College Writing I

Fall 2022

Project 1 Guidelines: Literacy Narrative

Our Goals
By doing this work, we are engaging with writing as a process rather than a single act;
this project cannot be completed a day in advance. We will further experience that process as
recursive as we draft, revise, draft, and revise—all the while relying on our peers for new
visions. Further, it is our goal to meet assignment expectations with content that is cohesive and
purposeful. Although there may be times we flout norms, we want to be aware of the
characteristics of the genre in which we are writing. In this project, we are narrating.
Description
A literacy narrative is an autobiographical piece that describes one or multiple events
that give readers a glimpse into the writer’s development into the writer/reader they are today.
Most people have a complicated relationship with reading and writing, especially when
their performance began to be evaluated by others. For example, Amy Tan’s narrative discusses
a few key events in her life that narrates her struggle in becoming a writer that feels honest. A
backdrop to those events is a Eurocentric culture with standards that make speaking Chinese
varieties of English difficult. Tan describes a few key events—such as performances, translating
for her mother, and talking with her partner—that illustrate her ongoing conflict between a writer
that on the one hand wants to be successful in a dominantly Eurocentric culture and on the other
hand wants to feel honest with her connection to Chinese English. The narrative (somewhat)
resolves this conflict with a deeper connection to her mother and a moment of self-reflection.
A literacy narrative will pay attention to the pressures that push one towards literacy and
make attempts to explore how those pressures interacted with the developing writer. A good
literacy narrative (like any good story) will explore some sort of problem that finds an (often
imperfect) resolution. In this case, the resolution is the writer as they know themself today.
To Do
Write a narrative detailing an event(s) that contributes to the writer/reader you are today.
You can either discuss a few key events as Amy Tan did or one event.
The narrative can take whatever tone you want (sad, funny, thrilling, or a mix).
Complete this project in drafts and make at least one major revision that incorporates peer
and instructor feedback.
With your final submission, submit an author’s note (1/2 – 1 page) describing where
you’d like instructor feedback to be focused and why. Be sure to quote or otherwise clearly
reference your work in describing the kind of feedback you’d like to receive.
Constraints
Drafts should be at least 1,500 words but less than 2,500, typed, double spaced, 12-point
font (Times New Roman or Garamond), and 0 spacing before/after paragraphs.
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Fall 2022

The essay should include your information on the cover page (APA) or the first page
(MLA). Material that isn’t your writing (cover pages, headers, blocks of information on the top
of the first page) do not count towards your page total.
Assessment
How will I assess if you’ve met the learning goals for this project? I will ask to what
extent you meet the following criteria on—only—your final submission:
• Content
o Is descriptive with some (does not have to be all) creative devices such as
imagery, concrete details, metaphor, and so on.
o Clearly recounts an event or closely related events.
o Has a sense of chronicity; the reader can understand a clear timetable of your
described events.
▪ (When needed, you might use time transitions such as “then, afterwards,
next,” and/or dates/times).
• Transparent purpose
o Describes an experience that is about reading and/or writing.
o Is self-evident in why its central story is being told.
• Process
o Is revised from the first draft.
• Constraints
o Follows text constraints, such as font size.
o Falls within word count.
• Polishing
o Is mostly free of textual errors.
▪ Textual errors are not:
• What you might know as slang.
• Words in languages other than English.
• Attributed speech or dialogue.
▪ Textual errors are:
• Spelling and grammar errors that severely limit your reader from
understanding your intended meaning.
o Any images include alt. text.
• Author’s note
o Submitted with final, is at least half a page of text.
College Writing I
Fall 2022

