Author Archives: Kieran Reichert

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1121 Portfolio

Final Portfolio – due XX/XX @ 11:59 PM on Blackboard

The final portfolio assignment asks you all to accomplish three tasks. 1) It asks students to revise their selected work over the course of the semester. In so doing, it asks students to offer reflective remarks concerning each piece that describe the process and the evolution of the project over the course of the semester. 2) In addition to the revision and reflections of the individual essay projects, you will also write a narrative that explains your evolution as a reader and writer over the course of the semester. This narrative asks students to return to the first assignment they wrote for the class (the discourse community project) and compare how their thoughts about writing and their practices about writing have evolved over the course of the semester. It is important to note that you should not simply state that your writing has changed over the course of the semester, but you should be able to specifically describe with sufficient detail particular moments in your assignments and in the semester where you could substantiate how their own growth was taking place. 3) Lastly, the assignment should also ask students to consider how this course has prepared them for transfer—that is, for writing in other contexts.

The contents of your portfolios should be as follows:

  • *Revised* Discourse Community Essay + Reflection
  • *Revised* Research Proposal/Annotated Bibliography + Reflection
  • Reflection of Multimodal Translation Project
  • Reflection on who you are as a writer now, after a semester of writing in ENG1121 (1000 words)

These portfolios should include each of these essays/reflections in a single document that you will turn in via Blackboard by 11:59 PM on Friday 5/15.

Prompts for Final Course Reflection:

Think back to yourself in January, before COVID, before we did anything together in class. What would you have thought of as your strengths as a writer? Weaknesses? How did those aspects change over the course of the semester? You should refer to specific challenges you faced while writing, specific things you learned in and out of class with me, and the effects of those challenges and learning moments. How do you feel as a writer now? How might what you’ve learned in this class TRANSFER into other areas of your life? (Again, this should be at least 1000 words)

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1121 Unit 3

Unit 3: Multimodal Remix 

This assignment asks you all to re-think, or re-envision, one of the assignments you have written previously in the semester and to present it in a totally new genre, perhaps changing modes. For example, a revision that goes from a written essay to an audio podcast, website, graphic, video essay, rap album, or mixed modal. This assignment builds on the generic, rhetorical and audience awareness that students have worked on all semester long, asking them to consider what discourse community they are trying to reach and, not only what diction, but also what mode of delivery would be best for delivering that message. This “translation” is key to transfer, one of the core learning outcomes of this course. If students can take a message and transform it for different audiences and media, then they are well on their way to being able to transfer writing skills across fields, disciplines and discourse communities.

 

You could:

  • Create a presentation using PPT/Prezi with a specific audience in mind
  • Create a series of three or four social media posts (Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/etc.). You must include at least two images.
  • Design a poster for an organization somehow related to your topic that could be put up around campus
  • Design a flyer that the organization could hand out to students
  • An on-video interview with someone who is somehow relevant to your topic/thesis

 

Remember, what is important is that you are thinking about genre and audience and translating your essay into a genre/mode that is somehow better for your intended audience – that can be a different audience from the one you wrote the essay for. These projects should last about 5 minutes and should be accompanied by a 500-800-word reflection that you will turn in to me before you leave. In that reflection, you should be writing about the concepts we’ve discussed in the course: rhetorical situation, genre, audience, purpose, constraints, etc. Find questions for the reflection below. 

Questions for “Essay” 3 Reflection:

  • Who was the audience for this essay? What did you consider about them as you translated your essay from its written form into this multimodal version?
  • What are the weaknesses of the written essay genre for this audience? What are the strengths of this new multimodal genre?
  • Was it difficult to translate the essay from its written form into this new multimodal version? Why/why not? Reflect on the process of translation.

Scaffolding

Day One: Introduce idea of multimodality, “All Writing is Multimodal.” Give examples of text, video, artwork, etc and point out all the modes at play.

HW: Brainstorm ideas for both of the papers you’ve written and be sure to consider the audiences. Which would get more out of a multimodal translation?

Day Two: Write: Fold in the idea of discourse communities – what sorts of genres would be available to you within the discourse community of your audience? What sorts of things would you emphasize? Begin to draft scripts and map out ideas.

HW: Draft of script/text for multimodal project. Must convey main points and key evidence from essay.

Day Three: Peer Review.

HW: “Difficulty” paper

Day Four: Plan of Revision &

HW: Final Draft

Day Five/Six: Watch presentations and ask at least 1 question per class period.

 

 

 

 

 

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1121 Unit 2

Unit 2 – Research as Discovery

Formal Requirements:

  • 1250-1800 words (paper + annotated bib). Typed, double-spaced, 12-pt Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins.
  • You may NOT use the second person (you) in your analysis.
  • Must have quotes, paraphrases, and summaries with citations from relevant research sources.

Instructions:

Essay 3 will be a written Proposal, a Research Paper, as well as an Annotated Bibliography. Before you begin detailed research, you need to come up with a real-world, arguable research problem approved by your instructor, so writing this proposal will help you plan your project and articulate your potential arguments. The real-world, arguable problem for Paper 3 must come from your current or planned City Tech major or a potential career after graduation. The paper must include:

Introduction: Write an intro for the Research Proposal emphasizing your reasons for writing about your chosen topic and the importance of the issue to your future career.

  1. Hook: Remember to use a little pathos to hook the reader. Snag your reader’s interest with vivid, concrete language, with human interest. Be subtle but be interesting.
  2. Development: Discuss the problem in your future career with reference to discourse communities and include some audience analysis (Consider: Who is your audience/opposition? Walk in their shoes for a while and try to determine why they think like they do, and what are the best, most compelling arguments for their position. What about your argument for change, for a new perspective, scares them the most? Now that you have become them, have understood their fears and resistance, what would be the most persuasive ways to overcome their fears and resistance?) Transition to your thesis statement at the end of this paragraph and see if you don’t have a great suspended, or climactic paragraph.
  3. Thesis Statement (one sentence): A thesis statement is one sentence, and always an opinion. In this case it’s an arguable position on a controversial topic. You may end up taking a fairly moderate position on the topic, but your thesis is still specific. (Example: While many think political parties serve to organize the administration of government, mainstream parties in America have polarized the nation by building mistrust among lawmakers and stifling other potential voices in our democratic republic.)

