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10/1: The History of Collaboration
In-class Writing Prompt Think back to a time in your life when you worked with others in a meaningful way. Maybe you were on a sports team or a community organization. Describe this collaboration. How did you and your partner(s) work together towards a common goal? How was labor divided? Did different people have different roles? Were there more experienced peers that helped those with less experience? Give as many details as possible. In groups Share your in-class writing with your group and consider the following together: Compare your collaborative experiences with each other. What similarities do you notice across your experiences? What differences? After sharing our writing as a…
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9/26: Writing Workshop Day 2
Peer Review Groups Please find your partner(s) for the day and sit together: You will spend today reviewing each other’s drafts alongside the rubric. HOMEWORK Work on Project 1, your Discourse Community Analysis.
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Writing Workshop Day 1
Writing Processes We’ll begin today by reflecting on our individual writing processes. Think about how you approach a writing task. Do you take a bunch of notes first and then organize your thoughts? Do you have to craft a “perfect” introduction with a one-sentence thesis before you can move on? Do you reread each sentence you write before you can move on to the next? Are you an outliner? A mapper? An all-nighter-writer? Take a few minutes to write about the kind of writer you are. When you finish writing, take a look at this short excerpt where Anne Lamott’s defines her idea of writing “Shitty First Drafts.” Decisions, decisions…
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9/19: Working With Artifacts & Genres
I’ll be using the words artifacts and genres interchangeably today as we move through an exercise in preparation for Project 1, the Discourse Community Analysis. HOMEWORK Your in-class writing in response to your artifact/genre is a draft of BP2. As a reminder, here is the prompt: According to Johns, genres enable communication within a discourse community and represent the “values, needs, and practices of the community that produces them” (56). What is the genre or artifact that represents your discourse community? Who is the author? For whom, specifically, is your genre composed? How does it represent the “values, needs, and practices” of your discourse? Finish composing BP2 in a post…
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9/17: Discourse & Conflict
Review Project 1 We will review your Discourse Community Analysis project, and I’ll address questions or concerns you have. What does conflict look like? So far we’ve talked about discourse communities in ways that are relatively neutral; however, power, struggle, and conflict can also be a part of existing in and moving between communities. As people move between discourse communities where they practice new ways of engaging with people, texts, and languages, values and beliefs can sometimes be in tension. For example, Johns presents examples of people feeling alienated from their families as they become more literate or fluent in academic discourse communities; alternately, Johns offers another case of a…
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9/12: Discourse Communities, Genres, and Power
We’ll focus on two goals today: understanding Ann M. Johns’ text “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice” and assigning Project 1, the Discourse Community Analysis. Take a look at Johns (52-53) for some examples of recreational and professional communities she gives. Take a minute or two to list some of your recreational and professional communities. Discourse Communities & Their Genres In class, we defined genre as ways to classify or categorize written or graphic communication. Johns indicates that “communities use written discourses that enable members to keep in touch with each other, carry on discussions, explore controversies, and advance their aims; these genres are their vehicles for communication” (56). Johns…
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9/10: Understanding Gee’s Theories of Discourse Community
We’ll begin by reading a couple of paragraphs of Gee’s “Literacy, Discourse, Linguistics: An Introduction” (1989) together. Group Work In groups, you will be assigned a section of Gee’s text to closely read. Using the materials provided to create a poster, please produce the following: Each group will share their work with the class, and we will take any questions, critiques, or additional readings of Gee before moving on. Individual In-Class Writing Gee describes Discourse as “a sort of ‘identity kit’ which comes complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and often write, so as to take on a particular role that others will recognize”…
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9/3: Introduction to Discourse Communities
Course Review We’ll continue reviewing our course syllabus & schedule. We’ll also look at some examples of your peers’ websites and offer class time to work on your sites. Discourse Communities 101 Assuming all of our technology is working, we’ll watch Dr. Jamila Lyiscott’s “3 Ways to Speak English” in class together. Originally from Brooklyn, Dr. Lyiscott is a professor at UMASS Amherst, specializing in education and social justice. I’d like to hear your initial reactions to Dr. Lyiscott’s TEDTalk and further consider the implications of her statement, “I’ve decided to treat all three of my languages as equal.” What does Lyiscott mean when she conceives of the languages of “home,…
