Unit_Four_Assignment

Unit Four: Accommodating Academic Writing ENC 1101 Dunlap Fall 2009

Objective: To explore the characters of academic writing and the discourse communities of the university. By creating and reflecting on our own “accommodated” text or comparing a text that has already be transformed from an academic genre to a non-academic one, we will be able to better understand “university writing” and what that will mean as you develop your student career.

Your Task: Option 1—Find an article published in a peer reviewed journal that is important to the field of study of your major and create a comprehensive yet still “accommodated” text in the medium of your choice. Write a brief letter explaining the steps you took to accommodate the article to a new genre and audience.

Option 2—Find an academic article from a peer reviewed journal that has been comprehensively explained in a “popular culture” medium and write a comparative essay that explains what “accommodating” steps were taken in the genre and audience shift.

Where to Begin: Option 1—Find out which journals are important to your major and find an article that seems both appropriate and interesting. Read the article thoroughly and create a comprehensive synopsis you can work from. Determine a new genre and research that genre’s conventions.

Option 2—Find a “popular culture” article (magazines like Popular Mechanics, Discover, etc are great places) that focuses on the findings of one article. Read and review both versions very carefully. Create a comprehensive synopsis of each.

Assignment: To write appropriately in a fitting genre about an academic based article, or write an evaluative comparison essay between an academic text and a popular culture article about it.

How You Are Evaluated: You will want to consider the following points as key to effective writing. Do you demonstrate a clear and comprehensive knowledge of all of your source materials? Are you keeping your audience and their expectations in mind always? Does your writing contain clear and insightful prose that is genre appropriate? Are you respecting genre conventions? Do you demonstrate an understanding of “accommodating practices?” Does your writing have significance and purpose that is clear to your readers?

Specific Directions: The writing needs to be between 800-1200 words Needs to be in a genre appropriate format Must be formatted to the standards of your genre Submit the paper on time (to my office or mailbox by 5:00 p.m.) Writing may be submitted in whatever format is genre appropriate