WELCOME Intro to RWS200 and the lower division writing program TA Introductions; photo session ( assimilation and mind control program revealed ) 200 9.00:

WELCOME

WELCOME

Intro to RWS200 and the lower division writing program

TA Introductions; photo session

(assimilation and mind control program

revealed)

200

9.00:

OVERVIEW OF RWS200

9.30: The program, RWS100, ITC, Fall students, expectations, assignments, and options.

RWS 200 AND THE LOWER DIVISION WRITING PROGRAM

See the handout for contact info A lot of material on the wiki (let

us know if you need help finding) Argument is at the center of the

writing program/100/200. New emphasis on evaluation

being piloted.

RWS 200 AND THE LOWER DIVISION WRITING PROGRAM We ask students to interpret, analyze, evaluate

and produce written arguments because this is central to academic literacy, critical thinking, and civic life

- Lasch: “argument is the essence of education,” and “central to democratic culture”;

- Norgaard: Universities are “houses of argument.”

- Graff: “Argument literacy” is key to higher education.

RWS 200 AND THE LOWER DIVISION WRITING PROGRAM

We want students to be able to identify claims, evaluate evidence and reasons, locate assumptions, identify argumentative moves, pose critical questions, produce sophisticated arguments, etc.

We do this not only because it’s good for their souls, critical thinking, ability to reason, deliberate, be engaged citizens, etc. But also because it’s key to their professional futures – every gateway requires it.

WHY WE FIGHT! (4 YOUR RIGHT TO WRITE, ARGUE & ANALYZE WELL)

These skills are central to business,

law, professional life, and to

academic study (including graduate

school).

Students tested for these skills in the

WPA, the LSAT, GMAT, and GRE – all

the gateways to professional life.

Consider the LSAT…

SAMPLE LSAT QUESTION FIND THE MAIN CLAIM

Pediatrician: “Some parents have decided not to have their children receive the MMR vaccine because they fear that it may cause autism. They cite a study that found a possible link between the vaccine and the disease. However, two other much larger studies have found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. These parents have, therefore, willfully put their own children and many others at risk of catching measles, mumps, and rubella, while failing to do anything to prevent their children from becoming autistic.” Which most accurately expresses the main claim of the pediatrician’s argument?

(A) Parents should not pay attention to medical studies because they can’t understand them; instead, they should get advice from their pediatricians.

(B) The study that found a link between autism and the MMR vaccine was unsound because the doctor who conducted it was being paid by a group of trial lawyers who wanted him to find a connection so they could carry out a lawsuit.

(C) Public health needs require that parents have their kids vaccinated regardless of their fears about the procedure.

(D) Parents’ refusal to have their kids take the vaccine is both medically unjustified and dangerous, because the vaccine has known disease-preventing benefits and refusing it will have no effect on whether their kids become autistic.

(E) Despite the results of the two large studies, there is still some possibility that the MMR vaccine might cause autism.

ANALYTICAL WRITING TASKS

Present Your Views on an Issue (45 minutes, choice of 2 topics)

Analyze an Argument (30 minutes)

Each essay is scored on a 0-6 scale using holistic scoring Two scores for each essay

GRE Website presents directions, actual topics, scoring guide, and sample essays for both the Issue and Argument tasks (www.gre.org/gentest.html)

Argumentation/Justification• In Wolfe’s 2010 study, assignments from a broad range of

disciplines were collected and examined. Results? Argumentation is valued across the curriculum. “Argument is the key word for good writing and the absence of argument constitutes the central problem in students’ written work” (Wolfe, p. 50).

• Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa’s Academically Adrift, a comprehensive review of undergraduate education – argument is key.

Argumentation/Justification

• The Common Core State Standards – argument and rhetorical analysis are key.

• The WPA exam students will take after RWS 200

• These aren’t so much “justifications” of our approach as points you may want to share with students, future employers, other academics who sometimes think teaching writing = comma placement.

