1
INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL TO
THE GSU GUIDE TO FIRST-YEAR WRITING
4TH EDITION
AUGUST 2015
, 2
GSU GUIDE TO FIRST-YEAR WRITING 4E
INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
Table of Contents
Teaching WPA Outcomes...............................................................................................................4
Planning a Composition Course......................................................................................................5
Scaffolding Assignments.................................................................................................................7
Conducting Class.............................................................................................................................7
Presenting Chapter Concepts...........................................................................................................8
Facilitate Classroom Activities........................................................................................................9
Discussing Readings........................................................................................................................9
Responding to Writing...................................................................................................................10
Teaching ENGL 1101 & 1102.......................................................................................................11
Teaching with Fountainhead Readers...........................................................................................11
Teaching with Everyone's an Author.............................................................................................13
Teaching with Everything’s an Argument.....................................................................................14
Teaching with Handbooks.............................................................................................................16
Web Resources for Instructors.......................................................................................................16
Sample Syllabus for ENGL 1101..................................................................................................19
Sample Syllabus for ENGL 1102..................................................................................................25
Sample Assignments.............................................................................................. 34
Literacy Narrative..........................................................................................................................35
Mini-Ethnography..........................................................................................................................37
Essay #1: Narrative Essay: Tchotchkes, Trinkets, Talismans, and Totems..................................39
Visual Analysis..............................................................................................................................41
Annotated Bibliography.................................................................................................................43
Video Argument............................................................................................................................44
Academic Research Paper.............................................................................................................46
, 3
Teaching with the First Year Guide................................................................... 48
Chapter One: Practicing Rhetoric..................................................................................................48
Chapter Two: Responding Rhetorically........................................................................................54
Chapter Three: Analyzing Rhetorically.........................................................................................62
Chapter Four: Inventing Rhetorically............................................................................................70
Chapter Five: Writing Rhetorically...............................................................................................77
Chapter Six: Revising Rhetorically...............................................................................................80
Chapter Seven: Research and Documentation...............................................................................89
Chapter Eight: Writing in the Writing Studio................................................................................93
Chapter Nine: Writing about Visual Images.................................................................................94
Chapter Ten: Into Culture: Research and Writing Beyond the Classroom.................................100
Chapter Eleven: New Media Literacy.........................................................................................104
Chapter Twelve: Civic Engagement and Community-Based Writing........................................109
, 4
GSU Guide to First-Year Writing 4e
Instructor’s Manual
Written by Owen Cantrell
Material from Chapters 1-6 of Guide to First-Year Writing
Adapted from Praxis 2e Instructor’s Manual
By Carol Lea Clark with Amber Lea Clark
GSU Guide to First-Year Writing is designed to assist students in their introductory composition
courses (ENGL 1101 and 1102). This textbook introduces students to key rhetorical concepts as
well as rhetorical response, analysis, invention, writing, revising, research, visual rhetoric, culture
writing, new media literacy, and community-based writing. In the first half of the textbook, students
are introduced to rhetorical concepts as used in the composition classroom. In the second half of
the textbook, students can read chapters on specific types of writing done in the composition
classroom written by composition instructors.
TEACHING WPA OUTCOMES
In the most recent statement of WPA Outcomes for First-Year Composition
(http://wpacouncil.org/positions/outcomes.html) the WPA Council outlined four primary
outcomes for first-year composition: 1) rhetorical knowledge; 2) critical thinking, reading, and
composing; 3) processes; and 4) knowledge of conventions. These outcomes are intended to
be the “types of results” that come from first-year composition courses, rather than a “precise level
of achievement”. Nevertheless, keeping the WPA Outcomes in mind when teaching ENGL 1101
and ENGL 1102 is essential to developing a course that is informed by “what composition
teachers nationwide have learned from practice, research, and theory”
Rhetorical knowledge is defined as “the ability to analyze contexts and audiences and then to act
on that analysis when comprehending and creating texts”. In ENGL 1101 and 1102, rhetorical
knowledge is often a new concept for students, even though they have likely been using it their
entire lives. In ENGL 1101, this means students learn to read in a way attentive to the rhetorical
moves of a text. For example, many composition instructors use image and video analysis of
advertisements as an assignment to make students aware of the rhetoric presented and the
attempt to persuade implicit in that rhetoric. Additionally, instructors often have students read a
piece of argumentative writing and attend to the ways the author constructs his or her argument.
In ENGL 1102, in a shift to emphasize more academic forms of composition, students become
aware of the moves of academic writing in order to enter into academic conversation. Learning
how to incorporate academic prose into their writing (and how to respond to it) is a central tenet
of ENGL 1102. In either case, rhetorical knowledge is central to students learning how to read
and respond to texts that appeal to a wide range of audiences.
