Major Assignment I: Literacy Narrative

Due Dates:

First Draft: Friday, February 1^st

Peer Review: Monday, February 4^th

Revised Draft: Friday, February 8^th

Final Draft: Sunday, February 17^th

Overview

We'll start the semester by thinking about our individual stories as writers in order to consider the role writing has played in our individual lives and the roles we might like it to play. Specifically, we’ll be thinking about the contexts in which we write and read, what writing researchers and teachers call rhetorical situations. Rhetoric is both the art and study of human interaction (and specifically persuasion) through language and symbols, so when we talk about rhetorical situations we’re simply talking about how language/symbol use is situated in a particular time and space.

The purpose of this inquiry is to begin looking closely at the uses of language in your own life and possibly identify what Roozen refers to as “elements of expertise” that you bring with you to the new rhetorical situations you’ll encounter in the university and beyond.

Additionally, this will be an opportunity for you to get to know yourself better as a reader and writer. As Malcolm X argued, awareness gives power and purpose: the more you know about yourself as a writer, the more control you are likely to have over this process.

Your Task

Write a personal essay that uses stories to support and develop an original argument about the significance of some of your experiences as a literate individual (writer, reader, or speaker, and the like) in and across different rhetorical situations. Look to join the conversation with the authors we've been reading by drawing ideas and concepts from at least two of the articles we have read in this part of the class to help you frame and discuss your stories. This might, for instance, mean talking about how you've learned to adapt your writing for different audiences or in response to particular constraints. You might discuss how you've repurposed writing practices from one rhetorical situation to help you in a different one. You might talk about how you've never really thought about audience in your writing. Or you might write about something else entirely.

What to Do

Here, I briefly outline the moves you’ll need to make in your essay in order to accomplish the task required by this assignment. You may think of these as “sections,” if you like, but don’t feel bound by this structure: if you have a

better idea for how to go about completing the task, try it out.

• Synthesize and Respond to some of the ideas we've read about in this part of the course.
  • Consider which readings have stood out to you. What ideas seem to resonate with you in some way? What seems important? As a group, what do these authors seem to be saying about writing? Where do they agree and disagree?
  • Rather than merely summarize each and every reading (which would take far too long and serve little purpose), be selective in what you choose to discuss. You don’t need to discuss every point or even every reading. Also, look to draw connections between texts and ideas to get them into conversation with each other. You might, for instance, contrast the ways that Villanueva and Grant­Davie talk about rhetoric to introduce the way you think about audience.
  • For an example of what this sort of source use can look like, see Lucas Pasqualin's narrative in Writing about Writing pp. 237-243. See, too, Stuart Greene's discussion of "framing" and the examples he provides on pp. 36-42.
  • Use at least two of the readings from class in your essay and cite them both in your text and in an MLA Works Cited page or APA References page (see Easy Writer or https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html for help).
• Present your argument about your writing in and across different rhetorical situations.
  • Use the material you’ve synthesized in the first part to get to your own argument. Explain and qualify as you need to in order to make your particular argument as clear as possible.
  • The arguments you choose to make will vary. Just be sure you're responding to and building off of some of the topics we've been discussing in the course. The best arguments will not merely repeat or apply ideas we've read about in class, but extend those ideas in some new and interesting way. This often happens through combining different ideas or taking up a very particular point from one of the authors we read and developing it further.
  • To get ideas for what to write about, look to some of the literacy narratives we've been reading and consider what point the author is making. You will probably discover this argument as you write about the readings, course topics, and your own experiences in the first month of the class. Often, writers don't even fully form their arguments until after they've written a draft or two, so don't get too worried if you're not sure what you want to write about right away.
• Support and develop your argument with stories about your experiences as a writer.
  • This will likely be the largest section of your essay. Tell specific stories or anecdotes that speak to your argument in some way. Be sure to provide plenty of details. Readers aren't familiar with you or your experiences, so paint a picture for them. If you want to talk about your writing as a member of a student organization, for instance, tell us what that writing looked like, why you were writing it, how it differed from other sorts of writing you did, who the audience was, and so forth. It's far better (especially early in the drafting process) to present too much information than not enough.
  • Remember that focus is important here. You should not try to write about every single experience you've had with reading/writing ever. Instead, look for some central themes or points and elaborate on those with specific examples and stories.
  • Because your literacy narrative is about you, you may find it difficult to write it without talking about yourself in the first person. Using "I" when you need to will make the piece feel somewhat informal, which is appropriate for this kind of writing.
  • Feel free to include pictures or artifacts with your narrative. This might include a paper you wrote in the tenth grade, your UCF admissions essay, some writing you did for a video game forum, and much more. Bringing in specific examples should help to anchor your discussion and help you talk about your writing.
• Reflect on what you've learned and why any of this might matter.
  • Your conclusion should not merely restate what you've already said elsewhere. Instead, use this section to address the "So what?" question: why do your arguments and stories matter? What might a reader do with these ideas?
  • Consider, too, what you've learned yourself about your writing experiences across different rhetorical situations. What do you see when you look back at these experiences? Do you find anything you can use to help you with writing going forward?
  • You might think more broadly about what you've learned about writing in general as well. How has your understanding of writing (or any of the specific course topics) shifted since beginning the course and doing this project?
  • What questions still remain unanswered? What might you need to keep thinking about as you continue investigating writing this semester?

