Agenda: Week 5

Week 5: Finishing Project 1; Writing Opinion Essays

Project 1 due Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Class Info

• Dates: Monday, 3/3, Wednesday, 3/5 (remember, also Thursday, 3/6!)
• Meeting Info: 11:30am-12:45pm in room N521

Objectives

• To draft and revise our narratives about belonging to/felling excluded from discourse communities, and to connect our ideas to those expressed in our course readings; to offer feedback to our classmates as part of the revision process. To complete our Discourse Community essays (Project 1) and all related work; to write a reflection about the Discourse Community essay; to begin the Opinion Essay (Project 2)

Actions

• Complete and post Project 1 by Friday, 3/1.
• Complete any unfinished work from previous weeks’ agendas, including any Discussions that can help you with Project 1.

For Monday, 3/3

Reading

• Read your draft of Project 1
• Re-read the Project 1 instructions
• Re-read any of our assigned texts to find one or two to quote from for Project 1.
• Spoken Word Video: “Unlearning My Name” by Mohammed Hassan
• Passing by Nella Larsen, read as much of Part 1 as you can, but at least the first two chapters.
• Additional text: Blog Post: “Racial Imposter Syndrome” by Kelly Bates
• Reading/Writing resource: “Quotation Handout” by Carrie Hall

Writing

• Continue working on Project 1: Discourse Communities

In Class, Monday, 3/3

• Additional text: Blog Post: “Racial Imposter Syndrome” by Kelly Bates
• Group discussion: what do we still need to do to finish Project 1?
  • writing about (and telling a story about) a discourse community you belong to in your life
  • writing about (and telling a story about) a discourse community you belong to or want to belong to as a student here at City Tech; why it’s important to belong, what steps you can take (eg join a club, go to an event, take more courses, find a mentor, doing a research project)
  • have a thesis statement either in a more formal introduction or after the story you tell about your belonging to a discourse community
  • No matter what discourse community you’re a part of, it should always be enjoyable or progressive toward a goal
  • To belong in a DC means to find your people
  • DCs offer a place to share and connect with others
  • reflecting on what it means to be part of a DC
  • DCs can make you feel like you’re part of a family
  • By having a sense of self and finding that same ???, people can feel a sense of connection and community
  • The sense of connection from sharing language and interests helps individuals feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves
  • Sharing language and interests offers a point of commonality and makes different people feel connected to each other
  • (you don’t want to be the only one not feeling connected)
  • DC can move us from isolated to feeling like we’re part of a community
  • using specific language, writing from a place of noticing
  • finding a passage from one of our readings to connect to
• Peer Review of 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?
• Titles: what’s a good title for your Project 1?
  • Finding a place in Soccer and Engineering Discourse Communities
  • Belonging and Not Belonging in Discourse Communities
  • How I Learned to Talk Like an Engineer
  • From Home Runs to Home Decor: Two Discourse Communities
• How to submit Project 1: Adding a Post
• Making a checklist (with time breakdown):
  • What do you need to finish?
  • what do you need to revise?
  • What else from the project instructions?
  • what else from the grading criteria?
  • Will you be ready to submit your project by Wednesday at the start of class?
  • On the back: What do you think our AI policy should be in this class?
• Passing by Nella Larsen
• Reading Chapter 1: what do we notice? what do we notice about discourse communities? what do we notice about ourselves as readers?

For Wednesday, 3/5

Reading

• Novel: Passing by Nella Larsen
• Podcast/Interview: “On Passing” (both audio and written transcript available)

Writing

• Annotate as you read our course’s texts.

In Class, Wednesday, 3/5

For each project this semester, I will ask you to write a cover letter that I will read as I read your project. In your letter, respond to the following questions in any order to reflect on your work for Project 1. This kind of metacognitive writing can help writers become more aware of their writing process and develop the kinds of practices that help them develop further as writers.

• In a sentence or two, what did you write about in Project 1?
• Describe your writing process for Project 1.
• Describe how you incorporated feedback from classmates, from me, from a writing tutor, or anyone else who gave you feedback and how you approached revision.
• What do you think is the best part of your project?
• What gave you the most difficulty in this project?
• What did you learn about yourself as a student, a learner, a writer, a reviser, a collaborator (eg, peer reviewer, responding to classmates), or anything else?
• If you had more time to work on Project 1, what would you want to work on?
• What additional support would you have wanted (from me, classmates, Writing Center, etc)?
• What do you want help with as you revise your project for your final portfolio?
• What letter grade do you think your project has earned, based on the grading criteria?
• Is there anything else I should know about?

What advice do you have now for yourself when you were starting or working on Project 1?

• Helpful resources:
  • City Tech Library Computer Lab
  • City Tech Writing Center (they offer online appointments as well as in-person appointments)
• Personal Narrative: “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan
• Passing Group work: Read the following excerpts. What DCs do we recognize in this text, in our assigned passages? What else stands out as we read these passages? Do we feel included or excluded as we read?
  • p18, “Again she looked up…” to 20 “She couldn’t prove it.”
  • p20, “Suddenly her small fright increased” to bottom of 22
  • p36 “The truth was” to bottom of 38
  • p 43 “But you’ve never answered my question” to 44 “fascination, strange and compelling”
  • p44 “Clare Kendry was still leaning back” to 46 “there was about them something exotic.
• See you tomorrow, Thursday, 3/6, for a Wednesday schedule!

Photo Credits: “Writing Tips” by Karen Bryan via Flickr CC BY-ND 2.0 Deed