Autoethnography Unit and Schedule

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY AND REVISION UNIT

DATES

Weeks 14-Week 16

November 25-December 11

LEARNING GOALS

  1. Write your own texts critically
  2. Compose as a process
  3. Use conventions appropriate to audience, genre and purpose

SUMMARY

Reflective writing can feel strange the first, fifth, or fiftieth time you do it. Sometimes, like Giles describes, it can feel “mundane” and “[l]ike a waste of time” (192). But, like Giles also explains, reflection doesn’t have to be that way; if done thoughtfully, reflection “helps you to develop your intentions (purpose), figure out your relation to your audience, uncover possible problems with your individual writing process, set goals for revision, make decisions about language and style” (193).

Instead of just doing busy work, the goal of our reflective writing is to create habits that promote metacognition and self-reflective thinking. Singh-Corcoran argues, “The more you write and the more aware you are of how, why, when, and where you use writing, the better you will be at writing” (35). Establishing reflection as part of your writing and learning process can help you understand not just what is working and going well but also what needs improvement. Recognizing these aspects of your process can give you space to brainstorm solutions and create meaningful habits that make writing and learning more productive and less stressful.

In the last three weeks of the semester, we will work on two sets of projects to encourage reflection and revision. The Autoethnography project asks you to document your research and writing process. You will use data you collect from your writing this semester to compose a representation of your academic writing process. In the Autoethnography you will discuss your expectations for the course projects, the questions or problems you addressed, your approach to addressing the writing tasks, and the results or writing you did. Importantly, however, your focus for this project will be on the process of conducting the research, arriving at the results, and composing the project rather than on the content of the project.

In the Revisions projects—Revision 1 and Revision 2—you will choose one or two projects from the course and alter them in some way. Your goal can be to continue to improve the project in its current form or to experiment with a new genre, format, or approach. This project is designed to encourage you to try something new—remember that experimentation and failure is where learning happens! Spend these last couple weeks embracing that experimentation and trying to let go of the need for perfection. Instead, try something new and reflect on what that process feels like.

TEXTS

WEEK­­ 14: NOVEMBER 21-NOVEMBER 27

Thanksgiving Holiday: November 25-November 28

Reading

Turn In

  • Writer’s Journal Prompt[7] [Blogs@Baruch]
  • Autoethnography Rough Draft [Blackboard]

Writer’s Journal Prompt [Blogs@Baruch]

Choose one of the following prompts to write about this week:

  1. Draft a Letter to the Reader (as described in Giles) as a way to help you plan your Revision 1 and Revision 2 projects. Choose a project you’d like to revise and reflexively answer the questions from Giles’s prompt (194). Finally, use your answers to these questions to brainstorm and plan an approach for the Revision projects.
  2. In the Autoethnography project you’ll be asked to do the kind of reflective writing Giles Review the learning goals for this course and consider how you feel about them and your progress as a writer so far. Choose one or two learning goals as a jumping off point or frame for a brief reflection on your writing in this course. Do you think you’re meeting these learning goals? How do you know? What evidence do you have from your writing that you’ve worked on these goals?
  3. Parrott writes about metacognition and the idea that writers aren’t necessarily prolific and definitely aren’t just lucky or naturally gifted, but are instead persistent. How would you define and describe persistence in this course and in your writing experiences? Do you consider yourself a writer?

Autoethnography Rough Draft [Blackboard]

Assignment Sheet available on Blackboard and Blogs@Baruch.

WEEK 15: NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 4

Reading

Turn In

  • Writer’s Journal Prompt[8] [Blogs@Baruch]
  • Revision 1 [Blackboard]
  • Revision 2 [Blackboard]

Writer’s Journal Prompt [Blogs@Baruch]

Your final assignments are Revision 1 and Revision 2. In your Writer’s Journal this week, choose one major project (Literacy Narrative, Analysis, or Research Project) you would like to experiment with in a Revision. Use your analysis skills to make a plan for revision.

