I agree with all of this, especially how my own writing process changed how I tried to teach writing. I've used other kinds of assignments, but I'm also getting recommitted to the longer paper but changing the timeline and process. I've always had them workshop partial drafts with 2-3 weeks left before the deadline, but I'm intrigued by the idea of not changing the length but the approach--incorporating the short, consistent writing, a draft, and then true revision time. Thanks for your piece that is helping me thinking here.
I think that (changing the process) helps a lot too. As folks have responded to this, I thought back to 2005, and one of the things that really helped me down this path was teaching a course on genre studies that summer. I was reading a lot of EAP, and really learned to "read as a writer," seeing the essay/paper as a series of sub-genres or moves that could be practiced individually. That was one of the things that really guided my project design in later courses, the idea that there were multiple paths to those different functions...
Originally, my title replaced "seminar paper" with "end-of-semester essay," mainly because I don't use the word seminar very often. But the former is a more recognizable genre and names a specific practice that the latter doesn't. It also sounds better, imo.
Big "hell yeah" when reading this the first time. And now again!
I agree with all of this, especially how my own writing process changed how I tried to teach writing. I've used other kinds of assignments, but I'm also getting recommitted to the longer paper but changing the timeline and process. I've always had them workshop partial drafts with 2-3 weeks left before the deadline, but I'm intrigued by the idea of not changing the length but the approach--incorporating the short, consistent writing, a draft, and then true revision time. Thanks for your piece that is helping me thinking here.
I think that (changing the process) helps a lot too. As folks have responded to this, I thought back to 2005, and one of the things that really helped me down this path was teaching a course on genre studies that summer. I was reading a lot of EAP, and really learned to "read as a writer," seeing the essay/paper as a series of sub-genres or moves that could be practiced individually. That was one of the things that really guided my project design in later courses, the idea that there were multiple paths to those different functions...
Thanks!
Originally, my title replaced "seminar paper" with "end-of-semester essay," mainly because I don't use the word seminar very often. But the former is a more recognizable genre and names a specific practice that the latter doesn't. It also sounds better, imo.