Project 2 Guidelines: Analysis of an Online Discourse Community

Our Goals
With this project, we will practice incorporating secondary sources into our own writing.
We will also be applying communication theories that can help us compose more reader-friendly
text in online environments.
Description
John Swales defines a discourse community as a group of people who develop their own
communication practices in the pursuit of shared goals. Everyone, whether in school, work, or
leisure, is involved in multiple discourse communities. According to Swales, these are groups
that:
1. Have broadly agreed-upon goals
2. Use tools or methods for communicating
3. Use specific genres for communicating
4. Use unique lexis
5. Have a core group of experienced members
6. Share implied or commonly understood things (things that go without saying)
Even groups that meet in person communicate online today. Online communication gives
us the opportunity to not only communicate through text, but also audio, visuals, and even tactile
strategies (depending on where one’s hands are guided to on the screen). As Mary E. Hocks
points out, everything online, not just the text itself, carries meaning in a way that works best for
a particular audience. For example, Wysocki fulfills the desire her PhD audience has for ordered
reading visually and tactically through color-coded nodes which readers can thumb through.
With the options we have for making meaning online, media can be evaluated with a few
overlapping qualities:
• Audience Stance: How well does the media meet the community members’ needs and
invite them to fully participate in decoding the media’s message? How does the media
exclude, alienate, or invite other audiences?
• Transparency: How well does the media implement conventions the discourse
community is to be familiar with? For example: conventions such as how the media
references other media (e.g., hyperlinks or APA in-text citations), which typefaces the
media uses, or how the media uses other symbols, can all be different depending on the
community’s conventions.
• Hybridity: How does the media create effective interplay between text and other
mediums?
Just a reminder: You’re going to be writing about a group that uses some platform such
as Twitter, TikTok, Blogger, Medium, an email list, a website, or a mix of platforms. These
platforms are not themselves discourse communities; these count as what Swales calls “tools.”
People make up communities, so be sure to remember you’re writing about real people.
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Fall 2022

To Do
Compose an essay that is in response to the central question, “How effectively does a
discourse community to which I belong communicate online communicate online with its
intended audience(s)?” To achieve that, introduce your chosen discourse community and its
important qualities as described by John Swales. Secondly, evaluate the community’s methods
for making meaning online using what you’ve learned from reading Hocks. Importantly: choose
a discourse community to which you belong.
Incorporate into your essay visuals of artifacts produced by the community. For example,
if the community uses colorful markers alongside section headers (Wysocki does this), include
an image of this and a discussion of this strategy in your text. Be sure to include references to
material in APA and to make your images accessible to screen readers using alt. text.
Incorporate into your essay at least one class reading, following all conventions called for
by APA.
With your final submission, submit an author’s note (1/2 – 1 page) describing where
you’d like instructor feedback to be focused and why. Be sure to quote or otherwise clearly
reference your work in describing the kind of feedback you’d like to receive.
Constraints
Drafts should be composed of more than 1,500 words but less than 2,500, double spaced,
12-point font (Times New Roman or Garamond), and 0 spacing before/after paragraphs.
The essay should include your information on the cover page (APA) or the first page
(MLA).
Assessment
How will I assess if you’ve met the learning goals for this project? I will ask to what
extent you meet the following criteria on—only—your final submission:
• Content
• Has a focal point that directly answers the central question.
• Offers context to and introduction on the community and its online meaning-making
practices.
• Evaluates the effectiveness of the community’s practices in a fully-developed,
thoughtful exercise that coherently develops into a conclusion.
• Incorporates at least one class reading using APA.
• Incorporates—as visuals within your essay—artifacts produced by the community.
• Process
o Is revised from at least one previous draft, demonstrating consideration of peer
review.
• Constraints
o Meets word count requirements.
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Fall 2022

o Adheres to APA conventions.

o Meets text constraints, such as font size.
o Includes a reference page that includes all secondary information, including the
artifacts used by the community.
• Polishing
o Is mostly free of textual errors.
▪ Textual errors are not:
• What you might know as slang.
• Words in languages other than English.
• Attributed speech or dialogue.
▪ Textual errors are:
• Spelling and grammar errors that severely limit your reader from
understanding your intended meaning.
o Any images include alt. text.
• Author’s note
o Included with final submission, is at least half a page of text.
College Writing I
Fall 2022