YOU WON’T BE ASSIMILATED (MUCH)…You need to work within the course framework and assignment sequence, but you can be creative and adapt it – we’re interested in hearing your ideas.

RWS200 represents just one way to design a writing course – many others are possible (genre, critical literacy, cultural studies, expressivism, etc.)

Writing programs often serve many masters, since general education programs are collaborative enterprises. Had we world enough and time (and money and control) I like the idea of a hybrid WID-based approach.

But even so, your experience in this program will be valuable as a) it’s an influential model, b) the trend is toward aligning k-12 and higher ed. around argument, and c) SDSU’s program is regionally influential.

Our program is fairly “mainstream.” Our mission statement and learning outcomes are similar to WPA and NCTE statements on teaching writing.

CSU-wide articulation efforts shaped by work at SDSU.

YOU WILL (NOT) BE ASSIMILATED…

ITC: EXPECTATIONS ITC = an important part of your work. You are expected

to attend. You get credit for it. Wednesdays @ 1.00 – 1.50 in SH-216

More importantly, it’s part of collaboration, professional development, and networking.

Modest home work is assigned but it’s all to prepare for your class. Meetings are 50 minutes.

Your contribution is important and most welcome. We provide a lot of support, but you are welcome to adapt & remix, or add your own materials. TA contributions have improved courses a lot – many TA ideas are on the wiki.

COLLABORATION IS IMPORTANT

Class sizes lower, but still big – 25.

We will be teaching 4 major assignments this semester – an increase from the past.

We may want to “jigsaw” the work of preparing class plans, etc.

In the future you will teach on your own. Use ITC to prepare and find collaborators, and for professional development.

MEET YOUR AUDIENCE

Spring semester 200 students are often quite well

prepared. Some may be fairly sophisticated writers, but

you’ll be (re)presenting them with a new, challenging

way of approaching texts

It’s a good idea to get a writing sample in the first or

second class to gauge the level of your students, and

identify ESL/international students (can refer to LING200

if you think they’ll struggle.)

Spring 200 students are a little more “independent” than

100 students – a bit more classroom management, and

a slightly firmer hand can be required.

MAIN TEXTS1. Haydar and Abu-Lugodh; LaPierre (& Harris -

optional); a collection of readings on digital citizenship and civility.

2. RWS 200 Reader

3. Short texts in the Reader: Kristof, Rifkin, Parry, etc. You can select your own, and other short texts on the wiki. Use to introduce the course/key concepts

4. Wiki materials

STUDENT WRITING AS KEY TEXT• Student writing is the key text, and

teaching them how to read their own writing practices (reflexivity) is important

• “The ability to reflect on what is being written seems to be the essence of the difference between able and not so able writers from their initial writing experience onward”(Yancey 4)

100 AND 200

RWS 100: Rhetorical analysis of argument

RWS 200: Contextually-sensitive analysis, plus more attention to evaluation of strengths and weaknesses.

ASSIGNMENT SEQUENCE1. Construct an account of an argument, identify elements of

context embedded in it, and evaluate the text’s strengths and weaknesses (relative to audience/context) (Haydar/Abu-Lughod)

2. “Lens” assignment - use concepts and arguments from one text as a context for understanding and writing about another (LaPierre/Demagoguery)

3. Map (or synthesize) major points of similarity, difference, contrast and connection between texts that address an issue. (Digital citizenship and civility)

4. Synthesize and evaluate texts in order to “enter the conversation” and advance your own claims. (Digital citizenship and civility)

OTHER POSSIBLE ASSIGNMENTS• Portfolio or Reading Responses: Students have

done small writing assignments over the semester. You can assign further short writing assignments (or reading responses) and give students an aggregate grade for the completed work. Can use blogs.

• Reflection essays – have students compose one long or several short papers that ask them to reflect on the writing work they have done, what they have learned, the way they approach writing, the things they still need to work on, etc.

