‘Purpose of Engl Comp in College’

I’m personally all in favor for multimodal projects in English Comp classes. One of the main lessons that teachers tend to stress when students write their papers and read text is to be able to make connections- either to past texts, their personal experiences, or their understanding of the material. These projects allow them to do just that, but in informal ways that- in my opinion- show an even broader understanding of what they’re talking about. Just like with Banks’ presentation, he brought in materials from an entirely different Genre/ area of communication (music lyrics, pop culture references, etc) in order to help others either make the same connections he made or to create those connections for them- all the while demonstrating his own understanding and showcasing his opinion in a unique and memorable way.

Not all learning methods work for students- and that’s totally fine. This kind of project allows an opportunity for students to present their comprehension in an unconstricted way- just as Shipka presented with the students understanding and demonstration of a word’s definition. One gave a visual example of ‘scare’ with a literal jump scare- as well as the option to opt out for those faint of heart (myself included). Another student- in a successful attempt to vent out her frustration with the frustration she felt towards the assignment– created an elaborate test that reflected the meaning of her word ‘mirrors.’

I performed a simple google search for my question, “purpose of English Comp for Colleges,” and my results both pleased and angered me. The very first result took me to a website for an online ‘low cost’ college that stressed:

“In order to succeed in this verbal whirlwind, you don’t just need to know how to read and write. You have to know how to read between the lines, how to compose, persuade, understand and respond. That’s the focus of English Composition: empowering you to interact with the world on your terms, in your own words. It might be the most important life skill any 21st-century person can have. If you don’t master at least the basics, you can expect to have a harder time getting ahead in school, in life and in business.”

                                           — Beth Dumbauld, English Composition: The Most Important College Course You’ll Ever Take

Multimodal projects encompass everything ENGL Comp is set out to do- make connections, relate to material, present understanding. As we’ve discussed many times in class, Engl Comp can be difficult for both teachers and students because of the huge variety of majors that come in and out of the classrooms. Not everyone is there for English, Biology and Anthropology have different styles of writing, the 5 paragraph essay is not a universal format for every field. Just as Kim’s said, if you want students to learn how to do the thing, then make them do the thing. Generalized assignments for the sake of uniformity isn’t always helpful, and can often throw students off more rather than enhancing their understanding once they break into their major courses.

Even with a project like this, there will be those who try to play the system- as Baron’s article/chapter thing helpfully points out with every sort of advancement in technology. With this kind of project, even bullshitting an assignment is a feat in itself. You still have to show a level of understanding and you still need to be able to present whatever it is you’re presenting coherently. That’s requires a thought process that teachers in ENGL comp are always encouraging, so even a half-assed assignment required more skill and effort than fluffing up a body paragraph after running out of time and things to say.

To put it simply, I’m all in favor for the Multimodal projects. I’m not saying they should replace all assignments in the ENGL comp/ every classroom, but they should (in the very least) be presented as an option for the students.