ENGL292/388C: Writing for Change

ENGL292/388C: Writing for Change

Tawes 3136, MF 12:00-12:50

Site Visits: W 12:00-1:45

Instructor: Justin Lohr

Office Location: Tawes 2232

Office Hours: M 1:00-3:00, Th 2:00-3:30, and by appt.

Email:

UTA: Tyler Clifford

Office Location: Tawes 3136

Office Hours: M 11-11:50

Email:

Collaborating Teachers: Timothy Ghazzawi (), Carly Finkelstein ()

Course Overview

In this Scholarship in Practice class, students will explore the possibilities and limitations of using writing as a tool for social change. As a member of this class, you will play many different roles: learner, collaborator, mentor, teacher, and performer, to name a few. We will interrogate the concepts of rhetorical agency, critical literacy, intercultural inquiry, and performance. Then, through our work with 9th grade students (on site) at Northwestern High School, we will draw on these approaches as we collaborate to address an issue or problem of importance to the students. Our ten-week collaboration with Northwestern will culminate in an evening of performance, in which the high school students will present their final Writing for Change projects. The goal of our final performance will be twofold: to celebrate the students’ voices and perspectives, and to begin a robust dialogue surrounding the issue at stake.

Throughout the course, you will compose a variety of texts, including reflections, a literacy narrative, a genre analysis, a creative performance composition (collaboratively, with your high school partner), publicity materials, and a synthesis essay bringing your experiences in the classroom into dialogue with relevant scholarship. You will conduct independent research and will be expected to switch fluidly between academic, creative, professional, public, and hybrid genres, taking into account the demands of each rhetorical situation. As revision is an essential part of the writing process, you will also engage in revision and editing both independently and with the help of your peers. As we collaborate with the high school students, we will continue to interrogate our own roles in the process: Are we mentors? Learners? Partners? How do we understand our own cultures and upbringings relative to the students we work with? How do our various subject positions inform our writing practices? We will work to develop a critical self-awareness of our own backgrounds with literacy, writing, and the dialects of power.

In this class, you will:

• Demonstrate rhetorical awareness in varied writing situations, including academic writing, reflective writing, multi-genre writing, and/or other hybrid forms of writing,
• Demonstrate the ability to revise and edit your own and others’ writing for appropriateness to the rhetorical situation,
• Demonstrate an ability to select, critically evaluate, and apply relevant areas of scholarship to examine the many roles that writing plays in society at large,
• Demonstrate critical awareness of the self in the context of diverse and various cultures,
• Demonstrate an ability to work effectively with others to develop a shared vision and action plan and to implement a successful collaborative project,
• Analyze the roles and efficacy of critical literacy and community literacy as tools that aim to create social change,
• Analyze the causes and effects of the power afforded to Standard Written English in academic and non-academic contexts.

Course Expectations

• The instructor will be prepared for every class and site visit and will always be willing to listen to student ideas, successes, frustrations, concerns. He will be available by email and will respond promptly (within 24 hours on weekdays) to any messages.
• Students will be prepared for every class meeting and site visit. They will approach their class relationships—with classmates, instructors, and community partners—with kindness and respect.
• Students and the instructor will be flexible: working with a community partner requires flexibility and openness. Barring an emergency, every member of the class will be present and on time for every site visit. The site visits are crucial components of the class and are non-negotiable.
• Our class will be a collective learning process based on trust and community. Students and instructors will support each other as they reflect, take risks, struggle, and succeed.
• When we visit Northwestern, we are representing the University of Maryland. Students are expected to dress, act, and self-present in a manner that respects our institution and our high school partners.
• Everyone talks. In this class, everyone is a participator; it is not possible to “opt out” or “just listen.” In addition, everyone listens. One component of a strong community is the ability of its members to truly listen to each other and respond accordingly. We will cultivate that skill in our class together.