Project 3 Guidelines: Literacy Ethnography

Our Goals
This project places us in the position of writers doing both primary and secondary
research. We will practice incorporating both into our writing while using referencing
conventions. We will also be interacting with writing as a recursive process that not only
involves our peers, but an interviewee.
Description
The first step to this project is to record an interview with someone of a discourse
community to which you do not yourself belong. Ask the interviewee questions about their
writing and reading practices. While I suggest coming prepared with a list of questions, actively
listen to what your interviewee says and ask them follow-up questions that come to your mind
(don’t stare at your list of questions and wait for a silent moment to ask the next one). Use a
reliable recording application and test your software several times before the interview. While
your draft needs to be in English, the interview does not need to be conducted in English nor be
about literacy practices in English. Review NPR’s tips for a good interview.
Now you have the interview. How do you write an essay about it? Although it is required
to quote and paraphrase what your interviewee says, the goal of the essay is not to simply report
the interview but to make interpretations and reasonable conclusions about the literacy practices
of the person and a community of which they are a part. To illustrate my point: “Signing Black
in America” does not simply put clips of interviewees together one after another. In addition to
clips of interviewees, there are commentators that make interpretations about what the
interviewees are communicating. For example, signers tell personal stories, in Black ASL, of
facing language discrimination from White signers. Following these clips, commentators argue
that Black ASL is as nuanced as White ASL despite the persistent viewpoint that Black ASL is
somehow “deficient.”
So: think of the interviewee clips in “Signing Black in America” as your
quotes/paraphrases from your own interview. Think of the commentators’ remarks as your
analytical writing. In this essay, we are expecting both types of writing.
Let’s talk more about the analytical parts of your essay. This assignment will ask you to
incorporate secondary research to help your reader understand your analysis, your conclusions,
and what you’re seeing in the interview. For example, to help viewers understand present Black
ASL, the commentators at the Language and Life Project offer history about segregated, Black
Deaf schools in North Carolina (this is locally relevant research for a project that takes place in
North Carolina). They then expand on how language innovation came out of these early schools
to give context to present Black ASL. Your research does not necessarily have to be historical,
but it could be a good place to start.
Your essay (including what you decide to quote from the interview and what conclusions
you make about the interview) should be guided by a thesis or unifying conclusion.
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Fall 2022

To Do
Conduct an interview with someone on the topic of literacy. Interview someone who
belongs to a discourse community which you yourself do not belong to. Avoid the word literacy
in the actual interview, as this carries a lot of academic connotations that will be distracting.
Instead, use words like reading, writing, communication habits, or language practices. Remind
the interviewee that they do not have to talk about school but are welcome to. Have them sign
and date the consent form. You must digitally record the interview and the audio data must be
easy to hear.
Write an interpretation of the interview that (1) incorporates the interviewee’s words, (2)
incorporates at least two secondary sources, (3) and offers interpretations or takeaways from the
interview.
With your final submission, submit an author’s note (1/2 – 1 page) describing where
you’d like instructor feedback to be focused and why. Be sure to quote or otherwise clearly
reference your work in describing the kind of feedback you’d like to receive.
Constraints
Drafts should be at least 2,500 but less than 3,500 words, typed, double spaced, 12-point
font (Times New Roman or Garamond), and 0 spacing before/after paragraphs.
The essay should include your information on the cover page (APA) or the first page
(MLA).
Assessment
How will I assess if you’ve met the learning goals for this project? I will ask to what
extent you meet the following criteria on—only—your final submission:
• Content
o Incorporates with quotes and/or paraphrases the text of the interview.
o Develops interpretations or takeaways about the literacy practices of a community
of which the interviewee is a part. The interpretations are focused around a thesis
or unifying conclusion.
o Incorporates at least two secondary sources to backup interpretations.
o Does not treat communities as monolithic and fairly describes the literacy
practices of the individual in a well-rounded, nuanced, non-absolute way.
• Process
o Is revised from the first draft that is submitted with the final.
• Constraints
o Falls within word count.
o Meets text constraints, such as font size.
o Adheres to the appropriate authority on the adopted conventions (APA or MLA).
o Includes a reference or works cited page.
• Polishing
College Writing I
Fall 2022

o Is mostly free of textual errors.

▪ Textual errors are not:
• What you might know as slang.
• Words in languages other than English.
• Attributed speech or dialogue.
▪ Textual errors are:
• Spelling and grammar errors that severely limit your reader from
understanding your intended meaning.
o Any images include alt. text.
• Author’s note
o Submitted with final and is at least half a page of text.
College Writing I
Fall 2022

