emphasis of this assignment is about choosing and using research effectively. They must make informed decisions about their research and then be able to paraphrase, direct quote, cite, and integrate outside sources effectively.

In order to meet course objectives, students can still think of this as an argument – an argument in which they must think about how and why their specific audience should care about their issue, rather than taking for granted that a topic like hunger or homelessness is equally concerning to all people in the world.

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Reflection

Overview

In this project, you will practice personal reflection, as well as analysis, differentiating between these two rhetorical purposes. To process what you’ve accomplished this semester and make intentional goals for future composition classes, both processes are essential to move forward most effectively. In this next assignment, you will demonstrate your critical reading skills by reviewing commentary from the semester (summarizing), thoroughly reflecting on your writing process in light of this commentary, and analyzing by responding rhetorically to plan for the future. Since this is a shorter assignment, instructor feedback will not be provided, though you will complete peer review.

Course Objectives
Assignment Sheet
Reflection as an Active Process
Course Wrap-Up and Revisions
Workshop
Assignment Rubric
Suggested Schedule (for instructors)
Assessment Notes (for instructors)

Course objectives

Learning Objectives

- Develop rhetorical knowledge

- Develop critical and creative thinking

- Develop experience in writing

Module objectives

During the process of completing this assignment, writers will:

- Create and develop ideas within the context of the situation and the assigned task(s)

- Critically read, evaluate, apply, and synthesize evidence and/or sources in support of a claim

- Engage as an active and interested learner

ASsignment Sheet

Reflection

This semester, you have learned and practiced close and critical reading, become familiar with new types of literacy, and begun to use outside sources in order to create a focused argument. In this assignment, you will look at all you have accomplished, and then consider how you might continue improving as a writer.

Purpose:

In this assignment, you will reflect on what you have learned this semester, the skills you have gained, and how you might apply that knowledge and skills to your work in the next level of composition. You will also support your reflection using examples from this semester, including discussion, rough draft assignments, lectures, workshop, your process work, or final drafts.

Audience:

Your audience for this paper is your classmates and your instructor. Your audience is also yourself. Think of this as a way for you to make note of all the things you want to remember for your next writing class.

Requirements:

The genre is a letter to your audience. When brainstorming ideas to discuss in your reflection, consider the following questions:

- What new knowledge did you gain in this course?

- What skills did you learn?

- For example, brainstorming, revision strategies, workshop, critical thinking, argument development, focus, finding and choosing sources, etc. You can look at the course objectives for more ideas.

- Was there anything you already knew, but feel more comfortable with now?

- What was your biggest challenge in in this course? How will you address that challenge in your next writing course?

- Which skills from our course do you think will be most useful in future writing classes? Why?

Formatting:

- Your reflection will be 600-900 words (around 3-4 pages).

- Your reflection will NOT use any outside sources. You will, however, refer to any assignments, readings, class discussions, and notes you’ve used throughout the semester.

- Your work must be typed in size 12, Times New Roman font and double spaced, 1” margins, following MLA requirements.

Reflection as a Active Process

This last unit is a chance to think back over the semester and begin processing all that you’ve accomplished. You’ll continue to use these skills we’ve been practic ing in many other classes, and they’ll translate directly into your work in future writing courses. The more intentional you can be about examining what you’ve learned and can build on, the more successful you’ll be in applying these skills in the future.

Defining Reflection

reflect: to think critically about something

To begin the reflection process, let’s define reflection. Really simply, to reflect is to think critically about something. After so much time and so many projects, it’s likely that you might not even remember all the tasks you’ve completed since this course began. One way to prompt your thinking will be to review your notes, assignments, and feedback from this course. You might review your notebook, your online learning system, or even this text to refresh your memory. As you look back, you’ll likely notice your progress and that some terms like “rhetoric” are now familiar. You might also find feedback from a peer review or your instructor that you don’t remember receiving, or that sits with you a little differently than it did when you first read it.

Reviewing Course Objectives

At the beginning of the course, you likely reviewed your syllabus to see what this course would all be about. Within the syllabus are the course objectives that guided this whole journey, which are listed below for you:

- Develop rhetorical knowledge.

- Develop experience in writing.

- Develop critical and creative thinking.

- Use sources and evidence.

- Develop application of composing conventions.

With these goals in mind, this course was designed to help develop your knowledge and apply these skills. As you review the tasks, keeping these objectives in mind will illustrate how each assignment was built to achieve these goals.