Required Texts

Delpit, Lisa. Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York: The New Press, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-1595580740

Flower, Linda. Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2008. Print. ISBN-13: 978-0809328529

Rose, Mike. Lives on the Boundary: The Struggles and Achievements of America's Underprepared. New York: Free Press, 2005. Print. ISBN-13: 978-0143035466

Additional texts and excerpts are posted on the course Canvas space. You are expected to bring all assigned readings with you to class.

Logistics

-Transportation: We have two options for transportation to and from NHS.

• UM Shuttle #113 (Hyattsville) leaves from STAMP at 11:45 and should arrive in front of NHS around 11:05. A return bus picks up across the street from NHS around 1:30 and arrives at Regents Drive Garage at 1:40.
• Carpooling (there is parking available at NHS)

-Background Check: Volunteers who work with students in a supervised classroom setting in a Prince George’s County public school are required to go through a commercial background check. All students in this class will have to do that at the beginning of the semester before our site visits begin. More details will be provided in the first week of the semester.

-Commitment: It is imperative that everyone in this class commits to attending every single site visit. The students at NHS are depending on us to be there. Enrolling in this class means agreeing to more than being a student: it means agreeing to be a mentor for the course of the semester. That is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. Our contact time with NHS students will total approximately 20 hours, including the final performance.

Grading

Literacy Narrative10%

Discussion Board5%

Publicity Project5%

Genre Analysis10%

Class Engagement10%

Reflective Essay10%

Mentorship Project25%

Synthesis Essay25%

Class Projects and Assignments

Literacy Narrative

You will write a short narrative of your own relationship with reading and writing and the ways your interactions with the spoken and written word have defined, changed, discouraged, and/or empowered you over time. This is not simply a personal narrative. Rather, it is a critical self-analysis that requires you to synthesize your personal experiences with the course readings (to date) to better understand yourself as situated within various power structures. This assignment will help you develop one crucial ability of a successful rhetorician: the ability to see oneself as representing a particular subject position as opposed to thinking of oneself as “neutral” or “outside the system.” Its main objective is to heighten your awareness of ways that your experiences as a person and scholar have affected your writing and speaking.

Discussion Board

Most discussion board posts will be reflections on your experiences working with your high school buddies. Discussion board posts should be 250-300 words in length, written with detail and care.

Publicity Project

This project requires you to create publicity materials for our high school buddies’ final performance. They must be directed strategically to their intended recipients. These might include parents, Northwestern students, UMD students, the PGCPS superintendent, the NHS principal, NHS teachers, members of the UMD English faculty, faculty from ARHU, community members, UMD deans, your friends, etc. Possible publicity materials include posters, fliers, a Facebook page, handwritten invitations, email invitations, etc. The goal is to attract as many audience members as possible to the final performance.

Genre Analysis

This assignment will involve you finding examples of the genre in which your high school buddies will be composing and then systematically studying the key features of texts composed in that genre. This, in turn, will allow you to more effectively lead your high school buddies through the process of composing in that genre and help you to better mentor them in developing a successful, exigent text in that genre.

Class Engagement

Class engagement includes whole-class discussions about reading assignments and small group discussions about our time at NHS. It also includes in-class peer workshops, which are built into most major assignments, as well as consistent and timely attendance. Tyler and I will keep notes on your class participation throughout each week and compile a weekly participation grade. Please note that the word “engagement” should be telling; your mere attendance will not be enough to earn you a high grade.

Reflective Essay

Halfway through the semester, you will write one formal essay reflecting on your experiences at Northwestern thus far. The essay will be 3-4 pages and will require you to draw on both the readings and your experiences at NHS.

