Remixing the First-Year
Composition Classroom
Authorship Lessons and Activities
Medium Changing Authorship
Ask students to compose a one-page text in a traditional essay format. The specific content is not of great importance, so you may have students to write about a reading or something similar. Ask students to then remix their text into two other mediums (blog, drawing, letter, rap, poster, social media post, etc. ) After completing the project, ask students which of the three compositions would most likely be considered to be a product of the author and why. Discuss what authorship is and what it means to be an author. This lower-stakes assignment doubles as practice for the larger remixing project.
They say, I say
They say, I say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing With Readings by Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst is a book that helps students with outside resources and how to interact with them. There are several activities, graphics, and in-depth explanations that are accessible to both students and teachers. There is also a blog that continues the conversation of the book.
Their Style, My Style
Using a print text or digital text, have students read and find the author's argument. You may also want to talk about style and word choice. Then, ask students to think about their own voice. How would they explain the same concept to the same audience? Different audience? In a different medium? Have students compare their own voice and style to the previous author. This can be done as a low-stakes assignment and/or as a class discussion with several texts.