There are no classes scheduled at City Tech for Wednesday, September 8 OR Wednesday, September 15, but I want to make sure we stay on track, so I wanted to post a few links and reminders about what’s ahead!

I’ve created a small Agenda for this week, but don’t look there until you’ve read this!

BONUS: I’ve changed some due dates as well! Keep reading, though! I’ll let you know in good time. 🙂

This past Wednesday, September 1, we spent a lot of time dissecting Swales’ criteria for Discourse Communities–I added questions to each criteria to aid in the dissection.

They’re on the PowerPoint in the Course Profile, but I’ve copied and pasted them here for easy access while you’re thinking about this. (The criteria is in bold. The questions are in italics.)

Common public goals

What is this group’s goal?

Methods of communicating among members

What are the ways this group communicate with each other?

Participatory communication methods

How does this group primarily communicate with its members?

Genres that define the group

How does this group communicate with the outside world?

A lexis

What is the “language” they use within their group?

A standard of knowledge needed for membership

What does a person need to know before they can join this group?

Develops a sense of “silential relations”

Are there terms or actions that don’t need to be explained to a group member?

Develops horizons of expectation

Are there “rhythms of activity,” a sense of history, and a value system that the group members recognize?

I urge you to really ponder these criteria/questions in the upcoming non-class weeks as you think of multiple discourse communities that you are a part of, because when we meet again, we will need to get to the writing/revising part of the Unit 1 major writing assignment (you can find it here), which is going to be aided by your thoughts about the criteria.

You can see the details of what’s coming up on the Agenda!

Some Important Notes

After we met on Wednesday, I realized that my due dates for the homework were unfair, and might make people rush (or just not do them at all because of time).

I still want the Swales’ Quotes done (I noted a lot of you did this assignment by the due date, and they look great and show some real insight)–if you haven’t done this assignment, you should still do it and publish whatever you’ve got by a new due date (look at the Agenda for that). We’ll be doing something similar with other readings throughout the semester, so it’s good practice.

Remember, small in-class writing and homework assignments count for 30% of your overall grade (check the Course Policies under Course Info for the grade breakdown). All these micro-assignments have a point. I don’t assign homework just for the sake of homework. I hate busywork. They’re a pain to keep track of and a bigger pain in students’ you-know-what. 🙂 These assignments build on each other. I promise!

Go to the Course Profile page to review the PowerPoints from past classes. This is a great way to keep up with the class if you miss a session, or to to jog your memory.

Always check the Agenda section of our website! All the assignments with tons of details are here!