MLK

For MLK's piece, you are going to do a SRR. Each section should have 4-8 sentences. And please make sure to dialogue with others. 

Summarize—in this section you will as clearly and accurately as you can explain/summarize/describe the reading. In other words, what happened? Make sure you give specific details, and you can quote directly from the reading.

Respond— in second section you will discuss the overall effect of the reading. What I am looking for is a reaction to the reading; however, you must defend your reaction with specific and concrete reasoning. You cannot simply say “I do not like” or “I really enjoyed” with no discussion. This is your chance to engage with the reading on a more personal level.

Reflect— in this last section you will situate the reading within our class. How does the reading respond to what we have been discussing? What was MLK's rhetorical situation he was responding to (feel free to break it down using all of the terms Bitzer used to define rhetorical situation in other words feel free to say "the context for the situation was..." or "the exigence for the situation was..."). How will you apply the reading to your own understanding of writing?

Due: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 by class time. 

The Rhetorical Situation

In about 250-500 words, I want you to explore the following questions. Be specific in your responses. You can use direct quotes from Bitzer’s piece (and in fact this might be the most helpful in your explanation of a rhetorical situation). Remember: blog posts are free and open and their language is casual. I should be able to begin to see who you are as a writer—through your voice, style and language choices.

Also, it's ok if you are a little (or a lot) unsure what this is saying. It's a difficult reading, but you should do your best to respond to the questions. Please don't spend any time on saying things like "this was a hard reading" or "I don't understand it." Do you best to think through the reading--it doesn't matter if you are completely wrong, so long as you try. 

According to Bitzer, what is rhetoric? What is a rhetorical situation? Why are both important in the understanding of how to write? What do you believe comes first—the writing or the rhetorical situation? Do you believe all writing needs a rhetorical situation in order to write? Why or Why not?

What did you learn from reading this piece? Why might we start a course on argument with this reading?

Don't forget to engage with as others as part of the assignment.

Due: Monday, January 14, 2013 by class time.

Theory of Writing: Step 1

For this in-class activity, you'll need to use your blog post that you did for homework. There are a couple steps to this activity. 

Step 1: Create a Wordle

Go to your blog post and copy your post so that you can then paste it into a  wordle. 

How to create a Wordle:  Go to wordle.net. Hit “create.” Paste any document you want into the blank space. You can play and manipulate the colors and fonts as you wish once you paste your document inside the wordle. Save the wordle to the wordle gallery. Then once it is saved you can post the url to the new blog post. 

Step 2: Beginning to Theorize

In 250-300 words, respond to the following questions: 

What connections do you see (if any) between your wordle image and your key terms. If you don’t see a connection why do you think that is? Why might it be important to see connections?

Next, create a theory of good writing based on your own key terms and wordle image. When creating this theory think back to science classes---meaning a theory is a group of statements put together to explain a phenomena (specifically here good writing) and assists in the understanding of these statements. Consider your audience, which is for now other first-year students who might be taking first-year composition. So, you want to use language that other first-year students would understand. 

Step 3: Making Connections

In groups of 2-3, share what you found in this activity and share your theory. 

Step 4: Reflection

Reflect on this activity (in about 250-300 words). What can you say about yourself as a writer? What might your identity as a writer look like right now? 

**By the time this activity is concluded, you'll have a blog post that includes the following: (1) url for your wordle; (2) your first iteration of your theory of writing; and (3) quick reflection over the activity. 

Good Writing

Guidelines and Expectations---

(1)your blog post should be 250-500 words (do not exceed 500 words).

(2)your blog post should engage in conversation with the other bloggers. This means if you are NOT the first one to post you need to mention at least one or two of your peers’ responses in your entry i.e. you may agree or disagree with what someone else’s ideas of what good writing is. You need to cite this person in your response and note why you are citing this person (for example, Kara mentioned that good writing has three components, but I’m not sure I agree. I believe...). Don't forget to do this as it is part of the assignment.

(3) your blog post should respond to the following prompt: 

(a) what is writing--the definitions, ideas, thoughts, expressions, etc--you associate w/ writing. What makes writing good to you? When you think of arguments and writing--what comes to mind? How do you believe you create an argument? What type of writer do you see yourself as? (b) create a list of 5-8 key terms you believe define good writing and/or good argumentation.  By the end of this first blog post, I want you to come up with a definition of writing and argumentation that includes a list of key terms.

(4) your blog post is due by classtime on Wednesday, January 9, 2013.