This information is current as of Fall 2007. Please see http://www.english.duq.edu/facPurdy.htm for updated information.
English 307: Writing for the Internet
Course web site
http://bloomuengl307.pbwiki.com/Course overview
In industrialized cultures the Internet is rapidly becoming a (or even the) primary means of written communication. What does it mean to write for (and on and with) the Internet? In what ways are spaces like YouTube, Wikipedia, and MySpace shaping writing? This course will explore practical and theoretical issues surrounding the creation, delivery, and reception of texts in digital spaces. In addition to investigating some of the legal and technical issues associated with texts circulating on the Internet, the course will introduce you to effective web writing principles and techniques. In this course you will:• Gain experience planning, creating, and managing web sites.
• Consider the needs of multiple audiences in accessing online spaces.
• Analyze the ways in which digital technologies shape the creation, delivery, and reception of writing.
• Reflect on your own Internet communication practices.
• Learn the rhetorical nature of digital writing.
Course assignments will likely include several response papers, analysis of a site of Internet writing, contribution to an online wiki space, a collaborative web site project, and a course portfolio web site.
English 201: Composition II
Course web site
http://bloomucomp2.pbwiki.com/Course overview
We all do research frequently-for instance, to determine the best travel plans for an upcoming trip, to decide whether to get a tattoo, or to figure out which major to pursue. This research involves a variety of print, online, and personal sources. Building on your previous experiences, this course will introduce you to the practices involved in academic research-based writing. Researched writing at the university level is frequently analytical and persuasive, so much of the work in the course will help you prepare texts that analyze outside source material to persuade target audiences to do and/or believe something. Specifically, in this course you will :• Learn strategies for selecting appropriate sources for academic research projects.
• Evaluate sources to determine their suitability for academic writing tasks.
• Engage in conversation with sources to develop your ideas.
• Learn effective methods for integrating outside source material into your writing.
• Paraphrase, summarize, and quote outside source material.
• Cite sources in accordance with MLA or APA citation standards.
• Reflect on your research practices and researcher identity.
Assignments will likely include a rhetorical analysis of an academic article, a research log, an annotated bibliography, a research proposal, and a research project.
Summer Teaching (Summer 2007)
English 306: Theory and Practice of Writing
Course web site
http://bloomuengl306.pbwiki.com/Course overview
Ever wonder how writing happens? This course will explore theories that explain how we write, ranging from views that seek to account for the complex and recursive nature of writing (including process theory, cognitivism, and social constructionism) to views that seek to account for changing technologies and new textual genres (including post-process theory and activity theory). The course will provide you the opportunity to• Reflect on your own writing practices, socio-cultural experiences, and educational background and the ways in which they shape your approaches to writing instruction
• Learn-and enact-strategies for teaching yourself and other composers to write effectively
• Understand multiple theoretical and pedagogical perspectives on composition and their educational and social implications
The course will be organized around units that focus on particular theoretical perspectives. Bridging these units will be classes devoted to specific writing issues (e.g., audience, topic sentences, revision). Attention to these writing issues will allow for discussion of practical application of the theories the course addresses. Readings for the course will be drawn from the course texts, class handouts, and your essays. You will read the work of your peers and, working collaboratively, will help each other revise through peer workshops. Assignments for the course will likely include a presentation on an article, a reading/writing journal, a writing autobiography, and an analysis and proposal project.