Task:
You will write a text for a public audience that covers at least 4 claims about writing/rhetoric/language and a thorough explanation for each claim. You can frame these 4 claims as “lessons” you learned in the class, or as advice you have for other people based on your experiences (note: the advice should not be about passing the class, but about writing/rhetoric/language). Look over our reading assignments this semester and you’ll see that many of them explore lessons the author learned, or advice the author has for other writers. That’s what you are going to do here. How you decide to frame your claims will largely depend upon the specific audience you choose for your project. For example, if your audience is comprised of incoming 1101 students, then your claims will look/sound different than if your audience is made up of professional writers.
Your project should have at least an introduction or a conclusion and a title.
Since your introduction or conclusion should be written to your specific audience, you should clearly describe what you want them to do, see, or believe as a result of reading your claims. What do you want them to do with these claims? You should also choose a title that interests your audience and gives them an idea of what to expect from your work.
Purpose:
To a degree, you will get to choose your purpose. Similar to what is explained above, your purpose will largely depend upon the specific audience you choose for your project.
Audience:
You get to pick your audience. As explained above, this is a very important decision because your audience impacts what you write and your purpose for writing. Who do you want to write for? Maybe incoming freshmen?
Genre:
You also get to pick your genre, as long as it’s a written text and it is at least 1000 words long. You also want your genre to make sense given your specific purpose and audience.
Don’t know what your claims should be?
The following questions are designed to help you consider your specific claims. You do not need to use these questions–they are just a list of questions to help you brainstorm what your four claims might be about.
You could focus all four claims on one question and really dig deep, or choose a couple different questions. Try to make sure that all of it works together, though, so that your document works as a whole.
- What writing activities or projects from this semester were especially significant for your understanding of writing?
- What is something you thought about writing at the start of our semester that you now understand differently?
- What personal writing experiences do you regularly engage with and what purpose/role do they serve in your life? (e.g., social media, diary/journal writing, letter writing, scrapbooking, poetry, etc.)
- What is the role of peer review in the writing process?
- What is the relationship between reading and writing?
- What is the relationship between linguistic diversity and effective communication?
- What do you believe constitutes good or effective writing in the classroom?
- What should be the role of digital writing in the classroom?
- What practices should be central to the writing classroom?
- What do you believe constitutes good or effective writing in your professional life?
- What is the relationship between writing and social action?
- What is the relationship between writing and personal expression?
- How do writers construct ethos/credibility with their audience?
- What is the role of giving, receiving, and responding to feedback in writing?
- What is the importance and purpose of drafting in writing?
- What is the importance and purpose of brainstorming and/or planning in writing?
- What attitudes and habits do successful students have?
- How does language/discourse affect our writing? Or identity as writers?
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