 

Background/History of the subject: Trace a brief history of your controversy and bring the reader up to date on where the issue stands today. Do this section in chronological order, briefly hitting major landmarks from the beginning of the controversy until its current state. You should do basic research online (on the web and/or through the library website) to get this information. Direct quotations for basic history aren’t necessary, but any paraphrase or summary of sources MUST BE CITED using the MLA format.

 

Proofs: Based on your preliminary research, discuss what you want to prove {2 thesis points (not including the counterargument in your refutation)} as your paragraph topics. Use complete topic sentences to label each proof and include any quotes/paraphrases/summaries from your sources that you will cite as evidence. MLA CITATIONS REQUIRED. Explain how this evidence will support your proposed thesis and what kinds of other evidence you will need to fully develop the argument.

  1. Topic sentence about thesis point #1.
  2. Evidence, ideally paraphrased, MLA cited in parentheses.
  3. Explanation how this evidence addresses your point and relates to the further research needed.
  4. Evidence, ideally paraphrased, MLA cited in parentheses.
  5. Explanation how this evidence addresses your point and relates to the further research needed.
  6. Topic sentence about thesis point #2.
  7. Evidence, ideally paraphrased, MLA cited in parentheses.
  8. Explanation how this evidence addresses your point and relates to the further research needed.
  9. Evidence, ideally paraphrased, MLA cited in parentheses.
  10. Explanation how this evidence addresses your point and relates to the further research needed.

Refutation: While some elements of refutation should be covered in your Proofs, this paragraph will focus on naming and then refuting (disproving) any counterargument unaddressed or you have yet to overcome. The opposing view should already appear as part of your thesis, but the refutation should give the specific attack(s) that the opposing view would make against your thesis claim. Based on preliminary research, discuss these possible counterarguments and any evidence you have for refutation. CITE EVIDENCE.

Conclusion: Sum up what you’ve already proven about your topic and what still needs to be proved. Bear in mind that a conclusion is future-oriented, gives the reader a directive about the future, about why this topic is important and deserves further research. If possible, employ subtle yet effective pathos here, and vivid, concrete language.

Scaffolding

Day One: Library Visit. With Librarian, introduce notion of a research question. Give students many examples and encourage them to get into google/search engine wormholes within the constraints of the assignment and using library resources.

HW: Bring in working thesis and two sources.

Day Two: Thesis workshop. As a class, go over the features of an effective thesis statement, and put them in groups of 3-4 to comment on each other’s theses.

HW: Refine question and do more research. Reflect on one way you’d change how you approach the thesis-building process.

Day Three: Background paragraph & Refutation paragraph. Read samples and practice using preliminary research.

HW: Draft proposal, including outlined body paragraphs

Dav Four: Mini Peer Review for proposals.

HW: “Difficulty paper”

Day Five: Incorporating evidence and evaluating sources. Read sample annotated bibliographies and practice as a group in class.

HW: Evaluate three sources.

Day Six: Peer Review of Draft of Proposal + Anno Bib & Plan for Revision

HW: Put it all together and write out your body paragraphs. Final Draft due next class.

Day Seven: Turn in and reflect on process overall in class.

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1121 Unit 1

Unit #1: Rhetoric, Genre, Discourse

In this second unit, you will draw on what you have learned about the concept of discourse communities, apply it to your life experience, and define one community you belong to according to Swales’ six criteria. You will also choose an issue facing a discourse community you belong too and take a position on that issue.

Related readings:

  • John Swales: “The Concept of Discourse Community”
  • Laura Bolin Carroll: “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Towards Rhetorical Analysis”
  • Anthony Bourdain, “Don’t Eat Before Reading This”
  • Excerpt, Ta-Nehisi Coates, “My President Was Black”
  • Colton Wooten, “The Florida Shuffle”

Rhetorical Situation, or Your Jumping Off Point for Writing: 

How do discourse communities make claims that situate them in relation to society, and to what extent are those claims effective? How does a special interest group or a cultural minority, professional association, or demographic group sway political leaders or influence elections, policies, or laws? (Some examples could include labor unions, LGBT groups, cultural minorities, etc.) This analytical project involves a deep analysis of the rhetorical components of a text or artifact, helping you define links between rhetorical situations, discourse communities, and genre. In particular, you’ll analyze how authors respond to rhetorical situations using research, appeals, and rhetorical moves to effectively appeal to their audiences. You’ll also have the opportunity to perform your own primary source fieldwork to develop your own definition of your discourse community and how it functions in the world, with specific attention to prevalent genres and modes of communication.

Your Task:

 In this assignment, you’ll 1) identify a discourse community that you want to explore and write about your relation to it, 2) plan and conduct an interview with an elder/expert/member of the DC that will aid in your descriptive analysis of your DC, and 3) analyze a single text or cultural artifact of that discourse community and the genre as a whole. You will ultimately produce a thoughtfully written report of 1,200 – 2,000 words with an accompanying reflection (1-2 pages) on how your analytical approach helped you make specific conscious choices about your writing process based on genre, rhetorical situation, research, audience, and relationship with the discourse community in question.

I think it is useful to break the assignment into its chief components (N.B. the fourth is the final essay assignment):

  1. A descriptive look at your understanding of how the group functions as a discourse community, i.e. what are its “common public goals” and “mechanisms of intercommunication”? (If you break down the DC into its component parts, and think about your relationship to it, this should be fairly.)
  2. Plan, prepare for, and conduct an interview with a member/elder/expert from your community and write a report of the key takeaways and insights from the interview.
  3. An analysis of a single text or artifact of that discourse community, like an article or painting or film. (The key here is to think about how the DC uses its specific lexicon and “mechanisms of intercommunication” to meet its “common public goals” regarding a particular topic.)
  4. Ultimately, you will put steps 1-3 together into a descriptive report of your discourse community and one prominent genre within it. This should be 1,200-2,000 words and be accompanied by a 1-2-page reflection.