As you draft this assignment, consider what you know about introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions to best organize your reflection. Your body paragraphs will likely revolve around one of these course concepts, drawing on evidence from multiple tasks you completed through the semester. By reviewing multiple examples, you can explain and analyze your growth and progress, as well as what you plan to accomplish next. You may still have some questions or experience challenges regarding these concepts, and that’s okay too! Identifying what’s still tough will give you something to work toward in your next composition course.

Checking In: Questions and Activities

1. So far in this course, you’ve practiced a variety of skills. Which assignments, readings, activities, discussions, etc. come to mind first? List 3-5 different ideas.

2. Now consider the course objectives. Match these activities to the skill or objective that relates best and explain the connection. Each activity may have multiple connections to the objectives, so don’t limit yourself!

Course Wrap-Up and Revisions

As the semester comes to a close, you’ll have the chance to think ahead to future semesters and how your growth and progress this semester can set you up for success in the future.

The Importance of Reflection

When we reflect on the semester, it gives us a chance to pause, consider, and connect the tasks you completed and our course objectives. Research shows that reflection increases your memory and better demonstrates the learning process. The skills you’ve practiced this semester apply directly to other writing courses and are likely valuable in writing other assignments for your psychology, history, and biology classes. Outside of your classes, you can apply these skills in your everyday life, too. As you scroll social media, walk through the center of campus and pass the people with a megaphone, or discuss politics with family, all these skills are relevant. If you pay attention, you can become a better listener, engage in thoughtful conversations, and construct your ideas clearly in both writing and speaking.

As you review your notes and ideas, make sure you concentrate on growth.

Checking In: Questions and Activities

1. Review the list of activities and objectives. Consider why these specific activities stood out the most — were they the most useful and successful, or annoying and challenging? Why? Answering these questions will help ensure that your analysis is developed.

2. What about the future? You’ve started to analyze the significance of these tasks and the relationship to the course objective. Why will this skill be beneficial as you move forward with your writing career (in composition and other courses) or in your personal life? Setting goals for how you can apply these skills in the future is another important step of the reflection process. By being intentional, you’re setting yourself up for success with a greater chance to not only remember but achieve these goals in the future.

Peer Review

Use the following questions to guide your comments on your peer’s essay. If any of the areas are working very well or need improvement, make comments indicating this on the draft.

- Introduction:

- Does the author provide a salutation and an introductory greeting?

- Does the author identify which rhetorical concepts the letter will be analyzing (In other words, is there an informal thesis?)?

- How effectively does the author introduce the letter? What can s/he improve?

- Body:

- Is there a topic sentence which identifies the rhetorical concept being analyzed?

- Does the author include concrete evidence (quote or paraphrase) from at least two different texts?

- Is there analysis that states why this skill was important this semester and in the future?

- Does the outcome discuss the change, growth, development, and/or evolution of the rhetorical
feature over the semester?

- Are there a variety of rhetorical concepts?

- Conclusion:

- Does the conclusion sum up general trends over the semester?

- Does the author appropriately end and sign the letter?

- How effectively does the author conclude the analysis? What can they improve?

- Style and Convention: Is the tone and style appropriate (informal, friendly, and respectful) for the letter?

- Is there anything else you would suggest to the author?

Reflection Assignment Rubric

An “A” (excellent) reflection (90% +):

- Your essay convinces the reader that you have thoroughly considered the topics, concepts, and skills we have covered this semester . You are able to identify multiple topics to discuss and you do so in a way that emphasizes the writing process. When you talk about each topic, you do so accurately, showing understanding of literacy and the rhetorical situation and its place in the writing process.

- You are able to consider your chosen topics and not only understand them, but co nnect them to other ideas, content, and courses. You are able to understand how to apply your current skills to a future context. Y ou show aware ness of your own strengths as a writer, as well as your writing challenges and how to overcome them in the future .

- You have taken advantage of this assignment to write to yourself as a future CO150 student; you have considered your knowledge and experience with academic writing, and provided yourself with important information for when you approach ot her writing situations. You have also considered your peers and what they would need to know about academic writing.

- You describe the topics, concepts, and skills by using examples from class, as well as examples from other writing contexts. You are able to explain why your chosen topics are important to the writing process, and how you will apply them in the fut ure.

- Your essay is well organized, connected , and easy to follow. Each paragraph has one topic that is clearly connected to the purpose of the assignment. The essay flows well from one point to the next. Quotes and paraphrases: Your essay uses quotes and paraphrases to refer to assignment sheets, lectures, or other class material. The paraphrased and quoted passages are chosen appropriately and integrated effectively.

