Rough Draft of Essay One

Overview Write a rough draft of Essay One, an analysis of a literacy event. You may analyze the event you described in your literacy narrative, or you may choose another significant event in your life that involved reading or writing.  As George and Trimbur point out on p. 41, this assignment asks you to "identify and analyze a literacy event that you took part in directly, observed, or heard or read about. Your task is to explain how 'a piece of writing' was centrally involved in people's interactions and how the participants made sense of things." In the reading and writing you've done leading up to this rough draft, you've gathered lots of ideas to use. Two key readings were the literacy analyses of Shirley Brice Heath and Margaret J. Finders. As you craft your analysis, refer to the texts of one or both of these writers to help you frame your analysis. In addition, work on "coming to terms with" and "forwarding," the writing skills described by Joseph Harris. These skills are important to have in your toolkit whenever you add your voice to intellectual conversations. You'll also be "taking an approach" in this essay in that you may be adapting another writer's "style of thought and writing to the demands of your own project." Learning Objectives Understand literacy analysis and how it differs from literacy narrative Practice working with sources and adding your voice to others' by coming to terms with and forwarding a text Practice taking an approach Practice organizing an academic essay. Writing Process Begin by reviewing the directions on p. 41-42. Pay close attention to the breakout box, "Considerations for Analyzing Literacy Events." Review your highlighting and annotations of the Heath and Finders texts to see how those writers approach literacy analysis.  Next, review the student sample essays on pp. 42-47 to see how two college students responded to this assignment. Now, give it a try yourself. Remember, this is a rough draft. It need not be perfect. You'll have an opportunity to revise and edit your essay before turning it in. Bring your rough draft to class to share with classmates. Submit it to the instructor for feedback Length, Format, and Documentation of Your Writing Process Your essay should be at least 500 words long. Remember that the final draft should be at about 750 words. Double-space, and include a heading with your name, instructor's name, course number, date, and the name of this assignment: Rough Draft of Essay One. Save this draft to submit with your final draft of Essay One. Grading I will not grade this draft, but I'll review all your work leading up to the final draft when I assign a score for "Writing Process" on the evaluation guide. I will return the draft with comments and check it off, indicating that you've completed the assignment.