In general, such narratives are typically around 1,000 – 2,000 words (or roughly 4­-8 double­-spaced pages). Writing less than that will probably not give you enough space to fully develop your ideas and examples. Writing much more than that means you may have expanded the scope of this assignment too far. But exact lengths will vary, and your work will be assessed on quality, not length.

What Makes It Good?

This assignment asks you to carefully think about your history as a reader and writer, to tell a clear story that helps make a point, and to write a readable piece. So, be sure your piece a) tells a story or stories about your literacy history, b) talks about where you are now as a writer and reader and how your past has shaped your present, c) makes some overall point about the role writing has played in your life, and d) connects your experiences to two of the course readings. Of course, this essay should also be clear, organized, interesting, and well-edited. Also, your narrative must have an original title that hints at main ideas, themes, or images in your work. It should be thought-provoking. In other words, your title should not be “Narrative.”

Additionally, here are the qualities I will be looking for when I grade this assignment:

Discussion of Course Readings and Topics

• How well have you demonstrated your understanding of the material we’ve been considering about writing, rhetorical situations, and related topics?
• Have you thoughtfully selected key ideas and points to include in your synthesis?
• How well have you drawn connections between different ideas, texts, and authors?
• Have you responded and added to the discussion or merely repeated what you’ve read?

Originality and Thoughtfulness

• How original is your argument? Does it demonstrate that you've thought carefully about both the course topics and your own experiences?
• How clear and precise is your argument?
• Have you addressed why your argument matters—the "So what?" question?

Use of Stories and Detail

• Have you developed and talked through your argument with specific stories about your experiences writing and/or reading in particular situations?
• Are your stories detailed enough that readers can understand the points you're making? This will mean including particular examples and possibly related artifacts.
• Have you made clear connections between the stories you're presenting and the overall argument you're presenting so that readers can follow your thinking?

Organization

• Is it clear how and why you’re moving from point to point?
• Do your ideas logically lead into one another?
• Are sections and points fully developed?

In addition, all major projects you submit in this course are expected be clean and error-­free as well as properly presented in MLA or APA style. Our focus on this project, however, will be on the above criteria.

What to Turn In and How to Turn It In

For this assignment, there will be three (3) drafts submitted for credit. Keep in mind that you need to submit all three drafts (versions) to your portfolio, so save each draft as a separate file.

First Draft-used for Peer Review

Upload this draft under assignments in webcourses by the due date and bring a printed copy to class on our scheduled peer review day. Use feedback from the peer review to make revisions to your draft. Also, read your own draft with the assignment requirements in mind and make any necessary revisions. 

Revised Draft

This draft should include substantial revisions from the first draft to fully address the assignment requirement. You will receive feedback on this draft along with a grade considering how well this draft presents your literacy narrative.

Final Draft (Portfolio Draft)

This will be your best version of your literacy narrative. Remember that you are writing with publication in Stylus in mind, so this draft should be your best representation of your writing.