The purpose of Unit I is to introduce you to the key connections
between language and writing, and to give you the reading and
analytical skills you need to explore those connections for yourself.
You'll also get many opportunities to develop your own ideas about
language and learn some writing tools to help you express those
ideas to an audience.
Literacy Essay, 5%.
In this essay, you'll explore personal connections with language
and literacy. You'll ask (and try to answer) questions like, "How
has language already affected my life?" "What experiences
do I have with becoming "literate" in a particular language
community?" You'll also read other students' essays for a
wider range of ideas.
Summary/Response, 5%.
In the Summary/Response essay, you'll take the ideas you developed
about language and literacy with the first essay and begin comparing
them to some ideas from outside the class. You'll also learn better
ways to understand a written argument and some strategies for
sharing your understanding of that argument with your audience.
Inquiry Essay, 20%.
In the Inquiry Essay, you'll learn to take several sets of
ideas from yourself, your classmates, and the class readings,
and synthesize them (that is, put them together). You'll
share both your synthesis of ideas and your response to that synthesis
with your audience.
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