Mentorship Project

You will be mentoring your high school buddies (and they might be mentoring you!) throughout the semester. On Performance Day (April 27th), your buddies will perform a piece that you collaborated to create. You are not responsible for doing the projects; you are responsible for motivating and guiding your buddies through the process. The projects will be geared toward presenting information to, persuading, or inspiring the audience about the aspects of the Performance Day theme (e.g., bullying, homophobia, race relations, etc.—whatever the high school students choose). Before your buddies present their final projects, you will write a description and analysis of the project’s goals and rhetorical techniques. As a part of the mentorship project, you are responsible for creating six lesson plans to use for visits #4-9 with the high school buddies. These will have specific objectives, activities, and follow-up “homework” for the high school buddies to conduct between visits. Your mentorship project grade will thus come from three sources: your final project, your description and analysis of the final project, and your lesson plans.

Synthesis Essay

This project will culminate the semesterby bringing your experiences and personal meditations into dialogue with the scholarship and other texts we will read over the course of the semester. Drawing on your previous assignments, your personal observations, and your experiences at NHS, you will write an 8-10 page essay on a topic of your choosing connected to questions of literacy, rhetorical agency, and intercultural inquiry. Much like Mike Rose’s Lives on the Boundary and Linda Flower’s Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement, the essay will blend genres and involve many different types of evidence, merging personal and scholarly tones and moving between reflective, analytic, and argumentative modes.

Academic Integrity and Honor Pledge

Academic dishonesty, whether it takes the form of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, plagiarism, or otherwise, violates the University’s Code of Academic Integrity, and will not be tolerated. Students are expected to understand the University’s policies regarding academic integrity. These can be found at the Student Honor Council website at Please visit this website, click on the “students” link, and read the information carefully.

The Writing Center

The Writing Center, a great resource to help improve any writing you do, is located on the first floor of Tawes Hall, Room 1205. It also has a satellite location in McKeldin Library (2101). The Writing Center is for all writers and can help at all stages of the writing process. For more information, go to

Whenever you go to the Writing Center, be certain to give the tutor you work with my e-mail address and let the tutor know that I would like a copy of the session report e-mailed to me.

Student Learning
Your success in the class is important to me. If there are circumstances that may affect your performance in this class, please let me know as soon as possible so that we can work together to develop strategies for adapting assignments to meet both your needs and the requirements of the course.
In order to receive official university accommodations, you will need to register and request accommodations through the Office of Disability Support Services. DSS provides services for students with physical and emotional disabilities and is located in 0106 Shoemaker on the University of Maryland campus. Information about Learning Assistance Service and/or Disability Support Service can be found at:

You can also reach DSS by phone at301-314-7682.

Moreover, I would like to make a brief note about the University’s mental health services. I know that “mental health” is something of a dirty phrase in our culture, but college is a transition, and transitions often mean grappling with a variety of stresses. Seeing a counselor or opening up about your honest emotions does not make you a “basket case” or “weak.” The word “courage,” in fact, comes from the Latin meaning “to tell one’s heart”—that is, real courage comes from being honest and open about our vulnerabilities, not denying their existence or seeing them as deficiencies. The following services here on campus are more than equipped to help you, even if you just feel the urge to speak to someone:

Counseling Center (Shoemaker Building): (301) 314-7651

Mental Health Service (Health Center): (301) 314-8106

C.A.R.E. to Stop Violence: (301) 314-2222, (301) 741-3442 (24 hour hotline)

Campus Chaplains: (301) 314-9893

HELP Center (peer to peer support): (301) 314-HELP (4357)

Communication

Communication in any class is important, whether it’s with your peers or your instructor. The best way to get in touch with me outside of class is through e-mail or to see me during my office hours (no appointment necessary). You may also schedule a time to meet with me outside of my office hours. Feel free to talk with me about your projects, concepts we’re learning in class, or any questions or concerns you have about the course in general. I’ll be happy to help you in any way I can.

