The Proposal to a Small Group: Learning to 'See Otherwise.'

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Title: The Proposal to a Small Group: Learning to 'See Otherwise.'
Language: English
Authors: Frisch, Adam
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 6
Publication Date: 1989
Document Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Guides - Classroom - Teacher
Descriptors: Audience Awareness, Class Activities, College Students, Higher Education, Persuasive Discourse, Writing Instruction
Abstract: In most traditional introductory college composition courses students are generally advised to address the teachers or some other authoritative figure as their primary audience. To supplement this traditional approach, students should also direct their discourse to audiences who are not projected as superior critics. One paper assignment that can move students in an advanced course towards a concept of peer readership is the "proposal directed at a specified small group." Students advocate a specific action to a small, carefully defined, local group that has the power to make that proposal happen. Students must name the members of the small group, and include a short rationale analyzing the probable beliefs and values of those members, based on occupational and geographical circumstances, personal interviews, local rumor, or any other kind of evidence they deem applicable. This assignment succeeds in addressing nonthreatening readerships because it is addressed to a small group rather than to an individual, and it demands that the student choose a specific value system to characterize the attitudes and beliefs of the selected group. Although many students have trouble separating the value system of their chosen audience from the values most closely associated with the thesis and content of the paper itself, the value systems approach succeeds in moving students towards a clearer sense of reader uniqueness. The assignment also helps students initiate conversation between their composing selves and their various other selves. It teaches then the important human value of "seeing otherwise." (MM)
Entry Date: 1989
Accession Number: ED303796
Database: ERIC
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  Data: The Proposal to a Small Group: Learning to 'See Otherwise.'
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  Data: English
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Frisch%2C+Adam%22">Frisch, Adam</searchLink>
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  Data: N
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  Data: 6
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
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  Data: 1989
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  Data: Speeches/Meeting Papers<br />Guides - Classroom - Teacher
– Name: Subject
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Audience+Awareness%22">Audience Awareness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Class+Activities%22">Class Activities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Students%22">College Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Persuasive+Discourse%22">Persuasive Discourse</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Writing+Instruction%22">Writing Instruction</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: In most traditional introductory college composition courses students are generally advised to address the teachers or some other authoritative figure as their primary audience. To supplement this traditional approach, students should also direct their discourse to audiences who are not projected as superior critics. One paper assignment that can move students in an advanced course towards a concept of peer readership is the "proposal directed at a specified small group." Students advocate a specific action to a small, carefully defined, local group that has the power to make that proposal happen. Students must name the members of the small group, and include a short rationale analyzing the probable beliefs and values of those members, based on occupational and geographical circumstances, personal interviews, local rumor, or any other kind of evidence they deem applicable. This assignment succeeds in addressing nonthreatening readerships because it is addressed to a small group rather than to an individual, and it demands that the student choose a specific value system to characterize the attitudes and beliefs of the selected group. Although many students have trouble separating the value system of their chosen audience from the values most closely associated with the thesis and content of the paper itself, the value systems approach succeeds in moving students towards a clearer sense of reader uniqueness. The assignment also helps students initiate conversation between their composing selves and their various other selves. It teaches then the important human value of "seeing otherwise." (MM)
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  Label: Entry Date
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  Data: 1989
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 6
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Audience Awareness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Class Activities
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: College Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Higher Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Persuasive Discourse
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Writing Instruction
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The Proposal to a Small Group: Learning to 'See Otherwise.'
        Type: main
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            NameFull: Frisch, Adam
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 03
              Type: published
              Y: 1989
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