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.