LONDIE T. MARTIN, PH.D.

University of Arizona School of Information Resources & Library Science 1515 East First Street Tucson, AZ 85719

TEACHING PORTFOLIO
520.621.0242 londiem@email.arizona.edu www.londietmartin.com

written, oral, visual, and electronic composition: place, nature, and environment
spring 2008 / 25 students course description
The goals of this course are for you to develop skills in written, oral, visual, and electronic composition. As a result, you should become not only a more perceptive consumer of information, but also a communicator better able to make effective decisions in your own work. Throughout the course, youll learn to summarize, analyze, and evaluate various types of communication and then use those skills in four kinds of assignments: summaries, rhetorical analyses, argumentative and persuasive texts, and documented research. Written summarize accurately and responsibly the main ideas of others, especially published sources analyze professional writing to assess its purpose, audience, and rhetorical strategies construct arguments that integrate ethical, logical, and emotional appeals reflect systematically upon all of your communication processes, strengths, goals, and growth Oral give an oral presentation, either individually or as part of a team, using effective invention, organization, language, and delivery strategies function as an effective team member in small groups as a listener, collaborator, and presenter Visual apply the visual communication principles related to pattern, contrast, direction, chunking, and color analyze the rhetoric of visual communication (e.g., advertisement, documentary film, political cartoon) create a visual argument (e.g., advertisement, poster, slide presentation) Electronic apply the electronic communication principles related to layering, framing, transforming, and looping analyze the rhetoric of electronic communication (e.g., TV commercials, videos, websites) create an electronic composition (e.g., communication eportfolio) WOVE ensure that all modes contribute to the primary message, purpose, and targeted audience develop clear, purposeful relationships between the modes exhibit a sensitivity to differences in modes and their cultural implications create a rich, interactive experience for the audience

required textbooks
Faigley, Lester. The Brief Penguin Handbook. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006. Print. ISUComm Foundation Courses: Student Guide for English 150 and 250. Ames, IA: ISU, Department of English, 2007-2008. Print. Wysocki, Anne Frances and Dennis A. Lynch. Compose, Design, Advocate. New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. Print.

WOVE Composition: Place, Nature, and Environment Syllabus

course requirements

The table below lists all course assignments and their point values. Much of our work will be in groups and online. You are expected to fulfill your share of group work and to interact courteously with your peers at all times. Classes are run in a discussion/workshop format; thus, regular attendance and active participation are important.
Unit 1: Where We Are Personal Narrative and Documentary Photography Unit 2: Analyzing Arguments Rhetorical Analysis, Advertising, and Place Unit 3: Arguing Ecology, Place, and Advocacy Unit X: Blog Journals Due throughout the semester Semester Portfolio and Final Exam/Reflection Shorter Assignments Assignment #1: Critical Personal Place Narrative Assignment #2: Online Documentary Photo Essay Assignment #3: Rhetorical Analysis of Advertising and Environment Assignment #4: Group Presentation on Visual Analysis and Culture Jamming Assignment #5: Documented Argument about a Place Assignment #6: This American Life Radio Episode Eight Separate Journal Entries: Summary, Commentary, Analysis Assignment #7: Online Portfolio of Semesters Work with Reflections Topic Proposals, Annotated Bibliographies, Audience Analyses, Class Participation, etc. 10% 10% 15% 10% 15% 10% 15% 10% 5%

