WRIT 350 Exam Review

1. WRIT 350 Exam Review Amy S. Gerald, Ph.D. Winthrop University

2. Kelly Gallagher – “Literacy Stampede” • Defines the literacy problem in the US (see charts, SC among lowest); • lists the top ten writing wrongs in secondary schools (not doing enough writing, writing not taught, only assigned, etc);

3. Kelly Gallagher – “Literacy Stampede” • righting the writing wrongs: students need: more writing practice, teachers who model good writing, the opportunity to read and study other writers, choice of topics, to write for authentic purposes and for authentic audiences, meaningful feedback from teacher and peers. • Gives reasons why students should write (hard, but rewarding, helps you think, helps you persuade, fights oppression, helps you read, makes you smarter, helps you get into and through college, prepares you for work world.

4. The Composing Process • Ch. 1 Why Teach Writing? • To form your own teaching philosophy through trial and error, reading, writing, discussion • Writing as a mode of learning (write to know/to learn), process and product approaches, the importance of theory to back up practice.

5. The Composing Process • Ch. 2 What Is Writing? • Chapter focuses on rhetorical situation of writing and teaching • Importance of Audience – awareness of that audience • Importance of increasing your awareness of your own rhetorical agency/influence as teachers and writers • Process Approach can overcome: writer’s block (what Jakobson calls “Contact” – the point where we must put ideas on paper) • Process Approach can overcome: what Jakobson calls problems with “Code” – letters, punctuation, mechanics • What focusing on the rhetorical situation can do: helps students break down an assignment, helps teachers evaluate their assignment-creating skills, communication skills, and student papers, and helps students understand the relativity and inter-dependency of ethos, pathos, logos.

6. The Composing Process • Ch. 3 What Does the Process Involve? • Importance of requiring/spending time for invention, drafting, revision. • The difference between student writers and professional, experienced writers (recursiveness of the process). • Reflective/Reflexive writing (writing about writing, thinking about thinking, etc.) will assist in writers becoming more critical thinkers, capable of more complex thought. • What is the difference between revision and editing? • Invention as a Social Act – social nature of writing (our inner voice, then our internal monitor [internal dialogic], then collaborative learning (peer groups), then collective – social spheres, communities) LeFevre’s stages.

7. Janet Emig – “Writing as a Mode of Learning” her description of the cognitive process of writing: “Writing involves the fullest possible functioning of the brain” (10). She discusses the use of right and left hemispheres – the creative side and the logical side. She discusses the physical connection to learning when you create in your mind and translate that into the verbal language and then into the symbol system of written language. Then the physical act of writing what you are thinking, reinforces that thinking == you are seeing again what you were thinking, that you created. She discusses the higher order skills of analysis and synthesis. Writing uses so many functions and aspects of your brain and body that it is a powerful activity for teaching and learning.

8. RHETORICAL THEORY AND PRACTICE • Ch. 4 Rhetoric (know the triangle) • needs and emphasis of rhetoric changed with context over time • Rhetoric gives us greater control over our use of language (our choices) and helps us better interpret language

9. Rhetorical Theory & Practice • Ch. 5 Linguistics • Language is arbitrary and conventional (it changes and it is mutually agreed upon by people) • Don’t judge people b/c of their language – errors are often systematic and rule-driven • If teaching grammar doesn’t improve writing, why teach it? (b/c it leads to a knowledge of language, power over language, expression, code switching abilities) • Don’t teach grammar as a subject matter in itself, but as a means to improving writing

10. Rhetorical Theory & Practice -- Linguistics • AAE Ch.1 – What is AAE? • How we characterize something or refer to something has consequences (Burke – language as an acting agent) so to refer to AAE as “broken” English mischaracterizes it and has negative consequences for AAE users • Is it “broken”, slang, dialect, or language? • Why study AAE? To be aware of our bias and to begin to recognize patterns in order to better teach • AAE Ch. 2 -- What are the Distinctive Features of AAE? • There is a basic core of commonly understood features (vocab, slang, pronunciation, grammar, rhetoric) • AAE Ch. 4 – Describe the range of approaches to teaching writing with or without AAE (Traditional, 2nd Dialect, Dialect Awareness, Culturally Appropriate, Bridge)

11. Peter Elbow “Why Deny a Choice to Speakers of African American Language that Most of us Offer Other Students” Let AAL users (and all students) write in home language initially, then help them shape into whatever language is appropriate for the writing task.

12. Yvonne Freeman “Lessons Should Have Meaning and Purpose for Learners Now” Writing assignments for ESL (and all students) should be authentic, with real life, immediate meaning and purpose (such as our Pen Pal project)

13. Rhetorical Theory & Practice • Ch. 7 Invention – is social (think of our movie discussion) • Prewriting: reading, thinking, writing, listening, talking • Prewriting helps students assess the dimensions of a rhetorical problem and plan its solution • Benefits of Prewriting: breaks downs the process, allows for planning and better focus. • List some prewriting activities: lists, clusters, freewrites, journals, heuristics, models

14. Rhetorical Theory & Practice • Ch. 12 Revision • Corrects students’ perception of rewriting-as-punishment • Recursiveness, messiness • “Engfish” – pretentiously formal style some students think their English teachers want to read – how to help? Classmates as audience • Discovery drafts (is evidence of no prewriting) and MUST be revised b/c no focus • Writing workshops – familiarize yourself with the benefits of (for writer AND reader)

15. Teaching as Rhetoric • Ch. 13 Developing Writing Assignments • How is understanding rhetoric beneficial for students with writing assignments? • How is understanding rhetoric beneficial for teachers creating writing assignments? • Evaluating writing assignments? • Evaluating student papers?

16. Teaching as Rhetoric • Ch. 14 Responding to Student Writing • 2 purposes for evaluating writing: • Diagnosis – not graded, mined for info to help us teach • Feedback – guided and focused feedback that helps students understand how a reader perceives the writer’s message – how? Conferences, peer editing, written comments • Grading vs. evaluating • Select only 1-2 issues per paper for students to work on • If mark mostly grammar – you get frustration and giving up • If little evidence of teacher comments making better student writing, then what? P. 234 • Model of a right & wrong – what is wrong with #1? Doesn’t help student “become an independent judge of his/her own prose” – be a self-sufficient self-editor. • Balance praise and criticism • Treat each paper as an opportunity to conduct a lesson • Self-evaluation of our own writing does what? • How might teachers handle the paper load?

17. Teaching as Rhetoric • Ch. 15 Designing Writing Courses • Teaching as complicated rhetorical act, always realigning our relationship to students and subject • Plan, teach, revise = prewrite, draft, revise • What-centered course (product and teacher-centered) vs. how-centered (process & student). • 2 models of process-centered course (259) – older model ‘70’s – the individual, self-discovery, voice, expressive writing. Newer model late ‘80’s 90’s -- about social context of writing, language shapes us as we shape language, collaborative learning, discourse communities. • Teaching Writing With No textbook!?!? • Active and collaborative learning – be student-centered, not teacher centered – its not about you!

18. Exam Preparation Advice: • Review your reading notes: marginal notes, areas you’ve highlighted • Review your notes from class discussion (chart!) • Review in-class activities!!! • Review your journals • Be well-rested and well-fed!