Threshold Concepts: Why Now? Linda Adler-Kassner Professor of Writing Studies/Director, Writing Program CCCC March 2014

His secret, he says, is a deep connection to his audience's evolving, irreducibly human, primal sensibilities. Usually within a few seconds of seeing an item, Mr. Zimmerman can sense whether it's destined to become a viral story. "I guess you could call it intuition," he says. …."It might be that right now, people don't care about stories about cats that much, and instead, sloths are more popular," he says. Zimmerman doesn't track this with a spreadsheet or any formal system. He just sort of feels the changes, on a day-to-day basis, as the viral news turns. Source: Farhad Manjoo, “Why Everyone is Totally Going to Read This Column.” Wall Street Journal (1 December 2013)

Ellen (a first-year composition student): The first step I took was going through lecture notes and just seeing a trend of how Professor Majewski discusses things, and I just paid a lot of attention in class. And then I started to notice … every lecture he really outlines like it’s an essay. He forms a thesis, he has an argument, and that’s how he wants us to write. [H]e includes examples, so his lectures were a great example of how I should go about thinking about analyzing literacy practices for 17B. And then I looked at my essay and how [it] compared with how he would structure a lecture… in my head I was thinking, “Can I make a lecture out of my essay?” “Okay, well, this is what we’ve seen as an appropriate literacy practice for a thesis.” And then I compared it to my essay, and then I did the same thing….

Writing is everybody’s business – at least, everybody thinks writing is their business.

Writing instruction is a shared responsibility. Qualities of good writing are context specific. Good writers are flexible.

In composition and rhetoric (or Writing Studies, or…), we study composed knowledge. We(often) look at: How that knowledge is constructed, enacted, conveyed, and/or assessed; in what sites; through what processes; and with what consequences.

Threshold concepts (Meyer and Land) TCs: concepts critical for full and meaningful (aka “epistemological”) participation in communities of practice Disciplines are communities of practice To be full and meaningful participants, learners must see through and see with TCs to participate

Writing is an activity and a subject of study (E. Wardle and L. Adler-Kassner) Writing is created, produced, distributed, and used for a variety of purposes. In this sense, it is an activity in which individuals and groups engage. However, the production, consumption, circulation, distribution, and use of writing is also an area of inquiry.

Writing addresses, creates, or invokes audiences (A. Lunsford) [Ong theorized] the need for writers to fictionalize their audiences and, in turn, for audiences … to adopt the role set out for them by the writer. Scholars in rhetoric and writing studies have extended this[,]… explaining how writers can address audiences—that is, actual, intended readers or listeners—and invoke, or call up, imagined audiences…

Genres are enacted by writers and readers (B. Hart-Davidson) [G]enres are habitual responses to recurring socially-bounded situations…. Genres are constructions of groups, over time, usually with the implicit or explicit sanction of organizational or institutional power. Generic forms are open to hybridization and change over time. This is why Schryer refers to the textual features of genres as "stable for now" forms, acknowledging that they can evolve.

What can only humans do?

Engage in expert thinking and complex communication.

Fictionalize and address audience Within contexts and situations Through recognizable forms/genres His secret, he says, is a deep connection to his audience's evolving, irreducibly human, primal sensibilities. Usually within a few seconds of seeing an item, Mr. Zimmerman can sense whether it's destined to become a viral story….. ) The first step I took was going through lecture notes and just seeing a trend of how Professor Majewski discusses things… And then I looked at my essay and I looked at how my essay compared with how he would structure a lecture [and] in my head I was thinking, “Can I make a lecture out of my essay?” ) Analyze situation, context, and Recognizable form (/genre) Invoke an audience Adapt characteristics of a genre based on analysis

Common Core Standards/Anchor Standards for Writing 1-3: Texts Types and Purpose Students will: 1.“[W]rite arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.” 2.“[W]rite informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.” 3.“[W]rite narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well chosen details, and well-structured sequences” (8).

Qs:  What kind of writing is used in this situation?  What are the features or conventions of this writing?  What roles do these conventions play in this site/context?  How can writers adapt what they know or develop new strategies to produce this writing?

A: Argumentative writing, informative/explanatory writing, and narrative writing.

So: Why TCs/Why now? Because they name what we know about what successful writers really do; in rich, compelling, and complex ways; and they position writing meaningfully in discussions about “college and career readiness” in the 21 st century.