10.15 THE FIRST WEEK: CLASS MANAGEMENT

• The first day: crashers,

• scheduling, class management

• (Jamie)

• Overview common classroom activities

• Introducing rhetoric &working with short texts

10.45-12.00

OVERVIEW• The units build on each other, but all begin with consideration of

the rhetorical situation. Who is the author, what is her purpose, what kind of audience is she addressing, what is the context in which she writes, what conversation is the text part of?

• All units also begin with analysis of the text’s project, argument, claims, evidence and strategies – referred to with the acronym “PACES.”

• Much of the work of the course involves working with these concepts AND using them as a lens to interpret, analyze and evaluate texts.

• We use a set of guides, models, and templates. These teaching materials are on the wiki, and some samples are in the handout.

Common Class Activities [SEE P. 3 OF HANDOUT]

“Jig saw” work (students share researching key parts of text and share in class). Working out the rhetorical situation.

Class discussion, group work Critical reading/rhetorical reading – posing questions, interrogating

assumptions, reading actively and critically (modeling qns to ask) Charting – what is the text doing; what/how/why moves are made (P)ACES (project, argument, claims, evidence, strategies) Pre-writing exercises + templates, outlines, reading responses,

metadiscourse, transitions, quotations, mechanics Drafting, peer review, student “read alouds,” conferencing Assessment and response Synthesis, analysis and evaluation (single argument, relationship

between texts, strategies, “lens” work, evaluation of arguments) and presentation of student arguments

Reflection and reflective practice (applying concepts to students own writing – e.g. charting, analyzing students’ moves, revision plans, etc.)

Pre-reading, Jigsaw work, Rhetorical Situation

Examining titles and section headings carefully: Chua

- Chua’s article “A World on the Edge” is part of her book World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability. Harcourt, 2003.

Consider the Source:

Thompson’s “Public Thinking” is a chapter from his book Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better. Penguin Press, 2013.

Haydar, “Veiled Intentions: Don’t Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering,” in Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules of Beauty and Body Image. Seal Press, 2003.

2. Modeling close reading strategies – annotating, posing questions, reading actively and critically.

(For full text seepage 7 of handout)

Unit 1: Common Activities Cont.

3. Charting – what is the text doing (what, how, why moves are made).

COMMON ACTIVITIES CONT.

4. PACES (project, argument, claims, evidence, strategies)

Identifying claims – a good rule of thumb is to look for the following cues:

- question/answer pattern- problem/solution pattern - self-identification (“my point here is that…”)- emphasis/repetition (“it must be stressed that…”)- approval (“Olson makes some important and long overdue amendments to work on …”)- metalanguage that explicitly uses the language of argument (“My argument consists of three main claims. First, that…”)

IDENTIFYING AND SORTING CLAIMS

CRITICAL QUESTIONS & EVALUATION

COMMON ACTIVITIES CONT.

5. Drafting: models, outlines, templates, rhetorical precis; metadiscourse, quotations

6. Drafting: peer review, workshops, review plans, student “read-alouds,” conferencing

7. Assessment and response8. Reflection and reflective practice

(applying concepts to students own writing – e.g. charting, analyzing students’ moves and strategies, etc.)

Templates – verbs for talking about arguments

TEMPLATES: The Graff & B Template

One of our templates

There are handouts, class exercises, and class plans based on each of these key activities (see wiki or Blackboard).

NUDGING STUDENTS TOWARD A RHETORICAL STANCE…

In the first week of class we’d like you to re-introduce key concepts through the analysis of some short texts. Lots of material on wiki for this. Op-eds, ads, videos, etc.

Focusing on strategies and what texts do = good ways of introducing rhetoric.

We want to move students from a focus on what texts say (content) to what they do and how they do it (rhetoric). Rhetorical self consciousness = achieving a kind of double vision – of looking “at” as well as through language.

BASIC RHETORICAL STRATEGIES

How do texts position readers?

What point of view do they adopt?

