Project 3: Responding to sources
Latawiec – ENG 1010
Project 3: Responding to Sources
Overview: This goal of this assignment is to learn and utilize key strategies/concepts that “expert” writers use to enter into a greater “conversation.” Writers (like all of us) respond to what has already been said – writers do not create out of nothing.
This assignment is asking you to take on that role. You will be reading a text, listening to what the author is saying, and then developing your own view on the issues being discussed. Your papers will not only need to have original ideas, but they will also need to speak to the author who has already joined the conversation. In other words, you will need to connect your own ideas to what others have said, showing how you are adding to the conversation and not merely speaking into the air.
This is the conversation cycle: listen to what others are saying about an issue (read), develop your own position on the issues (annotate, elaborate, synthesize), directly connect your position to the conversation taking place (talk about the ideas that the authors put forth), and use parts of what others have said to support your unique contribution (integrate quotes into your own original ideas).
Task: At this point, you have selected an article, read and summarized it. Now it is time to engage with the author’s ideas in whatever way you choose. No matter how you decide to write, you should absolutely do three things:
1) You should generate your own “take” on what you’ve read – your essay should not merely repeat the same ideas from the texts – this is *NOT* a summary! You *should* add to the authors’ ideas by including your own thoughts, prior knowledge, experiences, analysis, etc. (use your textbook chapters to help you develop your ideas and connect them with the author’s).
2) You need to reference the author/article within your text.
3) Present your ideas/thoughts in such a way that your reader is invited to think about this issue. In other words, offer insights that might lead someone to ask questions or consider his/her own situation.
Format: 1,000-1,200 words / MLA format
Response Rubric
Excellent (100) | Acceptable (85) | Emerging (70) | Not addressed
(0) |
|
Content (Does the writer have a clear response to the author; does the writer support their response with background knowledge/experience/evidence? Does the writer include the author in the conversation with citations/paraphrase?) | ||||
Organization (Does the writer follow through on their thesis? Does the writer use topic sentences and follow a logical organization of their ideas? | ||||
Mechanics (Does the project read well? Is it written well for its purpose?) | ||||
MLA format (Does the writer use in-text citations appropriately and cite their source? Is the project written in MLA format?) |
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Visual (rhetorical) Analysis
Project 4
Latawiec – ENG 1010
Project 4: Visual analysis
Overview: This goal of this assignment is to learn and utilize the skills of analysis. Analytical thinking and writing are at the core of higher education and this assignment (pre-writing assignments as well as the final paper) will approach analysis in different forms in order to provide a broad understanding of the various functions of analysis. In the final paper assignment, you will be asked to use the analytical skills you’ve developed to analyze a visual text of your choice.
How does analysis differ from response? As you recall from our previous assignment, responding to a text requires that you introduce your own opinion/perspective to an existing idea/set of ideas. In other words, for a response you were asked to “integrate ideas and information from sources with your own ideas” (Course syllabus).
In an analysis, however, you will be asked to provide an objective assessment of the text. Where response includes personal opinion and background knowledge, analysis involves a close reading/viewing of a text to determine two things: what function the text serves and how it performs this function. Personal opinions, agreements, and/or disagreements (e.g. “I think, I feel, I believe…”) are NOT part of an analysis.
Pre-writing goals and tasks: We will familiarize ourselves with the function of analysis and how it is done. We will view different examples of visual analysis as well as practice analysis in various forms. We will consider several questions including but not limited to:
1) What is the difference between subjective and objective and why does it matter?
2) What is rhetoric? What are rhetorical techniques?
3) How do we determine an author/artist’s rhetorical purpose?
Final paper assignment:
For the final paper, you will be asked to write a rhetorical analysis of a visual text of your choice. You project will include a thesis that details your rhetorical analysis, informing the reader of the author/writer/designer/artist’s rhetorical purpose (what) and the techniques used to achieve his/her purpose (how). You will then use examples from the text to argue your thesis/analysis to your reader.
Minimum requirements
Format: 1,000 – 1,500 words / MLA format
Rubric:
Excellent (100) | Acceptable (85) | Emerging (70) | Not addressed (0) | |
Intro/thesis (Writer explains the “what” and the “how” of the text) | ||||
Content/Organization (Writer follows a well-organized description/discussion of each portion of the thesis; content is on topic) | ||||
Mechanics (Paper is written well for its purpose; proper formatting is used) | ||||
Strength/clarity (Ideas are expressed clearly; writer’s tone is objective; the analysis utilizes evidence and analyzes its persuasive impact) |