Unit 8 Writing Assignment
Writing Assignments
Considerations for Writing Assignments
Types of Writing Assignments
Freshman Rhetoric courses require at least 30 pages of writing that the instructor reads and responds to, and that counts towards the student’s final grade in some way. Because this is a writing course, students should be engaged in writing in some form throughout the entire course. The following list describes the major forms of writing that instructors assign. 1. Essays (out-of-class papers). Instructors usually assign three to five essays. These essays are 3-5 pages on average and address overall themes of the course that the instructor is also working through in readings and in-class discussion. 2. The research paper (assigned in 102, 104, and 105) is the biggest single project that students accomplish in the course. These papers are at least 8-12 pages and are the focus of at least 5 weeks of the semester. This project is a culmination of the skills taught throughout the semester (105) or year (102, 104). Instructors may assign a topic or scope of topics that also addresses the themes of the course, or instructors may work closely with the students to choose their own topics. 3. In-progress writing. Essays and especially the research paper should be developed through a structured process. In addition to full drafts, such processes may involve students writing topic proposals, mini-drafts (e.g., a 3-page draft of a 10-page research paper), annotated bibliographies, short oral presentations that include textual supports (handouts, screen projections), genre variants (e.g., collage dialogues, narratives), in-progress reports and reflections, and so on. 4. Response papers are typically shorter papers (1-2 pages) that respond to a reading or in-class activity. Instructors may treat these as formal papers and assign a grade, or they may be treated as informal papers and receive assessment based on a number system or check mark system. The goal of these papers may be to
Considerations for Writing Assignments
Types of Writing Assignments
Freshman Rhetoric courses require at least 30 pages of writing that the instructor reads and responds to, and that counts towards the student’s final grade in some way. Because this is a writing course, students should be engaged in writing in some form throughout the entire course. The following list describes the major forms of writing that instructors assign. 1. Essays (out-of-class papers). Instructors usually assign three to five essays. These essays are 3-5 pages on average and address overall themes of the course that the instructor is also working through in readings and in-class discussion. 2. The research paper (assigned in 102, 104, and 105) is the biggest single project that students accomplish in the course. These papers are at least 8-12 pages and are the focus of at least 5 weeks of the semester. This project is a culmination of the skills taught throughout the semester (105) or year (102, 104). Instructors may assign a topic or scope of topics that also addresses the themes of the course, or instructors may work closely with the students to choose their own topics. 3. In-progress writing. Essays and especially the research paper should be developed through a structured process. In addition to full drafts, such processes may involve students writing topic proposals, mini-drafts (e.g., a 3-page draft of a 10-page research paper), annotated bibliographies, short oral presentations that include textual supports (handouts, screen projections), genre variants (e.g., collage dialogues, narratives), in-progress reports and reflections, and so on. 4. Response papers are typically shorter papers (1-2 pages) that respond to a reading or in-class activity. Instructors may treat these as formal papers and assign a grade, or they may be treated as informal papers and receive assessment based on a number system or check mark system. The goal of these papers may be to
Bibliography: is due. Sample Collage Assignment You should think of using sources by putting them into conversation with each other and finding your own role in that conversation. This assignment asks you to take that “conversation” metaphor seriously. Using all of the source material at your disposal, create a conversation or dialogue among the sources and yourself. That is, write a script of the conversation that might take place if you and all the authors of your sources could be together in the same room at the same time. You can write whatever you want for your own contributions, but the contributions from your sources should consist mainly of direct quotations from those sources. Notes on the Collage: • Be creative. While the default format for this collage is a dramatic script (that is, written like a play), you may choose to represent this conversation in any way you like. Start by providing a “cast of characters,” a list of the participants in this conversation. Briefly describe the imaginary setting for this conversation. The majority of the collage should be direct quotes from your sources. Put quotation marks around everything you are taking directly from a source, and put the author’s last name and the page number for that quote in parentheses. If you need to add anything to the quotes to make them “flow” better, put that stuff in brackets [like this]. Don’t just make a list of random quotes from sources. Rather, make the sources “speak” or respond to each other, or make them respond to questions you might pose to them. Also, don’t limit yourself to presenting quotes from sources that agree with you. Try to represent the range of possible positions concerning your topic. Make yourself a character or participant in this conversation. You might choose to mostly ask questions of your sources, or you might take a position of your own. In addition to your sources and yourself, you may include “fictional” composite characters that represent a particular position or way of looking at your issue. Don’t overuse this function. The “conversation” part of this collage should come out to at least 1500 words. Provide an MLA-style “Works Cited” page at the end of the collage. • • • • • • • • • • Criteria for Evaluation: This assignment will be evaluated according to: • • • • • the degree to which this collage puts your sources into a genuine conversation with each other, rather than simply listing quotes from these sources the degree to which you fairly represent a range of possible positions or points of view on your topic the correctness of the in-text citations (see St. Martin’s Handbook), and the correctness (in terms of MLA format) of the “Works Cited” page (see St. Martin’s Handbook). Dates: • Bring a 1-page dialogue to class on Tuesday April 1 for in-class activities. • The final collage is due on Tuesday, April 8.