ENGL 266: Writing in Social Contexts
Prof.:Rik Hunter, Jim Bowman, Jill Swiencicki
Course Description and Objectives
English 266 introduces students to some of the most important issues underlying contemporary studies of literacy. Typically, the general public, as well as many teachers and researchers, assumes that to be “literate” an individual has attained a particular level of reading and writing competence. However, recent research in a variety of disciplines challenges that view, demonstrating that literacy – the social practices surrounding texts - and our understanding of it, is deeply entangled in a complex web of cultural values, beliefs, and practices. Thus, this course addresses literacy as an ideological issue cutting across disciplinary and cultural boundaries. The course is guided by a number of objectives:
- to introduce you to some of the provocative issues in the multi- and interdisciplinary field of literacy studies;
- to provide you with rich opportunities to explore literacy as it has been situated in your own life as well as in the lives of others;
- to challenge your own literacy practices; and,
- to engage with you in thought-provoking, lively discussions about our readings, observations, reflections, and even a film or two.
With these aims in mind, we begin our exploration of the social/ideological nature of literacy with a close look at stories we read (and write) about literacy. We will go on to examine various definitions of “literacy,” both old and new. We will study historical perspectives on the consequences of literacy, and the relationships between orality and literacy. We will also study literacy practices in different social contexts – the workplace, the school, at home, and in relation to the body. So, while most people continue to talk about literacy as a single, fixed, easily defined concept, we will speak of multiple literacies in this course.
Required Texts
- Cushman, E, E. R. Kintgen, B. M. Kroll, and M. Rose. 2001. Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook. Boston, MA: Bedford.
- Brandt, D. 2001. Literacy in American Lives. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
- Handbook offering MLA or APA citation guides.
WritingCenter
In addition to your classmates and me, the WritingCenter provides you an opportunity to talk with trained writing assistants about the work you are doing for this and other classes. I encourage you to visit the Writing Center.
Policy on Nondiscrimination
According to the University CatalogSt. John Fisher does not discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, disability, race, color, or national origin. If you have a disability and need reasonable accommodation for equal access to education and services at CSU, Chico, please talk with me or call Disability Support Services.
Class Participation
Every member of the class is important to its success. I have designed assignments and activities that depend upon active collaboration. For this reason, I expect every student to come to class not just having completed the readings – usually reading it more than once – but prepared to discuss it meaningfully. You are expected to attend every class session. If you miss more than two classes, each absence will count against your grade.
Assignments
Reflection Papers (500 words, single spaced, typed)20%
Twice this semester you will be responsible for starting our class discussion of a particular reading assignment. The purpose of the reflection paper is to spark discussion and to help you begin to work out your interests, questions, and reactions in writing. On the day before you have signed up, post your written reflection paper for the entire class. Please limit you reflection to one page single spaced and include the following:
- Brief Summary - in a paragraph identify the central arguments of the article, and sum up the main points or issues raised by the author(s);
- Passage Identification – identify one or two passages that struck a cord with you and explain why: Did the passage surprise you? Teach you something important? Illuminate a problem you’ve been considering? Confused or angered you? Persuaded you of something new?
- Question for Discussion – end your reflection by posing a substantive question that can act as a springboard for our class discussion of the reading. As you consider what question to pose you might consider the ways the reading you are reflecting on connects to other readings we have discussed, or how the reading animates or enriches our understanding of some issue/argument/problem we have discussed, or what problems you are having with the reading that your classmates might offer clarification or insight.
In class, I will participate in the discussion and facilitate, when appropriate, further exploration of the question posed or the article read. Then, I will comment on your reflection and grade it. The collection of reflective papers will also aid in preparing for the take-home exams at mid-term and finals. You are strongly encouraged to take notes and write brief reflections on all readings.
Literacy Narrative (2000+ words, double-spaced, typed)20%
For this assignment, you will write an autobiographical essay in which you tell a story or some stories about your experiences with literacy. As a narrative, this essay is not simply a catalogue of the reading and writing that you have done and an expression of your feelings about those experiences. Instead, you are asked to select from your experiences those which enable you to explore the function of literacy in your own life and to write about them in a way that helps make your understanding of literacy clear to readers. Be sure to show and tell your reader what you have experienced and what you have come to understand about literacy. We will be doing a number of activities in class aimed at generating material for your narratives.
Midterm and Final Exam15% ea
Twice during the semester (week 6 and week 13), I will give you a take-home essay exam. I’ll offer you a choice of a number of questions: some questions may ask you to compare one literacy researcher with another; other questions may ask you to apply some theory we have read about to a text or situation; still other questions may ask you to make an argument related to a particular understanding of literacy and provide evidence for your claims. The most effective way to prepare for these exams is to complete all the readings each week and actively participate in class. As I indicated above, you are strongly encouraged to write notes and reflections on all the readings regardless whether you paper is to be read in class. I will assume, too, that you take notes – and pose questions – during class. Because the reading load is significant, written notes and reflections will be a useful habit.