From what perspective do they invite us to view the world?

Consider these chewing gum ads:

RHETORIC IS “EVERYWHERE” & AN “EVERYDAY” THING

When a politician tries to get you to vote for them, they are using rhetoric.

When a lawyer tries to move a jury, they are using rhetoric. When a government produces propaganda, they are using rhetoric. When an advertisement tries to get you to buy something, it is using

rhetoric. When the president gives a speech, he is using rhetoric.

But rhetoric can be much subtler (and quite positive) as well: When someone writes an office memo, they are using rhetoric. When a newspaper offers their depiction of what happened last night,

they are using rhetoric. When a scientist presents theories or results, they are using rhetoric. When you write your mom or dad an email, you are using rhetoric. Thought itself is rhetorical - when you think, you engage in “inner

argument,” or “inner persuasion” in order to reach a decision or act.

HEADLINES DESCRIBING MEDICAL MARIJUANA DECISIONSalon Magazine “Court rules against pot for sick people” New York Times: “High Court Allows Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Users”USA Today: “MEDICAL MARIJUANA BAN UPHELD” San Diego Union Tribune: “Court OKs Marijuana Crackdown” L.A. Times: “Justices Give Feds Last Word on Medical Marijuana”Christian Science Monitor: “US Court Rules Against Pot For Sick People”Christian News Source: “Medical Marijuana Laws Don't Shield Users From Prosecution”

EVERYDAY WORDS, NAMES, DEFINITIONS, CATEGORIES – HOW THEY ARE SELECTED OR CONSTRUCTED = RHETORICAL. CONSIDER:

Cash advance (vs. high interest loan)Second Mortgage vs. Home equity loan“War on terror,” vs. “war against Islamic extremists,” vs. “fight against Al

Queda” (scope, agents involved, action)“The 1%,” “job creators” Military contractors, mercenaries“War on drugs”’ “Axis of Evil”;“Body bags” vs. “transfer tubes”“Doctor assisted suicide” vs. “death with dignity”“Defense of marriage” vs. “marriage equality”“French Fries/Freedom fries”“Death Tax/Estate Tax”“Habit forming” vs. “addictive”“Erectile dysfunction” vs. “impotence”“Halitosis” vs. “bad breath”“Male pattern baldness” vs. “losing your hair”“Viagra!”

TELEMARKETING STRATEGIES SCRIPT

Pre-introduction: (Ask to speak to the decision-maker) Introduction: (Introduce yourself and the reason for your call) Attention Getter: (Mention the key features of the offer and qualify them for eligibility) Probing Questions: (Always ask for information that will be useful for rebuttals) Offer: (Explain the product/service and terms of commitment) Close: (ALWAYS ASK FOR THE SALE) Rebuttal (deal with objections)Sales Continuation: (Agree, use rebuttals, sell benefits, CLOSE) Up/down/cross-sell: (If there is another product of less-price this is the time to sell it.) Confirmation Close: (Review the terms of the offer to reduce buyer remorse) Final Close: (End on a positive note. Thank the customer and leave a dial free number for customer support)

(RE)INTRODUCING RHETORIC

You may wish to use short texts, visual texts, advertisements, op-eds and other texts that students are probably familiar with in order to introduce rhetoric.

Email communication is a good place to start – students are familiar with the genre, and may find it easier to recognize strategies, acts of persuasion, positioning, performance, etc.

This YouTube animation is a good text to start a discussion about rhetoric – about audience, purpose, persuasion, strategies, genre, ethos, rhetorical situation, etc.

USING A YOUTUBE ANIMATION TO INTRODUCE RHETORICAL CONCEPTS

Examine how this trivial act is full of rhetorical issues. The character is asking, how does this language present me? What persona does it construct? What tactic will be most effective? What moves should I make, how will this make me seem? How should I think of my audience? What is my purpose? How do I avoid embarrassment?

Give students a new context and ask to compose an email or text message.

