Unit 1: Visual Textual Analysis
Week 1: Course Introductions and Digital Literacy Training
Objectives:
- Establish Classroom Standards
- Establish Digital Literacies for the Course
Readings:
- Course Syllabus
- “Thinking as a Hobby” by William Golding
- The Transition from High School to University Writing
- When Tech Fails: introduction to campus resources
- Understanding How to Annotate
Week 2: Introduction to Visual Textual Analysis
Objectives:
- Establish the language for visual textual analysis
- Model how to analyze a visual text
- Model how to annotate a visual text
- Make inferences based on annotations
Readings:
- “Learning to Look” by Cass Fey
- Sample Visual Texts
- Introduction to Visual Textual Analysis
- Assignment Sheet
Week 3: Genre Awareness and Brainstorming
Objectives:
- Identify aspects of a successful and unsuccessful textual analysis essay
- Select a photo to analyze for the essay
Readings:
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Student Examples
- How to Brainstorm
Week 4: Brainstorming, Drafting and Revising
Objectives:
-
Students draft their essays according to Point – Illustration – Evaluation – Transition (PIET) paragraph structure
- Students edit their drafts based on the assignment sheet and rubric
Readings:
Week 5: Peer-Review and Submission
Objectives:
-
Students analyze each other’s work based on the rubric and the assignment sheet
- Students edit their work for “wordiness”
Readings:
Unit 2: Textual Analysis – Stories about Literacy
Week 6: Introduction to Literacy Narratives, Close Reading and Annotating
Objectives:
-
Identify Motivations for Writing
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Identify the genre conventions of Literacy Narratives
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Model how to analyze a Literacy Narrative
- Model how to annotate a Literacy Narrative
Readings:
- “Why I Write” by George Orwell
- Sample Literacy Narrative
- Critical Reading Towards Critical Writing
- How to Do a Close Reading
- Assignment Sheet
Week 7: Summarizing, Paraphrasing, Quoting and Brainstorming
Objectives:
- Practice summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting source material to be used as evidence in student’s writing
Readings:
Week 8: Brainstorming and Drafting
Objectives:
- Students brainstorm their topics
- Students draft their essays
Readings:
Week 9: Peer-Review and SubmissionBrainstorming and Drafting
Objectives:
- Students conduct peer-review and submit their essays brainstorm their topics
Readings:
Unit 3: Contextual Analysis
Week 10: Introduction to Contextual Analysis and Film Studies
Objectives:
- Students will develop a fundamental understanding of contextual analysis as well as film studies by annotating two essays, comparing their annotations and discussing their annotations in pairs, small groups and as a whole class.
Readings:
Week 11: How to Use a “Lens Text” Part I
Objectives:
- Students will gain experience using a lens text by analyzing The Little Mermaid through the eyes of Roberta Trites.
Readings:
- The Little Mermaid
- NB: Students watch the entire movie outside of class before the week starts. During class, be sure to watch some of the clips described by Trites as fuel for discussion/writing.
- “Disney’s Sub/Version of Andersen’s The Little Mermaid” by Roberta Trites
Week 12: How to Use a “Lens Text” Part II
Objectives:
- Students will gain experience using a lens text by analyzing Die Hard through the eyes of Peter Parshall
Readings:
-
Die Hard
- NB: Students watch the entire movie OUTSIDE of class before the week starts. During class, be sure to watch some of the clips described by Parshall as fuel for discussion/writing.
Week 13: Brainstorming, Drafting and Incorporating Sources
Objectives:
- Students will critique a movie through a lens text and support their analysis with details from the movie and their lens text.
Readings:
Week 14: Peer-review and Submission
Objectives:
- Students will conduct peer-review and submit their essays
Readings:
- Students review previously assigned readings as needed
Unit 4: Literacy Narratives
Weeks 15-16: Semester Reflection, Peer-Review and Submission
Objectives:
- Students identify how they have/haven’t grown as a reader/writer over the course of the semester.
Readings:
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Sample Literacy Narratives from Unit 2
- Assignment Sheet
