Unit 3

Circulating the Conversation

25% / 250 pts
Writing 112

In Unit 2: Entering the Conversation, you became familiar with existing research on a topic of
interest to you, and you wrote a research-based paper with a particular audience in mind.
In Unit 3, you’ll work on transforming your Unit 2 essay into a new medium. This isn’t a matter of
copying and pasting paragraphs—instead, you need to decide how to convey key information and
ideas from your essay in an entirely new medium. Think of it as a remix.
This remixing will require choosing a particular medium and then studying the conventions (the
typical features and “rules”) of that medium. Even more than in Unit 2, your intended audience will
play a major role in how you construct and style your product.
Most importantly, this unit is meant to allow you to create in a way that is useful and meaningful to
you.

Assignment:
Here are just some possible mediums you might consider: podcast, photo essay, infographic, TED
Talk-style presentation or video essay, screenplay, interactive website, blog post—but I’m definitely
open to other ideas as well—run them by me!

One part of this unit will involve you finding exemplars of the medium you have chosen so that you
can study its conventions. If others in the class are working in the same medium, you may work
together in exploring exemplars. Overall, peer review will be an important and ongoing aspect of this
unit. In the process of studying your medium of choice (whatever it may be), you’ll want to start
thinking about how you’ll remix your Unit 2 paper; this will require you to make choices about what
you select from your paper and how to “translate” the information and ideas into the new medium.

Finally, you are encouraged to have a specific audience in mind as you remix your Unit 2 essay and the
research you did for that assignment. This may initially be the same audience you chose for the essay,
but see if you can narrow it down, particularly based on the medium you choose. Whom do you
envision reading/watching/listening to your presentation? Your product could be aimed at a very
small group or even an individual (e.g. a family member or a friend) or it could target a wider audience
of people you don’t know but would like to connect with. Is there a blogger or YouTuber who might
be interested in your work? Maybe your target audience will involve a specific age-group … Could you
create a product that could be sent out to a YMCA or Boys and Girls Club program? You get the idea
(hopefully).

Goals:
 ● Engage with the writing process and thereby gain awareness of writing options and their
effects
● Translate an existing text (your Unit 2 essay) into a different digital medium
● Identify the features of a given digital medium by studying exemplars
● Recognize the ways in which visual, audio, and/or written components of a text deliver
meaning collectively
● Apply learning by creating an original piece in that medium
● Tailor writing and delivery to an appropriate public audience
● Cite multiple sources (including multimedia sources) in a works-cited page using MLA style

Nuts and Bolts

Length: no specific requirements, and will vary by medium—run your anticipated length by me before
the final version for approval

Audience: TBD (by you!)

Citation: Your citation work will involve both determining which Unit 2 essay sources need to be
included and citing all multimedia sources you incorporate into your Unit 3 product

Components and Deadlines:

Initial Draft: Monday, 5/8 by classtime

Final Draft: Monday, 5/15

Evaluation Breakdown for Unit 3 Portfolio

Generative writing and reading/viewing responses 15% (37.5 pts)

Initial Draft 10% (25 pts)
Peer Response 20% (50 pts)
Final Product 50% (125 pts)
Reflection 5% (12.5 pts)