SHORT PAPER & PRESENTATION 4

SHORT PAPER & PRESENTATION 4

ENGAGING IN INTERDISCIPLINARITY AND PRESENTING NEW MATERIAL

DUE DATES: ________________________

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper (and presentation) is to challenge you to make connections between concepts you are learning in your other, non-English courses (which you will articulate in your SP 4), and explore the benefits and/or drawbacks of approaching learning with an interdisciplinary mindset (which you will articulate in your Writer’s Memo).

PROMPT: Three Parts: Essay, Presentation, Writer’s Memo

Part I: Writing. For this assignment, you will need to find an artifact (an object made by a human being, but expanded here to also include ideas/concepts/theories developed by a person which has/can be represented by an object) from one of your other classes that engages with our theme in some way. This artifact could be anything from a syllabus, a textbook, a particular reading from that textbook, a prompt for a reading assignment, a prompt for a writing assignment, an advertisement, poster, or song, or a historical representation of an idea/concept/theory. This artifact must address one or more of the following themes: identity, language, culture, gender, education, colonization, empire, resistance, acculturation, shame/pride, etc. You will critically analyze your artifact and make a complex claim about why it is relevant to our discussion. Animating your analysis and claim development should be the question of how you might put the various “texts” of your education into conversation with one another in a way that maximizes your understanding of your work in the University as being fluid, interconnected, interdisciplinary?

GUIDING QUESTIONS: You can ask:

• What issues and/or themes does the artifact highlight from our readings?

• What does this artifact add to our conversation with our course texts? How would a particular author’s argument change if this artifact were to be taken into consideration in their text?

• How do the text we’ve been reading and the discussions we’ve been having in our English class contribute to/ complicate/ reshape/ problematize/ reframe your understanding of the issue from your other class(es)?

• What critique does the artifact present to [insert theme]? Alternatively, how could you apply this artifact to [insert theme and/or text] in order to construct a critique?

• Have I reviewed the targeted outcome(s) for this paper? Do I have prior experience completing similar literacy tasks? What is my plan for demonstrating the outcome(s) through my writing?

• What feedback did I receive for the previous paper that is relevant for and applicable to this paper?

• What questions and concerns can I bring up to my Instructor and/or classmates to help me complete this paper?

Part II: Group Presentation. Now that you have Part I (the writing portion) ofShort Paper/Presentation 4, prepare to share your artifact and make an argument about its significance as it relates to our theme.

The Group Presentation gives you experience presenting your material to your peers and provides an opportunity to get feedback on how well you make your claim about the artifact’s importance. The Presentation also allows you to put your artifact into conversation with the texts we have been reading and discussing in class. This will prepare you for Major Paper 1, which is focused on situating your artifact into the discourse surrounding language, identity, and education.

The class will be broken up into several groups for this assignment. In groups of three or four, each member will deliver a 3-5-minute presentation on his/her artifact of choice. The remaining members provide feedback on your object and your argument. In your presentation, you must:

• Show the artifact and explain what it is (i.e. if it is a painting, provide the group with copies of it, tell us who painted it, and explain some of the visual rhetoric).

• Argue why you think this artifact is relevant to our topic.

• Make a claim about how your artifact engages with the texts we have examined in class

Part III: Writer’s Memo After you submit your paper and present your artifact, please submit Writer’s Memo (~250 words)that explores and reflects upon the benefits and/or drawbacks of approaching learning with an interdisciplinary mindset.

TARGETED COURSE OUTCOMES: 1, 2, 3, 4

LOGISTICS: Follow these guidelines to earn a “Complete” and receive written feedback. “Incomplete” papers will not receive written feedback and cannot be among the papers you revise for your Portfolio.

• Your rhetorical situation: You are writing for your ENGL 131 Community

• Your heading should be single-spaced and include: Student’s Name, Instructor’s Name, Course Name/ Assignment Name, Date assignment is due

• Your paper should: a) have a unique Title b) be 2 pages double spaced c) use 1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman

• Your paper should use MLA for in-text citations and your Works Cited page

• Save your file using the following naming convention (no spaces):

CourseName.AssignmentName.LastNameFirstName

• Submit your paper by 1) uploading your document as a .doc or .docx file on Canvas using the naming convention above and 2) copy/pasting your paper on your Shared Google Doc