See pages 13-17 of handout for class plan that uses the email exercise (could use on 1st or 2nd day of class).

REWRITE THESE RHETORICALLY TONE DEAF STUDENT EMAILS

“Hey prof, sorry I didn’t turn in my paper yesterday in class. I had a science test to study for that was really important. Is there any way I can turn it in late just this once? Let me know by tonight that way I don’t waste my time doing it if you won’t.”

“Dear professor,I am writing you cuz unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to our appointment today. yesterday was my 21st bday and I’m still hangover and don’t think I should drive. let me know when you can make another appointment.”

Homework Exercise:

The syllabus clearly says the instructor does not accept late work and if you miss class you will be penalized.

Nonetheless, you miss five classes and try to hand in the second major assignment 8 days late.

If the instructor does not accept your work you will fail the class.

Write an email to the instructor….

LIST STRATEGIES

Introduce selfApologizeTake responsibilityEstablish ethosElicit sympathy/pathosBuild a defensePresent evidence (doctor’s note, note from coach, etc.)Initiate action/repairEtc.

We often use texts that are “self-reflexive,” that self consciously reveal rhetorical devices and persuasive strategies. Advertising and marketing that does this can be fun to examine, and a good way to introduce rhetoric.

• Vince Parry, “Branding a Condition”

• Tales of Mere Existence

• Kotex advertisements So Obnoxious and “How Do I Feel About My Period?

Charting & Analyzing Sample Short Text.

Kristof’s “Do We Have the Courage?”

12.00-12.30 Admin

12.30 – 1.30 LUNCH

1.30 Rhetorical Reading of Haydar’s “Veiled Intentions”

Glen McClish

2.30 – 2.45 BREAK

2.45-4.30 Technology Session

The hosted wiki option

SYLLABUS DESIGN Designing your syllabus, dealing with

challenges; difficult students. Accessibility and SDS Student Athletes Sexual Harassment

LEARNING OUTCOMES: WHAT THEY ARE, WHY THEY MATTER, HOW TO USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE.

If things get ugly, the outcomes and syllabus provide you with backup. In disputes, they matter.

Our outcomes are now explicitly framed in terms of the general education program and its “capacities” and goals (meta-outcomes)

This language adds a certain amount of institutional authority to your course. You can point students to the section that states how important our courses and outcomes are to the educational mission of the university (i.e. the university’s carefully researched conclusion as to what constitutes “essential undergraduate academic skills.”)

DISCUSSION & PARTICIPATION

Prime with a questionnaire, survey or questions Call by name Put in groups and assign responsibility Jig saw work “Pyramids” (alone, in pairs, 4s, etc.) Freewrite (give students time to assemble thoughts,

so they feel more confidant contributing Wait….at least 7 seconds. Try not to get stuck in the

habit of answering your own questions. Have students post responses and homework to

Blackboard, so you can bring to class and use to get discussion going.

Author Interview, Panel or Role-PlayingOne student assumes the role of the writer and answers question from the audience about the article’s main claim, choices regarding supporting evidence, and the writer’s view of his/her audience at the time of writing.

Students assigned to play role of author for 10-15 minutes. You may choose to let that student greet the class “in character,” and provide a brief summary of the argument that he/she wrote, which everyone else in class has read. After that, the exercise consists of class members asking the “writer” questions about the argument itself.

CAN ALSO be used with assignment 2 (sources) in which students are responsible to assume the role of different authors, and you can set up a debate with Pinker.

SETH TAYLOR’S SEVEN TIPS FOR DISCUSSION

1) Beware of cold starts. Consider directed freewriting, journaling, or the “Brain Dump” at the start of class. Quick responses can both kickstart discussions, and eventually help students question where their responses come from.

2) Be wary of asking the BIG questions first:

“So… what do you think about the reading?”

“So what’s the point of the chapter?”

ACTIVE LEARNING: SEVEN TIPS FOR DISCUSSION

3) Let your first question be easy, possibly about their reading process:

“How long did it take to read this?”

