This final assignment, which will take us to the end of the semester, can be seen as a kind of “graduation” project from your composition requirement at SLCC. In it, I want you to take all that you’ve learned through English 1010 and 2010 (or through English 0900, 0990, 1010, and 2010) and apply it.

PURPOSE

Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to give you a final “practice” into doing those things that you are supposed to be able to do by the time you finish this course:

• Feel confident in applying an understanding that all writing is situation-based.
• Clearly understand and be able to explain the rhetorical nature of arguments and positions.
• Effectively use rhetorical and genre analysis to craft a plausible argument.
• Be increasingly capable of reading and writing in multiple genres.
• Have developed the flexibility to draw on a variety of processes for different writing tasks.
• Be able to use research processes effectively to enrich the complexity of their writing.
• Know how to use digital resources to correctly document external sources into one’s own writing.
• Know the relevant questions to ask in order to respond well to different writing tasks.
• Have increased their ability to provide and receive useful feedback on writing.

In this assignment, you are going to “craft a plausible argument.” You are going to “research effectively.” You are going to “ask specific questions to respond well to writing tasks.” And, all of this will be done inside a “situation-based” assignment.

PROCESS

So where to begin?

In order for these abilities to be any use at all to you, you need to be able to apply them to an unfamiliar writing situation. That’s the whole point of this class—to prepare you to write in multiple situations with growing confidence. Therefore, this assignment asks you to explore a writing situation or task that you are unfamiliar with—one in which you have never written before.

If that seems fairly wide-open, you’re right and it is. However, you can narrow this down by imagining what types of writing you are going to need to do in your future. If you have a declared major, what is it? What kinds of writing takes place in this major? What are your career aspirations? What kind of writing takes place in them? (Here is a list of all the majors and career tracks at SLCC. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.)

Now, you may not know what kind of writing happens in these areas, and that makes up part of your research for this assignment. You need to find out what kinds of documents are produced and consumed, and how they are produced and consumed. As you figure this out, you need to sort out what kinds of documents are “arguments” and how those arguments are made. (Here is a list of genres. They’re not matched up with professions, because genres overlap in professions, but this gives you a starting point

ACTIONS

.)Here’s some examples to help you figure this out. Business majors: you’re going to need to be able to write proposals, analyses, prospectuses, grants, reports, etc. That’s easy. But, some of you are artists or are going in to art fields and may be thinking, “Hey, I’m not going to have to write! I’m an artist!” Or, maybe, “I’m going to be an engineer. Or, I’m going to be a computer programmer, I don’t need to write…in fact, why did I even have to take this stupid class?” Well, truth be told, everyone who is seeking a non-labor job, or–more importantly–a job that has potential for growth, a job that lets you use your brain, is going to have to write. An artist writes artist statements to go in galleries, and also has to put together portfolios, requests for referral, grant proposals, etc. According to this article (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., many “good ideas” from engineers “never see the light of day because engineers who have them are unable to communicate their ideas.” (Funny story: My brother is a physicist who works with Russian physicists. After a particularly important experiment a couple years ago, they wanted to write it up in time for a deadline. My brother called me to ask how to do it. I gave him advice…but they still weren’t able to do it. Bummer.) That same article (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. noted above says, “If you want to advance beyond just being a number cruncher, then you need to be able to communicate effectively.”

Are you convinced yet? Well, even if you’re not, you still need to do this assignment. So, read on for what’s next…

Then, when you find out what kinds of arguments are made in this college major or in the career you are seeking, it’s time to do some rhetorical and genre-analysis. How can you find about the types of arguments that take place in these fields/jobs? What genres are utilized? And, what audiences, purposes, conventions? Maybe this graphic will help you one more time!