Student Name: _________________________

Ms. Jessica E. Clements

English 10600: First-Year Composition
21 January 2008

Project #1: Writing to Explore

Directions: Choose one of the following Scenarios (and accompanying Writing

Assignment) for your first project. Your first project must be word-based and print-
based; this could mean a traditional paper or essay, an article for a newspaper or
magazine, or perhaps even a pamphlet. It is your privilege and responsibility to choose
the most appropriate genre given your purpose (writing to explore) and given your
chosen scenario and audience. There are no word or page limits for this assignment.
You must turn in a rough draft of your project by class time on Monday, February 2 and
the final draft of your project will be due by class time on Monday, February 16. There
will also be opportunities for peer review and revision.

Scenario #1: Exploring a Major or Career. Imagine you are taking a “Career and Life
Planning” class – a class devoted to helping college students decide what discipline
they might want to major in. This class gives you the opportunity to explore different
career paths, to learn what the educational requirements are for various majors, and to
find out what job opportunities will be available in various careers and what salaries
and other forms of compensation different jobs might offer.

Writing Assignment: Select one college major or career at Purdue that you may be interested
in pursuing and construct an exploratory piece – a conventional essay or some other genre – in
which you consider the various aspects of that major or career from many angles, including the
preparation you would need for it and the rewards and pitfalls you might encounter if you decide
to pursue it. Asking and answering questions about the major or career you are considering will
form the heart of your exploratory project. Since this is not an informative project, your focus
should be on your own exploratory process as you learned about your subject.

Scenario #2: Exploring Purdue Student Groups. What student clubs or organizations
exist at Purdue that you might be interested in joining? What do you know about how
they function? What do you know about their activities? Do you know any of their
members? Select one student club or organization at Purdue about which you would
like to learn more.

Writing Assignment: Investigate the club or organization you have chosen. Explore what its
purpose is, what its main activities are, and who its members are. Then construct an essay or
some other genre in which you explain your exploration of the club or organization. Since this is
not an informative project, your focus should be on your own exploratory process as you
learned about your subject.

Scenario #3: Exploring Purdue Programs. What departments or offices at Purdue are
you interested in learning more about? Examples might be the Financial Aid Office or
the Office of the Dean of Students or the International Programs Office. What do you
already know about their purpose and how they function? Have you had contact with
anyone who works in these offices? Select one of the departments or offices about
which you’d like to learn more. You may want to narrow even further to a program
within a department; for example, you might investigate the Writing Lab, which is part
of the English Department.

Writing Assignment: Investigate the department or office you have chosen. Explore its
mission, its services, and the people who work there. Then construct an essay or other genre in
which you explain your exploration of the department or office. Since this is not an informative
project, your focus should be on your own exploratory process as you learned about
your subject.

Scenario #4: Create-your-own Scenario. Are you interested in exploring Purdue

history, geography, sports or some other facet of Purdue life and times not covered in
the above scenarios? Propose an individualized project that meets the following two
requirements: its subject must somehow be connected to Purdue culture and its
purpose must be exploratory in nature.

Writing Assignment: To create a successful scenario, you must be able to answer the “why”
question: why explore this subject at all? Consider what benefit you and your audience will
garner from this individualized exploration. Also consider what guiding questions you might
want and/or need to ask and to get answered; in other words, why explore this particular subject
in this particular way? Then, construct an essay or other genre in which you explain your
exploration of the subject. Since this is not an informative project, your focus should be on
your own exploratory process as you learned about your subject.
Student Name: _________________________
Ms. Jessica E. Clements
English 10600: First-Year Composition
16 February 2008

Project #2: Writing to Analyze

Directions: Choose one of the following Scenarios (and accompanying Writing Assignment) for
your second project. Your second project must include an essential visual component; this
could mean a traditional paper or essay with an accompanying image or images, a poster or
flyer as a stand-alone visual text, or a video argument. It is your privilege and responsibility to
choose the most appropriate genre given your purpose (writing to analyze) and given your
chosen scenario and audience. There are no word, page, size or time limits for this assignment.
You must turn in a rough draft of your project by class time on Monday, March 2 and the final
draft of your project will be due by class time on Monday, March 16. There will also be
opportunities for peer review and revision.

Scenario #1: Analyzing Representations of Purdue.

While thinking about which college to attend, you probably noticed advertisements and
recruiting tools universities use to grab the attention of high school students, their families, and
even the surrounding community. For example, Purdue’s presence in West Lafayette and
Lafayette is strong; this is evident through local businesses’ uses of Purdue’s colors, their
mascot, the school’s logo, etc.

