Example Class Plan

The Following is a sample of a class plan for personal use. It is neither edited for errors or content and is meant as a rough guide for conducting a class. It is accompanied with brief notes on the texts to be worked with.

 == ALL
TIMES ARE ESTIMATED AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE ==
Class
Plan 7/24/18

5
min – general housekeeping (attendance/setting up the board)

Reading
Discussion around Boyd and Palahniuk

Major
Question: How are these texts using genre?

5
min – listing of genres for each of the pieces on the board

10
min – write to yourself – Pick one of the piece and one of the genres you think
it fits in. What are the conventions you associate with that genre? Where do
you see those conventions in the text? Why do you think the text is using that
genre? Where does it deviate from the genre and why?

15
min – Groups of 3 – Get with 2 other classmates and I want you to discuss what
you wrote about in groups. Think about if you came up with the same answers or
if you disagreed. Do you think that each text is using genre effectively?

30-40
min – Class discussion – Bring together your answers to the questions in the
group work. We will work through each groups response to at least 1 of the
readings.

5
min - How can we relate these ideas to Project 3?

Project in 2 genres.

Final
10-20 min – opportunity to work on your drafting? Any questions?

## Notes On Punch Drunk

Genre’s
Punch Drunk (2005) – unsure if they understand what is happening at the end of
the story, seems to be a misreading of what they are raising money for.

Palahniuk chose to publish
this in playboy

He chose to not clearly
spell out that they are plotting to drive a plane into Mecca

He chose to hide the way
that their goals are violent behind a funny and odd story of gender politics

The soldiers are adopting
gender norms to serve their own goals

How is he using the genre
to perform and then subverting that genre? Why?

How is the author
complicating genre?

Subversion of the
conservative mode?

Does it subvert
the short story mode?

By not
showing you the whole story?

Lack of
context is actually part of the genre?

Story is constantly
contrasting the male (military) with the female (or at least performatively
female)

### Genres for Punch Drunk

Short Story

Satire

Political Commentary

Social commentary

Multi-Media fictions (magazine)

Magazine Entertainment

Comedy

## Notes for Wikipedia

students seem to be using this piece to justify the idea that their
research paper is outdated in its method

If they are using this as the
authority to look to other sources of informational authority outside of academia,
then what does it say that you are being given this piece as something scanned
out of a textbook?

“what goes into a textbook is highly
political” (are you suggesting that what goes on Wikipedia isn’t?)

Wikipedia maintains a list of hoaxes
that have plagued the site. – their own recognition that the system is not
perfect.

Article really points out that
interacting critically with the information available to you is the goal

How
is this piece working as a genre?

It is presenting information that may
not be normally known.

Is that information new?

It is presenting as a non-biased piece
but is it?

Does this not suggest that
there is a motive to portray Wikipedia as a privileged source over traditional
sources?

This does a good
job providing new information about why Wikipedia is useful but not so much
addressing its lack of verifiable peer review. – It is another type of
information not a substitute

Is it trying to appear as an opinion
or an informational piece?

Is it trying to use genre conventions
to win readers over to its side?

Were you on its side by the
end? Why?

### Genres for Wikipedia

Informational piece

Persuasive article

Opinion piece

Critical opinion

Relatable