Introduction

You致e already introduced yourself to the class, and written a letter either to an instructor with my name or to a fictitious uncle who asked you to explain your decision to attend university. Now, in order to make the point that revision is central to the writing process, I want you to revise your verbal introduction into a letter of introduction aimed specifically at me. You know I知 your audience, and you should now think about how best to introduce yourself not in a general sense, but in the specific sense of one individual to another, of student to teacher, of young adult to middle-aged adult.

Think about audience when you write. While it might impress some friends that you made it through high school without ever attending a first period class, would it similarly impress your university professor? You should be honest, so if you prefer math, biology, history, or some other subject over English you should feel free to say so. But think about how you say so knowing, as you do, that the person who reads your introduction has devoted his life to the subject you dislike. If you would rather be at Memorial or Dalhousie or Mount St. Vincent University, say so, but ask yourself how you can best say so without risking alienating someone who has chosen to live in the Annapolis Valley and to work at Acadia University. There is no reason why we can稚 disagree, even on fundamental issues, but we all have to learn to express our positions in ways that allow our disagreement to be aired and debated rationally and politely.

I知 going to give you the occasion for your letter of introduction. We値l pretend that there are fewer spaces available in this section of 1213 than there are people in the class, and that what is at stake in your introduction is my decision whether or not to let you stay. You値l want to tell me why you need or want to stay in this class: does it fit your timetable, do you need it for graduation? (From what obvious problems do these two possible responses to this rhetorical situation suffer?) Or do you have some other, hopefully more individualized, reason to stay in this class? You want to learn to write, you say? Why does it have to be this section? By now, you begin to see the problems you face. Audience accommodation suddenly becomes more than merely an academic exercise; rather, it is a fundamental aspect of persuasive communication.

Tell me what matters to you, what you value and why, and what your career aspirations are. What major have you chosen, or are you leaning toward, here at Acadia? Why that one and not some other? Are your course of study and your career plans intimately connected? Is there a connection between your goals and the hopes of your parents for you?

In this assignment I値l be evaluating you on your skill as a writer, and on how well you reach out to your reader. In rhetorical parlance, the latter is called audience accommodation.

When you submit this assignment for grade submit the draft copy your peer reviewers read, their comment sheets, and two copies of the final draft.

Bibliography

Pick a topic about which you would like to know more. Ideally, this assignment will lay the groundwork for your fourth assignment. For this assignment you will assemble the sources one would consult along the way to becoming something of an expert on your topic. This assignment is not intended to make you consult those sources. That part of the process you will do in order to complete your part of assignment # 4.

I'll suggest some general categories, but I expect you to refine your topic to something specific within the general category. For example, under the broad heading of "History," "the history of England" would be too large a topic, but "the history of the English crown" might not be, and "James I's accession" or "the beheading of Charles I" would certainly be appropriate. Under the broad heading of "the Environment" "environmental decay" would be too large a topic, and even "global warming" might be; but "global warming in the c20th" would not be, and "the effects of global warming on the Canadian arctic" would be entirely appropriate.

We will take some time in class to suggest and to refine possible topics.

Each bibliography must include two journal articles, two books, two chapters or essays contained in books other than the two in your bibliography, and two on-line sources, all of which are accessible to someone here at Acadia University.

Evaluation

Group Research Project

Based on information gathered early in the term, I will assign you to work with a group of students whose interests are as close to your own as possible. Hopefully some or all of you will have gotten a start on this assignment while you prepared assignment # 2. Whereas the goal for that assignment was to determine what sources to consult in order to become more expert on a topic, the goal for this assignment is to actually consult those sources and genuinely become more informed on a topic agreed on by all members of the group.

You will be given the class period of Thursday, October 3 to begin brainstorming about possible topics, and to set up a schedule according to which you can meet outside of class. On Thursday, October 31 each group will meet with the instructor or the TA. This will be an opportunity for us to ensure everyone is doing her or his part, and it will give you a chance to ask us anything you might want to ask.

Your topic should be complex enough to sustain a discussion of at least 16 pages of text, but not so complex that it overwhelms you or leaves your reader feeling that you've barely scratched the service. With the addition of images, tables, bibliography, etc. your final submission will be in excess of 20 pages.

In addition to the written document described above, each group will compose a website in which you present the same material. Part of the purpose of this assignment is to teach you the importance of representing (literally, re-presenting) the same material in a different form. Hypertext provides advantages over hardcopy, and your grade for this part of the assignment will mirror the extent to which you employ these advantages.

In addition to the website, each group will present their research to the class. I will expect you to use the website as the basis for your presentation, but your presentation should be more than merely a guided tour through your website.

The grade for this assignment will be generated from the assignment's three distinct parts: 10% of your term grade will be based on the written component, 10% on the website, and 10% on the presentation.

Playing with HyperMedia