Projects: Primary Research or Seminar Paper30%
For this class, you will have a choice in final projects. Some of you will be interested in conducting primary research on some literacy practice (e.g., medical evaluation forms, Jujitsu notebooks, writing assignment rubrics, on-line casino gambling, shopping, train travel, incarceration). Others of you will be interested in conducting library or secondary research on an issue or question relevant to literacy studies (e.g., emergent literacy, health literacy, literacy acquisition, workplace literacy, bureaucratic literacy, academic literacy). Regardless of your choice you will be asked to do research and writing in the preparation of the following documents:
Project Proposal – As with all proposals, you will provide background to your proposed project, pose a research question meant to guide your research, and present your plan for how to complete the proposed research.
Annotated Bibliography – Although your proposal will have drawn on preliminary research in order to help you identify your research question and provide relevant background, your annotated bibliography of 4 sources is meant to demonstrate continued research and reflection on your selected topic.
Final Project – After conducting your research you will write a report of research findings or seminar paper presenting what you have learned about the topic.
Although we will be reading examples of a number of different methods for literacy research, we will necessarily spend a lot of time talking about methodology in class. I will, however, look forward to meeting with anyone doing primary research to talk about their research questions and methods. We will also spend some time in class discussing library research methods, which everyone will undoubtedly depend upon. More comprehensive assignment descriptions will be provided later.
Tentative Calendar
Wk 1Introductions
Interviews & Writing Workshop
“Rhetorical Reading: Narrative” - Chapter 2: To Kill a Mocking Bird (handout)
Wk 2Literacy Narratives
Villanueva, “The Block” (packet)
Brodkey, “Writing Permitted In Designated Areas Only” (packet)
Scholinski, Chapter 3 from Last Time I Wore A Dress (packet)
“Rhetorical Reading: Argument” Workshop
Wk 3 Debate in the Field: Literacy and the “Great Divide”
No Class Meeting, but…
Goody & Watt, “The Consequences of Literacy” (packet)
Wk 4Debate in the Field: Literacy and the “Great Divide”
Olson, “Writing and the Mind” (LCS)
Ong, “Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought” (LCS)
Due: Literacy Narrative for peer response
Wk 5 Debate in the Field: Literacy and the “Great Divide” – Round 3
Scribner, “Literacy in Three Metaphors” (packet)
Scribner and Cole, “Unpackaging Literacy” (LCS)
Baron, “From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technology” (LCS)
Due: Literacy Narrative
Mid-Term Exam Handed out
Wk 6The New Literacy Studies
Street, “The New Literacy Studies” (LCS)
Szwed, “The Ethnography of Literacy” (LCS)
Heath, “Protean Shapes in Literacy Events” (LCS)
Wk 7Mid-term
Nu Shu: A Hidden Language of Women in China
Due: Mid-term Exam
Wk 8Literacy Practices in Context
New London Group, “Pedagogy of Multiliteracies” (packet)
Gee, “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction” and “What is Literacy?” (LCS)
Wk 9Power, Privilege, and Social Change
Freire, “The Adult Literacy Process as Cultural Action for Freedom” and “Education and Conscientizacao” (LCS)
Delpit, “The Politics of Teaching Literate Discourse” (LCS)
Peck, Flower, Higgins, “Community Literacy” (LCS)
Wk 10Literacy in American Lives
Brandt, Literacy in American Lives (TBA)
Due: Project/Paper Proposal with Two sources annotated
Wk 11Popular Literacy
Hall, “The ‘Oprahfication’ of Literacy” (packet)
Gere, “Kitchen Tables and Rented Rooms: The Extracurriculum of Composition” (LCS)
Hull, “Hearing Other Voices: A Critical Assessment of Popular Views on Literacy and Work” (LCS)
Wk 12Literacy and Schooling
Moll & Gonzales, “Lessons form Research with Language-Minority Children” (LCS)
Dyson, “Coach Bombay’s Kids Learn to Write: Children’s Appropriation of Media Material for School Literacy” (LCS)
McCarty and Watahomigie, “Language and Literacy in American Indian and Alaskan Native Communities” (LCS)
Due: Annotated Bibliography (three more sources)
Wk 13Literacy and the Body
Marvin, “The Body of the Text” (packet)
Cook-Gumperz and Hanna “Nurses’ Work, Women’s Work: Some Recent Issues of Professional Literacy and Practice” (packet)
Barton, “Literacy in Inter(Action)” (handout)
Hand out Final Exam
Thanksgiving Break
Wk 14 “Health Literacy”; Final Exam Study Session
Readings TBA
Due: Research Project/Seminar Paper (two copies)
Wk 15Closing Thoughts
Due: Final Exam
Final – Exam
Due: Revised Literacy Narrative
Due: Revised Project/Seminar Paper