Wednesday, September 6 – Teaching Rhetorical Thinking

Read

Devitt, A. J. (1993). Generalizing about Genre: New Conceptions of an Old Concept. College Composition and Communication, 44(4), 573–586. (library link)

Hesse, D. “Occasions” in Coxwell-Teague, D., & Lunsford, R. F. (Eds.). (2014). First-Year Composition: From Theory to Practice. Anderson, South Carolina: Parlor Press. (reserves link)

Kail, H. (1988). Narratives of Knowledge: Story and Pedagogy in Four Composition Texts. Rhetoric Review, 6(2), 179–189. (reserves link)

Soliday, M. (2011). Everyday Genres: Writing Assignments across the Disciplines. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. (reserves link)

EI: Chapters 3 & 4 – “Think Rhetorically” & “Range of Genres”

Write/Perform

If you are leading pedagogy discussion or a praxis activity, post your materials to your portfolio.

In Class

Housekeeping

Due dates

  • Textbook review (9/13)
  • Expos course description (9/20)
  • Expos syllabus (9/27)

Peer observation

Discussion/activity leadership

  • William – Praxis – EI 7
  • Joseph – Praxis – WIT “Process”
  • Jess – Praxis – EI 3
  • Willem – Praxis – EI 4
  • Connor – Pedagogy – Devitt
  • Jonathan – Pedagogy – Soliday
  • Sophia – Pedagogy – Hesse
  • Hannah – Pedagogy – Kail

“Knowing What We Know” (link to stasis handout)

  • What do you see as the authors’ theory of academic writing? What role does the writing teacher play?
  • What are topoi? Name the two topoi of literary analysis and explain how you as a “literary analyst” might connect these topoi to other fields in which your students might be interested.
  • One of our first-year writing key terms is “conversation.” How do you see this term fitting in with the authors’ discussion of pattern and interpretation?
  • The lens assignment has been a staple of first year writing for years (see, for instance, this entry in the Brandeis Writing Program handbook). What are the rhetorical moves associated with such an assignment? How do people in disciplines outside the humanities using this topos? What are some of the difficulties that students from all disciplines have when it comes to writing with a theoretical lens?
  • Catalogue the different macrostructures you and your group members have employed. How did each fit the occasion for writing in which you found yourself?