audience

Research Literacy with AI: Verifying Sources with Perplexity and the CRAAP Framework to Improve Intrinsic Motivation

Activities, collaboration and group work, critical thought and analysis, digital literacy, genAI, information literacy, Integrating sources, primary source research, Process, research, secondary source research, writing technologies /

Tingyu Zhang Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This activity teaches undergraduates to critically locate and verify sources by triangulating results from Perplexity AI (free version), Google Scholar, or Academic Search Complete, using the CRAAP framework (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose) to evaluate sources (Blakeslee 6). Rather than treating AI as a shortcut, it frames […]

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Documenting Campus Spaces: The Collaborative Accessibility Guide Assignment

Accessibility, Assignments, collaboration and group work, critical thought and analysis, genre and discourse community, professional writing, technical writing, visual/multimodal rhetorics /

Marie Pruitt Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description The Collaborative Accessibility Guide (CAG) assignment was originally designed for an upper-level writing course, Technical and Scientific Writing, taught at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) and large public research university. However, this assignment can easily be adapted for any technical or professional writing course. Over the course

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Developing Details: Embodied Writing Activity

Activities, collaboration and group work, observation, Process, reflection, rhetorical situation /

Alexandra Chakov Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description The purpose of this activity is to have students explore the ways their body is part of their writing process. Writing is not just a mental activity—it also involves the body. The body types out words or commands speech-to-text; the body feels anxiety as deadlines approach and

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Who Is the User? Researching Audiences for Technical Documents

technical writing, Volume 6 /

Emma J. Rose Volume 6 Chapter Description When I think about what makes a good technical document, I’m reminded of Janice (Ginny) Redish’s explanation.1 Redish defines a successful document as one that helps the intended audience find what they need, understand what they find, use that information to accomplish a task and do that in

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Lobsters & Second Conversations: Addressing the “So What” in Your Writing

Activities, critical thought and analysis, reading, reading strategies, reading to write, rhetorical situation /

Stina Kasik Oakes Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description What’s a lobster? A second conversation? For years I worked to explain to students how to incorporate purpose, depth, and meaning into their writing with the terms “deeper meaning,” or “story under the story,” or “what the essay is really about.” But these phrases didn’t quite

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“Establishing the Who”: Professional Writing, Power Dynamics, & Improv

Activities, critical thought and analysis, professional writing, rhetorical situation /

Lauren Esposito Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description When I started teaching professional writing, I would ask students: “Imagine you’re a nurse and you need to explain the signs of a stroke to a young child. Or, imagine you’re a business student writing a “how-to guide” for investors that will be published on a company

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The Importance of Transfer in Your First Year Writing Course

critical thought and analysis, demystifying writing assignments, genre and discourse community, rhetorical situation, volume 4, Writing Transfer /

Kara Taczak Volume 4 Chapter Description This essay explores the importance of transfer in first year writing. Transfer is the ability to take writing knowledge and practices from one context and use it to repurpose or reframe it in a new/different writing context. To help students better understand how to effectively transfer, this essay examines

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The Rhetorical Possibilities of Accessibility

Accessibility, drafting and revising, professional writing, volume 4, writing technologies /

Rachel Donegan Volume 4 Chapter Description In this chapter, I provide some basic terminology and context for disability and accessibility and discuss how access features not only have direct benefits for a disabled audience, but are beneficial rhetorical bonuses for all writers (nondisabled and disabled).* By emphasizing access in their writing projects, students have the

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Writing in Global Contexts: Composing Usable Texts for Audiences from Different Cultures

rhetorical appeals and argument, Volume 3, writing in global contexts /

Kirk St.Amant Volume 3 Chapter Description The international spread of online access means we live in an increasingly interconnected world. This situation means our students will likely write for audiences in different parts of the globe. Writing for such diverse audiences means addressing different contexts affecting how individuals perceive texts. Writing students can benefit from

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Constructing Scholarly Ethos in the Writing Classroom

rhetorical appeals and argument, Volume 3 /

Kathleen J. Ryan Volume 3 Chapter Description This essay offers a more robust definition of ethos than the typical definition of credibility to teach students more about ethos. I define ethos as the strategic positioning of the rhetor in relationship to the audience and/or community and then discuss four interrelated parts of ethos that can

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