UNIT ONE: WHY WRITE?
An exploration of literacy practices and beliefs.
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Overview
In this unit, we will explore how our literacy practices are shaped, and shaped by, personal experience through
reflecting on our own reading and writing histories, as well as the motivations of professional writers. By
questioning where our ideas about reading and writing originate, we can begin to address the concept that
writing performance is informed by prior literacy experiences, or more simply, that our reading and writing
past will shape our reading and writing future.
Key Outcomes
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
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Demonstrate an awareness of subject, context, purpose, and audience;
Develop reflective narrative, using descriptive and emotional language;
Use a variety of media to construct and publish writing.
Detailed Schedule
DATE
Tuesday, August 18
DUE
Thursday, August 20
DO IN CLASS
Review course syllabus and expectations;
compose (and present) six-word memoirs;
Summer Reading Assignment Discussion
Create community Y-chart; Read and
annotate Mike Bunn’s How to Read Like a
Writer
Monday, August 24
Wednesday, August 26
Syllabus acknowledgement form
Friday, August 28
This I Believe sketch
Tuesday, September 1
Thursday, September 3
Tuesday, September 8
This I Believe essay due
Thursday, September 10
Read assigned essay
Introduce Literacy Autobiography
assignment; begin work on sketch
Introduce This I Believe essay; preview
genre; begin work on sketch
Peer review of This I Believe sketches;
complete reflection (CW p. 107)
Present Literacy Autobiographies
BSU registration; read and discuss “The Joy
of Reading and Writing” (WAW pp. 128-32)
Read and “Why I Write” (Orwell, Didion
PDFs); assign authors for presentations
Present on essays; Socratic seminar on
perspectives; reflection
Unit Writing Project: This I Believe
National Public Radio’s program This I Believe is the inspiration for your reflective essay. You will write a 2-5
page essay describing, in as much detail as possible, a core belief that guides your daily life as a writer. It
should be brimming with detail, thick with description, and dripping with adjectives to help both writer and
reader to discover possible meanings, interpretations, and observations. Optionally, you may record and
submit your essay as a podcast.
SUBMISSION
For this particular unit, you will submit a hard copy of your unit writing project at the start of class on the
specified due date. The essay should be 2-5 pages typed and properly formatted following current MLA
guidelines. Should you record a podcast, you will email the audio file to me or bring it on a flash drive.
GRADING
POLISHED
Intentionally addresses subject,
context, purpose, and audience to
develop the connection between
writing and personal experiences.
APPROPRIATE
Begins to address subject, context,
purpose, and audience, making some
connection between writing and
personal experiences.
DEVELOPING
May address subject, context,
purpose, or audience; connection
between writing and personal
experiences is unclear or absent.
Purposefully chooses words to add rich
detail to the narrative and create an
emotional connection with the
audience.
Uses details to develop the narrative
and describe events; emotional
connection with the audience is
developing.
May use sparse details in the
narrative; emotional connection with
the audience is absent or
undeveloped.
Produces prose with few mechanical
errors; observes all MLA guidelines.
Produces prose with several
mechanical errors which do not detract
from meaning and/or does not
observe all MLA guidelines.
Produces prose with several
mechanical errors, detracting from
meaning and does not observe all MLA
guidelines.