TIMELINE

 

Wed 10/16                                         Description of DC Draft (1-3 pages)

  • Pick a discourse community: either a cultural group, religious group, political group, advocacy group, nonprofit organization, creative community, or other group linked by commonalities, interests, language, and literacy. Explain who and what this discourse community is as you understand it – in a paragraph or two – and your relation to it. Why is it interesting to you?
  • Then, choose a text or cultural artifact to analyze. You should use the analytical criteria we define in class. What is their audience, how are they establishing credibility, using what types of rhetorical moves, ethos/pathos/logos, or other appeals, language, and/or visual rhetoric?

Mon 10/23                                         Report of Field Research Notes

  • Do an ethnography, field research visit, and/or interview with a member of the community. First, brainstorm a list of questions and then go into this community, and conduct a 30-60 minute interview, exploration, or visit into this group.
  • Record, transcribe, or take detailed notes during your interview and then type up a 2-3 page report of the research notes you captured in this community. Introduce your notes with a one-page letter to me. What happened? What were your impressions? How will you use this firsthand research in your article?

Mon 10/28                                         Working Draft of Report (2 printed)

  • Write a Working Draft of your report. Define your discourse community and a prominent genre within it, using an integrated combination of firsthand research and secondary sources. Use your analysis of the mentor text to help you draft your argument – what moves does it use, and how are those specific to your discourse community?

Wed 10/30                                         Peer Review letter (>2 pages printed, 2 copies)

  • Peer Review letter to partner due, using a technique called descriptive outlining.

Mon 11/11                                         Final Draft Due (1 via BB + 1 Hard Copy)

  • Including a 2-page Reflection Cover Letter explaining why and how you made the choices that you made for your target audience, using your mentor text, and for the publication of your choice.

 

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1121 Syllabus Front Matter

English ENG 1121 Course Syllabus

Professor:  Kieran Reichert

Office Phone: (718) 260-5392

Office: Office Hours: Email: kreichert@citytech.cuny.edu

Meeting Time:

Classroom Location:  Namm N-1107

Online Location: *Insert OpenLab here*=

Course Description: 

As the second semester course in City Tech’s first-year writing program sequence, we’ll deepen our analytical understanding of writing and rhetoric by considering more rigorously how authors produce texts in response to a variety of situations. Building on what you’ve done in English 1101, the course will practice close reading and will learn how to approach texts from many different genres as well as learn about the idea of discourses and discourse communities. We’ll explore writing as a process, how research can help you build credibility and put texts into a conversation, and build skills that that can be applied across all areas of study.  We will be able to develop our own ideas about writing that we can take with us into future academic and professional experiences. Students will engage in class discussion to strengthen critical thinking and develop the language to respond to a wide variety of texts, ideas, and societal issues. The ultimate goal of ENG 1101 and ENG 1121 is to provide you with the rhetorical awareness and tools to transfer your writing skills to any type of situation that requires a written response. So we’ll explore situations even beyond the scope of this class, and look outward at how you can become a successful writer throughout your career and life beyond the academy.

Prerequisite:  CUNY proficiency in reading and writing

 

Objectives

After completing ENG 1121, you should be able to: 

  1. Read and listen critically and analytically in a variety of genres and rhetorical situations: Identify and evaluate exigencies, purposes, claims, supporting evidence, and underlying assumptions in a variety of texts, genres, and media.
  2. Adapt and compose in a variety of genres: Adapt writing conventions in ways that are suitable to different exigencies and purposes in a variety of contexts, including academic, workplace, and civic audiences. When appropriate, repurpose prior work to new genres, audiences, and media by adjusting delivery, design, tone, organization, and language.
  3. Use research as a process of inquiry and engagement with multiple perspectives: Learn to focus on a topic and develop research questions that lead to propositions and claims that can be supported with well-reasoned arguments. Persuasively communicate and repurpose research projects across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media. Demonstrate research skills through proper attribution and citation gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing both primary and secondary sources. Learn how to use appropriate citation styles depending on disciplinary and situational requirements (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)
  4. Use reflection and other metacognitive processes to revise prior assumptions about the writing processes and transfer acquired knowledge about effective reading and writing practices into new writing situations: Engage with reading and writing as a process including prewriting, writing, and continuous revision. Students write essays that demonstrate their reflection on their own writing process from the beginning and through the semester with the intention to transfer their acquired knowledge about genre and composing practices into new writing situations.
  5. Demonstrate the social and ethical responsibilities and consequences of writing: Recognize that first-year writing includes academic, workplace, and civic contexts, all of which require careful deliberation concerning the ethical and social ramifications concerning fairness, inclusivity, and respect for diversity. Write and revise for academic and broader, public audiences accordingly.
  6. Compose in 21st Century Environments: Learn to choose among the most current and effective delivery methods for different composing situations, including composing in new media environments, including alphabetic texts, still and moving images, sonic, and mixed media compositions. Use digital media platforms appropriate to audience and purpose.

Texts

  • To be handed out in class and/or posted on the course website. If texts are available on the course website only, I’ll expect you to download, print, and bring them with you on the day we’re due to discuss them in class.
  • Course website: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/eng1121_s20_reichert_dXXX
  • For style, editing, and source citations, I recommend the Purdue OWL

University Policies

Accessibility Statement

City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal, state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, please contact the Center for Student Accessibility at 300 Jay Street room L-237, 718 260 5143 or http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/accessibility/.

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Statement

Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion.

Sanctions for Academic Integrity Violations

In accordance with the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity, NYCCT empowers its Academic Integrity Committee and Academic Integrity Officer to process violations of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy. As stated in the student handbook, all instructors must report all instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic Integrity Officer.

Course Policies

Word Count: All students in first-year composition are required to turn in a minimum of 6,000 finished words in order to successfully pass the class. Students who don’t meet the word count requirement will receive a grade of F. This is the English Department policy.

