1. Day 4: Draft Workshop Sample Literacy Narratives
Writing is a series of decisions.
Sample Literacy Narratives
Structure, Paragraphs, and Reverse Outlining
Peer Review

2. Sample Literacy Narratives
Please read and comment on the two sample narratives. Consider the questions below, adapted from the rubric.
Task
Does the paper describe a specific experience that has shaped the writer’s development in an area of literacy?
Does it include a clear controlling idea about how that experience shaped the writer’s development?
Content
Does the paper use effective narrative techniques to show what the experience was like?
Does it provide thoughtful, specific, and engaging analysis of what the writer learned?
Organization
Do the title and introduction engage the audience and introduce the narrative’s controlling idea?
Does the paper have a purposeful structure? Clear transitions between ideas?
Is the conclusion satisfying?
Language
Is the paper carefully edited? Does it demonstrate appropriate style for the genre [a story in an academic setting]?
What was your favorite moment in each?

3. Developing a “Purposeful Structure”
The experience you’re telling us about has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
It also grew out of a context, or background, and resulted in a particular outcome, which may extend to the present.
You can put these pieces in any order based on the effect you want to achieve, e.g.:
Start with a surprising part of your story, then circle back to provide context
Begin with the context so that your reader understands your story
Begin with the outcome, then explain how you got there
Story
Beginning
Middle
End
Outcome
Context
Setting
Time period
Background
Quick question: Where does “analysis” fit into this diagram?

4. Focused Paragraphs
Paragraphs are like rooms. Each serves a clear purpose, and the things inside it should help it achieve that purpose.
Strong paragraphs are like rooms in a house: each thing inside develops one specific purpose (e.g. cooking).
Weak paragraphs are like dorm rooms: lots of different things crammed inside, no room to develop them.
Just as you wouldn’t keep your bed in a kitchen, you shouldn’t have sentences in a paragraph that don’t help that paragraph achieve its purpose.

5. Reverse Outlining – Homework 2
Most people make outlines before they begin drafting. It’s also helpful to make an outline after you’ve completed a draft so that you can get a clear picture of what your current draft is doing.
To make a reverse outline, number each paragraph in your current draft. Then, briefly explain what that paragraph is doing—not what it is “about,” but what it tells or shows your reader.
In this paragraph, I describe the strange decorating in my aunt’s house to show my reader what an odd person she is. This is also where I first mention her passion for knitting.
Once you’ve made your reverse outline, ask yourself:
Is there anything you want your reader to know that doesn’t appear in your current draft?
Are any of your paragraphs doing something redundant or unnecessary?
Are some of your paragraphs serving more than one purpose? Do these purposes go together, or would it make more sense to split them into two paragraphs?
Are any paragraphs unconnected to the paragraphs around them? Can you find a way to connect them, or should your paragraphs come in a different order?

6. Your Draft
Does your current draft begin with context, outcome, or a particular part of your narrative? Why does it begin where it does?
What is the purpose of your first body paragraph (after your introduction)? Is it a focused and purposeful “kitchen” paragraph, or is it a “dorm room” paragraph?
What is the purpose of your last body paragraph?
You’ll do a full reverse outline for homework. This is just to give you a bit of practice with these concepts.

7. Break
Transition: Hand out “Literacies” activity.
5 minutes

8. Five Principles of Peer Review
Peer review benefits the reviewer as well as the reviewee. Analyzing other people’s work strengthens your skills as a writer and reader.
Peer reviewers are a practice audience, not editors. Their job is to explain how the paper affects them, not necessarily how to change or revise it.
As a peer reviewer, you are responsible for the success or failure of your partner’s paper. Be honest about how the paper affects you.
Don’t be too “nice.” The earlier you can identify potential problems, the easier and more painless they are to address.
Don’t be too negative. It’s just as important to identify what’s working as it is to identify areas of improvement.

9. Peer Review Groups Group Members 1 Hernandez, Jurado, Zavala 5
Davila, Tang, Zhang 2
Bustamante, Nguyen, Wilford 6
Higganbotham, Ly, Sridharan 3
Herrera-Morales, Tanlapco, Wei 7
Hu, Shi, Wang 4
Gee, Henn, Hou 8 9
Gautam, Giovannoni, Perez
Brown, Hernandez, Wang

10. Peer Review
Please write out the answers the questions below and give or your responses to your partner.
Task / Controlling Idea
In your own words, identify the experience your partner is narrating and explain why this experience was significant to them.
Does the narrative tell a focused story, or is the chosen experience a bit too broad?
Is the controlling idea specific (“Repairing my grandfather’s desk taught me how to compromise”) or too vague (“Repairing the desk made me a better person”)?
Content
Did you find the explanation of the experience’s significance thoughtful and surprising? Why or why not?
Are there any sentences you found confusing or ideas you’d like to see better developed?
Organization
Did the title and introduction capture your attention? Did they help you anticipate the controlling idea, or was the controlling idea hard to predict?
Did you find the conclusion satisfying? Why or why not?

11. Final Thought
Be willing to go backward! Don’t be afraid to throw out the parts of your draft that aren’t helping you.

12. Reminders Next class Homework Reminders
Draft Workshop Using specific and concrete language
Bring two copies of a revised draft of Assignment 1 (900 words).
Homework 2: Reverse Outlining