Author: Rebekah Coleman (Page 1 of 11)

Unit 1, Day 3: Wed. Feb. 23rd

Homework: Due Feb. 28th 

Find one artifact from your Discourse Community. The artifact might provide information about their way of communicating, their values, their beliefs, their “identity kit” etc. The artifact should provide information about the Discourse Community or be meaningful to the community. 

Examples of artifacts: an interview with a member of the community, a song, a speech, an example of the Discourse Community’s publications (brochure, newsletter), letters, a poem, a book, biography/ autobiography, a tattoo, memes) 

Fill out the Discourse Community Artifact Analysis worksheet about your artifact. The worksheet will help you look at the artifact from a number of angles that will help you prepare for your final task of the project. 

You may either write your response in a comment below OR use this link to complete the worksheet in Google Docs.

 

Discourse Community Artifact Analysis Worksheet

 

Discourse Community _____________________

Artifact ___________________________

1. WHY did you choose this artifact?

2. Describe the artifact:

  • What does the artifact look like/ sound like (if an object)? Where is it? 
  • What is the artifact about (if a text, song, poem, etc)?

3. Discuss how/ why the artifact is meaningful to your DC

  • Why is this artifact important to your DC? 
  • How does your DC use the artifact? 

 

4. Look at the RHETORICAL SITUATION (genre, audience, purpose)

  • If a text, what is the genre of the artifact? 
  • Who is the intended audience of the artifact? Who is supposed to read, hear, see, use the artifact? 
  • What is the purpose of the artifact? 

 

5. Does the artifact contain examples of ethos, pathos or logos? Find it and describe it! 

  • How does the artifact help establish the credibility of the DC? Or look at the artifact, is it a credible source? How do you know? (ethos)
  • How does the artifact appeal to the emotions (pathos) of the members of the DC?
  • How does the artifact appeal to the logic (logos) of the DCs members?
  • How effective is the message?
  • If a written / spoken text, what is the voice/ tone of the artifact? (formal, informal, etc)

 

“You Mean I Can Just Say It That Way?” by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein

Read:  “You Mean I Can Just Say It That Way?: Academic Writing Doesn’t Mean Setting Aside Your Own Voice” by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein and write a response to the questions below! 

  1. What do you think of this article? What did you like or dislike about it? Do you agree or disagree with their argument? explain!
  2. The authors say, “The goal of this chapter is to counteract this common misconception: that relying in college on the straightforward, down-to-earth language you use every day will make you sound stupid; that to impress your teachers you need to set aside your everyday voice and write in a way that nobody can understand” ( Graff and Birkenstein 118). What does this mean? How do they want you to change your thinking?
  3. According to the author’s what does it mean to “master academic writing”? How should students go about it?
  4. On page 125, the authors write, “On the contrary, writing is more often a means of discovery in which we use the writing process to figure out what our idea is. This is why writers are often surprised to find that what they end up with on the page is quite different from what they thought it would be when they started. What we are trying to say here is that everydayspeak is often crucial for this discovery process, that translating your ideas into more common, simpler terms can help you figure out what your ideas really are, as opposed to what you initially imagined they were.” What are the authors trying to say? Do you agree or disagree? Have you ever had a similar experience?
  5. In the Code-Meshing section, the author’s discuss using slang, dialect and other components of “everydayspeak” in writing. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with their position? Explain!
  6. Look over your writing from this semester and maybe from other classes, do you incorporate aspects of “everydayspeak” in your writing? Think about how or why you made the choices you did.

 

Week 11 Weekly Assignment (Thurs. April 22nd)

Project 3 Proposal

Note: Here is a link to where you can find the project description!

Write a BRIEF Project Proposal that describes your TOPIC, GENRE, AUDIENCE and PLANS for GETTING STARTED 🙂

  1. The prompt for this unit asks you to answer one or both of the following questions: “How has the past year challenged or changed you?” or “What have you learned from the hardships of the past year that you would like to share with others?”  What do you intend to write about in this unit? 
  2. The assignment also asks you to be specific– to talk about a particular aspect of the year that only you can talk about (or to tweak it in your own particular way!) How do you intend to make this project YOURS? (Remember to look at the “Tips” in the Week 11 PowerPoint – Thurs.)
  3. What discourse community (audience) are you trying to reach in Module 3– and what genre do you think will best reach them?  In other words, what kind of document are you going to make? A video essay with interviews? A series of infographics? A comic book?
  4. What is the first step you’ll take to get started?

REMEMBER, ALL PROPOSALS MUST BE APPROVED BY ME! This isn’t a matter of strictness– this is so we’re all on the same page– so you don’t spend your time doing something that I don’t feel fulfills this assignment!  If you decide to change your project, run the new project by me– for your sake!

 

« Older posts