Unit Four

Throughout the semester, we have employed various ways of reading and writing to explore the connection between the two. In Unit 1, we used reading as a means to revise our own writing; that is, we read to evoke new ideas and ways of seeing ourselves in order to better understand the contradictions we embody. In Unit 2, we interacted with readings in a meaningful way to produce a response to it—we used reading as a process to better understand the author’s context and how that context interacts with our own. In Unit 3, we read for investment and evaluation of audience—we read to discover what conversation we were interested in and how we could bring something new to it. This essay was all up to you: what you were writing about, who you were writing to, and how it was going to be written. Writing may have seemed to be the outcome for each of these assignments. However, writing was also the impetus; writing and reading were inextricably interwoven.

In these essays, we always kept in mind that writing is a series of choices that primarily depend on audience and context. The influences we bring to our position and who we explicate that position to are paramount in the outcome of our work. How we write what we write and who we write it to determines what it is that we write. But there has always been a bit of a disconnect between the audience I gave you, or you determined yourself, and your writing. While I preached all semester that your audience determines how you write, you never got a chance to show your work to a “real” audience. Well, the time has come.

For your Unit 4 essay, write a review/response that will be considered for publication in ______. What you write about will be, for the most part, up to you. This time, however, you will not be relegated to the realm of the written. Want to write a response to a performance put on by the UMass theatre department? Go ahead! Want to write a review of an open mic performance? You can do it here. You can always come to me for possible topics, but you can no longer rely on the written as the “text” you are responding to. Remember, a “text” (as we explored in the beginning of unit two) is not always written—the world is your text, and it is waiting for your engagement.

Incorporate all of the techniques you have learned over the semester:

Consider your audience through the reading we did from ________. Consider how others write about the non-written from our reading in _________. Most of all, tell me, the editors, and possibly readers of _________ or ______ what you think.

While you all will have vastly different subject matter, I expect all of you to choose a non-written text to explore. What ramifications does that embody? What does it mean to you to “read” something that is not written? How do you do it? How does being a member of an audience for your “reading” affect your reading of the “text”? How does this kind of reading differ in tools used and from experience of reading the written? How is it the same? What impact does the act of reading the non-written have on the literary? On you?

The Unit at a Glance This unit will look very similar to previous ones in that we will be incorporating the same process: generative writing, readings/responses, student/peer review, drafts. I will distribute, depending on what group you are in, one reading from The Collegian, The Republican, or The Advocate as examples of responses or reviews to non-written texts. I encourage you to submit your final drafts to one of the three publications, depending on which you deem suitable for your audience.

GENERAL ORDER OF UNITS Week 12 Wed. 11/23------Introduce Unit 4. Search Valley Advocate, The Collegian, and The Republican for possible events to respond to. (HW: Generative writing in WN: What event do I want to respond to? Why is it interesting to me? What challenges do I foresee in responding to the non-written? What skills do I already have that will be useful in this kind of response? What notes will I take during the performance? What is important to me/what aspects of the event will I focus on? Why?) NOTE: IF YOU ARE RESPONDING TO A PREFORMANCE, IT MUST OCCUR BEFORE 12/3. FIRST DRAFTS WILL BE DUE ON 12/5.)

Fri. 11/25------ NO CLASS—THANKSGIVING BREAK

Week 13 Mon. 11/28----- Look at examples of reviews/responses in The Advocate, The Collegian, The Republican in groups (1 article/group). How are the events discussed? What kind of sensory detail is used? How does it affect the reader? Does this example change or reinforce what you have decided to focus your response on? Why? What is the difference between an academic, civic, or cultural document? Of the three, which would you consider the article you read? Why? Which of the three would you consider your topic to be? Why? (HW: write a response to one of the responses we read in class in the form of a letter. The audience of the letter is the author of the review. What did the author focus on? How would you have shifted your focus if you were to review the same event? What questions did the author leave you with? Was this review concise and helpful to you to understand the event? How and Why?

Wed. 11/30----- Share your letter in same groups. Come up with a list of questions you have for the author of each article, along with a list of the strong points of the article. Put lists on board in large group to illustrate the different ways to respond to non-written texts and how this is both different from and similar to written texts. (HW: Write list of questions you want answered for your review/response. Incorporate as much sensory detail as possible to explore all aspects of performance in order to provide your reader with a rich understanding of what you experienced. Also incorporate many questions concerning your understanding of the event. What was trying to be expressed? How did it affect you? How did you “read” the event? How can the event be located in a larger cultural, civic, or academic context?)

Fri. 12/2----- Class discussion on how written texts differ from non-written texts insofar as ways to respond to them. Write in WN on how this discussion will bear on your first draft. What did we discuss in class that can be used in the crafting of your first draft? Did the discussion make you reconsider your previous focus? How so? If not, why not? (HW: Bring 1st draft of Unit 4 essay to class, 2 copies.)

Week 14 Mon. 12/5----- Initial draft of TBA essay due. (2 copies) Do reflective writing on strategies used to develop essay. Do revision exercise to further develop essay. Collect drafts. (HW: Based on activity, write reflection on how you will revise essay.)

Wed. 12/7----- In groups discuss ways to develop essays. Return drafts of unit 4 essays. Do reflective writing on plans for revision. (HW: Based on feedback from response groups and teacher, begin revising draft of TBA essay.)

Fri. 12/9----- Introduce Final Reflection as a more extended version of the reflective writing the students have done all semester. (Reflection and conference serve as final exam.) Lead through series of reflective prompts in Writer’s Notebook about their writing process, products, and responding over the semester. (HW: Finish revisions and copy-edit TBA essay. Read fourth “Reflection on Writing” Hui Mike Zhang, “And It Was All a Dream” in TW Book.)

Week 15 Mon. 12/12----- Collect revised and copyedited TBA essay and drafts.