- You have followed MLA conventions and made appropriat e choices for an academic essay. The essay is carefully proofread and edited for grammar and punctuation errors.

A “B” (good) reflection (80% +):

- Your essay convinces the reader that you have considered the topics, concepts, and skills we have covered this semester. You are able to identify a few topics to discuss and you do so in a way that emphasizes the writing process. When you talk about each topic, you do so accurately, showing understanding of literacy and the rhetorical situation and its place in the writing process, though there may be some imprecision in your discussion.

- You occasionally connect some of your topics to other ideas, content, and courses. You understand how to apply your current skills to a future context. You show awareness of your own strengths as a writer, as well as your writing challenges and how to overcome them in the future.

- You have considered your knowledge and experience with academic writing and provided yourself with important information for when you approach other writing situations. You have written about your experience in a way that would be applicable to your peers.

- You describe the topics, concepts, and skills by using examples from class, as well as examples from other writing contexts. You are sometimes able to explain why your chosen topics are important to the writing process, and you might discuss how you will apply them in the future.

- Your essay is organized, connected, and relatively. easy to follow. Each paragraph has one topic that is clearly connected to the purpose of the assignment, though you might occasionally stray into other topics. The essay flows well from one point to the next.

- Your essay uses quotes and paraphrases to refer to assignment sheets, lectures, or other class material. The paraphrased and quoted passages are chosen appropriately and integrated effectively.

- You have followed MLA conventions and made appropriate choices for an academic essay. The essay is carefully proofread and edited for grammar and punctuation errors.

A “C” (satisfactory) reflection (70% +):

- Your essay discusses the topics, concepts, and skills we have covered this semester , though you might not always describe them accurately or in depth. There is a limited number of distinguishable topics to discuss and you neglect discussion of how these topics are relevant to the writing process. You show basic understanding of the rhetorical situation, though there may be some imprecision or lack of clarity.

- You are able to consider your chosen topics , but you d on’t clearly connect them to other ideas, content, and courses. There might not be a clear understanding of how this material connects to other courses and writing contexts. You don’t demonstrate awareness of your own strengths as a writer, and while you might describe your writing challenges, there is little to no information about how you plan to overcome them in the future.

- You have not taken advantage of this assignment to write to yourself as a future CO150 student; there is a lack of information that will be useful for yourself or your peers in future academic writing contexts.

- Your paper has been developed minimally by describing the topics, concepts, and skills by using examples from class, as well as examples from other writing contexts. You might not show understanding of why your chosen topics are important to the writing process, or how you will apply them in the future.

- Your essay is organized and easy to follow. Body paragraphs might not be clearly connected to the purpose of the assignment. There are few connections from one idea to the next.

- Your essay occasionally uses quotes and paraphrases to refer to assignment sheets, lectures, or other class material. The paraphrased and quoted passages might not be chosen appropriately or integrated effectively.

- You have followed MLA conventions and made appropriate choices for an academic essay. The essay is carefully proofread and edited for grammar and punctuation errors.

A “D” (poor) reflection (60% +) or “F” ( failing) reflection :

- A D or F project might have serious issues in achieving i ts purpose, is irrelevant and/or unaware of its audience, or is otherwise lacking in major requirements of the assignment. An F paper may also include plagiarism or improper use of outside sources.

Suggested schedule/pacing

This module is intended to take 2-3 weeks and would work well as a last unit. Because this is a flexible assignment that could be combined with course surveys and other end-of-semester activities, it is organized by topic rather than by week. As the first course in the CO-series, reflection is an integral process to help students examine what they’ve learned and purposefully carry these concepts forward. Using the course objectives as a reference point, students have the opportunity to review what was most meaningful. Situated alongside course surveys at the end of the semester, this also reinforces what students have accomplished, helping prompt them to provide instructors with more specific and developed feedback.

In this unit, there will not be an instructor review, due to the condensed schedule. This unit also does not include a student sample  to avoid shaping students’ impressions of the course and to allow them to find meaning  in their work themselves , rather than homing in on the few concepts reviewed in a sample.

Assessment NOTES

Students typically finish the semester on a positive note in this assignment, which also helps them speak to the course survey. This perspective should help students reformulate and process what they’ve learned, allowing them to prepare more intentionally for their next CO-2 writing course.

This unit is written here as a two-week unit, though the pacing could be adjusted to fit a three-week schedule by spacing out , adding, or adjusting activities.

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Additional Resources

Stuff about Basic Writing & suggested reading sources