Florida State University
College Composition
ENC 2135 Teaching Materials
Within these pages, you will find our library of sample teaching materials for the six strands of ENC 2135. Within each strand, you will find syllabi, weekly plans, assignment sheets, sample student work, and asssessment materials.
Our goal for this strand is to help students understand the theory behind writing so that they can practice that theory in any writing situation. We hope that students’ work goes beyond the college composition classroom, and that this work teaches them useful, practical skills for composing in their future coursework, careers, and everyday lives. As such, many of these course materials draw from an earlier strand of ENC 1102, which focused on “Writing for Transfer.” While our strand does not specifically engage transfer theory, we do ask that students write about subjects that they are passionate about, critically reflect on their work throughout the course, and view writing as a recursive process. By focusing on what rhetorical elements need to be considered for effective writing, students should be apply concepts that they have learned to help them write in any situation. Theory for the class focuses on the following key terms: genre, audience, rhetorical situation, context, purpose, composing, critical analysis, knowledge, and reflection.
This strand invites students to consider how genres operate in communities. In the first assignment, students investigate the genre practices of a community to which they belong or have belonged. The second assignment asks students to conduct an in-depth genre analysis of a community to which they do not belong. Examining a community as an outsider provides students with the opportunity to conduct inquiry-based research and exploration; students are asked to complete an interview with an insider in order to develop their perspective. For the third project, the students become practitioners themselves - sharing the knowledge they developed in project two with different audiences in a multi-genre viral campaign. Throughout, students develop a praxis-based approach to genres of writing and writing situations.
During the course of the semester, students will write three major papers, each of which will ask them to consider and study “genre” in different ways, as well as to consider the context and audience of the pieces students are composing and analyzing. The first paper asks students to perform a close reading of two different compositions in which they will identify the genre conventions that deliver the piece’s meaning to a particular audience. For their second paper students will develop a researched academic essay; they will practice using informative, persuasive, and/or narrative writing as it is appropriate to their context and audience. The final paper asks students to then synthesize their knowledge of genre conventions by composing three of their own pieces in three distinct genres. The last paper will be accompanied by an artist’s statement that explains why they choice to write in particular genres and sub-genres and how the genre conventions of their pieces appropriately deliver content and appeal to their intended audience.
This strand extends conversations regarding research, genre, and context into digital composing spaces. Students interact with both print and digital writing, develop texts that can be circulated in digital spaces, and engage in a social media platform. This invites students to explore the balance between the personal and academic identities, think critically about a variety of spaces for which they compose, and see the way circulation works while explore additional ways to integrate sources, cite information, and network this information. Project 1 analyzes a digital artifact (videos/audio/platforms/series of tweets/memes/gifs/etc) while also defining genre based upon the reading in the course. Project 2 researches student generated topic through the incorporation of (8) scholarly, (3) non-scholarly, and (7) hyperlinked sources in order to support a position. Project 3 remediates the argument from Project 2 with particular attention to digital remediation/remix as well as digitally developed print texts in three genre. The projects for this class can culminate in either a portfolio or paper-by-paper assessment model. Adding the layer of "digital spaces" works to expand students' understanding of genre that takes in to account the varied composing practices that students engage and invites them to critically think about platforms they compose within regularly through the lens of genre.
This course asks students to share their knowledge and passion about a subject area and use that passion to guide their research and composition process. To that end, our course is divided into three units. In the first, students will develop an understanding of genre by analyzing the genres used in their area of expertise. The major project for this unit, a 2000 word essay, asks that students analyze either 1) the various genres of their area of expertise or 2) the genres that enthusiasts use to discuss their area of expertise. In the second unit, students will develop research skills and expand their knowledge by creating a 3000 word webpage, wiki, or blog that introduces newcomers to their area of expertise and that incorporates no fewer than ten sources. In the final unit, students will combine their genre knowledge and research skills to re-present across three genres one of their arguments from their research project. Additionally, they will compose a rhetorical rationale that explains the rhetorical choices made in each genre and how they see those choices as effective for the context and audience.
This strand uses popular culture and current events as “a way in” for college composition students to begin understanding research, genre, and contexts. Each major assignment is framed so that students will use some aspect of popular culture or current events (based on their personal interests and goals) to explore composition in a way that best benefits their needs. This allows students to have meaningful discussions about the world they live in, while giving them the opportunity to see the depth of the media that surrounds them. Student chosen topics for these assignments have ranged from Harry Potter to gun violence, video games to presidential campaigns, Nicki Minaj to stem cell research, and everything in between.
This strand of 2135 will have students focus on their fields of study. The projects will each focus on the discourse community, writing conventions, genres, and rhetorical strategies used in their fields. This gives them the unique opportunity to explore their field from a writing and rhetorical perspective, which will help them in their careers at Florida State University and beyond. The major projects are scaffolded strategically with the research project (the largest of the semester) as the first project. This method allows students to become immersed in genre knowledge and writing conventions so that they can build rhetorical awareness alongside research strategies and writing practices. The second project requires students to complete a rhetorical analysis of an image and an article from their field, and the third project requires students to rhetorically produce an argument in three genres. Students then produce an ePortfolio at the end of the semester as a compilation of their best work. Accompanying the ePortfolio, students write a metacognitive reflection letter where they connect their projects and process to the major goals and outcomes of the course.