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November 15, 2005
Corporate Image, Policy, and Culture Investigation
from Jennnifer Wingard
The purpose of the Corporate Image, Policy, and Culture Investigation unit and assignment is to get WRT 307 students to see the many ways that corporate culture is contradictory and varied. Students often think that the corporate image which is built through thousands (some times billions) of marketing dollars is the truth about the companies for whom they may work. Unfortunately, the "good image" of the marketing push is often not the whole story. The company may seem family friendly, but in actuality, their policies and day to day workplace culture tell another story. This unit is and opportunity for students to explore these dissonances in order to not only see how individual companies function, but also to see the many sites where writing can create an image and culture which may not always be seen by the public. Calendar.
Posted by gr at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2005
The commentary
From Elisa Norris
In preparation for the commentary writing assignment, students screened either “Before Stonewall” or “After Stonewall.” I told them that they should be paying attention to any patterns or trends that may emerge as identifying patterns and trends is the first step toward writing a commentary. Also, I asked that they take detailed notes so that they may refer to them during our discussions. At the next class meeting, the conversation was pretty informal in that I didn’t have a script in mind: no points that I wanted to be sure to address. Instead, we just talked. They shared the new information they learned, their ignorance about this particular community, and general responses and comments. Ultimately, I wanted students to begin to understand that all communities deal with social issues in particular ways. The films served as alternative terministic screens from which students could see other worldviews and hear other voices. For their writing, I challenged them examine their immediate context, identify any patterns and trends, and write a commentary that analyzes these patterns and trends as a way to understand a cultural phenomenon. Also, I reiterated that their commentaries should do more than analyze: they should offer some resolutions or conclusions.
Posted by gr at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2005
Critically examining narratives and representation
from Kelly Concannon
This assignment intends to work with students on issues surrounding representation and reality, through a critical analysis of the workings of power. Students are asked to work in small groups with their peers discussing the dominant narratives which consistently occur in our text, Mirrors and Windows. At this point in the semester, students are aware of the workings of masculinity and femininity and its relationship to the American Dream. Thus, students do consistent work critiquing notions of the family, and the particular roles that appropriate bodies are to assume within these paradigms. Specifically, students are asked to pay particular attention to overarching questions which deal mainly with the ways that borders are strictly placed around identities in terms of sexuality and gender. They must distinguish what remains (hetero) normative throughout the text, and what remains excluded, silenced, marginalized, or unintelligible.
Posted by gr at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)