Courses taught at the University of North Georgia
Drawing on Lee Ann Carroll’s book Rehearsing New Roles: How College Students Develop as Writers, I use the term “literacy task” to emphasis how reading and writing merge into a cohesive text.
(Click on course for policy statement, bullet points for assignment sheets; I have also added occasional sample student papers uploaded with student permission and name redacted)
The first in a two-part required composition sequence, this course invites students to engage with the level of scholarly writing expected at the university level. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs’s Writing About Writing focused student’s attention to who they are as writers.
Click here for a website a student created in response to the Portrait of a Writer assignment.
And here is a blog, also created by a student in response to the Portrait of a Writer assignment.
English 2230: Intermediate Composition, Writing for an Online Audience.
Engaging with Felder’s Writing for the Web and key readings from Cindy Selfe, Adam Banks, and Jonathan Alexander, students explore the constraints and affordances of various digital writing platforms, such as twitter, Wikipedia, and tumblr. The semester ends with individual student presentations via Skype.
English 3120/6120: Introduction to Rhetorical Theory.
Through focusing on key readings in Bizzell and Herzberg’s The Rhetorical Tradition and supplemental readings, students explored various theories of language and language use from 5th century Athens and rhetoricians such as Aristotle and Gorgias to to 21st century America and rhetoricians such as Malea Powell and Adam Banks.
- Literacy Task 1
- Graduate Student (6120) Seminar Paper Project
- Graduate Student (6120) Seminar Paper Project Proposal
English 3130: Advanced Composition, Introduction to Grant Writing
Themed as an introduction to grant writing, community guest speakers and Storytelling for Grant Seekers exposed students to the fundamental skills needed to write successful grants. Students researched area not-for-profits and constructed an end of the semester portfolio of grant letters of inquiry and proposals tailored to these specific organizations.
English 4880 Senior Seminar English Writing: Researching Writing
As the final course in the Writing & Publication track, under-division students learn the conventions of writing research methods and methodologies through engaging with Creswell’s Research Design, Blakeslee and Fleischer’s Becoming a Writing Researcher, and Heath and Street’s On Ethnography. Guest-speakers and a seminar paper serve as additional methods of instruction. Finally, students assemble a portfolio which encapsulates their undergraduate work at UNG.
English 4810/6810: Rhetoric and the Graphic Novel
This course addressed the communicative power of images by considering the serial paperbacks and graphic novels Watchman, Jimmy Corrigan, Persepolis, and Asterios Polyp. Readings in visual rhetoric framed discussion and analysis.
J. Michael Rifenburg 