Writing Assignment: For this writing project, analyze at least one of Purdue’s images or
advertisements. This can be any Purdue-related image or advertisement. Keep in mind that you are not
meant to analyze its various aspects (color, text, size, shading, placement of visual elements, etc.) to
understand how the image or advertisement works. Thinking about these questions may help you: What
do these representations say about Purdue and the Purdue community? Why do you think Purdue made
the choices they did for your particular image or advertisement? Who is their intended audience? What is
the image’s or advertisement’s purpose?

Scenario #2: Considering Rubbish @ Purdue.

Check out the website for Found Magazine at http://www.foundmagazine.com/. Their motto
is this: “We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework, to-do lists, ticket
stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles - anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes....” Look at the current and past examples of items that people have
posted. Each of these Found items inspire certain questions: Who created this? What motivated
this person (or persons) to create it? What were the circumstances around the creation? What
can we infer about the cultural environment in which something like this was created? What
tools or techniques of creation were used to create this? How can you tell? Where and when did
you find this item? What about its found time and location indicate anything about its nature as
a written or created item?
Writing Assignment: Find something that has been discarded on Purdue’s campus that also accords to
the “Found” criteria above. Using some of the question prompts above (or others), construct an analytic
piece in which you examine your Found item. Regardless of the genre you choose to present this analysis,
you should include the original item (or a clear enough scan or photo).

Scenario #3: Analyzing Purdue by the Numbers.

Purdue’s student body consists of more than 40,000 people. In 2005-2006 there were 2,511,097
volumes in the library. In the same year, the PMU recreation center hosted more than 10,400
hours of billiards played. The Purdue University Data Digest
(http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/) abounds with facts and figures about life at Purdue.
What do these numbers mean? What conclusions can be drawn from these numbers? Is there
any correlation between the number of hours of billiards played and the number of parking
tickets issued?

Writing Assignment: Choose a set of data about Purdue and analyze it. The set of data must have some
common point: for example, you could compare the same statistic over the course of several years, or you
could analyze data from the same year that might illustrate cause and effect. Your analysis must also
come to a conclusion about what the figures mean. The data does not have to come from the data digest,
but it’s a good place to start.

Scenario #4: Ad Parody.

Check out the ad parodies at http://parody.organique.com/index.html and
http://www.adbusters.org/gallery/spoofads.

Writing Assignment: Compose a parody of an advertisement not found on those websites. Include a
copy of the original advertisement you are parodying. Also include a word-based commentary component
analyzing both the original ad and your parody. An essential objective of this scenario will be to overtly
justify the applicability and usefulness of your analysis for the Purdue community.

*If none of these scenarios capture your imagination, please feel free to propose your own
topic; the subject must be of importance to the Purdue community and the purpose must be
analytical in nature. In this “create-your-own-scenario” situation, be sure to get your topic
approved by me sooner rather than later!*
Student Name: _________________________
Ms. Jessica E. Clements
English 10600: First-Year Composition
23 March 2009

Project #3: Writing to Solve Problems

Directions: Choose one of the following Scenarios (and accompanying Writing Assignment) for
your third project. Your third project will be a group project and will comprise electronic and
oral media; this means that your group will be doing some kind of “writing for the web” and
must orally present their completed project to an audience of classmates. This could mean a
more traditional web-based project, such as constructing an independent website, wiki or blog,
or it could take an alternative form, such as uploading a video to YouTube, for example. It is
your privilege and responsibility to choose the most appropriate genre given your purpose
(writing to solve problems) and given your chosen scenario and audience. There are no word,
page, screen, size or time limits for this assignment. You must turn in a rough draft of your
project by class time on Monday, April 6 and the final draft of your project will be due by class
time on Monday, April 20. There will also be opportunities for peer review and revision.

Scenario #1: Student Life. Being a new student on campus comes with its own set of
challenges; we have all been the frustrated freshman. Consider problems with building
maintenance, security or health care services. What could the Purdue community (students,
faculty, staff, etc.) do to make student life a little more fulfilling for all?

Writing Assignment: This scenario is about finding practical solutions to practical problems. Locked
out of registering for a class you need to complete your major? Why do you think this is, and what
should be done about it? Remember to think globally about student life as a whole and not to overly
narrow your problem and solution to personal vendettas. Compose a web essay or alternative text that
explains why your particular concern for student life presents a significant problem, and, more
importantly, propose your significant solution!

