Week 6 Schedule

As I talked about in class Thursday, I changed the schedule around a little for this week. For tomorrow, (Tues) read Malcolm X's "Learning to Read" (WAW 353). No blog post, but you'll want to do some drafting on your literacy narrative. I'll hold the peer review for the literacy narrative on Wednesday. Please print out and bring a draft of your essay for peer review. Not bringing in a draft that day will result in a deduction to the essay grade. Thursday will be some kind of "skills" review, determined in part by you guys. I'll ask you on Tuesday to write down something you need to work on- documentation, quoting, comma usage, etc. and then Thursday we'll try to get to as many of those things as possible. Literacy Narratives are due to me via e-mail attachment Friday noon.

Reading for Monday and a Reminder about Upcoming Due Dates

For Monday, please read Shirley Brice Heath's "Protean Shapes in Literacy Events: Ever-shifting Oral and Literate Traditions" (WAW 367). No blog post for this one, but I would like you to identify one quote or passage that is particularly interesting, confusing, or poignant. It might be a sentence or two that helped you understand a central argument from the article, or just a passage that you need clarification on. Underline or highlight this sentence/passage and be prepared to share it in class.

You'll want to start doing some drafting on your literacy narratives. Look back over the assignment here, and use the writing you've done on your blogs as jumping-off points, passages that you can develop into fuller essay elements. Peer review for the literacy narrative is this coming Tuesday, May 1. Not bringing in a draft on that day will result in a "late paper" penalty. Details about this are on the syllabus. Have a good weekend.

Reading for Tuesday and Post 9

I'll be handing out a student example essay of the literacy narrative in class today. Please read it carefully and we will apply a rubric to it in class tomorrow. I want you to see it as a possible model for the literacy narrative but not the only model.

For Wednesday, you'll need to read Dennis Baron's "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies" (422). Then respond to the following prompt:

Sometimes Baron seems to shrug at technology and suggest that it's hard to imagine new technologies as fundamentally changing the shape or nature of writing. Do you agree that this seems to be one of his messages? For practice, be sure to integrate a quote into your post. 200 words to your blogs before Wednesday.

Post 8: "The Future of Literacy"

Read "The Future of Literacy" (WAW 395) and respond to the following prompt:

Consider how visual and technical literacies have been integrated into your own schooling, if in fact they have been. How do your in-school experiences compare to your experiences with technical and visual literacies outside of school?

250 words to your blogs before class Monday.

Revision Guidelines

You have the opportunity to revise 2 of 3 essays (Wikipedia Edit, Wikipedia Reflection, Literacy Narrative) in this class to improve your grade. You should know that to receive a higher grade, you'll need to do a deep revision which goes beyond basic editing of surface-level errors. If you choose to do a revision on either of these papers, you'll e-mail me two items.

1. a cover letter (1-2 pgs) explaining how you understood my original feedback, what changes you've  made  in your revision to address that feedback, and how the essay is improved after your revision. It's important to me that you address all of my comments both in your letter and in the revision
2. The revised essay. Again, in order to improve your grade, I'll expect you to go beyond mere editing and really think how you can improve the essay on a deeper, more thoughtful level. 

This is a great opportunity to critically examine your work and to think about how it's received by other readers; this kind of meta-cognitive activity will improve your writing abilities. This is optional. 

*If you're interested in revising the Wikipedia article, you'll need to make your edits on the actual article space. 

Due Dates To Be Announced

Post 7 "Sponsors of Literacy"

For Wednesday, read Deborah Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy" (WAW 331) and answer the following prompt.

How does Brandt support the claim that sponsors always have something to gain from their sponsorship? Can you provide any examples from your own experience?

250 words to your blog before class Wednesday.

Homework for Tuesday

Before class Tuesday, read the Chapter 3 Introduction (WAW 328) and the literacy narrative "Superman and Me" (WAW 362). Take a break from writing. Nothing due to your blogs. Just read!

Announcements Regarding Wikipedia Edit and Reflection Essay

We'll be working on your Wikipedia article edits today (4/12) in class, but if you need extra time you may finish these up by Friday (4/13) 2pm. Don't forget about the course page if you have questions. The "Resources" and "Getting Help" are both great places to get help. You can access a chat space from the "Getting Help" section.

**Please add your article and username to the course page section "Articles." I can't access (and grade) your article unless it's linked from this page. 


While I've allowed for some extra time on the Wikipedia edit, I'd still like to stay on schedule with the Reflection essay. These are due to your blogs before class Monday, April 16.  That being said, don't forget about my policy for allowing one late paper during the term. I talked about this the first day but details are in the syllabus.

Thanks for all of your hard work!

Post 6: "Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents" (Not due until Wed.)

For this post, make a list of concepts explored by Grant-Davie: exigence, rhetor, audience, constraints. Then define them in your own words giving an example of each. Be sure to go beyond the superficial definitions you might rely on before reading the text (especially when thinking about audience) and try to capture Grant-Davie's understanding of the terms.

150 words due to your blogs before class Wednesday 4/11.

Post 5: "Shitty First Drafts" (and Begin working on Wikipedia Edit)

Read Anne Lamott's short essay "Shitty First Drafts" (WAW 301 and also available here). Then answer the following prompt: What is Lamott's central argument? What is she trying to tell us about writing and/or the writing process? Now think about Wikipedia and what you've learned about the writing that happens there? How does this support (or not) Lamott's argument?

250 words to your blog before class Monday. 


You'll also want to start gathering sources and drafting for your Wikipedia edit. For sources, refer to the handout I gave you in class on Friday but remember some basic guidelines:

• Sources need to be verifiable (they can be checked)
• Sources need to be credible (they come from reputable outlets with a reputation for accuracy)
• In other words, personal blogs and websites may not cut it. 
• Academic sources (books and articles) work here as well as textbooks and some websites (.edu, .gov, .org) 

Don't put this off-You'll need to have written your final draft by Thursday. Do the drafting in your sandbox and we'll move material over to the "mainspace" in class Thursday.

Starts and Stubs

When choose an article to edit, it's a good idea to gravitate towards start and stub-class articles. These are articles that are often incomplete and need development.

Click here for a list of start-class articles arranged alphabetically by topic.
Click here for a list of stub-class articles arranged alphabetically by topic.

Post 4: "All Writing is Autobiography"

Read Donald Murray's "All Writing is Autobiography." Then respond to the following prompt:

Remember that one of the goals of this chapter is to help you consider constructs about writing that poorly describe how writing actually works. What construct is Murray asking you to reconsider?

150 words on your blogs before class Wednesday 4/4. 

For this response, I want you all to practice integrating a quote from the article into one of your sentences. Here are a few examples you might try to emulate:

In "All Writing is Autobiography," Murray argues that a writer's "autobiography grows from a few deep taproots that are set down into our past in childhood" (58).

"That is the terrible, wonderful power of reading," Donald concludes, "the texts we create in our own minds while we read...become part of the life we believe we lived" (65).


This article is online.