Explanation of Papers:
1) First, we recommend assigning a literacy narrative or a profile paper. I like the
literacy narrative because it engages students with their own experiences with
literacy and it often reveals biases and/or excitement about English. However,
some instructors are not comfortable with memoir-based assignments. The
profile assignment is just as applicable as it allows for an in-depth look at
description and how detail enhances writing.
2) The second assignment recommended is either a commentary paper or a research
report. I assign the commentary paper because it provides students a chance to
write about their opinion of a topic, to analyze it for their audience, and then to
share the meaning that they have made about the topic. It is not entirely
persuasive, but rather an attempt by the writer to engage their audience in a
dialogue. I use this paper to get them thinking about topics and issues larger
than themselves and to encourage analytical thinking. I also use it to introduce
them to research as I require three sources, integrated briefly, into the paper.
3) I would recommend some level of annotated bibliography before the research
paper. This is a way to monitor source usage and to again encourage library time.
See Annotated Bibliography assignment sheet. Another option, if you want to
add a fourth paper, is a textual analysis. There are chapters that correspond to
this in the book and the assignment sheet is included. A textual analysis can help
ready the students for their research project. To amend the schedule for this, I
would cut down the time on the first two papers and spend a few weeks on the
textual analysis or annotated bibliography before the research project. In order
to do this, you will have to overlap projects. In other words, you will have to
introduce the commentary paper while they are still finishing up the literacy
narrative (for example). It is best to do this while they are working on their final
draft as you can use class time to move to the next project.
4) Finally, the research project. Most use a traditional research paper; however, my
assignment sheet is for a multigenre research paper. Because this project ends
up being ten pages or more, the above schedule of events only includes three
papers and two self-reflections. This amount of pages is equal to what the
department requires. There are many resources online about multigenre projects.
I have taken my examples from Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing
Multigenre Papers by Tom Romano.
Resources and Other Notes:
- The library tutorials on the library home page can be very beneficial.
- WIRED – a site that has assignment sheets and other help can be found from the
English homepage.
- Schedule a Writing Center Orientation to encourage students to use the facility.
- Assign supplemental grammar readings for individual students or for the entire
class as their ability level and problem areas become more apparent.
- Computer labs are available by scheduling with the department secretary.
Computer lab time is useful because instructors can monitor student progress,
etc.