Weekly Syllabus

Dates / Topics / Readings / Writings Due / Site Visit
Week One
Jan. 25-29 / Education, Literacy & Service / - Illich, “To Hell with Good Intentions”
-Mosle, “The Vanity of Volunteerism”
-Lauren Resnick, “Literacy in School and Out” / E-mail to Instructor and TA / None
Week Two
Feb. 1-5 / Literacy & Identity / -Rose, Lives on the Boundary 1-3, 5
-Smith, “Ebonics—A Case History”
-Alexie, “Superman and Me”
-Adichie, “The Danger of a Single Story” / Discussion Board Post #1 / #0: Pre-Visit for IDs and Background Checks
Week Three
Feb. 8-12 / Literacy & Power / -Freire, excerpts from Pedagogy of the Oppressed
-Patrick Finn, excerpts from Literacy with an Attitude
-NY Times, “Education Gap Grows”
-Rose, Lives on the Boundary 6-7 / Letters to HS Buddies Due
Discussion Board Post #2 / #1: Ice breakers, community site selection, introducing the project and theme, brainstorming
Week Four
Feb. 15-19 / Community Literacy / -Linda Flower, Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement Chapter 1 / Literacy Narrative Due / #2: Local news and local issues exercise
Week Five
Feb. 22-26 / Taking Literate Action / -Flower, Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement, Chapters 2-4
-Excerpts from Wiggins & McTighe, Understanding by Design / Backwards Plan and lesson plans for NHS visits #4-8
Discussion Board Post #3 / #3: Begin research and developing projects, stasis theory, choose genres
Week Six
Feb. 29-Mar. 4 / Rhetorical Agency / -Flower, Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement, Chapters 5 and 7 / Discussion Board #4 / #4: College Buddy Lesson #1 (Working in the stasis, brainstorming)
Week Seven
Mar. 7-11 / Sanctioned and Unsanctioned Literacies / -Jocson, “Bob Dylan and Hip-Hop”
-Nunes, “Five Paragraph Essay”
-Flower, Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement, Chapter 8 / Genre Analysis Due
Publicity project plan due / #5: College Buddy Lesson #2 (Group Genre Analysis)
Week Eight / SPRING BREAK
March 13-20
Week Nine
Mar. 21-25 / Standard English & Dialects of Power / -CCCC “Student’s Right to Their Own Language”
-Excerpts from Wible, Shaping Language Policy
-Delpit, Other People’s Children, 11-69 / Reflective Essay Due
Discussion Board #5 / NO VISIT: NHS Spring Break
Week Ten
Mar. 28-Apr. 1 / Rhetoric of “Change” / -Cushman, “The Rhetorician as Agent of Social Change”
-Maher, “The Capital of Diversity” / Publicity Project Materials Due / #6: College Buddy Lesson #3 (Drafting); Conferences
Week Eleven
Apr. 4-8 / Digital Advocacy and Literacy / -Gladwell, "Small Change"
- Cadei, "Hashtag Activism 2.0"
-Read Grummas, "Likes Don't Save Lives"
-Ritzhaupt, "Differences in Student Information and Communication Technology"
- Strover, "The Digital Divide--A Call for a New Philosophy" / Discussion Board # 6 / #7: College Buddy Lesson #4 (Revising); Conferences
Week Twelve
Apr. 11-15 / Literacy in the Age of the Common Core / -Selection from Common Core ELA Standards
-"Bill Gates Comes to the Defense of the Common Core"
-Ravitch, "Everything You Need to Know about the Common Core" / Discussion Board #7 / #8: College Buddy Lesson #5 (Revising, final editing)
Week Thirteen
Apr. 18-22 / Reimagining Literacy / -Excerpts from Young, Other People’s English / #9: In-Class Dress Rehearsal and Final Edits
Week Fourteen
Apr. 25-29 / SHOWTIME
(Two Visits: Mon. & Wed.) / None / Mentorship Project Materials Due
Performance April 27th @5:30 p.m. / #10/11: NHS Performance, UMD Performance
Week Fifteen
May 2-6 / Synthesis Project Presentations / None / Synthesis Project Presentation/Workshop
Paper Plate Awards Due / #12: Final Celebration
Week Sixteen
May 9 / Reflecting and Looking Forward / None

*Synthesis Essays Due on Friday, May 13th by 4:00 p.m.*