Agenda: Week 4

Week 4: Reading and Writing about Discourse Communities

Class Info

• Dates: Thursday, 2/16-Thursday, 2/23 (Classes follow a Monday schedule on Tuesday, 2/21)
• Meeting Info: 10:00-11:15am in room N618

Objectives

• To apply what we understand about discourse communities to the course readings and to write our own narratives that identify and consider the concepts of discourse communities and code switching in our experiences.

Actions

• Complete any unfinished work from previous weeks’ agendas, including introducing yourself on our OpenLab site.

For Thursday 2/16

Reading

• Novel: Passing by Nella Larsen (Part One: Encounter)
• Assignment instructions for Project 1: Discourse Communities

Writing

• Annotate as you read our course’s texts.
• Choose a word and contribute to our Glossary, following the instructions about what to include and how to post.

In Class, Thursday, 2/16

• Essay: “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott from Bird by Bird
• Drafting Project 1
• Beginning Passing

For Thursday 2/23

Reading

• Podcast/Interview: “On Passing” (both audio and written transcript available)
• Novel: Passing by Nella Larsen (Part Two: Re-encounter; Part 3: Finale)
• Spoken Word Video: “Unlearning My Name” by Mohammed Hassan

Writing

• Annotate as you read our course’s texts.
• Choose a word and contribute to our Glossary, following the instructions about what to include and how to post.

In Class, Thursday, 2/23

• What discourse communities do you find in the texts for today?
• what language is specific to these discourse communities–or used in a specific way?
• Peer review for Project 1:
  • Review your own draft, and read a classmate’s draft, too. Answer these questions about your draft and your classmate’s as specifically as you can (point to specific sentences or paragraphs):
  • in your own words, what is this discourse communities narrative about?
  • what parts captured your attention?
  • what parts did you want to read more about?
  • what parts were confusing or needed more explanation for you to understand?
  • what parts felt like they didn’t belong in this narrative about two discourse communities and finding a sense of belonging?
  • any other feedback or suggestions?
• Continued discussion of Passing
• Helpful resources:
  • City Tech Library Computer Lab: https://library.citytech.cuny.edu/services/technology/index.php
  • City Tech Writing Center