Final Portfolio / Reflection: At the end of the semester students will turn in a final portfolio which is a collection of their revised essays over the course of the semester. In addition, students will submit a final essay that is both reflective and argumentative in nature. In this essay, students will be asked to explain how the work they have done over the course of the semester has met the learning outcomes for the course. In developing this essay, students will argue that the work they have done in the course has met the learning outcomes and will show how that work meets the outcomes by using examples from their own writings that appear in the final portfolio. The final reflective/argumentative essay should be a minimum of 1100 words. Students who do not meet the 1100 word count for this reflection piece will not pass the class and will receive a grade of F. This is the English Departmental policy. 

Attendance: Students who fail to attend class regularly will fall behind on the daily writing assignments. The daily assignments build upon previous work and lead towards success in the major projects. In order to succeed in the class, students will need to attend regularly. Students who fall behind will likely have a difficult time catching up.

 Late/Missing Work:  Work is counted as late if it is not provided to me before or during class on the due date (if you email it to me later that day, it is considered late). Late papers will lose one letter grade per day late. Missing class is not an excuse for late work. If outside circumstances make a deadline impossible to meet, it is your responsibility to contact me ahead of time to discuss a possible extension.

NOTE: Please make sure to have at least one student’s email address for missed work. You are responsible for reaching out to them or to me to find out what you missed.

OpenLab Statement:

You will need to register with the City Tech Open Lab and join our course immediately. It will be your responsibility to learn the navigation of the class website during the first week. After the first week, we will be using the Open Lab. Any work that you fail to post after the 3rd class meeting cannot be made up. If you need help with this, see me immediately, and make sure to come to the first and second class meetings.

Course Load Statement:

A full-time course load for a college student is 4 classes. At forty hours per week, that breaks down to 10 hours per class. You will be in class for 2.5 hours a week. Plan to spend 7.5 hours on reading/writing assignments for each week on average. Some weeks will be more. Some less. 

Major Projects and Assignments

Project 1: Rhetoric, Genre, Discourse

Project 2: Research Proposal & Annotated Bibliography

Project 3: Multimodal Remix

Other graded projects:  Blog posts, reflection essays, revisions, peer review letters.

Participation: 10% of your grade will be based on the quantity and quality of your participation in class. Reading the assigned texts, completing any homework, and bringing the necessary materials to class are all crucial to effective participation.  

Extra Credit: Extra credit proposals will be considered on a case-by-case basis and are only available given extenuating circumstances.

 

Unit 1: Rhetoric, Genre, Discourse

This assignment asks students to identify a discourse community and help them become aware of the ways that discourse communities inform rhetorical situations and rhetorical choices. Discourse communities can be defined by the instructor, full class, and/or individual students in many ways: as academic, cultural, ethnic, religious, social, artistic, or other communities. However, one thing that discourse communities share is a common specialized interest and linguistic discourse. By closely analyzing specific discourses that they may have previously ignored or taken for granted and rhetorically analyzing linguistic artifacts, students become more aware, not only of how discourse functions within the particular community out of which the artifact arose, but of the powers and limitations of language as it travels within and through various discourse communities. This assignment offers a means for students to understand and use a variety of types of research, including ethnography, analysis of artifacts, interviews, or other primary sources. The final product may take one of many different forms: an analytic paper, a creative assignment, an Op-Ed/popular article, a report, a letter, or a review, but in all cases, students should emerge with a deeper understanding of the ways in which discourse communities define a rhetorical situation by uniting an audience, establishing a shared language, and promoting a common interest or goal.

 

Unit 2: Research, Inquiry, Argument

This assignment asks students to continue looking outside their school lives and to tackle an urgent current social problem, such as voter suppression, empowerment of specific communities, or the epidemic of shootings, or something that is particularly important to them and/or a specific discourse community, possibly the one they wrote about in Unit 1. The goal is to create an argumentative essay that 1) begins with focused research questions about a specific problem/issue, 2) asks students to conduct primary and secondary research to identify stakeholders and analyze different perspectives, 3) ends with a draft of a position paper. This might be used in Unit 3 and translated into different media targeting a specific audience affected by the problem.

Unit 3: Repurposed Multimodal Project

This assignment asks students to re-think—or re-envision—one of the assignments they have written previously in the semester, presenting it in a totally new genre, perhaps changing modes: a written essay to an audio podcast, website, graphic, video essay, rap album, or mixed modal. This assignment builds on the generic, rhetorical, and audience awareness that students have worked on all semester long, asking them to consider what discourse community they are trying to reach and, not only what diction, but also what mode of delivery would be best for that message/community. This “translation” is key to transfer, one of the course learning outcomes of this course. If students can take a message and transform it for different audiences and media, then they are well on their way to being able to transfer writing skills across fields, disciplines, and discourse communities.

Final Portfolio Project

The final portfolio assignment asks students to accomplish three tasks: 1) to revise all of their work over the course of the semester; 2) reflections, describe the process and evolution of the project over the course of the semester; 3) students also write a narrative that explains their evolution as a reader and writer over the course of the semester, from their thoughts about writing/reading during the literacy narrative to how they feel about writing and reading now. It is important to recognize that students should not simply state that their writing has changed over the semester, but they should be able to specifically identify and describe with sufficient detail particular moments in their assignments and in the semester where they could substantiate how their own growth was taking place. Last, 4) the assignment should also ask students to consider how the course has prepared them for transfer—that is, for writing in other contexts.

Grading Procedure: While the Portfolio will be graded as a whole at the end of the semester, the drafts that you turn in throughout the course of the semester will be treated as intermediate grades and will count for a percentage. You will be graded based on the strength of the first draft, the success of the revision, and the depth and quality of the reflection. Students who fail to submit process and scaffolding work for the major projects during the semester will likely not perform well on the final portfolio. You will receive feedback on every draft of each major writing assignment, and you will get a grade for each assignment that can be continuously improved and revised for the final portfolio.   

