Using the Textbook Writing Teachers Workshop 2016 Stay tuned for next year’s WTW: Crafting engaging titles 

Goals for 121 & Goals for using text Encourage students to become rhetorically savvy ~ various situations Teach concepts, skills, tools that can transfer Critical thinking = seeing and working through complexity of issues Use the text to reflect on course design Not just what we do – why we do it Make the textbook purchase meaningful for students Use 75% of the text Pay attention to course objectives; creatively link text to assignments that help students achieve them

Presentation Points: Today: Not today: Highlighting what the text does not (appear to) do Embrace the strengths of the textbook –rhetorical awareness = choices writers make Why I love “Academic Arguments” chapter External Support & Sources Discuss/Brainstorm: sequencing assignments & using text What I learned about logos Why the style and presenting arguments chapters ROCK Teaching critical thinking and information literacy w/EAA

What the textbook doesn’t (appear to) do Teach the “basics” No “The Writing Process” chapter No specific section on Thesis Statement, Intro/Conclusions, Paragraph Strategies Limited “introduction” to rhetorical situation Chapter on Reading Strategies Explicit discussion on Reflection

Options: Teach the “basics” Supplement students’ needs w/external sources Printouts of web sources 6th Paragraph; transitions Juliette’s Composition Teaching Resources page Read and discuss content in “Writing Guides” (yellow pages in core chapters) Create lessons out of examples Mystified by thesis statements = (Thesis Activity) “It’s not long enough!” = review samples

Options: Critical, close reading skills “Evaluating Sources” + RA + “Using Sources” Teach annotation, evaluation of author’s purpose, previewing texts… Synthesizing info – examines how sources inform research “Using Sources” section– on ways research will serve students’ writing New chapter 16 “Multimedia Arguments” On difference between print/online content Relationship bet. content/audience Analyzing online content

Options: Reflection + Metacognition Supplement (multiple online sources) Writing Spaces: “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?” by Giles Require reflection as part of course: Require students to respond to your feedback + evaluation Require students to articulate their process(es) Grade these reflections critically Embed reflection into your course: Tell me and I forget Show me and I remember Involve me and I understand – proverb

What our textbook does do: Teaching Choices

Everything is argument? “Argument (1) a spoken, written, or visual text that expresses a point of view; (2) the use of evidence and reason to discover some version of the truth, as distinct from persuasion, the attempt to change someone else’s point of view” Dual purpose: truth seeking + communicating

Choices: process of inquiry into communication (argument) Stasis questions + types of argument Starting with a question/idea Researching to learn Considering writer’s goals + readers’ needs = critical thinking Stasis Questions at Work Pg. 20 Uses topic of global warming to see application of stasis questions: Demonstrates multiple ways to examine an issue Fosters critical thinking Helps students see process of idea generation and honing a topic

So: What the textbook does (really) well Presents components of texts as choices writers make Repeatedly demonstrates (or asks students to consider) relationship between writer + audience

Rhetorical awareness Appeals – readers’ attention, trust, etc. Structure chapter – readers’ needs + writer’s goals Sample arguments (annotated) address rhetorical moves Core chapters – consider readers’ expectations, background knowledge, positions/perspectives Present readers as potentially skeptical, sympathetic, uninformed, cautious Style, Visuals, Presentations Multiple instances of need for consideration of audience Research chapters

The Rhetorical Situation Context/ Culture Purpose Subject/ Topic Speaker or Writer Genre Genre Purpose Subject/ Topic Audience or Reader Genre

So what? If we take advantage of this & “speak the same language” as our text, students see: They have to make decisions Decisions are based on unique factors of each writing task Each task requires consideration, understanding + action They’re learning what questions to ask when composition teacher isn’t there

Why I  “Academic Arguments” chapter Introduces academic writing as “academic” writing A range of writing styles/containers with some key characteristics among varied conventions “13 Steps” Example paragraphs = evidence of synthesis!! Formal/Informal Examples in paragraphs Activities on pages 392-395

External Support EAA teacher guide (may need to create account) http://www.macmillanlearning.com/Catalog/Product.aspx?isbn=9781319085759&tab=instructorresources#tab Writing Spaces http://writingspaces.org/ Norton Writing Toolbox https://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/write/fieldguide/writing_toolbar.asp?pgname=strategies.asp&title=Strategies Juliette’s Comp Resource Site https://phpmysql.howardcc.edu/Instructors/ENGL121/index.php/the-writing-process/ See multiple links here! OWLs Purdue Online Writing Lab UNC: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/

Assignment Sequence: Rhetorical analysis Of an article Analyzes and evaluates use of appeals, style, organization. Article assignment Persuasive – uses appeals Arg. of fact (or) Definition arg. Style—heavy use of quotes; shorter paragraphs Research project Finding Evaluating Synthesizing “Academic” Proposal Requires all 10 competencies Reflection Essay Demonstrates learning Discusses development Cites own work

Discussing assignments Rhetorical Analysis Etc. Argument of Fact or Definition Argument Focus on finding and honing topic Research Consider audience, purpose, etc. Causal Argument Challenging critical thinking assignment More research Consider audience… Proposal Argument Requires all 10 competencies

Discussing assignments ... Could Do This ALL Day

Discuss. How have you used the text effectively? Consider: Assignment Ideas How have you used the text effectively? What, if any, major hiccups/problems do you have w/EAA Sequencing Assignments that don’t “fit” with text? Questions? Plans?