  1. What is the occasion, exigency, and Kairos for your project?
  2. How does your project respond? What is the purpose of your project?
  3. Who is the audience (primary and secondary) for your project?
  4. What are the relationships between:
    • you as writer and the audience
    • you as writer and the project
    • audience and project
  5. What feels effective about your project? What do you think could be improved upon?

Finally, review your responses and brainstorm some ideas for revisions:

  1. What feedback did you receive that will be useful during the Revision process?
  2. What form will it take (same format? Print paper? Video? Podcast? PSA campaign?)
  3. What new affordances and constraints will your Revision have especially if you change format or genre?
  4. What new content will you need to create and what can you repurpose?
  5. How long will this Revision take? Break up your revision practice into smaller tasks and add them to your schedule/calendar or just a to-do list.

Revision 1 [Blackboard]

Assignment Sheet available on Blackboard and Blogs@Baruch.

Required to earn a B.

Revision 2 [Blackboard]

Assignment Sheet available on Blackboard and Blogs@Baruch.

Required in addition to Revision 1 to earn an A.

WEEK 16: DECEMBER 5-DECEMBER 11

Readings

No readings this week

Turn In

  • Writer’s Journal Prompt [Blogs@Baruch]
  • Quarterly Feedback/Check In [Blackboard]
  • Autoethnography Polished Draft [Blackboard]

Writer’s Journal Prompt [Blogs@Baruch]

Singh-Corcoran argues, “The more you write and the more aware you are of how, why, when, and where you use writing, the better you will be at writing” (35). By assigning the Autoethnography and Revisions projects, I’m asking you to become very self-aware of your writing and processes in order to reflect on what you’ve learned but also what you’ll take with you beyond this course.

In this, your final prompt, please consider and discuss the following:

  • What will you take away from this course?
  • What did you learn about yourself as a writer or about writing and research?
  • What strategies, skills, techniques, or otherwise will you take with you to other writing situations?
  • What advice do you have for future ENG 2100 students? (especially those taking this course online!)
  • What do you wish you knew Week 1? What strategies or habits do you wish you had Week 1?
  • What would you recommend to student-writers wanting to get the most out of the course?
  • What advice do you have for navigating and managing the course online?

I’ll use your posts to help compile a list of advice for future students.

Quarterly Check-In [Blackboard]

This is a short survey to check-in on our progress and provide self-assessment about your participation in the course.

I want to know what’s going well, what I can improve on, and what questions you have. I’ll use this feedback to make any adjustments to the course I can and will try to address questions as they arise.

You can also reach out via email at any time if you have questions that require an immediate, direct response from me.

  1. What went well? What readings or writing prompts were especially productive or interesting to you? What worked well in the organization, delivery, or interactivity in the course?
  2. What was challenging? What readings or writing prompts were not interesting or engaging to you? What suggestions do you have to improve the organization, delivery, or interactivity in the course?
  3. What questions do you have about the materials/course/etc. or aspects of the course do you think need clarifying?

Autoethnography Polished Draft [Blackboard]

Assignment Sheet available on Blackboard and Blogs@Baruch.

EXAM WEEK: DECEMBER 12-DECEMBER 21

We don’t have an exam in this course. Instead, I’ll use this time to reach out to anyone missing any projects, provide feedback on final projects, and provide an update on your final grade in the course. I’m still available during this time for questions via email or meetings via Zoom[9].

Go back to Autoethnography.

 

[1] https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf

[2] https://anchor.fm/bad-ideas-about-writing

[3] https://writingcommons.org/

[4] https://wac.colostate.edu/books/writingspaces/writingspaces1/

[5] https://wac.colostate.edu/books/writingspaces/writingspaces2/

[6] https://wac.colostate.edu/books/writingspaces/writingspaces3/

[7] You can find guidelines for these responses on Blogs@Baruch and Blackboard.

[8] You can find guidelines for these responses on Blogs@Baruch and Blackboard.

[9] https://baruch.zoom.us/j/8310780276

Leave a Reply