The Writer’s Cup: Game Guide

Welcome, Heroes! As part of First Year Composition, you will participate in a competition of epic
proportions, The Writer’s Cup. The Writer’s Cup is a chance to master and show off your very own super
power—The Power of Rhetoric!

Teams

During the first week of the semester, students will be placed in 3 to 4 random groups decided upon by
the Professor. Once these groups are formed, they will stay the same for the entire semester. These
groups will make up the teams that will compete over the course of the semester for The Writer’s Cup.
Teams can compete for points through in class activities and well as work they do outside of class as is
discussed in later sections.

Most importantly, your team will act as your support network over the course of the semester. Your
team will read all your major projects, read most of your minor projects, help you with topic proposals,
and provide peer review.

During the first week of class each team will decide on their team’s name, team color, and mascot.

Points and Updates

Teams will earn points for winning competitions and completing tasks both inside and outside of the
classroom. Teams will be updated on their current point standing at the beginning of every Thursday
class. At the end of the semester, the team with the most points will win The Writer’s Cup and a secret
prize.

How to Earn Points In-Class

Teams will be given the opportunity to earn points in class by competing in challenges related to the
course’s subject matter. These challenges may be in the form of group quizzes, Kahoots, or other
competitions. Point values will be announced for each competition before the activity starts.

Note: Quizzes that earn points for the Writer’s Cup will not count towards students’ final grades.

How to Earn Points Outside of Class

Students can earn points for their team in the following ways:

1. Visiting the Professor during Office Hours to discuss a Project or Assignment: (3 point per visit
per assignment)
2. Turning in a draft or Project early: (3 points for turning in an assignment 3 days early, 2 points
for turning in an assignment 2 days early, 1 point for turning in 1 day early)
3. Posting a unique event to the Community Forum on Emma: Students can post events or
resources that they believe their peers would be interested in attending or using. Each post
should contain the event’s name, location, time, along with a brief description to earn the points
(2 point for each unique event posted)
4. Posting a review on the Pop Culture Forum: Students can review a movie, book, comic, album,
concert or video game. In this review students must have an assessment of the content that
 they are reviewing (good, bad, good or bad/with exceptions) and base that assessment based on
concrete criteria (acting, stage presence, plot, ect.) to earn points for their team. Each unique
post is worth 3 points.
5. Writing Center Visits: Students can earn 3 points for their team by visiting the Writing Center to
work on one of their assignments for the course. Students can earn these points twice per
semester, but they are highly encouraged to go more often. The Writing Center is a great way to
get feedback on the major projects as well as a place to get feedback for the leveling up
competition.
a. In case a group is smaller than the other groups, 3 points will be given to the team if all
members of the group have visited the Writing Center. This can happen twice per
semester.

Competitions to Level Up

Over the course of the semester students will compose short essays, called Leveling Up Essays. Students
will be expected to complete at least five out of six of these short essays as part of their final grade.
These essays will be graded on a complete/incomplete scale. However, students will use these essays in
‘Leveling Up Competitions,’ where students will use a process of inventing, group revising, and selection
to compete for the best essay and title of ‘Ultimate Hero’.

Leveling Up Competitions will take place over the course of two weeks. Students will have some time
when each prompt is assigned to use invention strategies to begin their essays. The following week
students will work together to discuss their works in progress and revise their work. After students have
had the opportunity to revise, each team will nominate their best essay or ‘Super Hero.’ The members
of the class will read all of the ‘Super Hero’ essays nominated and vote for the best essay or ‘Ultimate
Hero.’ The Ultimate Hero’s team will receive 8 points towards the Writer’s Cup.