Grade Calculation

Blog Posts                                                        20%

Presentation                                                      10%

Participation                                                     10%

Final Portfolio                                                   60 %

Drafts                20%

Revisions           20%

Reflections         20%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Semester Outline

 

  • All Readings and Assignments are DUE on the day they are listed.
  • Any changes made to the following schedule will be announced in class or on the class website. It is your responsibility to keep up with all announced changes.

 

DATE CLASS TOPICS READINGS / WRITINGS / VIEWINGS
WEEK 1           

M  01/27

 

 

Introductions, Syllabus, Open Lab

 

 

Open Lab website, readings, intro writing.

 

 

W   01/29

 

Syllabus, Discourse communities, Literacy Narratives

 

 

“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan. DC activity. “Concept of a Discourse Community” by John Swales (in-class), use on own DC.

 

WEEK 2

M   02/03

 

Unit 1: Rhetoric, Genre, Discourse An Analytical Framework

 

“Backpacks vs. Briefcases” by Laura Carroll. Continued review/practice with DC.

Writing due: Blog Post #1 – Critical Response to Tan, Swales, or Carroll

W 02/05  

Primary Research

 

“Navigating Genres” by Kerry Dirk. Podcasting/Interviewing. Relate to interview process.

WEEK 3

M    02/10

 

Process

 

“Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott.

Writing due: Blog Post #2 – List of 10 interview questions

 

W   02/12

 

 

Lincoln’s b-day. College Closed.

 

 

WEEK 4

M    02/17

 

 

Peer Review: Group Review

 

“Responding—really responding—to Other Students’ Writing” by Richard Straub.

Writing due: Rough Draft, incl. interview (2 copies)

 

W   02/19

 

 

Revision: Lamott + Murray

 

“Internal Revision: A Process of Discovery” by Donald Murray. Notes on Reflection.

 

WEEK 5

M    02/24

 

 

Unit 2: Research as Inquiry

Introduction

 

Writing due: Final Draft #1 (for now) + Reflection

 

W   02/26

 

Library Visit? Using inquiry to drive Research

 

“Using Sources Ethically” by Marcia Muth. “Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched Argument” by Stuart Greene.

 

 

 

 

WEEK 6

M    03/02

 

 

 

 

 

Research Questions to Theses

 

 

 

 

“On the Other Hand: The Role of Antithetical Writing in FY Composition Courses” by Steve Krause. Writing due: Blog Post #3 – Annotation of 3 sources

 

 

W   03/04

 

 

 

A Good Thesis

 

“Why We Need to Get in Formation: The Rhetoric of Beyoncé” by Kira Pratt (Student Essay). Lay out traditional academic outline.

 

WEEK 7

M    03/09

 

 

Genre + Discourse Community

 

“Don’t Eat Before Reading This” by Anthony Bourdain.

Write: Blog Post – Analysis of DC/Genre

 

 

W   03/11

 

 

Different Modes of Peer Review

 

Writing Due: Rough Draft (1 copies)

WEEK 8

M    03/16

 

 

 

Consider Your Audience

 

“Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace.  Writing Due: Blog Post #4 –Peer Review Letter

W   03/16

 

Audience, cont’d. Excerpt, “My President Was Black” by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
WEEK 9

 

Midterm Grades Due this Week
 

M    03/23

 

 

Unit 3: Multimodal Remix Introduction

 

“The Art of Trespassing” by Justin Graffa (student project). Writing Due: Final Draft + Reflection

W   03/25 Questions of Genre

 

“All Writing is Multimodal” by Cheryl Ball and Colin Charlton.
WEEK 10

M    03/30

 

 

Composing in 21st Century Environments

 

Presentation Examples + Tutorials.  Mini-Conferences.

W   04/01 Film/Video as a Genre

 

Excerpt, Where to Invade Next by Michael Moore.

 

WEEK 11

M    04/06

 

 

Presentations

 

Presentations

T     04/07 Classes follow a Wednesday Schedule. Presentations. Mini-conferences (cont’d).
W   04/08 Spring Recess No Class.
WEEK 12

M    04/13

 

Spring Recess

 

No Class.

W   04/15 Spring Recess  

No Class.

WEEK 13

M   04/20

 

Final Portfolio Introductions

In-Class Reflection Review

 

In Class: One-on-One Peer Review. Writing due: Rough Draft Multimodal Essay Reflection

W   04/22 Argument and Reflection

 

 “Don’t Let My Classmates’ Deaths Be in Vain” by Christine Yared.

“A Young Activist’s Advice: Vote, Shave Your Head, and Cry Whenever You Need To” by Emma González

WEEK 14

M    04/27

 

 

Revision Workshop

 

Micro v Macro, Feedback loops, Revision Plans.

Writing Due: Blog Post #5 – Revision Plan

W   04/29

 

Discourse Communities, Research, and Argument “The Florida Shuffle” by Colton Wooten.
WEEK 15

M    05/04

 

 

Syllabus Catch Up Day.

 

Writing Due: Final Draft #3 (Reflection)

W   05/06 Revisiting Genres. “Leaving Prison at 72” by Rick Rojas. Vice video piece.
WEEK 16

M    05/11

 

 

Putting it All Together

 

Reflecting vis-à-vis learning objectives.

W   05/13

 

Peer Review Group Workshop.

Writing Due: Draft of Final Reflection

F 05/15 Reading Day. No Classes.  
WEEK 17

5/16-22

Final Exam Week.
M    5/18  

Final Thoughts.

 

Workshop day. Bring in Portfolio materials, including reflection drafts.

W    5/20 Final Thoughts. In-class writing activities.

