Raising Student Awareness of Genres and Conventions in Freshman Composition
In Spring 2014 I began teaching with Amy Braziller and Elizabeth Kleinfeld’s Bedford Book of Genres. The book has many strengths. In particular its format allows for repeated development of the language of genre and convention as well as rhetorical reading strategies for multiple genres. I teach it along with danah boyd’s it’s complicated: the social lives of networked teens in a freshman writing class (boyd has a free pdf-download on her site or the book is available to order on Yale UP’s site for $15.00) and together these books add up to a rich experience for students that engages them in an accessible but scholarly text about 21st century social networking and also an accessible and detailed instructional text with a “maker ethos” that students find useful.
I’ve also used Anne Wysocki’s compose, design, advocate. The assignments below have developed out of both of these textbooks and my students’ work with them.
About Anticipating Your Audiences
INFOGRAPHIC ASSIGNMENT
ANALYZE AN ADVOCACY WEBSITE ASSIGNMENT
EVENT PROJECT PLANNING ASSIGNMENT SHEET
FAQ ASSIGNMENT SHEET
ADVOCACY WEBSITE ASSIGNMENT SHEET
RUBRIC FOR WEBSITE REMIX