Reader Response assignments can be found below. They are due by Sunday night of the week they are assigned, but you can get them in at any point during that week. Check the calendar regularly to keep track of the due dates.
For each reader response assignment, you will first read the assigned reading for the week and then respond to the prompts listed.
Your reader responses should be saved in a Reader Response folder in your ENGL 1180 folder. Note: you do not need a separate folder for each reading response; just put them all in one main reading response folder.
Please write your name at the top of all Reading Response assignments, and make the filename the name of the reading response (i.e. Reading Response 1 or RR1).
Read: "What is Academic Writing?" by Lennie L. Irvin
Then write a 150-300 word response to the following prompts:
Based on the concepts in the reading, other than research, what concepts will be important to keep in mind when writing for this class?
Note: You will not be using secondary research in this class, so focus on the other concepts from the reading that will apply.
Make sure to connect the ideas in the prompt back to the reading. Discuss some of the points in the article and why those concepts might be important for your own writing.
Using the word "I" or "my" is typically necessary in this type of writing (don't try to overly formalize your writing).
However, I recommend avoiding "you" unless you specifically mean me, your professor. If you want to speak more generally, consider using words like "students" or "writers" instead of "you." For example, "The reading explains that it's helpful if students keep in mind..."
Use paragraphs to separate different points, but you don't need an introduction and conclusion.
For this first reading, I wrote an example reading response to give you a sense of what this type of writing might look like/sound like. Many (but not all) of the reading responses will be this type of response. For this example, the reading used is "How to Mark a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler. The prompt is: "Based on the reading, why might it be important for you to mark up your readings in college?"
In the reading "How to Mark a Book," Adler gives several reasons to mark up a book. For my own readings in college, several of these seem particularly important. The first point he makes is about staying awake when reading. I know that I tend to drift off in my head and start thinking about other things when I'm reading things that are more boring, like textbooks. By marking up a book, I can be a more active reader, which will hopefully help me stay awake and "in the moment."
Another important reason based on the reading is to help remember important parts of the book. By marking up a book, such as leaving notes in the column or highlighting important parts/lines, I'll be able to better remember the important ideas in the text. For college, this seems especially important, since I'll be expected to know this information and use it either for assignments or tests.
He also mentions some other reasons for marking up a text, such as that you really own the book. I could see this being more meaningful for something I really enjoyed, but I don't think I care about feeling "ownership" in my Biology textbook. But the first few points are useful for college and reading for learning for classes.
For your response, don't try to copy this style too exactly; just try to pay attention to how the reading is brought into the response, how I discuss my own readings, and why I think these concepts will (or won't) be useful.
Read: Navigating Genres by Kerry Dirk
Then write a 150-300 word response to the following prompt:
Based on the reading, how do you think that learning about genre might be useful to become a better writer?
Directions
Make sure to connect the ideas in the prompt back to the reading. Discuss some of the points in the article and why those concepts might be important for your own writing.
Using the word "I" or "my" is typically necessary for this type of writing (don't try to overly formalize your writing).
However, I recommend avoiding "you" unless you specifically mean me, your professor. If you want to speak more generally, consider using words like "students" or "writers" instead of "you." For example, "The reading explains that it's helpful if students keep in mind..."
Use paragraphs to separate different points, but you don't need an introduction and conclusion.
Then write a 150-300 word response to the following prompts:
What are your experiences with peer review (have you done one before)? What are your concerns about getting peer reviews? What about giving them? What do you think you can do to try to give good feedback based on the reading?
Directions/Reminders
For these weekly reading responses, make sure to connect the ideas in the prompt back to the reading.
Using the word "I" or "my" is typically necessary for this type of writing (don't try to overly formalize your writing).
However, I recommend avoiding "you" unless you specifically mean me, your professor. If you want to speak more generally, consider using words like "students" or "writers" instead of "you." For example, "The reading explains that it's helpful if students keep in mind..."
Use paragraphs to separate different points, but you don't need an introduction and conclusion.
This week will be a little different and you will analyze a couple of paragraphs from your draft for Project 1 based on this week's reading.
Directions
Read: Paragraph Development
Pick two body paragraphs from your draft for Project 1 (your Genre Analysis Essay) and copy those into your Reading Response document for this week.
For each of the two paragraphs, highlight the following based on the concept of PIE from the reading:
P = Point (highlight in yellow)
I = Illustration (highlight in green)
E = Explanation (highlight in pink)
See the example paragraphs on the PIE highlight example document in our shared class Google Drive folder for an example.
As you complete this response, pay attention to the following:
Do you have all the parts of the paragraph (PIE)?
Does your paragraph stick to one main point?
Do you include evidence (an illustration) in the form of your own writing to support your point?
Do you explain the significance of this convention for this genre? Why does it matter?
If you are missing any of the parts or find that you have too many topics in one paragraph, I strongly recommend that you revise your draft while you are completing this assignment. I also recommend that you look through your other paragraphs as you revise this week to ensure that they have a similar structure. (Note: introduction and conclusion paragraphs will not follow this structure)."
Read: "Components of Argument" by Kirsten Devries
Then think of a time that you recently tried to convince someone of something, successfully or not. This could be convincing your parents to let you do something, convincing someone at work of something, etc.
Using the concepts from the reading, answer the following:
What was the argument?
Who was the audience?
How did you present your argument? (What was the point of view? Tone? Etc.)
Did you use support for your argument? If so, what?
How effective was your argument? How might it have been improved?
Read: "What is Counterargument? by Kirsten Devries
Then write a 150-300 word response to the following prompts:
Think about your brainstorming for Project 2
What do you know about your audience's position on the topic (if anything)? How might you imagine them responding to your argument? Based on the above and the reading, what might be an effective counterargument for your argument in Project 2?
Read: "Understanding Visual Rhetoric" by Jenae Cohn
Then write a 150-300 word response to the following prompts:
Based on the reading, how does visual design impact how we read texts and interact with genres? Be specific and use examples from the text to support your points.
Then pick one of the visual design elements and brainstorm how you might use this for Project 3.
Read: "Make Your Move: Writing in Genres" by Jacobson et al.
For your response this week, you will be conducting a rhetorical moves analysis on your genre of choice for your remix in Project 3.
To conduct this analysis:
First, make sure you understand the concept from the reading. Don't be afraid to get help or work with the Reading and Writing Studios if you are struggling with this.
Then choose one of the genre samples that you found for Project 3.
Copy and paste the text of the genre sample into your RR8 Google Doc.
NOTE: You only need to annotate/analyze a couple of paragraphs for longer texts.
Use the numbered annotation system from the reading to identify the important parts or "moves" in your genre.
See an EXAMPLE RR8 in our Public Google Drive folder. This was completed for a slightly different project in a previous class, but you should still be able to get a sense of how to complete this project.