Sample Lesson Plan: Eng 1510
Homework for today: Read Villanueva, watch video interview. Write an IWA comparing and contrasting Victor Villanueva and Smitherman's article "God Don't Never Change." Describe the rhetorical techniques these two articles share, and provide examples from the text.
Objectives: Discuss Villanueva, Prep to analyze project 1 example on Wednesday, Conceptually prep to read/respond to Anzaldua on Friday.
Pre-Setup: Print group discussion questions for each group. Put project 2 examples on drop box. Print "tips" worksheet for Project 1. Write on board the dates for peer review and due dates for project 1.
Activities:
1. Free Write: White. Male. Educated. Upper Class. Able Bodied. Standard English.
-What do these words represent in your society?
-What does this mean for people who do not fit into this identity?
8:40am
2. Review class schedule for the following week (Peer review Monday, Final Project 1 due Wednesday, Begin Project 3 Friday)
3. Discuss the free write and guide discussion. Note that identifying the most powerful influence behind texts will help in student’s analysis in project 2—What identity is driving this rhetoric?
8:50am
4. Class discussion of the reading:
-What do we know about Villanueva? Who is “He” in the first paragraph?
-What is assimilation?
-What rhetorical tools do Villanueva and Smitherman share?
9:00am
5. Preface group work with a short lecture on empathy and its connection to rhetorical analysis. Remind class of the “This is Water” speech by David Foster Wallace.What is the “water” in DFW’s speech?
-Rhetoric is not just for persuasion, but a means of connecting to other humans.
Racism/clacissim sexisms are mechanisms of separating from other humans.
-Rhetorical Analysis can be an act of empathy: Consider this frame as you answer the
following questions in groups.
9:05am
6. Divide into 5 groups: Count off by 4.
These are challenging questions, and I expect your group to develop thorough answers to them. I encourage you to take notes individually, and then as a group.
Group 1: Dialect. Find two examples of dialect used in both Villanueva and Smitherman. Why do these authors use dialects? What rhetorical term/moves is the use of dialect contributing to?
Group 2: Audience. Find two examples that help you understand Villanueva’s audience. How are Villanueva and Smitherman’s audiences similar? How are they different? How do you know?
Group 3: Exigence: Why did Villanueva write this? Find two examples in Villanueva that demonstrate the exigence of this piece. Within your group, consider how the concept of “assimilation” is related to exigence here.
Group 4: Memoria: Define memoria. Find two instances of memoria in Villanueva. Find at least two additional instances of memoria in any other piece we have read for this class. What rhetorical term/s is memoria related to?
9:20am
7. Discuss/present group responses as a class
9:30am
8. Hand out a brief sheet reviewing “tips,” the purpose and the structure of Project 1.
Assignment:
Read: The three Project 2 example paragraphs on drop box.
Write in your notebook: Review the “This is Water” commencement speech by David Foster Wallace. What does he say “water” is? How is this related to rhetorical analysis? Write one full paragraph.
Type, print and bring to class: Write the first section of your project 1 paper. In this section you should rhetorically analyze one of the texts from the set you have chosen by following the steps below. 1. Somewhere on your document, note the audience of this text, the genre, and the exigence.2. Choose four terms from the list below, and discuss how they are delivered by this particular text. 3.
Thoroughly analyze and discuss any visual elements present in regards to how they are contributing to the rhetorical moves of the text.
Terms: (choose at least 4) Ethos, Logos, Pathos, Prelocutionary Act, Illocutioary Act, Memoria