Overview for all Units – “You know I really need to know/(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)” – Pete Townshend

Units 2 and 3 are presented together because Unit 2 will basically provide the information that you need for Unit 3. Unit 3 will be a “remix” of Unit 2. A “remix” in music is a “variant of the original recording”. We know what they sound like: think about popular artists today who take an old song and repurpose it in some way. Sometimes the lyrics are retained, sometimes the beats are retained, but there is always a moment of listener recognition, a moment of “I heard this before, but not in this way.” So, with Unit 3, you will be choosing to present your information in a new genre.

Throughout these two Units, we will continue reading and discussing topics related to Units 2 and 3. A few of these readings will serve as technical support, while some of these readings will provide models of what you might do. Some technical readings we will use are:

Donna Kain and Elizabeth Wardle: “Activity Theory: An Introduction for the Writing Classroom”

Laura Carroll: “Backpacks vs. Briefcases”

Anne Lamott: “Shitty First Drafts”

Sandra Giles: “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?”

Unit 2 – Genre Investigation and Analysis

“Find what you love and let it kill you” – Charles Bukowski

If Unit 1 was about exploring the “you” that exists in an academic venue, Unit 2 will be about exploring the other side of you, the you that exists when you are not working, out of school, or have that elusive time know as free time! You must develop a question about a specific topic that interests you. What make you tick as a person? If you tell me taking photos related to New York City transit, I’m curious, but I don’t really know what that means. Explain it to me by finding four sources of different genres that give me a full-blown picture of that hobby or interest. I want you to go in-depth here. For lack of a better explanation, imagine that I’ve landed from Mars and I don’t have any frame of reference for what you’re presenting. You will have to:

• Develop a specific question about a hobby or personal interest you have. DUE:
• Research, gather information on and analyze four sources that are at least three different genres. This will become the annotated bibliography for your sources. DUE:
• Read and annotate your sources with your question in mind. Make note of how the issue is discussed or presented in each source. Develop your argument about how effective each source was in presenting its message and purpose to its audience. Write a report about what the source says, but also how and why it says it. DUE:
• Please bring a copy to class on:
• Final draft: DUE:

Grading:

• Are the ideas clear and is there a central focus to your argument?
• Is there evidence of in-depth research here?
• Are there three different kinds of genres?
• Are the ideas organized in a way that makes sense to both of us?
• Is your language appropriate to the audience? Was there a clear consideration of audience?
• Is there a Works Cited Page?

Learning Objectives:

• Read and listen critically and analytically in a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.
• Use research as a process of inquiry and engagement with multiple perspectives.
• Demonstrate the social and ethical consequences of writing.

Unit 3 – Writing in a New Genre

“Sometimes a remix is good because it reaches a whole new generation.” – A. R. Rahman

In Unit 3, you will be using your research from Unit 2 to compose a document/artifact in a new genre. You might want to write a newspaper article or a children’s book, compose a short story or create a video essay. There will be no new research done. Since I wrote a report about New York City Transit photography in Unit 2, can I create a photo essay about New York City Transit photography in Unit 3? The possibilities are endless, but you need to consider your audience and the best way to communicate with them. This will help guide your genre. You also want to consider the purpose of your final product. What do you want the audience to walk away from the experience of your piece with? Your final product can contain pictures or sound, but it must contain at least 1500 words as well. You will have to:

• Create a proposal that explains what you want to say, how you want to say it, and who you want to say it to. There will be more specific details about this proposal later, but this is the gist. DUE:
• Find two to three examples of a model text. You can use one of the texts you used in the Unit 2, but find at least two more and explain how all of these texts meet the needs of your final project. Not every text has to mentor every aspect of your final project. Please explain what aspects of the text do. Please turn in another annotated bibliography. DUE:
• Write a rough draft. Use your mentor texts to guide the structure of your final assignment. Your project must have about 1500 words in it. Please bring a copy to class. DUE:
• Final draft. DUE:

Grading:

• Did your final project follow the rules of the genre that you picked?
• Did you make decisions about language and design of the project based on your audience?
• Was there clear effort and organization on a global, but also sentence level?
• Did you communicate a clear message that people can learn from?

Learning Objectives:

• Read and listen critically and analytically in a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.
• Compose in 21^st Century Environments.