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English 833: Theories of Composition — Course Schedule (Fall 2020)

Chapter 1: Should First Year Composition (FYC) be required? (1995/2020)
Aug. 24 Monday

  • The Beginning of the Journey
  • The Abolitionist Movement

Chapter 2: Current Traditionalism (1875)/Writing Process Theory/Expressivism (1970s)
Aug. 31 Monday

  • Discuss freewriting

Chapter 3: Labor Day Holiday
Sep. 7 Monday

  • Holiday
  • No Zoom Meeting
  • No D2L Discussion Posting Required

Chapter 4: The Dartmouth Conference (1966)/A Vision for Teaching Composition (2020)
Sep. 14 Monday

  • Create a Composition Teaching Vision Statement

Chapter 5: The History of Composition Studies I (Historical Accounts; 1875)
Sep. 21 Monday

Chapter 6: Cognitivism (1977-1980s)
Sep. 28 Monday

Chapter 7: Literacy Stories
Oct. 5 Monday

Chapter 8: Independent Research Day
Oct. 12 Monday

Chapter 9: Social Constructionism (1980s-1990s)
Oct. 19 Monday

Chapter 10: Post-Process Theory (1999-2005)
Oct. 26 Monday

Chapter 11: Can Composition Save the World? (2000s-Today)
Nov. 2 Monday

  • Composition and Social Justice Theory

Chapter 12: Finding Forrester (2000)
Nov. 9 Monday

  • View film Finding Forrester
  • Your Theory of Teaching DRAFT DUE
    • Your draft may be short (just a few pages) or complete (the full length), whatever suits your needs as a writer best

Chapter 13: Paper Conferences
Week of Nov. 16

Chapter 14: Thanksgiving Holiday
November 23 Tuesday

  • Holiday
  • No Zoom Meeting
  • No D2L Discussion Posting Required

Chapter 15: Comic Book Pedagogy (2019-Today)
Nov. 30 Monday

  • The Avengers Save Composition

Chapter 16: Your Teacher Scholar Journey
Dec. 7 Monday

  • The End of this Course Journey (but not the end of the journey)
  • Class Celebration
  • Writing Your Future

Chapter 17: Your Theory of Teaching DUE
Dec. 11 Friday


If Only We Had More Time 🙁

Poetry Writing

  • Write a poem

Writing and Healing

  • Discuss trauma, memory, healing, and embodied writing

Language Theory

  • Discuss Mikhail Bakhtin
  • Discuss Lev Vygotsky