Writing due: FINAL PORTFOLIO DUE (BB)

   
Th 05/28 Final Grades Due

 

 

 

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1101 Portfolio

Final Portfolio – due XX/XX 5/15 @ 11:59 PM on Blackboard

The final portfolio assignment asks you all to accomplish three tasks. 1) It asks you to revise your selected work over the course of the semester. In so doing, it asks you to offer reflective remarks concerning each piece that describe the process and the evolution of the project over the course of the semester. 2) In addition to the revision and reflections of the individual unit projects, you will also write a narrative that explains your evolution as a reader and writer over the course of the semester. This narrative asks you to return to the first assignment you wrote for the class (the literacy narrative) and compare how your thoughts about writing and your practices about writing have evolved over the course of the semester. It is important to note that you should not simply state that your writing has changed over the course of the semester, but you should be able to specifically describe with sufficient detail particular moments in your assignments and in the semester where you could substantiate how your own growth was taking place. 3) Lastly, the assignment also asks you to consider how this course has prepared you for transfer—that is, for writing in other contexts.

The contents of your portfolios should be as follows:

  • *Revised* Literacy Narrative + Reflection
  • *Revised* Genre Research Project + Reflection
  • *Revised* New Genre Project + Reflection
  • Reflection on who you are as a writer now, after a semester of writing in ENG1121 (1000 words)

These portfolios should include each of these essays/reflections in a single document that you will turn in via Blackboard by 11:59 PM on XX/XX.

Prompts for Final Course Reflection:

Think back to yourself in January, before COVID, before we did anything together in class. What would you have thought of as your strengths as a writer? Weaknesses? How did those aspects change over the course of the semester? You should refer to specific challenges you faced while writing, specific things you learned in and out of class with me, and the effects of those challenges and learning moments. How do you feel as a writer now? How might what you’ve learned in this class TRANSFER into other areas of your life? (Again, this should be at least 1000 words).

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1101 Unit 3

UNIT 3: Writing in a New Genre (adapted from T. Clarke’s sample)

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 declaration, a review, a manifesto, a rulebook, a magazine article (from a particular publication), a comic book, a children’s book, short story, a video essay. Perhaps you want to create a multigenre piece that mixes multiple genres in the same document, or a multimedia piece with a written component. I hope you get the sense that the possibilities are endless; you have multiple publishing options for your Unit 3 genre. Hint: Think about your audience and the best way to communicate with them. In my example, my audience would be soccer fans, and therefore I might choose a genre that soccer fans are familiar with, like the match review, or tactical analysis. The same would be true for whatever issue/community you choose.

The possibilities are virtually endless. The caveats are:

1. You must have a rhetorical understanding of the genre you choose.

2. You must make use of the research you did in Unit 2.

3. You cannot simply write an “article.” You’ll need to be specific, and the genre must contain words. It would help you to have a specific example (or model) of the genre in which you choose to write. You will have written about this genre, in some form, so use the knowledge you already have, and the knowledge you will gain from further research, to craft the best version of a document in the genre you’ve chosen. If you are choosing to do something say in video or song, you must transcribe the words. The final word count for this will be 1500 words, at least.

Some ways you might want to get started:

● Question your intent. Think, “What do I have to say? Why do I care about this topic? What is the best genre for me to communicate what I have to say?”

● Choose a genre you like and that you think best fits your intent. If you decide for instance that you want to talk about bodegas, or your bodega specifically, perhaps an exposé is best.

● The point here is, the topic and genre should gel.

Outline of Tasks:

1. Proposal. Consider again how your research and genre analysis in Unit 2 has addressed/influenced your line of questioning. What do you want to say? Why is your topic important to you and to the community at large? Which genre is best suited to communicating your message? Type your proposal.

2. Outline with sources chosen and genre mentor text (model or example of the genre you would like to compose in). Once you’ve narrowed your focus/have chosen your genre, outline your argument. How will you support your general claim? What kind of sources would strengthen your argument? Which genre will serve as your mentor text?

3. Rough draft. Begin writing. Bring in research and the methodological knowledge you’ve gained from our investigation into genre and rhetoric. Look to your source/mentor text for ideas about structure. Bring two (2) copies of your rough draft to class to participate in the peer writing-workshop.

4. Based on feedback on your rough draft, conduct further research, if necessary, to support your

claims/vision. Incorporate reflection and feedback in order to improve the final product.

5. Final draft.

6. Reflection. Your reflective letter should be at least 500 words.

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1101 Unit 2

ENG1101 – Unit 2: Genre Research Project  (adapted from T. Clarke’s sample)

In this assignment, we will be researching one topic from a multi-genre perspective. We will be taking what we’ve learned about writing situations and the audience/purpose/constraints of a given text and using them to deduce the conventions that make up the GENRE of a given text. When we think of genres, it is useful to think of the definition of genre as a category; now we want to be able to determine what the criteria are that make different text fit into the same categories. These are what we’ll call the conventions of the genre.

In “Navigating Genres,” Kerry Dirk writes that the genre of country music conventionally includes songs about lost love, dogs, and pickup trucks. Perhaps more relatably, we all interact (or used to, at least) with the genre of subway announcements.

1. What are the conventions and constraints of a subway announcement? What is another way that the information communicated in those announcements might be communicated? Which genre works best, and why?

In order to build out this kind of genre awareness, I’ll be asking you to think about a topic or skill or hobby that you are expert, or at least interested, in. Within that realm, what is an event or issue that is of interest to you?

For instance, I am a soccer fan, and if I were to complete this assignment, I might choose the dramatic loss of Arsenal FC to FC Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League Final as my topic. For that event, there are any number of places to begin. First, I might look up a good highlight video. There are very specific aspects of a past match to include in such a video – good passes, tackles, chances, goals, runs of play, pivotal swings of momentum, etc. I would break down how that video is follows/breaks the conventions of a good highlight video. Then, I would look for another way to interact with that event – say, an in depth post-match conference with one of the managers. I’d watch the Arsenal manager detail how his team came heart-stoppingly close to winning the most elite trophy in the footballing world, and think about how a post-match interview has different conventions than a highlight video, and communicates different information. Last, I might choose to read a soccer analyst’s longform written tactical analysis of the match. For this essay, I would define what constitutes each genre, and then go on to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each in comparison with the others.

