Discuss the Concept of Stakeholders As a Means of Transitioning from A1 to A2

Week 4/Day 7—Tuesday, September 12th

Homework Due

Use your workshop notes (the global peer revision and the SCS notes) to revise and polish your draft of A1, and bring a hard-copy of the analysis ready to submit at the beginning of class for a grade (if you’re doing electronic submissions, adapt these submission requirements) —the analysis should be double-spaced using 12-point Times New Roman font and stapled with your name and section number at the top.
Insert your own “turn-in” policy here. You may want to collect all drafts, revision plans, workshop worksheets, etc. with the final draft. This can all be collected in a pocket folder. Whatever your preference, be specific as to what the students need to bring.

Objectives

Reflect on A1
Discuss the concept of stakeholders as a means of transitioning from A1 to A2.
Learn about synthesis as a way of offering something new to a conversation on an issue;
Learn about exigency and its importance in rhetorical writing;

Prep

Familiarize yourself with the definition of a stakeholder and review the sample issue below for finding stakeholders (or come up with your own). See if you can anticipate more stakeholders to add to the list below. Then, look at the texts in the A2 Materials (under the folder “Texts for Stakeholder Analysis Activity” which students will analyze and consider the stakeholders students may come up with during the activity.

Materials

A1 Postscript
Image of the conversation model (unless you prefer to draw it)
Definition and example of a stakeholder
Directions for stakeholder activity
Copies of the texts from the A2 Materials: Texts for Stakeholder Analysis Activity
Synthesis Graphic
Food Reader

Lead-in

Over the last week, students have engaged in revision and completed the first assignment in the first unit. Today, they will reflect on that assignment and transition to the Assignment 2: Stakeholder Proposal, as well as introduce some rhetorical vocabulary that will be essential throughout the rest of the semester (including “synthesis” and “exigency”).

ACTIVITIES

Attendance (1 minute)

A1 Postscript (15 minutes)

Briefly explain that before turning in any major assignment in this class, students will reflect on the writing and revision process. It’s important to take a step back and consider how you did the assignment and not just turn it in and let it leave your brain forever. It helps us think about our thinking and think about our writing so we can assess the processes we used. On the top of the first page of your paper, ask students to write and sign the following honor pledge:

“I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance.”

Put up the A1 Postscript. You may use or tweak the following questions:

What are you most proud of with regards to this assignment and why?
Where did you struggle most and how did you address that challenge? How will you address this struggle in the next assignment?
What feedback/comments from workshop were MOST helpful as you revised your paper? What feedback/comments from workshop were LEAST helpful as you revised your paper? (Don’t worry, you’re not “telling on” your partner by answering this question. I’ll use your answers to this question in future classes as we work to refine and improve our workshop skills!)

When students turn in assignment, tell them how long it will take you to grade them (2 weeks).

Transition: Explain that with the first project we honed some important skills: close and critical reading, paraphrasing effectively, understanding the rhetorical situation, etc. For our second major assignment, students will write a proposal to a stakeholder about an issue. Today we’re going to go over some key ideas that will help us understand the concept of stakeholders and why they’re so important when we’re engaging in conversations about issues.

Review the Conversation Model (2 minutes)

Put the conversation model on the doc cam (or draw it). Explain that in A1, we listened to the conversation through close and critical reading, and then we expanded the conversation through the rhetorical summaries by combining our growing knowledge of rhetoric and our summary skills. In this unit we’re also going to eavesdrop by reading texts in the reader, expand the conversation by identifying a problem within our course theme, and contribute to the conversation by offering a new, unique solution to that problem in the form of a formal, written proposal.

Introduce Stakeholders (10 minutes)

One term that’s going to be vital in this upcoming unit is the term “stakeholder.” Ask if anyone wants to take a stab at what the term means, and then put up a written definition:

Stakeholder: A person, organization, institution, etc. that has a vested interest in an issue because they have something at stake (i.e., something to gain or lose).

Then, go over an example with students like the one below and ask them to brainstorm some stakeholders.

For example, if we were discussing the issue of the continuing increase in college tuition, who would have a stake in the issue? What groups of people would care? Why would they care? What is their stake?

Students – could lose money because of high costs; could lose time because it may take them longer to graduate
Parents – could also lose money if they’re helping their children pay for school
State legislatures – could gain money to put into other programs (i.e., when state legislatures cut funding for schools to put into other programs, students’ tuition increases to cover the gap.) Could lose good students who choose not to attend schools in the state.
Loan providers (public and private) -- could gain profits because more students borrow money to finance their educations

Discuss how some of these stakeholders are at cross purposes with one another – that is, what one group wants may be in opposition to another group’s stake in the issue. When we join conversations about important issues, we have to be able to identify the stakeholders so we can decide which group needs to hear our ideas. Then we can work to consider who they are, what they value, what they need, etc. as we craft the most rhetorically effective text.

