Disciplinary Literacy(Create A Website)

In this project, you will build upon your previous projects by investigating the literacy practices of a discipline or a profession of your choice. Think about this project in terms of building a dossier on a profession—a set of documents that trace past, present, and future textual artifacts and analyze the cultural factors that have motivated the changes that you have discovered. You will consider the textual products that you have accessed as cultural artifacts to understand texts as rhetorical devices that change over time.

This project requires you to consider the history of a discipline’s literacy practices. Thus, the completed product will reflect not only on the cultural factors that affect specific texts, but also on how these factors have changed the discipline’s textual output. How does the development (or perhaps transformation) of a profession’s texts change its cultural role?

You will also practice your interview skills. Locate two people who are (or were) actively engaged in the profession you have chosen. Ideally, they should be from different generations. (Only one of them can be someone you already know.)

You will conclude the project with a section that not only reflects on what you’ve learned about your profession, but also speculates on a possible future for texts in the discipline you’ve chosen. What might the textual artifacts of this profession look like when you begin working there? What skills will you need to master before you enter the workplace?

In a nutshell: As in Project #2, you’ll work through artifacts to draw conclusions about cultural values and practices. In this case, however, the “artifacts” in question will be associated with writing and communication—a scholarly essay, a trade publication, and an organizational website.

Required Documents in the Project #3 Dossier:

1) Analysis of an academic publication (250 Words). This analysis should take into consideration all three aspects of the rhetorical triangle (not as bullet points or a list, but rather in paragraph form). You should ultimately arrive at a claim (an argument or thesis statement) that considers which of the elements (ethos, logos, pathos) the piece exploits the most and why. Be sure to provide the details of the article—author name, title, and publication venue—in a correct bibliographic entry (MLA or APA).

2) Analysis of a trade publication (250 Words). This analysis should take into consideration all three aspects of the rhetorical triangle (not as bullet points or a list, but rather in paragraph form). You should ultimately arrive at a claim (an argument or thesis statement) that considers which of the elements (ethos, logos, pathos) the piece exploits the most and why. Be sure to provide all the relevant bibliographic details that you can find (author, affiliation, etc.) and a URL.

3) Analysis of a website associated with the profession/discipline (250 Words). This analysis should take into consideration not only the rhetorical elements we learned during our lessons on images (paintings and advertisements), but also the rhetorical triangle. In the end, you should be able to make a claim (an argument or thesis statement) about which aspect of the triangle) the website exploits the most and why. Be sure to provide all the relevant bibliographic details that you can find (author, affiliation, etc.) and a URL.

4) Reflection on Interview #1 (250 Words). This analysis should reflect on what you learned about the profession’s writing practices based on your interviewee’s specific answers. You do not need to make an argument here; rather, you should build a narrative about the experience and what you gathered from it. Be sure to include the interviewee’s name and profession at the top of the page.

5) Reflection on Interview #2 (250 Words). This analysis should reflect on what you learned about the profession’s writing practices based on your interviewee’s specific answers. You do not need to make an argument here; rather, you should build a narrative about the experience and what you gathered from it. Be sure to include the interviewee’s name and profession at the top of the page.

6) Final reflection (400–500 Words). This final piece asks you to reflect on the project as a whole. There is no specific outline for your reflection, but it should contain at least two things: 1) a narrative of what you learned, not only from the interviews, but also from your other analyses. What were you surprised to find out? How has your perception of your profession changed? Has the experience made you more or less excited to enter the field? 2) a narrative of the past, present, and future of writing in the discipline you’ve chosen. In the next decade, you’ll hopefully have entered the field of your choice. How do you think its writing practices will be different? How will technology (or cultural changes) have transformed the way your discipline communicates? What writing or communication skills will you need to possess to succeed in your profession?