Stage 1: Research Question + Annotated Bibliography (Due XX/XX)

This should be something you care about, something you’ve always wondered about—something that will keep you engaged, as you’ll be continuing this line of inquiry in Unit

3 as well. (In my example, my Research Question would be how did Arsenal lose in the UCL final in 2006?) Complete the Formulating Your Research Question Worksheet and have your question approved by me. If you change your question, your new question must be approved.

With that question, you will then research, gather information on, and analyze four (4) sources consisting of at least three (3) different genres. Complete an Annotated Bibliography for your sources.

Stage 2: Rough Draft (Due XX/XX)

Write the rough draft of your report. The best way to go about this is to write the report for each source (you will have already completed this step using the guide outlined in the “Rhetorical Analysis of Sources Plan”), then write the introduction and conclusion. Remember that format and appearance count, so give yourself time to proofread and make it look great! Include a Works Cited page of your sources. Bring two (2) copies of your rough draft to class to participate in the peer writing-workshop.

Stage 3: Final Draft (after Peer/Professor Feedback, due XX/XX)

Prepare the final draft of your report. Include a Works Cited page of your sources. The entire report consisting of source analysis, introduction, and conclusion, and excluding the Works Cited page, should be at least 1800 words.

Stage 4: Reflection (due XX/XX)

Write a reflective letter about the process. Consider: What did I learn from this process? About my own process of thought? About my reading process? My writing process? How can I apply what I have learned to other contexts? Your reflective letter should be at least 500 words.

Grading:

1. Is your document readable and informative? Does it teach us about what you’ve learned, as it relates to question? Does it teach us, not only about the content of the sources you’ve chosen, but also the rhetorical situation surrounding those sources? In other words, is it a “good” source? Good for whom? Why?

2. Did you do solid research here? One of the main goals of the assignment is to learn something new about your topic AND to help you learn to find information on your own, to be applied to future situations. If you simply choose the first three options on Google, that’s not doing enough, and your topic will most likely not be as nuanced as it could be.

3. Did you find sources in at least three (3) different genres? Did the genres you chose “gel” with the content – that is, did the genres you chose make sense for the goals of both Units 2 and 3?

4. Your report must look great and must be organized in a way that makes sense to the reader you have in mind (and to me!).

5. Is your language appropriate to the audience you have in mind? No matter how you chose to write it, the type of language you use (how it is written) must be consistent and must be appropriate to your audience. You should be able to explain with a good line of reasoning why you chose the language you chose.

6. Cite your sources and include a Works Cited page.

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1101 Unit 1

Essay #1: Literacy Narrative

In this unit, we have read several examples of literacy narratives. In “Mother Tongue,” we read about the titular mother’s “broken English” and how that, along with several pivotal educational experiences, made Amy Tan the writer she is. In “All Writing is Autobiography,” Donald Murray talked about the different parts of himself he brings into his different writing projects. These were both literacy narratives, which are stories writers tell about their relationship to reading and writing.

In this unit’s writing assignment, you will write a response to the question “What is literacy?” in a way that is personal, meaningful, and considered. The question does not ask “what is the definition of literacy?” but rather “what does literacy mean to you?” In this essay, you will relate experiences or events that have been important in shaping the kind of writer and reader you have become, or experiences that illuminate the role of literacy in your life. The purpose of the assignment is to explore this experience in order to gain insight into who you are as a writer and reader, and to examine the role literacy plays into your life. In the end, you will have linked your participation in this class to the rest of your experiences with writing in your life.

In preparation for this assignment, you have read two examples of literacy narratives — Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Donald Murray’s “All Writing is Autobiography” — you will read a third sample student literacy narrative. Look to them for guidance.

If you feel stuck, think and write about the following prompts:

  • What is your current attitude toward reading/writing?
  • What are your beliefs about yourself as a reader/writer?
  • What happened in the past to make you have that attitude or those beliefs?
  • What experiences were most significant?

Also, consider the following areas of experience you might explore:

  • your family’s attitude toward reading/writing
  • your own reading/writing experiences in and out of school
  • what you remember about learning to read/write
  • what successes or failures you have had connected to reading/writing
  • a particular book that had an impact on you
  • your reading/writing strengths
  • your reading/writing weaknesses.

Your essays will be >750 words (approx. 4 pages) in length, double-spaced in a normal 12-pt font (Cambria, Baskerville, Garamond, Times, etc.), with 1” margins all around. You should write your name and course details in the header, and page numbers in the footer. Your paper should have a title, an introduction ending in a thesis statement (an answer to the central question of the prompt), several body paragraphs that utilize the Point + Illustration + Explanation model we discussed in class, and a succinct conclusion.

Given the nature of this essay, you should draw from personal experience, and you may use the first-person “I” when doing so. You will bring in two printed copies to our peer review session in class and turn in a final draft electronically and physically by the beginning of class on __________.

Please feel free to stop by my office hours or shoot me an email with any questions.

 

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1101 Syllabus Front Matter

English ENG 1101 Course Syllabus

Professor: Kieran Reichert

Office Phone: (718) 260-5392

Office:

Office Hours:

Email: kreichert@citytech.cuny.edu

Meeting Time:

Classroom Location:

Online Location: *Insert OpenLab here*

Course Description: A course in effective essay writing and basic research techniques including use of the library. Demanding readings assigned for classroom discussion and as a basis for essay writing.

