Assignments for ENG 1100

OER Workshop Recording
In Spring, 2020, we conducted an online workshop about why we're asking faculty to use the OER readings and how to tie them into writing assignments.  Chris Weaver and Robert Greco presented on two sample assignments that can be used in conjunction with two of the sections above:  "The Writing Process" and "Rhetoric, Genre and Discourse."  This is an audio/video recording of that workshop.

 
Un Persuasive Writing
(Chris Weaver)
Traditionally, persuasive papers are about following a form.  Often such assignments emphasize the parts of an essay (having a thesis, supporting it with reasons, countering opposing arguments, reaching a conclusion).  This assignment discards these “parts” in favor of a process of discovery, and I think it leads to much fresher and more engaging writing.  Instead of focusing on changing a reader’s mind (which is not usually a realistic goal), it focuses on the writer changing theirs—or at least coming to understand the topic in a new way. This assignment is described in detail in the OER Workshop Video (embedded above) where we discuss readings and assignments from English 1100 Readings, focusing on the sections:  “The Writing Process” and “Rhetoric, Genre and Discourse.” 

Three Minute Movie Version of a Text Essay
(Sean Molloy  21 Aug. 2014.)   
Students apply the same thesis question they have developed for a text essay to a three minute movie version which they publish to an internet platform. The link above leads to assignment information on the CUNY Composition Community website. 
Rhetorical Roller Coasters
(Sean Molloy 21 Aug. 2014.)   
After reading Dona Cooper’s “Films as Roller Coasters,” students create rhetorical roller coasters that gauge the intensity of rhetorical appeals in their own movie projects. The link above leads to assignment information on the CUNY Composition Community website. 

(Robert Greco)
This assignment asks students to analyze the rhetorical features of three videos that they select, introducing key principles of rhetoric, providing an opportunity to practice analytic writing, and inspiring future audio/visual projects. This assignment primarily engages with the key concepts of the rhetorical situation (audience, author, purpose, and context) and the rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos). We recommend you teach this project in the first half of the semester so that the principles of rhetoric introduced herein can be used in future assignments. You might also ask your students to select videos related to a topic that they will pursue for future assignments, increasing their exposure to information about their topic and the rhetorical strategies used to communicate about it.

Rhetorical Reading of a Super Bowl Ad or Student Movie
(Sean Molloy 24 Aug. 2014.)   
Students read Lara Bolin Carroll’s 2010 “Backpacks vs. Briefcases”  and use the rhetorical concepts explained there to analyze the rhetoric in Super Bowl ads or student movies.
The link above leads to assignment information on the CUNY Composition Community website. 

Reading and Assignment to Pair with Writing Center Visit
(Sean Molloy, Tracey Pletz, and Eric Scholz)
This assignment requires students to attend a session at the Writing Center and reflect on the experience. All 1000-level students are required to attend one session at an appropriate academic support center like the Writing Center, and this is one way of building that requirement into your course. Murray explains that writing and revising are tools writers use to think and make meaning clear. He provides his revision checklist along with a description of each step, which can serve as a how-to guide to show students what substantial revision is and how it differs from proofreading. Click here for the paired reading.  

Beyond the Red Ink: Teachers' Comments Through Students' Eyes

In this video, Bunker Hill Community College students discuss how they perceive their professors’ writing feedback. They examine which comments are unhelpful and why, as well as offer advice as to what kind of feedback they would like to receive. Watching this video with your students can lead into some great reflective activities-both writing and discussion-prior to students getting and giving feedback. What kinds of feedback are most useful to give and receive? 

The Indirect Benefits of Using Peer Review Writing Exercises
(Sean Molloy 14 Sep. 2015)
This Assignment Package simply offers a variety of models of peer review exercises.  Of course, peer review is not limited to digital classrooms.  These exercises will work in paper or digital classrooms.  They can be a model for faculty workshops as we have done at Hunter College and The Graduate Center, or they can serve as brainstorming material for teachers planning any syllabi.   Any of these models can be mixed and matched, adopted or adapted depending on your teaching goals and class preferences. This package is drawn from teacher workshops at Hunter College and the Grad Center in 2012 and 2014.
The link above leads to assignment information on the CUNY Composition Community website. 
(Andrew Laudel 24 Aug. 2014.)    
After reading  John Swales’  “The Concept of Discourse Community,” students work in pairs to identify and analyze a particular discourse community  and examine  how texts mediate activity within that community.
The link above leads to assignment information on the CUNY Composition Community website. 

Collaborative Commenting as Reading Annotation
(Jack Kenigsburg 25 Aug. 2014.)  
Students collaboratively annotate Orlean Anderson’s “The Writing Process Rejected” using  the “Insert Comment” feature on Google Docs.
The link above leads to assignment information on the CUNY Composition Community website.