Group Project:

Task. For the group project, your group will focus on one of the major topics below and create a casebook of critical essays on the topic. Each member of the group is responsible for writing at least one critical essay (5-8 pages) in the collection, for helping the group research the topic, and for helping create the Web site where your casebook will be displayed.

Research Requirements.

• the group is responsible for creating an annotated bibliography of at least 15 sources (obviously the bulk of these sources will come from group member’s critical essays)
• the group is responsible for conducting at least three interviews with educators, administrators, or other pertinent professionals in order to gather data from the field; the casebook (Web site) must, in some way, document the results of these interviews (along with procedures and questions)

1. a cover page that announces the topic and effectively identifies and organizes the contents of the casebook and associated links
2. an introduction to the essays (this need not be very long, but should highlight the scope and results of each of the essays as it helps the reader better understand the topic and its dimensions)
3. a separate page(s) for each critical essay in the casebook, complete with notes and works cited
4. a list of "key terms" (with definitions) that are associated with this topic (use your best judgment here; try to identify those terms and concepts that are especially troublesome to define or pinpoint or are used in a variety of ways by theorists and practitioners)
5. a resource page of links to other sites that are related to your topic (these links should be annotated)

The topics below are purposefully vague and generic. But all of them lead into significant (and in most cases, complex) sub-topics. Your group is free to work through (re-define, re-shape, re-create) the topics in anyway it sees fit. The only stipulation is that the group keep the seminar’s primary topic in mind—the dispute/relationship between theory and practice. Some heuristics or questions to get you thinking might include: What sorts of theories are behind this topic? What sorts of practices can you identify? How do those the theories-practices connect or disconnect? What sorts of criteria are you using in evaluating these? What do we learn by understanding this?

Your research and Web site must be finished by April 6th, since on that day your group will present the results of its efforts to the class in a formal presentation.   The presentation itself is an opportunity for the group to educate the class on the topic and what conclusions your group has reached. Use whatever means necessary (Web, PowerPoint, handout, other?) to make the 20-45 minute presentation effective in highlighting the most significant points of the critical essays.

In theory, this casebook project will lead to (or significantly contribute to) the individual final projects; therefore, completing these by the end of March will allow time for members of the seminar to make use of the research.

We will also be publishing these casebooks in an online anthology, for which I will write the introduction.

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 Individual Projects:

Much like the group projects, the individual projects should identify a topic in the field of rhetorical theory or composition studies, research it carefully, and then write up the results of your research and thinking in a final paper (due May 6^th) of approximately 8-12 pages. You could, for instance, focus on theoretician we have read this semester and respond to him/her, or you could make your study more "practical" and follow through on doing more field research (interviewing more people) and profiling their work. There are lots of other possibilities (from very traditional to avant-garde) and I look forward to working with you individually on them. Please get started on identifying these topics early in the semester, in case you determine that you don’t like the topic. In fact, you will need to submit a preliminary topic proposal to me by February 5^th.

Like the group project, this essay will also be published in the seminar’s online anthology. So you will need to think about how it might look on the Web; however, you do not have to create any special Web site around the essay.

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Book Review:

For this assignment, you will select a book and write a book review in which you (1) briefly summarize the content (its contribution) and (2) evaluate its effectiveness. You will present your findings to the class in a very brief 5-10 minute report. (Keep in mind that no one expects you to become an expert about the field or topics that the book covers; rather, you’re more of a scout, looking ahead for the group and identifying what might be relevant or interesting for members of the course in respect to class discussions and projects.)

We will publish these reviews on our course Web site.

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 Seminar Presentation:

Each week (from February 9 – March 23), two seminar members will make presentations to the class on the text(s) under discussion for that week. I will be supplying focus questions or problems as prompts for the presenters (and for the rest of the class) to consider. Each presenter will draft a 2-4 page paper in response to the prompt (and the texts under discussion). Seminar members will then respond to these papers in an overall discussion. In short, the presenters will be responsible for beginning the discussion that evening.

No later than the Sunday before the presentation, each presenter much send out his/her paper over the seminar’s electronic discussion group (more details on that later) in order to give other members time to read through the paper and generate a response. Although I will not ask members to submit to me their responses to the presenters in any kind of formal way, I do ask that everyone read the papers carefully and critically. The presenters will be trying to incite a discussion (provoke responses) and everyone should respond in kind.

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Brief Web Project:

As a way to help get everyone acclimated to the art--chore?--of Web pubishing, each member will create a simple homepage (with whatever you want on it) and an additional Web page devoted to your favorite literary work.  This page must meet some minimal requirements, which I will spell out in a later document.

This project we will work on in class (at least to get you started), and it is due on Feb. 16th.

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