This task sounds more complex than it is. For your first exploratory assignment, I invite you to work in teams to create a schema of kairos from the point of view of either Gage and Kinneavy or Corbett and Sheridan, et al. NB: Kinneavy and Sheridan already employ schemas and hierarchies, but given that you are taking the meta-view, your schemas will likely be more multilayered and rich than their diagrams, so do not feel compelled to imitate what they do.
About the Task
A “schema” is more commonly known as a formal structure, which shows how things are organized in relation to one another or are arranged in relation to the world. Your goal is to try to reveal the inter texts, nuances, and theoretical or philosophical contours that you think underscore their work, as well as the other ways that their theories of kairos could influence Composition Studies more broadly. Thus, while I am asking you to construct the schema on the basis of this week’s texts primarily, you may absolutely enhance that schema with other texts to which you have access.
I encourage you to think of your schema not as an outline, but as an intellectual map. This means it is more generative than demonstrative. Consider how you might present Gage's and Kinneavy's or Corbett's and Sheridan, et al's hierarchy of concerns. How do they organize their theories of kairos or of knowing (i.e., by critical question, by school of thought, by disciplinary problem, by writing task, by literary theorists, by philosophical figures, or something else)? What are the factors that might have led them to do so? But also, what are the various and potential outcomes of their theories? How could their theories overlap with other issues, other texts, other fields, or even other disciplines?
Most schemata combine the visual and the alphanumeric, and sometimes they look like trees, database structures, venn diagrams, charts, or architectural drawings. You have absolute creative license in terms of how you will compose your schema (including using freeshare tools such as draw.io, SmartDraw, StormBoard, etc.). In fact, you may make it as layered as you would like—even topographic—if you think a multi-dimensional map would better demonstrate the depth of their work. Your schema will likely need some prose explanation (perhaps even selective quoting), as well as a symbol key or a guide. As such, please include use in-text (parenthetical) citations where needed.
The Teams
I'll arbitrarily suggest the following teams for this first exploratory:
- Amanda and Angela
- Brendan and Cindy
- Randall and Caitlin
- Joel and Liana
Please upload your completed schema to Canvas by the beginning of class time on 9/26/17, and bring a hard or digital copy to class for our discussion (just in case).
The Critical Blog Post
For your follow-up critical blog post (which you will do individually), please reflect on the schema assignment and how some aspect of the task illuminated/complicated/addressed/extended your reading of our texts for this week. This critical blog post should be somewhat formal. It should be a minimum of 3-4 well developed paragraphs in length (a couple of screens), and my great desire is to see you engage expertly with both task and texts, at times speaking through or alongside what we read, and speaking with some insight about what we read. Since your post will be intertextual, I'll ask you to use parenthetical citations where needed, and to be clear that we know which articles/authors you are referencing.
You will post directly to our course blog, so what you write will become the temporary landing page (please keep that in mind as you polish and format). Be sure to define terms and unpack assumptions for us, using your posts as occasions to teach. Because the blog is somewhat performative, I'll ask you to title your posts creatively (or insightfully). Feel free to compose your post as a response to someone else’s, if you see an interesting conversation starting on the blog. Please post to the blog by 3:30 p.m. on Thursday 9/28/17. [Folks, thank you for noting my error. Because this is the first critical blog post, I think we can fully justify giving you an extra 48 hours after the exploratory in order to do it. And, that means your post will be that much greater! -Dr. G]
This is work, but have fun with it!
-Dr. G