summaries of major assignments

Critical Personal Place Narrative This assignment asks you to reflect on a personal experience with a place and how you have carried that experience through your life. For this assignment it is important to keep in mind who your audience is, as you will need to recreate an interaction you had with a particular place that has occurred in your life and to transfer that experience critically to writing. You will be writing a scene/event/experience that has in some way shaped your relationship with a particular space. The point of emphasis in this essay will rest mainly in how you demonstrate the significance of your relationship to a certain space and the depth of your critical inquiry. Online Documentary Photo Essay We will carry the theme of our first assignmenthow we interact with and relate to the space around usinto the Online Documentary Photo Essay. Your group will pick a locationyour dorm room, a commons area, aisle 5 at the Wal-Mart, etc.and document what takes place in that location with the documentary photography skills you learned in Compose, Design, Advocate (Chapters 9 and 11). Next, you will publish a web page that displays four of your photographs. You will also need to supply analytical captions for each photo; these captions should focus on how your photographs reveal interesting things about the various ways in which people interact with specific places. Rhetorical Analysis of Advertising and Environment In keeping with our class discussions regarding how we interact with and relate to the space around us, this assignment asks you to rhetorically analyze an advertisement as it occurs in a specific place or environment. You will be writing a rhetorical analysis in which you analyze the audience, purpose, and context of an advertisement with regard to the location in which it exists. The point of emphasis in this essay will rest mainly in how well you analyze the advertisements use of rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, pathos), how well you analyze the interaction between the advertisement and its location, and the depth of your insights regarding the persuasiveness of the advertisements world view. Group Presentation on Visual Analysis and Culture Jamming In this assignment, you will work with your fellow team members to analyze an advertisement, create a culture
LONDIE T. MARTIN, PH.D.

teaching portfolio

WOVE Composition: Place, Nature, and Environment Syllabus

jammed version of the advertisement, and create an oral presentation in which you explain the rhetorical situation of your jammed ad as well as the rhetorical decisions that your group made throughout this assignment. In her book No Logo, Naomi Klein defines culture jamming as the practice of parodying advertisements and hijacking billboards in order to drastically alter their messages. Streets are public spaces, adbusters argue, and since most residents cant afford to counter corporate messages by purchasing their own ads, they should have the right to talk back to images they never asked to see (280). We will practice talking back to advertisements by selecting an advertisement and creating a jammed version of it. You may use any ad that you find in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Internet. However, your advertisement must be place-oriented. In other words, your ad should either depict a place/environment or communicate a world view about a particular place/environment. Documented Argument about a Place For this assignment, you will utilize analysis, audience, place, composing, and design in the service of advocacy as you write a documented essay that argues for a particular position on an issue that is important to you, and you will do so with multiple perspectives in mind. As with other assignments we will complete throughout the semester, the topic you will write about is up to you. However, I am interested in this class becoming a potential launching pad for civic engagement. As many of us have observed, national-level issues have become so polarizing that it is difficult to truly engage in the discussion from a unique perspective. The focus in this class will be on our interaction with place and environment, and by this point in the semester, we will have formed a bit of expertise for certain places through our work. For these reasons, I ask that you choose a topic that is relatively local in scale. By local, I mean topics that affect towns, cities, counties, neighborhoods, or other communities. This American Life Radio Episode Throughout the semesterespecially during Unit Threewe will discuss different forms of argument. For this final group project, we will use the WOVE composition skills we have learned this semester to create an electronic, oral, narrative argument that explores the various ways in which people interact with a particular place. One of the best venues to examine narrative arguments at work is on the Public Radio International program This American Life. In preparation for this assignment, we will examine a few episodes of the show in an effort to understand how argument, identity, and place can intersect. We will also read texts in class that will give you a feel for how to compose the genre. I will ask you to identify complexities inherent in the narratives we listen to and read, and through this practice we will explore ways to explicate complexities in your own narratives. Online Portfolio of Semesters Work with Reflections Portfolios are often required for academic classes, interviews, or projects in the work world. The semesters cumulative project is to create a developmental portfolio of your growth over the semester. The blog site you developed early in the semester will serve as the platform for your electronic portfolio. Your audience for this portfolio is your peers, yourself, and me. Your electronic blog portfolio will have five main components: an introductory reflection essay, your favorite written essay from the semester (with brief introductory reflection), a reflection on your development in oral composition, your favorite visual composition from the semester (with brief introductory reflection), and a brief reflection about your experience with electronic composition this semester.

