Assessment Criteria for Draft #2 (Traditional Research) and Draft #3 (Collage)

(as defined by students)

Draft #2: Research Option

· 2-3 secondary sources—2 primary sources

· complete Works Cited page

· use of rhetorical strategies (allusion, voice, authority, etc.)

· thesis/support

· development

· introduction/conclusion

· personal experience

· organization/transitions

· grammar (including sentence and paragraph structure, format, and MLA guidelines)

Draft #3: Collage Option

· 2-3 secondary sources—2 primary sources

· complete Works Cited page

· development

· organization/patterning

· connections

· literary devices (description, metaphor, reflection, etc.)

· clarity

· implied thesis

· no direct introduction or conclusion

· grammar (including sentence and paragraph structure, format, and MLA guidelines)

Partial Questionnaire Results

· 82 percent of students found essays with personal/reflective elements to be the “most enjoyable” to write.

· 86 percent of students found essays with analytical/objective elements to be the “least enjoyable” to write.

· When given a choice between revising Draft #2 (traditional research) or Draft #3 (Collage), 92 percent of students chose Draft #3 (Collage).

· Although 97 percent of students had never written a collage/CNF piece in the past, 84 percent of students indicated that they felt “prepared” to work with this type of assignment.

Student Reactions

“I felt the biggest sense of accomplishment writing it because it was new for me, and I wasn’t sure how to do it. I am so used to being assigned a format, and this was the first opportunity I’ve had to do whatever I wanted to do.”

“I like the freedom that this paper gives. I think that the freedom makes it more enjoyable to write, rather than following guidelines. This paper, by far, is my favorite one.”

“I enjoyed writing draft three. Looking for the connections between experiences and my future goals was difficult, but when I found one, it was a gratifying experience.”

“I am used to using the 5-paragraph theme with an introduction and conclusion, in which I basically just plug sentences in. [Draft #3] was new and different. So, while it was challenging being that it was new, it was also interesting because I have never tried that writing style before.”

Important Sources for Models/Samples and Background Information

Anderson, Chris. Ed. Literary Nonfiction: Theory, Criticism, Pedagogy. Carbondale: Southern

Illinois University Press, 1989.

Bridwell-Bowles, Lillian. “Discourse and Diversity: Experimental Writing within the

Academy.” College Composition and Communication 43.3 (1992): 349-368.

- - - “Freedom, Form, Function: Varieties of Academic Discourse.” College Composition

and Communication 46 (1995): 46-61.

Cambourne, Brian. “Toward an Educationally Relevant Theory of Literacy Learning: Twenty

Years of Inquiry.” The Reading Teacher 49.3 (1995): 182-190.

Dowling, H. F. Jr. “Imaginative Exposition: Teaching ‘Creative’ Non-Fiction Writing.” 36.4

(1985): 454-465.

Forsyth, Beverly. “The New Rhetoric Embraces the New Journalism: Applying Creative

Nonfiction Strategies to Teaching Freshman Composition.” English in Texas 27.1 (1995): 17-19.

Langer Meeks, Lynn. “Making English Classrooms Happier Places to Learn.” English Journal

88.4 (1999): 73-79.

Leonard, Elisabeth Anne. “Assignment #9—A Text which Engages the Socially Constructed

Identity of Its Writer.” College Composition and Communication 48.2 (1997): 215-230.

Root, Robert Jr. and Michael Steinberg. The Fourth Genre. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1999.

Starkey, David. Ed. Teaching Writing Creatively. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998.

Tobin, Lad. Writing Relationships: What Really Happens in the Composition Class.

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1993.

*contact furst1am@mail.cmich.edu for other sources, samples, handouts, assignment guidelines, etc.