Visiting Purdue’s “Student Life” webpage should prove a significant starting point:
http://www.purdue.edu/Admissions/Undergrad/student_life/student_life.html. Reading
how others have editorialized about practical campus problems may also prove useful:
http://media.www.wilkesbeacon.com/media/storage/paper533/news/2007/02/26/Opinion
/Your-Voices.One.Students.View.Of.Campus.Problems-2740751.shtml,
http://media.www.dailycampus.com/media/storage/paper340/news/2002/11/21/Comment
ary/Editorial.Campus.Problems.Need.Resolving-330078.shtml, and
http://media.www.hofstrachronicle.com/media/storage/paper222/news/2006/11/16/News
/Students.Voice.Campus.Problems.To.Admin.Panel-2468323.shtml. Remember, however, that
these are examples from which you scan learn rather than models which you should slavishly
imitate.
Scenario #2: Raising Awareness. Is there something missing on campus or something you
believe that students should know but don’t? What issues aren’t being addressed or what clubs
should exist? This is your opportunity to increase the well-roundedness of Purdue – not by
addressing a problem with existing policies, procedures, programs, places, or people but by
addressing what isn’t capturing the student, faculty, staff and administrative bodies’ attention.

Writing Assignment: Research a cause or organization you feel strongly about, one that is not well-
represented or well-understood on our campus, and propose a way to bring this to our campus. Lack of or
lackluster presence constitutes a need for action! This scenario asks you to rely heavily on persuading
your audience not only for the reality of your problem but also for the most effective means of raising
awareness in a web essay or alternative text format. Don’t forget to consider the power of visuals!

The following article details how one campus group took initiative to raise awareness of
domestic violence on campus:
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007b/071008FoxDomestic.html.

Scenario #3: Creating a Green Campus. The vocabulary of “going green” pervades global
discourse about environmental responsibility and climate change. Numerous universities
throughout the United States have made commitments to becoming more sustainable by
adopting Green Campus Initiatives, which often include plans for energy conservation,
recycling, etc. Earlier this year, on Purdue’s Strategic Plan Comments and Feedback webpage,
several students suggest that they see Purdue’s lack of sustainability as a problem worth
solving. Select at least one such environmental concern that you see as a problem at Purdue.

Writing Assignment: Compose a web essay or some other genre in which you fully explain this “green”
related problem and propose your preferred solution. You may use other campuses’ initiatives as a
starting point for considering potential problems and solutions. As you complete the project, you should
imagine the appropriate campus administrator or campus group as your audience.

You may use the following resources to begin your “green” investigation:

Forbes Article: “America’s Greenest Colleges” (Note: First student mentioned in this article
writes a proposal to create change in his high school and eventually goes on to initiate change at
Dartmouth.) http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/05/02/college-harvard-uvm-biz-energy-
cx_bw_0502greenu.html

The Green Campus Initiative in Connecticut lists 12 steps toward sustainability. These could be
used to help you consider which areas might present problems at Purdue.
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/sustainenergy/colleges_n_uni/12_steps/cu_step_4.html

Comments and Feedback on Purdue’s strategic plan suggest that students do see Purdue’s lack
of sustainability as a problem to be solved.
http://www.purdue.edu/strategic_plan/comments/?p=29

Also check out the Purdue Today online archives and the Black Gold and Green Campaign:
http://www.purdue.edu/green/
Scenario #4: Writerly Concerns. Earlier in the semester you composed Writing Sample Part 2
in which you created a representation of your writerly self. Even the best of writers faces
challenges as s/he composes. For this project, consider the challenges that you face as a writer
or the problems that many college writers confront. Select one of these and propose a solution
to this problem.

Writing Assignment: Compose a web essay or some other genre that articulates the writing problem you
have chosen and proposes a solution to this problem. Much research exists on the problems that
individuals face as they compose. Be sure to explain the problem fully and to select a problem that you
can develop in a project such as this. (For instance, it is not sufficient to simply say that students
procrastinate and should start writing sooner.)

Using the libraries E-Journals collection, you can search for articles in composition journals such
as College Composition and Communication. Since such journals are circulated among composition
teachers and researchers, you will find that they are often written to this audience. As a
student, you will gain insights about conversations among scholars in the field of writing. You
may, of course, use other resources in your proposal and should remember that your own
proposal should be directed to your chosen audience.

*If none of these scenarios capture your imagination, please feel free to propose your own
topic; the subject must be of importance to the Purdue community and the purpose must be
analytical in nature. In this “create-your-own-scenario” situation, be sure to get your topic
approved by me sooner rather than later!*