Prerequisite: CUNY proficiency in reading and writing

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Read and listen critically and analytically in a variety of genres and rhetorical situations: Identify and evaluate exigencies, purposes, claims, supporting evidence, and underlying assumptions in a variety of texts, genres, and media.
  2. Adapt to and compose in a variety of genres: Adapt writing conventions in ways that are suitable to different exigencies and purposes in a variety of contexts, including academic, workplace, and civic audiences. When appropriate, repurpose prior work to new genres, audiences, and media by adjusting delivery, design, tone, organization, and language.
  3. Use research as a process of inquiry and engagement with multiple perspectives: Learn to focus on a topic and develop research questions that lead to propositions and claims that can be supported with wellreasoned arguments. Persuasively communicate and repurpose research projects across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media. Demonstrate research skills through attribution and citation gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing both primary and secondary sources. Learn how to use appropriate citation styles depending on disciplinary and situational requirements (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).
  4. Use reflection and other metacognitive processes to revise prior assumptions about reading and writing and transfer acquired knowledge into new writing situations. Students write reflections of their own reading and writing process from the beginning and throughout the semester with the intention to transfer their acquired knowledge about genre and composing practices into new writing situations.
  5. Demonstrate the social and ethical responsibilities and consequences of writing: Recognize that firstyear writing includes academic, workplace, and civic contexts, all of which require careful deliberation concerning the ethical and social ramifications concerning fairness, inclusivity, and respect for diversity. Write and revise for academic and broader, public audiences accordingly.
  6. Compose in 21st Century Environments: Learn to choose among the most current and effective delivery methods for different composing situations. Students learn to compose in new media environments, including alphabetic texts, still and moving images, sonic, and mixed media compositions. Use digital media platforms appropriate to audience and purpose.

Readings / Texts: To be handed out in class and/or posted on the course website. If texts are available on the course website only, I’ll expect you to download, print, and bring them with you on the day we’re due to discuss them in class.

  • Course website: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/eng11X1_X20_reichert_XXXX
  • For style, editing, and source citations, I recommend the Purdue OWL

University Policies

Accessibility Statement

City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities

in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies and testing

accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for

reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal,

state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues

under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek

accommodation services or academic adjustments, please contact the Center for Student

Accessibility at 300 Jay Street room L-237, 718 260 5143 or

http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/accessibility/.

 

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Statement

Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and

other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using,

crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the

College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and

academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately

to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited at New York

City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension,

and expulsion.

 

Sanctions for Academic Integrity Violations

In accordance with the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity, NYCCT empowers its Academic

Integrity Committee and Academic Integrity Officer to process violations of the CUNY Academic

Integrity Policy. As stated in the student handbook, all instructors must report all instances of

academic dishonesty to the Academic Integrity Officer.

 

Course Policies

Attendance: Students who fail to attend class regularly will fall behind on the daily writing

assignments. The daily assignments build upon previous work and lead towards success in the

major projects. In order to succeed in the class, students will need to attend regularly. Students

who fall behind will likely have a difficult time catching up.

Missed Work and Late Papers: Work is counted as late if it is not provided to me before or during class on the due date (if you email it to me later that day, it is considered late). Late papers will lose one letter grade per day late. Missing class is not an excuse for late work. If outside circumstances make a deadline impossible to meet, it is your responsibility to contact me ahead of time to discuss a possible extension.

NOTE: Please make sure to have at least one student’s email address for missed work. You are responsible for reaching out to them or to me to find out what you missed.

OpenLab / Blackboard Statement: You will need to register with the City Tech Open Lab and join our course immediately. It will be your responsibility to learn the navigation of the class website during the first week. After the first week, we will be using the Open Lab. Any work that you fail to post after the 3rd class meeting cannot be made up. If you need help with this, see me immediately, and make sure to come to the first and second class meetings.

Major Projects and Assignments 

Unit 1: Literacy Narrative

In this unit’s writing assignment, you will write a response to the question “What is literacy?” in a way that is personal, meaningful, and considered. The question does not ask “what is the definition of literacy?” but rather “what does literacy mean to you?” In this essay, you will relate experiences or events that have been important in shaping the kind of writer and reader you have become, or experiences that illuminate the role of literacy in your life. The purpose of the assignment is to explore this experience in order to gain insight into who you are as a writer and reader, and to examine the role literacy plays into your life. In the end, you will have linked your participation in this class to the rest of your experiences with writing in your life.

Project 2: Genre Research Project

In this assignment, we will be researching one topic from a multi-genre perspective. We will be taking what we’ve learned about writing situations and the audience/purpose/constraints of a given text and using them to deduce the conventions that make up the GENRE of a given text. First, you will start with a research question for which you will write up an annotated bibliography and turn that in for guidance from me and your peers. Then, you will make and outline and a rough draft, on which you will also get feedback from your peers. Then you will turn in a final draft for a grade, and a reflection.

Project 3: Writing in a New Genre

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 declaration, a review, a manifesto, a rulebook, a magazine article (from a particular publication), a comic book, a children’s book, short story, a video essay. Perhaps you want to create a multigenre piece that mixes multiple genres in the same document, or a multimedia piece with a written component. I hope you get the sense that the possibilities are endless; you have multiple publishing options for your Unit 3 genre. You will begin with a proposal, then create an outline, and finally compose a rough draft. We will conduct peer review and I will provide you with comments, then you will revise and turn in a final draft for a grade, as well as a reflection.

Blog Posts: You will also at times be asked to write blog posts about the readings/course concepts. These will be the way that you prove to me that you are keeping up with the material and discussions in class, and therefore will be ultimately

Participation: 10% of your grade will be based on the quantity and quality of your participation in class/online. Reading the assigned texts, completing any homework, and bringing the necessary materials to class are all crucial to effective participation.  

Extra Credit: Extra credit proposals will be considered on a case-by-case basis and are only available given extenuating circumstances.

Portfolio: The final portfolio assignment asks students to accomplish three tasks: 1) to revise all of their work over the course of the semester; 2) reflections, describe the process and evolution of the project over the course of the semester; 3) students also write a narrative that explains their evolution as a reader and writer over the course of the semester, from their thoughts about writing/reading during the literacy narrative to how they feel about writing and reading now. It is important to recognize that students should not simply state that their writing has changed over the semester, but they should be able to specifically identify and describe with sufficient detail particular moments in their assignments and in the semester where they could substantiate how their own growth was taking place. Last, 4) the assignment should also ask students to consider how the course has prepared them for transfer—that is, for writing in other contexts.

Grade Calculation

Blog Posts                                                        20%

Presentation                                                      10%

Participation                                                     10%

Final Portfolio                                                   60 %

Drafts               20%

Revisions          20%

Reflections       20%