English 281 course begins with the assumption that all texts – and here I mean language-based, visual, and spatial – work to organize community activity, circulate commonplace assumptions, and normalize some ways of thinking and composing while rejecting others. With this premise in mind, we will spend the quarter working to answer three broad questions: What does writing do? How exactly does it produce those effects? How can you be a strategic and effective actor in making writing matter in the context of your choosing? In order to answer these questions, we will look closely at how writing circulates within and between both formal and informal communities that make-up the University of Washington and the surrounding neighborhood. As we investigate the various spaces and places were compositions happen, we will repeatedly be guided by the following questions: What are the assumptions and expectations that determine what is and what is not acceptable in a given situation? How are we socialized over time to view some forms of communication as “natural” and others as either strange, or just plan wrong? How do we gain some control over that socialization process so that we know where, when, and how we want to participate through writing?

The goal of this class is to help students write more effectively, strategically, and critically for a variety of purposes and audiences. Be prepared to do work inside and outside of the classroom as we will be devoting time to both primary and secondary forms of research. The course writings will include several short reflective and critical essays, which will lead to a larger research paper on a community of your choice. In addition, students will develop a group project in which they document their community in the form of a webzine, a magazine, a brochure, or another genre of the group’s choosing. This course will culminate in a final project where students individually author an academic essay arguing for what your group’s genre does, how it produces those effects, and why it matters. English 281 B is computer-integrated. The computer lab setting allows students to participate in inclusive electronic discussions, offer feedback on their peers' work, complete multi-media assignments, and incorporate visuals into their papers. However, technical savvy is not a course prerequisite; students will receive instruction in all technical tools used in the classroom.

Text: photocopied course packet

Prerequisites:

While 281 has no formal prerequisite, this is an intermediate writing course, and instructors expect entering students to know how to formulate claims, integrate evidence, demonstrate awareness of audience, and structure coherent sentences, paragraphs and essays. Thus we strongly encourage students to complete an introductory (100 level) writing course before enrolling in English 281.