Over the semester, I will ask you to write four 1-page papers (legal size, single-spaced, you can play with formatting, but no smaller than 9 pt. font!), to be read aloud in class on the due date. The first half (to two-thirds) of the paper will be a summary of the week’s readings; the remaining will be an amalgam of (a) a discussion highlighting a central issue or concern, which should also include (b) a consideration of how the readings have changed, challenged, or further developed your conception of writing, rhetoric, communication, or pedagogy. In other words, it is not enough simply to develop a working understanding of the various theories we read; instead, you need to develop connections to a larger contextual understanding of the theories and issues involved. This kind of summary is challenging and rewarding. It allows you to develop your understanding of difficult texts as the course progresses, and encourages you to build on, extend, or revise your previous understandings. You are putting texts into conversation with each other so as to discover, articulate, and take up germane connections. So, I am interested in more than matters of simple dis/agreement with the texts. I am interested in seeing you grapple with the texts and their issues, which is one of the reasons for all of us to hear the papers and to share them with each other.
Although each of you will write all four papers, you will only have the opportunity to read twice over the semester, given the size of our class. Those reading each week should bring enough print copies for everyone in the class, but everyone should submit their paper directly to our Google Drive space. For simplicity's sake, I'll suggest the following schedule:
9/17 - Humanism and Disciplinarity (Erasmus, Bacon, Wollstonecraft)
- Abraham
- Ashley
Erin- Jason
- Jennifer
- Erin
- Jess
- Kendall
- Kyle
- Megan K.
- Megan R.
- Sarah
10/22 - Ideology (Foucault, Muckelbauer, Crosswhite)
- Abraham
- Ashley
- Erin
- Jason
- Jennifer
11/5 - Deconstructing Object/ivitie/s (Flynn, Haraway, Campbell)
- Jess
- Kendall
- Kyle
- Megan K.
- Megan R.
- Sarah