Practice Identifying Stakeholders (30-35 minutes)

Explain that students will apply their knowledge about stakeholders with the homework that’s due next time, but we’re also going to do a brief activity that asks us to apply this knowledge NOW. After all, understanding the concept of “stakeholder” is vitally important for being able to propose a solution to a problem (the essence of A2).

PUT UP DIRECTIONS: (change as necessary based on what’s in the new reader!)
You will work with a partner to apply your skills about stakeholders by looking at a text that relates to our course theme.
With your partner, respond to the following questions:
What is the focus of the text? (That is, what’s it about? If it’s a short article, what is the “big picture” of the information? If it’s a graph, what do the data show? If it’s an image, does it have an argument? What is that argument?)
Who are the stakeholders in this issue? List at least three stakeholders and explain what stake they have in the issue.
(PARTNER PEOPLE UP – you may want to let them choose since it takes less time.)
Give students time to work with their partner to respond to the questions.
Spend at least the last 5-10 minutes looking at some of them on the document camera.

Option: This is an activity that can be adapted to fit your teaching needs. Just remember that the goal is for students to practice identifying stakeholders and articulating their particular stakes in an issue.

Transition: Explain that when you’re going to write about an issue for an audience who cares. As we’re doing this for A2, identifying stakeholders is a first step in choosing an audience. After all, if the person/group to whom you’re writing doesn’t care and has no stake in the issue, they’re unlikely to read what you’ve written. But there’s more to it than just choosing a stakeholder as an audience, which we’ll explore now.

Understanding the Link between Purpose and Audience, Defining Important Terms (10 minutes)

Draw the rhetorical situation model on the board and have students help you label it. Explain that as we embark on the second assignment, we’re going to develop some important skills and better understand writing as a rhetorical practice.
Point out TEXT/GENRE: This is something we’ll focus on in A2 since we’ll be writing in the genre of a proposal for Assignment 2.
Point out AUDIENCE: an important focus for our second assignment since we’ll be choosing a stakeholder to be the audience for our project and we’ll have to consider and appeal to their needs, values, and knowledge as we write for this audience;
Point out PURPOSE: also something we’ll emphasize over the course of this unit. We’ll have a few purposes with this assignment: identify a problem and explain its exigency, as well as synthesizing multiple sources to offer something new to the conversation.
Define exigency. First you may see if any students are familiar with the term; if not, offer the following definitions: “something that is necessary in any particular situation” (Merriam-Webster.com); “the state or quality of requiring much effort or immediate action; a pressing or urgent situation” (thefreedictionary.com). You could write these definitions on the board or project an overhead slide, in order to allow students to copy these definitions down.
In our class, specifically, when we refer to exigent issues, we’re talking about issues that matter and need to be addressed. After all, some stakeholders may care about issues that aren’t particularly exigent – that is, issues that THEY care about but that others don’t deem pressing or urgent.
Define synthesis. Here, too, you may want to see if students are familiar with the term, and then elaborate on any answer they offer: “something that is made by combining different things (such as ideas, styles, etc.)” (Merriam-Webster.com).
In our class, specifically, synthesis refers to bringing multiple sources together and, through combining those sources and adding your own unique insights, offering something new to the conversation on an issue.
In addition to solving a problem, which is an important purpose of A2, another important purpose is synthesis: that is, bringing together multiple sources through our reading, filtering them through our own ideas, thoughts, values, and creativity, and offering something new to the conversation.
(You could draw or project the image below to help some of your students better understand what you mean by “synthesis” – that is, bringing together sources and the unique, creative ideas of the individual writer to offer something new to the conversation.)

Assign Homework (2 minutes)

Critically read Eli Saslow’s article “Food Stamps Put Rhode Island Town on Monthly Boom-and Bust Cycle” in the Food reader. After reading it:
Make a list of the stakeholders you believe have a stake in the issue, based on our definition of the term during class, and explain what their stake is – that is, what they have to gain or lose in the context of the issue.
Come to class ready to discuss the stakeholders and their stake in the issue.
Critically read about “writing to solve problems” in pp. 154-155 of your JTC.
Print a copy of the A2 assignment on Canvas>Files>Assignment Sheets. (Amend this depending on where you post documents on Canvas). Print out the assignment sheet, critically read and annotate it, and bring questions to class.

Spend some time looking through the Food Reader. Jot down a few topics that potentially interest you. Skim articles that are about that particular topic. Closely read at least one. Brainstorm stakeholders in the issue that’s discussed in that article and think through what they have to gain/lose in the context of the issue. From your list of stakeholders and what they have to gain/lose, begin brainstorming specific aspects of the issue that you want to focus on. What problems are associated with this issue? What possible solutions could help solve that problem? Hold onto this document. You will add to it in the coming days.

Conclude Class

Congratulate students for completing their first assignment!

Connection to Next Class

Next time, students will continue to consider how audience and purpose are connected and how they can synthesize sources to appeal to a stakeholder audience.