This assignment sequence is from a Composition I course designed around the concept of "open inquiry." Drawing on the pedagogy of Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the course asks students to come up with a Big Question, a question that will be the driving force behind their research for the semester. The assignment sequence walks students through the stages of this inquiry model.

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The sequence begins with low-stakes writing "exercises" designed to help students brainstorm, develop, and refine their Big Question, Students are also given smaller, weekly "Content Summary" assignments where they must find sources/content (news articles, scholarly articles, videos, etc.) that helps bring them closer to answering their Big Question. Part of these content summaries is an evaluation of the credibility and reliability of the content as a source, which helps them build to the the third writing exercise which asks them to practice a rhetorical analysis and evaluate a source they have found.

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All of these developmental assignments are intended to help provide students with the foundation to pursue the scaffolded essay assignments. Each essay is designed to focus on a different rhetorical purpose, each building on the essay that came before. The first essay is a non-argumentative explanatory essay where the student explains some aspect of their Big Question/topic. They then building on this in the second essay which asks them to construct a literature review of sorts to layout the current conversation around their topic. Finally they write an argumentative essay taking a stance on their topic as they join the conversation. Each essay is accompanied by a reflective author's note to help students think critically and constructively about their writing.

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As students approach each assignment, they are given readings that serve as examples of the various genres to help them understand the conventions and styles of each.

This assignment sequence is from a core-level literature course. Although these particular assignments are from a contemporary American literature course, they are nicely flexible, and I have adapted them for British and World literature courses as well. These assignments are designed to fit into a specifications grading course, but can be adapted for use in a traditional grading scheme as well. The assignment sequence walks students through a series of different literary analyses, building on the theory and techniques we develop throughout the course.

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The assignments are broken up into two tracks, running parallel, that fit into the different bundles of a specifications grading approach. The first track is a more traditional literary analysis based in close reading. The other track is more literary theory focused, incorporating theoretical lenses with the close reading.

 

The literary analysis track begins with a low-stakes writing exercise called the "Notecard Essay." This assignment is an adaptation of a similar assignment my undergraduate mentor, Michael Lund, used in his core-level literature classes. The idea is that you write an entire essay that can fit on a 3"x5" index card. The goal of such an assignment is to focus the students' attention on the core argument and analysis (i.e., interpretive thesis, topic sentences, supporting evidence, etc.) without worrying about writing a "good" essay. The subsequent essays build upon this core technique, ramping up the depth of analysis and argumentation required. The theory track is then a set of writing exercises that ask students to apply these analysis techniques to an application of theoretical lenses (e.g., heteroglossia, postcolonial theory, gender theory, critical race theory, etc.)

These materials are from a Composition I course designed around the concept of "open inquiry." Drawing on the pedagogy of Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the course asks students to come up with a Big Question, a question that will be the driving force behind their research for the semester. These materials walk students through the stages of this inquiry model.

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This open inquiry model revolves around an inquiry into the individual student's unique Big Question. Students are encouraged to make their Big Question something they are genuinely passionate and curious about to help motivate their research and writing. I find that students are much more committed to the work of the course if it is something they are interested in or feel connected to outside of this particular course. The Big Question is a goal of sorts—their research throughout the course is an attempt to answer this question (although it may be so big it is unanswerable for now—which is okay!).

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In the quest to answer their Big Question, students engage in a "Question Cycle": ask a question (that helps you get closer to the Big Question); find a piece of content that helps you answer that question; summarize the content and develop a "Natural Next Question;" repeat. Each step in the cycle helps propel the research forward. The students are required to submit a new Content Summary each week, which offers moments for me to help if they are struggling, but also helps students build up a host of sources and knowledge to draw upon as they move forward. In addition, students are placed into Inquiry Groups with classmates. Each group meets once a week to share what they have found, support each other's research, and help each other develop their Natural Next Question for the following week.

These handouts and exercises are from a Composition course and are designed to offer students both guidance in their writing and opportunities to practice. These materials are typically used in class in the weeks leading up to an essay deadline. 

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I am often hesitant to give students examples or models of "successful" student essays because in my experience students follow the model too closely and restrict themselves. That's why I like this method of writing modeling, where I offer steps to follow, some small, examples, but then empower the students to try it for themselves.

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The handouts sampled here are not every one that I use, but are representative of the general breadth of the types of materials I provide students. These range from materials designed to give them general, useful information (such as information literacy or internet search tips) to more granular writing exercises (such as writing thesis statements or writing an introduction). All of them are designed to be resources that students can return to throughout the semester (and perhaps beyond).

These handouts and exercises are for core-literature courses and are designed to offer students guidance in their reading/writing and opportunities to practice those skills. These materials are typically used in class for hands-on practice. 

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Like the composition handouts above, the handouts sampled here are not every one that I use, but are representative of the general breadth of the types of materials I provide students. For a literature class, many of these materials are designed to offer advice and opportunities to practice the close reading and analysis around which the course is based. I do think it is important, however, that are class that requires students to write should also teach them how to do so, especially to teach them how to meet the genre expectations of the field of study. To that end, I also include writing handouts/exercises to help students learn how/practice writing literary analysis. While there is a lot of overlap with the composition handouts when it comes to the writing instruction, I have adjusted the instructions and examples to fit the type of writing being done in the literature class (for example, writing a thesis statement for a literary analysis).

 

Again, all of them are designed to be resources that students can return to throughout the semester (and perhaps beyond).