Other Assignments

In addition to the major projects, we will complete smaller assignments throughout the semester to aid in our learning and comprehension of course concepts. You can find descriptions of the types of assignments below:

"Shortstack" Writing Assignments:

At several points throughout the semester, you will be assigned short, informal writing assignments meant to give you an opportunity to use writing as a mode of learning, processing, and thinking about the concepts and ideas we discuss. These are also meant as a way for you to prepare for class, so make sure you’re able to access them during class time. I will not grade these assignments on grammar or mechanics, rather I’m interested in seeing you engage with the course content.

These assignments are listed on the course calendar and are due at the beginning of class of that day.

Labor Logs & Journal

Throughout the semester, I will ask you to keep a running account of the labor toward learning in the course as a Labor Log. At the end of every week, you will write a short reflection on a labor session of your choosing as a Labor Journal Entry. The journal is meant to serve as an avenue of self-assessment -- as you work on assignments for the course, keep track of how much time you spend, what amount of effort you are putting forth, etc. I will not assess the content of these journals, but rather whether or not they were completed in line with our contractual obligations. Most importantly, these entries will aid you in your reflective essays.

Labor Log: For each "labor session" (that is, each time you put forth a dedicated effort to completing course assignments and meeting course goals), I ask that you record data about that experience. This data will not be considered as evidence of you meeting our grading contract; they are meant to be representations of your labor to help you pay attention to your labor as practice and understand your material conditions throughout the semester. Thus, these logs should be as accurate as possible. There is nothing to gain from fudging the numbers, but you could lose valuable opportunity for insight and improvement.

For each labor session, you should record:

The date of the session
Week of semester (ex. Week 5)
The duration of your labor (ex. 36 minutes)
A brief description of the session (ex: wrote shortstack; read Nicotra)
A start-time (ex. 12:30pm;)
Location (ex. dorm room; library Grind)
Level of Engagement: 1(very low) 2(low) 3(neutral) 4(high) 5(very high)
Your mood (ex. tired; interested; relaxed; anxious)

Labor Journal Entry: These entries allow you a space to reflect upon the labor you perform in the course such as what went well or what you may have done differently. Its main purpose is to help you become mindful of your processes of labor and learning.

For each journal entry, briefly discuss these 3 things:

Where and under what conditions did you do the labor?
What intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the labor sessions made it most meaningful or engaging?
What did you learn about your labor from reflecting on the session?

Labor Journal Entries are due on weeks in which no Major Assignment is due (weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, & 15) on Friday by 11:59 pm.

Labor Logs are due with each Major Assignment.

Reflective Essays

For each major assignment, I'll ask you to complete a short, reflective essay that describes to me your process of completing the assignment, how it facilitated your understanding of course concepts, and any other pertinent information you'd like to tell me. These will serve a similar purpose as the Labor Journal Entries. I will not grade the content of these essays, but they do help guide my feedback for the assignment. These should be ~150-200 words.

Reflective essays are due with each Major Assignment.

Reading Assignments

On many days, you will be assigned readings pertaining to our core rhetorical concepts or the thematic concerns of the course. These readings should be completed by class time for the days they are assigned. Often, these readings will inform the prompts for the "shortstack" assignments and our in-class activities.

In-Class Activities

In addition to these assignments, I may ask you to complete a combination of writing activities during class: quizzes, group work, timed writing, rhetorical exercises, et cetera. These writing activities will allow you to try out rhetorical strategies and reflect on course content, and they are imperative to meeting course goals.