This unit, "Explorations of Identity and Privilege," was designed for first year writing courses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) taught in 2015 and 2016. The course as a whole focused on writing and inquiry. Within this unit, students discussed essays relating to different forms of privilege (e.g. racial, gender, class) and…

Aaron Kashtan taught three sections of ENGL 1102, the second course in a mandatory first-year writing sequence with a heavy multimodal focus, during his first semester as a Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Literature, Media and Communication at Georgia Tech. The specific subject matter for these sections was handwriting…

Describes a method of writing instruction that uses several different writing textbooks, and asks students to analyze and compare what each says about various writing concerns. (MS)

Describes the use of "Harper's" magazine "Index" column of statistical facts as an essay prompt in freshman composition classes. Lists specific instructions for the writing assignment. Reports that students generally produce impressive, sophisticated, thoughtful, and well-written essays for this exercise. (SG)

Argues that the perennial problem of boring student writing is solved when assignments provide writers with target readers, enabling students to find their appropriate voice. Discusses a sample assignment in which students explain how to do something they do well to readers who don't know how to do it. (JG)

Describes several situations faced by teachers in writing-intensive classrooms--experiences common to most teachers of writing. Shares examples to explore how issues related to plagiarism and its effects are both reproduced and changed in new research spaces. Discusses how to best handle plagiarism in first-year writing classrooms and how to best…

Details a semester-long research project for freshman composition. Notes that because this project views research as a transactional process, students have more time to read, write, and think about their topic throughout the semester. Provides a project overview, sample handouts, and detailed comments on all aspects of the assignment. (MM)

Suggests the personal narrative as a writing assignment which allows students to discover that writing can be a glorious expedition into the self and into the world around them. (RAE)

Argues that one way of helping students understand "Oedipus Rex" is by presenting Oedipus as a multiple, contradictory person. Discusses methodology and assignments. (SR)

Presents a course design of English 102: Intermediate College Composition. Describes this course as the second of two written communication courses required of undergraduates at the University of Louisville. Notes the goal of this course was to dissuade first-year writers from a limited outlook without debasing the education out of which it grew.…

Explores the quality of "voice" in writing, and how an individual's early experiences and heritage influence voice. Advocates using exploration of voice with students in freshman composition. Uses "In Praise of What Persists," a collection of essays, as models for the students and a source of writing assignments. (PA)

Offers a narrative of the collaborative creation of a HyperCard hypertext called the E.A.R., and describes how the ideas developed in that project were adapted into a first-year composition course. Hopes to gain insight into both the larger aims of the border crossings central to bell hooks' ongoing project and the more local goals of hypertext…

An investigation of the various ways the term "topos" is used in classical rhetoric reveals the limited range of invention strategies offered by academic discourse pedagogy. Donald Bartholmae's work on basic writing addresses the relationship of the commonplace to topical invention within academic discourse. Investigation of the history…

Argues that students can be made more aware of language used in the "real" world by introducing them to figures of speech. (MS)

Adapts a classical concept to the composition classroom in a prewriting exercise which offers a wide range of benefits. (RS)