week+of+nov+10+and+12

November 10 The main goal for this week is to begin working on the upcoming assignments. My hope is that you'll begin to understand the rhetorical demands and the conceptual requirements for each of the following ... the profile of your writing partner, your podcast of a grammatical concept, and the final exam (we'll talk more about this after Thanksgiving break, but I want to preview it this week).


 * Writing our way in** ...

"Epiphany" by Stephanie Johnston in //Important Words// by Brown and Glass

The closet in your room was a white walk-in with a shoe rack up the wall where me and my brother played pirates swinging from the crow's nest. I used to run in and jump on the bed to wake you (get up Lazybones) and giggle while you rolled out from under a pillow warming your nostrils with the coffee smell that trickled in from the kitchen. Later, I would shiver into my closets by the electric heater in the dining room while you left for work. Mom would take us to school, my brother and me, and I would forget all about you until you came back home for dinner. I remember complaining because I wanted to sit by Mom, not you, but it took me all these years to see the hurt in your eyes.

Think about the places in your house/apartment where you played as a child - corners, closets, porch swings, attics, basements -places that held mystery, places you weren't supposed to play in. Find the child's voice and write from it (or, like Stephanie, write from the distance of age, seeing things now from older eyes.

Examine profiles of young readers (look at questions below for examining the genre)
 * Profile of a Young Writer ...**


 * What do we want to learn from our interviews?
 * What kinds of questions will help reveal that information?

Task: Draft of possible questions (Jim will collect, compile them. We'll discuss more on Thursday which questions we all want to ask and which questions might be optional).

Examine grammar girl scripts: //First, the rhetorical situation// ...
 * Grammar Podcast** ...
 * Genre/Media = podcast
 * Audience = (who might this be and when would they read it?)
 * Purpose =
 * Situation of the writing =

How is this rhetorical context the same or different than our podcasts?
 * Who might read ours?
 * For what occasions?
 * What traits must readers of this genre possess?
 * What does this genre help readers do?

//Second, the features of the genre// ... (using Bawarshi genre analysis heuristic again)
 * Identify and describe patterns in the genre's features ...
 * What recurrent features do the sample share? For example, ...
 * What content is typically included?
 * What sorts of examples are used?
 * What are the parts of the text and how are they organized?
 * How long is a typical text in the genre?


 * Analyze what these patterns reveal about the situation
 * What roles for writers and readers does it encourage or discourage?
 * How is the subject of the genre treated? What's considered most/least important?
 * What actions does the genre help make possible (and/or make difficult)?
 * What attitude toward readers is implied in the genre?

Task: Draft an assignment sheet (what's the task, the rhetorical situation for you, and possible traits of the genre that we might want to examine in order to evaluate the podcast (i.e., features to list on a rubric). In other words, what does a "good" grammar podcast script do well?

Thursday we'll meet in class. I'll return genre challenge projects; we'll write briefly; we'll head over to the CTL building to THE ZONE to play with the podcast software and hardware. You can work on your podcasts and we'll get set for the trip to Fairmont and the interviews with your writing partners.