LONDIE T. MARTIN, PH.D.

teaching portfolio

WOVE Composition: Place, Nature, and Environment Syllabus

daily course schedule

CDA = Compose, Design, Advocate Th = Class held in a Mac lab Penguin = The Brief Penguin Handbook [m] = Reading is on the class moodle
Due at the Beginning of Class

1 2

Week & Topic

Date
Tue 1/15 Thu 1/17

Daily In-Class Activities Introduction to course & syllabus

Introduction to Our Course & Unit One

Share place stories Discuss ISUComm Student Guide 30 Minute Writing Exercise (in class) Introduce Unit One, A#1 Workshop: close reading of Looking for a Lost Dog Guest Speaker: Writing and Media Help Center Introduce Research Study Introduce A#2 and midrash Workshop: Composing Documentary Photos Introduce moodle Introduce blogging, create course blogs Discuss Unit X entries, beginning with Summaries Discuss CDA reading and prep for photo field exercises

o ISUComm Student Guide, pp. 1-27 o Vonneguts Palm Sunday, pp. 76-81 o Penguin, Critical Reading pp. 72-4

Analyzing Documentary Photos & Introduction to Blogging

Tue 1/22 Thu 1/24

o Penguin, Ch. 1, The Rhetorical Situation o CDA, Ch. 11, Analyzing Documentary

pp. 5-13

Reading Place Narratives & Workshops

Tue 1/29

Thu 1/31

4 5

Draft Workshop and Peer Response Begin Unit Two: Rhetorical Analysis, Place, & Advertising

Tue 2/5 Thu 2/7 Tue 2/12 Thu 2/14 Tue 2/19

Discuss CDA reading Documentary photo field exercises using midrash: In groups, select a place, discuss the purpose of the place, and design a photo that will communicate the purpose. Then find at least three other sides to the place and document them with photos. Workshop 1: In groups, create a photo essay using field exercise photos after discussing todays texts. Workshop 2: Peer Response for 600 word draft of A#1 Discuss todays aural text in light of Unit One Share reports on blog entries Discuss invention and revision for Unit One Workshop: Class time to work on A#2 Workshop: Peer Response for 800 word drafts of A#1 25 Minute Writing Exercise: Reflecting on Unit One Introduce Unit Two Assignments Workshop: analyzing advertisements Discuss ad selection and topic proposals Workshop 1: In small groups, analyze an ad and present findings to class. Workshop 2: In small groups, discuss and analyze sample student essays. NO CLASS: Instead, each of you will sign up for an individual conference time, and well meet in my office. Remember to be on time and be prepared. Bring to Your Conference: A copy of your topic proposal that I can keep. Be sure to use the Topic Proposal Guidelines worksheet while you compose. Class discussion of todays readings Workshop: analyzing ads featuring places/environments

Photography pp. 347-78 o CDA, Ch. 9, About Visual Modes of Communication pp. 263-78 o Blogging 101 by Anton Zuiker o Penguin, Ch. 19, Avoiding Plagiarism When Using Sources pp. 227-235 o CDA, Ch. 9, About Visual Modes of Communication pp. 279-312

o [m] Two Ways of Seeing a River by Twain o [m] The Patience of a Saint by Kingsolver o DUE: At least 600 typed words of A#1. o [m] This American Life, 24 Hours at the

Golden Apple

o DUE: At least 800 typed words of A#1. o DUE: Unit One portfolio (A#1 & A#2)

o CDA, Ch. 2, Laying Out a Design Plan

pp. 33-56

Conferences & Continue Work on Unit Two

Things to read before your conference: o CDA, About Rhetorical Analysis pp. 320326 o [m] Jean Kilbournes Cant Buy My Love, Ch. 2, Advertising is Our Environment
o [m] Jean Kilbournes Cant Buy My Love, o [m] Trees for Democracy by Maathai

Thu 2/21

Ch. 12, Advertising and Violence

LONDIE T. MARTIN, PH.D.