“Where does it get interesting (or boring)?”

Were there any passages you found difficult, interesting or unusual?

4) Open-ended questions will require students to think. Yes/No questions require very little of them, and can often shut down discussion before it starts.

ACTIVE LEARNING: SEVEN TIPS FOR DISCUSSION

5) Encourage students to explain, support, their responses to a text. Almost every answer can be followed

up with a “Why?” question from the instructor.

ACTIVE LEARNING: SEVEN TIPS FOR DISCUSSION

6) Encourage students to talk to each other, rather than simply fire answers back to you:

Re-directing students to respond to each others ideas

Group breakout exercises

Let students teach

ACTIVE LEARNING: SEVEN TIPS FOR DISCUSSION

7) At the end of class, try to re-cap or summarize the ground that was covered. You do not need the discussion to come to a grand conclusion, but some sort of review

will help increase retention.

4.00 Surviving the First Day

•Classroom Dynamics

•What to do on the First Day

•The inside scoop from your fellow TAs

INTRODUCING RHETORIC

We ask that you tell students that RWS 100 is a rhetoric class. Some may base their expectations on high school English classes/literary analysis.

You may find “Content is king” - locate, remember and deliver content. You may encounter a “textbook mentality” in the reading practices of many of your students, and an “information processor” model of writing.

Textbooks are often “anti-rhetorical” - presenting knowledge in terms of a decontextualized, disembodied voice of authority, a “view from nowhere,” and of knowledge as “settled,” unified and authoritative

The contested, contingent, contextual, community-centered, argument-driven…in short, the RHETORICAL dimensions of knowledge – of academic discourse, are largely absent.

WE CAN READ MATERIAL CULTURE RHETORICALLY

“By reading…we mean something more than simply lifting information out of books and articles. To read a text or event is to do something to it, to make sense out of its signals and clues…Reading is thus not something we do to books alone. Or, to put it another way, books and other printed surfaces are not the only texts we read. Rather, a ‘text’ is anything that can be interpreted, that we can make meaning out of or assign value to. In this sense, all culture is a text and all culture can be read.” Joseph Harris and Jay Rosen.

STRATEGIES IN SCULPTURE: MAYA LIN’S VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL

WHY THESE CHOICES FOR A MEMORIAL – WHAT STRATEGIES MIGHT THEY REPRESENT?

The Vietnam war memorial is black It is made of reflective black granite. When a visitor looks at

the wall, she will see the engraved names and her own reflection

The monument is built along a pathway that requires people to move along the small corridor of space

Unlike many monuments, it lists all the names of U.S. soldiers who died, and it does so in chronological rather than alphabetic order (Lin has she wanted the wall to read “‘like an epic Greek poem’ and ‘return the vets to the time frame of the war’)

Information about rank, unit, and decorations are not given The wall is V-shaped, with one side pointing to the Lincoln

Memorial and the other to the Washington Monument. Lin's conception was to create an opening or a wound in the earth to symbolize the gravity of the loss of the soldiers

THE RISE OF THE “BUM-PROOF” BENCH IN LOS ANGELES

"One of the most common, but mind-numbing, of these deterrents is the [L.A.] Rapid Transit District’s new barrelshaped bus bench that offers a minimal surface for uncomfortable sitting, while making sleeping utterly impossible. Such ‘bumproof’ benches are being widely introduced on the periphery of Skid Row. Another invention...is the aggressive deployment of outdoor sprinklers. Several years ago the city opened a ‘Skid Row Park’ along lower Fifth Street, on a corner of Hell. To ensure that the park was not used for sleeping--that is, to guarantee that it was mainly utilized for drug dealing and prostitution--the city installed an elaborate overhead sprinkler system programmed to drench unsuspecting sleepers at random times during the night. The system was immediately copied by some local businessmen in order to drive the homeless away from adjacent public sidewalks.“Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles, p. 233.