18.1: Orientation and Kairos (Reading/Media)

ORIENTING OURSELVES TO THIS OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE (OER) SERIES

This is a fifteen module OER series for English 102 (Composition II). Each module has three sub-modules. The first sub-module is a brief reading/media to add contextual framing and, oftentimes, key definitions to the unit. It should take about two minutes to read. The two paragraphs below are the first instance of a brief reading/media adding contextual framing to a module. Beneath each contextual framing is an optional example reading/media located at Project Gutenberg. The second sub-module is a classroom activity that amounts to approximately seventy-eight minutes of engagement. The third module is a homework assignment to help assess if you are comprehending each module’s lessons. Once each homework assignment is revised, they will be combined during the last module—resulting in a completed social justice research essay. In other words, each homework assignment is a different piece of your social justice research essay.

 

CONTEXTUAL FRAMING FOR THIS MODULE

There is always some level of urgency when it comes to social justice. After all, social justice centers on well-being, progress, and accountability on individual, communal, and systemic levels, and many would argue that nourishing well-being, progress, and accountability should never be delayed. Bearing that in mind, the rhetorical appeal of kairos seems especially applicable to social justice research writing. 

Have you ever heard the saying “There is a time and place for everything”? If so, you have some experience with kairos—the “when and where” or “time and place” rhetorical appeal. For the scope of social justice research writing, let’s more specifically define kairos as a rhetorical appeal that indicates the time, context, and urgency of a social justice issue. Furthermore, within social justice research writing, kairos may be utilized to address political instability, economic reckonings, social unrest, and other current event tensions.

 

EXAMPLE READINGS/MEDIA

"Lincoln's Gettysburg Address" on November 19, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln (located at Project Gutenberg)

 

NOTE TO PROFESSORS

Each of the 15 OER modules has 2 minutes of contextual reading/media, 78 minutes of classroom activities, and a homework assignment. If you plan to use this OER with a 15-week or 16-week course that meets two days per week, I suggest using the classroom activities one day per week. On top of that, the student will likely need a week to complete most if not all of the homework assignments in this OER series. For the second class session per week, I recommend the following approach. Since English 101 and English 102 have an overlap of several student learning outcomes, dedicate part of the second class period of the week to identifying which foundational skills from English 101 the class needs to work on. Then, dedicate the rest of class period to building one of those skills (e.g., how to utilize in-text citations, how to format a paper with MLA format, how to use transitions, etc.). Here is one example of what the skill building could be for those days across 16 weeks: 

 

1. Brainstorming for Asserting Your Opinion to Win Over the Opposition

2. Brainstorming for Finding a Common Ground

3. Formatting Header, Headings, Subheadings, and Works Cited Page

4. Formatting Margins, Double-Spacing, and Removing After and Before Spacing with the Paragraph Menu

5. Finding Credible Sources

6. Utilizing In-text Citations

7. Writing a Research Question

8. Rhetorical Mode 1: Narration

9. Rhetorical Mode 2: Description

10. Rhetorical Mode 3: Exemplification/Illustration

11. Rhetorical Mode 4: Process

12. Rhetorical Mode 5: Cause and Effect

13. Rhetorical Mode 6: Compare and Contrast

14. Rhetorical Mode 7: Classification and Division

15. Rhetorical Mode 8: Definition

16. Using Transitions

 

If you are teaching a 16 week course, then you might have realized there is no 16^th OER module. In place of an OER module for that week, I suggest conducting conferences with students or having students present their social justice research essays to the class. 

 

If you like to give students extra credit, you may want to use the following prompt:   

• Extended Learning Opportunity: This is an invitation in the spirit of democratization. Students are invited to write a reflection about what they can co-create to make the lesson “stick” (i.e., ensure they learned the lesson in a way that persists long-term).