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WOVE Composition: Place, Nature, and Environment Syllabus

7 8 9

Week & Topic

Date
Tue 2/26 Thu 2/28 Tue 3/4

Introduction to Culture Jamming

Assign groups for A#4 Introduction to Culture Jamming Workshop: practice jamming advertisements in small groups and present to class for discussion Workshop 1: Evaluating sources for A#4 Workshop 2: Peer Response for 600 word drafts of A#3 Go over group arrangements and review Culture Jamming assignment Revisit practice jams and discuss areas for improvement Discuss setting goals, working together, and the importance of peer evaluation Workshop 1: In-class time for groups to work on A#4 Workshop 2: Peer Response for 800 word drafts of A#3 Groups present A#4 25 Minute Writing Exercise: Reflecting on Unit Two Introduce Unit Three Assignments

Daily In-Class Activities

o [m] Naomi Kleins No Logo, Ch. 12, Culo [m] Excerpts from Cronons Uncommon

Due at the Beginning of Class

ture Jamming

Group Work & Peer Response

Ground o Penguin, Ch. 18, Evaluating Sources pp. 216-23 o DUE: At least 600 typed words of A#3. o CDA, Ch. 8, About Oral Modes of Communication pp. 223-62 o Penguin, Ch. 13, Verbal and Visual Presentations pp. 162-70
o DUE: At least 800 typed words of A#3.

Presentations & Reflecting

10 11

Thu 3/6 Tue 3/11 Thu 3/13 3/17 thru 3/21 Tue 3/25 Thu 3/27 Tue 4/1 Thu 4/3 Tue 4/8 Thu 4/10

o DUE: Unit Two portfolio (A#3 & A#4)

Spring Break

Begin Unit Three: Argument, Advocacy, & Place

12 13

Environmental Movement: Beginnings? The Subject of Nature

Spring Break Begin brainstorming topics for your Unit Three Assignments (Documented Argument and This American Life Radio Episode) Discuss Rogerian Argument and A#5 o CDA, Ch. 5, About Advocacy and Argu Rhetorical analysis and written texts ment, pp. 111-19 Develop possible research questions o CDA, Ch. 7, About Written Modes of Communication, pp. 181-212 Watch episode of Design | e2 o Penguin, Create an Annotated Bibliogra Discuss research methods and annotated bibliographies phy pp. 224-6 Develop Topic Proposals o CDA, Ch. 6, Researching for Advocacy and Argument, pp. 143-60 Arrange Assignment #6 groups o [m] The Obligation to Endure by Rachel Discuss and analyze todays readings in light of AssignCarson ment #5 and Rogerian Argument o [m] Silent Spring at 40 by Ronald Bailey Begin watching Grizzly Man (finish outside of class) and write a summary that you will post to your personal blog Discuss and analyze readings in terms of narrative arguments Discuss and analyze readings Workshop 1: Work on A#6 projects Workshop 2: Peer Response for 600 word drafts of A#5
o [m] Reading: Am I Blue? by Alice Walker o [m] Reading: In the Jungle by Annie

Dillard Shiva

o [m] Values Beyond Price by Vandana o [m] Misplacing the Blame for Our Trou-

14 15

bles on Flat, Not Tall Spaces by Virginia Postrel o DUE: At least 600 typed words of A#5.

Revision and Fallacies

Tue 4/15 Thu 4/17 Tue 4/22 Thu 4/24

Discuss revision and invention in terms of A#5 and Optional Revision Discuss argumentative fallacies Workshop: Peer Response for 800 word drafts of A#5 Discuss Final Exam & Portfolio Class time to work with groups on Assignment #6

o Penguin, Verbal Fallacies pp. 75-6 o DUE: At least 800 typed words of A#5. o DUE: A#5

Final Exam and Portfolio

LONDIE T. MARTIN, PH.D.

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WOVE Composition: Place, Nature, and Environment Syllabus

16 17

Week & Topic

Date
Tue 4/29 Thu 5/1 5/5 thru 5/9

Portfolios & Reflections

Final Exam Week

Discuss A#7 and semester reflection letter Instructor evaluations Final thoughts for the semester Workshop: class time to work on A#6 group projects Final Exam Time: May 8, 12-2:00 A#6 and A#7 are due at the final.

Daily In-Class Activities

Due at the Beginning of Class

LONDIE T. MARTIN, PH.D.

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