Project 4 Guidelines: Audio Essay and Final Presentation

Our Goals
In this project, we will be introduced to the possibilities for presenting writing through
other mediums.
Description of Assignment
You will adapt your interview and essay from Project 3 into an audio essay which you
will present to class during finals week.
An audio essay has two main content elements, like your analysis in project 3:
interviewee material and commentary. For example, listen to college student Miriam Colvin’s
NPR-award-winning podcast, “Competition with the Best.” Colvin mixes an interview they
conducted over Zoom with their own historical commentary to tell a complete story about the
boxer Muhammed Ali.
Additionally, an audio essay has extra-vocal elements that entertain and/or provide
transition. For example, Colvin uses a mix of subtle maracas and low-volume music between
major content points. To explore a free library of music and sound effects with a YouTube
account, visit the YouTube Creator Studio at studio.youtube.com. On the left, scroll to the
bottom to audio library.
Read the article “Starting Your Podcast” from NPR. You can also listen to the podcast
“How to Win the Student Podcast Challenge” for tips from a college podcaster.
Use free mixing software like Audacity. You can download Audacity onto your computer
with that link or use one of the library computers (just be sure to save the file onto the cloud or a
flash drive after every use).
To Do
Record and mix a 4–5-minute audio essay that incorporates (1) your interview audio from
Project 3 and (2) your own voice that offers commentary.
If your interview was conducted in a language other than English, use voice-over
translation techniques. Talk with me for a demonstration on how to do that in Audacity.
Embellish your audio essay with different textures of sound, such as light music or sound
effects.
Constraints
Submit your assignment to Canvas as an MP4 file.
Assessment
How will I assess if you’ve met the learning goals for this project? I will ask to what
extent you meet the following criteria on—only—your final submission:
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Fall 2022

• Content
o Mixes interviewee audio with audio of your voice.
o Offers commentary on the interview.
o Mixes voice with other sound textures.
• Process
o Is an adaptation of your work from Project 3.
• Constraints
o Is 4-5 minutes in length.
• Polishing
o Is ready for radio.
College Writing I
Fall 2022

Semester Labor Reflection

Our Goals
By completing this reflection, we are reinforcing helpful writing practices and revising
those that may not serve us well.
Description of the Semester Labor Reflection
Writing to be proud of takes a lot of labor and you have writing to be proud of. This
assignment asks you to document changes in labor practices throughout the semester and
evaluate the usefulness of those practices. Evidence of “usefulness” is the quality of your
writing. For example, did you try timed breaks on essay 2, but not essay 1? Did that boost your
attention and improve how well you guide readers in essay 2?
Some other questions you could explore (you do not have to answer each question or
only these questions):
1. Describe ways you “stepped back to move forward” and the revelations that brought to
your pages.
2. How did rereading what you just wrote affect your progress? What decisions did you
make after re-reading?
3. How did you respond to writer’s block? Was your writing better for it? In what ways?
4. Describe your relationship with inspiration throughout your weeks of drafting. Describe
actions you took to reconnect with inspiration. Were there any actions you took that
“killed” your inspiration?
5. Describe your attention throughout an average session of drafting. Did you follow work-
break cycles with a timer, or did you write for an hour straight (and if you did write for an
hour straight, how reliable was your attention)?
6. How did location affect your drafting?
7. How many pieces of media (your draft, a book, a wiki page tab, your prewriting notes)
did you have open at any one point? Which did you pay more attention to? How did this
affect how well you integrate sources?
8. Describe any progress you made while not focusing your attention on drafting. For
example, did you get an idea in a dream or while walking home? How did that idea
change shape from your head to the final draft?
9. What actions did you take to prepare for sitting down to draft? What actions did you take
immediately after a session of drafting?
To Do
Draft a reflection that (1) documents change in your labor practices and (2) evaluates the
usefulness of your present labor practices by using the quality of your writing as evidence. You
may also give some speculation into how you can improve your practices to better meet your
learning goals.
Feel free to include images that support your points.
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Fall 2022

Constraints
Drafts should be at least 1,500 words but less than 2,500, typed, double spaced, 12-point
font (Times New Roman or Garamond), and 0 spacing before/after paragraphs.
Assessment
How will I assess if you’ve met the learning goals for this project? I will ask to what
extent you meet the following criteria on—only—your final submission:
• Content
o Coherently tracks and describes changes in labor practices over the semester.
o Evaluates present labor practices, perhaps speculating on ways to improve.
• Constraints
o Falls within page range.
o Meets text constraints, such as font size.
• Polishing
o Is mostly free of textual errors.
▪ Textual errors are not:
• What you might know as slang.
• Words in languages other than English.
• Attributed speech or dialogue.
▪ Textual errors are:
• Spelling and grammar errors that severely limit your reader from
understanding your intended meaning.
o Any images include alt. text.