Critical thinking, reading, and composing is defined as “the ability to analyze, synthesize,
interpret, and evaluate ideas, information, situations, and texts”. While rhetorical knowledge
attends to the construction of texts for a variety of contexts and audiences, critical thinking
attends to the inner logic of texts. In ENGL 1101 and 1102, critical thinking accompanies a
student’s understanding, analysis, and evaluation of a wide variety of texts. In ENGL 1101, students
learn not
INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL TO
THE GSU GUIDE TO FIRST-YEAR WRITING
4TH EDITION
AUGUST 2015
, 2
GSU GUIDE TO FIRST-YEAR WRITING 4E
INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
Table of Contents
Teaching WPA Outcomes...............................................................................................................4
Planning a Composition Course......................................................................................................5
Scaffolding Assignments.................................................................................................................7
Conducting Class.............................................................................................................................7
Presenting Chapter Concepts...........................................................................................................8
Facilitate Classroom Activities........................................................................................................9
Discussing Readings........................................................................................................................9
Responding to Writing...................................................................................................................10
Teaching ENGL 1101 & 1102.......................................................................................................11
Teaching with Fountainhead Readers...........................................................................................11
Teaching with Everyone's an Author.............................................................................................13
Teaching with Everything’s an Argument.....................................................................................14
Teaching with Handbooks.............................................................................................................16
Web Resources for Instructors.......................................................................................................16
Sample Syllabus for ENGL 1101..................................................................................................19
Sample Syllabus for ENGL 1102..................................................................................................25
Sample Assignments.............................................................................................. 34
Literacy Narrative..........................................................................................................................35
Mini-Ethnography..........................................................................................................................37
Essay #1: Narrative Essay: Tchotchkes, Trinkets, Talismans, and Totems..................................39
Visual Analysis..............................................................................................................................41
Annotated Bibliography.................................................................................................................43
Video Argument............................................................................................................................44
Academic Research Paper.............................................................................................................46
, 3
Teaching with the First Year Guide................................................................... 48
Chapter One: Practicing Rhetoric..................................................................................................48
Chapter Two: Responding Rhetorically........................................................................................54
Chapter Three: Analyzing Rhetorically.........................................................................................62
Chapter Four: Inventing Rhetorically............................................................................................70
Chapter Five: Writing Rhetorically...............................................................................................77
Chapter Six: Revising Rhetorically...............................................................................................80
Chapter Seven: Research and Documentation...............................................................................89
Chapter Eight: Writing in the Writing Studio................................................................................93
Chapter Nine: Writing about Visual Images.................................................................................94
Chapter Ten: Into Culture: Research and Writing Beyond the Classroom.................................100
Chapter Eleven: New Media Literacy.........................................................................................104
Chapter Twelve: Civic Engagement and Community-Based Writing........................................109
, 4
GSU Guide to First-Year Writing 4e
Instructor’s Manual
Written by Owen Cantrell
Material from Chapters 1-6 of Guide to First-Year Writing
Adapted from Praxis 2e Instructor’s Manual
By Carol Lea Clark with Amber Lea Clark
GSU Guide to First-Year Writing is designed to assist students in their introductory composition
courses (ENGL 1101 and 1102). This textbook introduces students to key rhetorical concepts as
well as rhetorical response, analysis, invention, writing, revising, research, visual rhetoric, culture
writing, new media literacy, and community-based writing. In the first half of the textbook, students
are introduced to rhetorical concepts as used in the composition classroom. In the second half of
the textbook, students can read chapters on specific types of writing done in the composition
classroom written by composition instructors.
TEACHING WPA OUTCOMES
In the most recent statement of WPA Outcomes for First-Year Composition
(http://wpacouncil.org/positions/outcomes.html) the WPA Council outlined four primary
outcomes for first-year composition: 1) rhetorical knowledge; 2) critical thinking, reading, and
composing; 3) processes; and 4) knowledge of conventions. These outcomes are intended to
be the “types of results” that come from first-year composition courses, rather than a “precise level
of achievement”. Nevertheless, keeping the WPA Outcomes in mind when teaching ENGL 1101
and ENGL 1102 is essential to developing a course that is informed by “what composition
teachers nationwide have learned from practice, research, and theory”
Rhetorical knowledge is defined as “the ability to analyze contexts and audiences and then to act
on that analysis when comprehending and creating texts”. In ENGL 1101 and 1102, rhetorical
knowledge is often a new concept for students, even though they have likely been using it their
entire lives. In ENGL 1101, this means students learn to read in a way attentive to the rhetorical
moves of a text. For example, many composition instructors use image and video analysis of
advertisements as an assignment to make students aware of the rhetoric presented and the
attempt to persuade implicit in that rhetoric. Additionally, instructors often have students read a
piece of argumentative writing and attend to the ways the author constructs his or her argument.
In ENGL 1102, in a shift to emphasize more academic forms of composition, students become
aware of the moves of academic writing in order to enter into academic conversation. Learning
how to incorporate academic prose into their writing (and how to respond to it) is a central tenet
of ENGL 1102. In either case, rhetorical knowledge is central to students learning how to read
and respond to texts that appeal to a wide range of audiences.
Critical thinking, reading, and composing is defined as “the ability to analyze, synthesize,
interpret, and evaluate ideas, information, situations, and texts”. While rhetorical knowledge
attends to the construction of texts for a variety of contexts and audiences, critical thinking
attends to the inner logic of texts. In ENGL 1101 and 1102, critical thinking accompanies a
student’s understanding, analysis, and evaluation of a wide variety of texts. In ENGL 1101, students
learn not
