To the members of the Composition Committee,

One of the guiding principles in the creation of my Memes & Digital Culture themed course
stems from a part of Bruce McComiskeys introduction to his edited collection, English Studies:
An Introduction to the Discipline(s). Among other things, McComiskey wants to unify the
various branches of the English discipline with an emphasis on the analysis, critique, and
production of discourse in social context (43). As instructors of writing, I feel we have a
responsibility to address the growing presence of social media and how we as writers can interact
on this platform in a critical and meaningful way. Oftentimes, we find ourselves mentioning in
passing how we are still writers even when on social media, but I want to bring the focus back to
that particular point: how can social media and the prevalence of memes as part of a digital
culture inform how we write and how we interact with the world around us?

While thinking of how to frame the assignments in this course to both fulfill the course outcome
requirements and work toward answering my guiding question, I took some of the foundational
ideas from the common 10803 syllabus and adapted them to fit the course. The first assignment
will ask students to compose a This I Believe essay, as in 10803, but with a focus on social
media. Even students that are not active on social media or have a strong resistance to it, I feel,
should find themselves being able to develop a position on why that might be. My aim is not to
alienate students that are not technologically savvy. I have not set out to design a course for an
audience that is well-versed in memes; instead, I am attempting to tailor it to a group of students
that may not be as familiar with digital culture yet in order to cultivate an atmosphere of learning
rather than a semesters worth of confusion. In any case, the goal of this assignment is to assist
students in thinking about their own exposure to social media and memes while providing me
with a more focused writing history letter that will better demonstrate their expertise on the
subject coming into the class. This will get them started on learning how to write in a genre
different than what they have been exposed to in high school (as it stays faithful to the narrative
conventions of the This I Believe essay from the common syllabus).

The second assignment was originally formulated with the Profile of a Place essay in mind, but
evolved into a more analytical piece. This prompt will ask students to select a recent historical
event, search for memes that came from it, and discuss whether or not they believe these memes
adequately captured the publics reaction to the event. The goal of this assignment is
multifaceted. First, I am prioritizing teaching them how to sift through news sources that will
cover the event in a way that is as objective as possible. Second, in analyzing memes that came
from the event, students are essentially tasked with performing a rhetorical analysis of the image
and reflecting on its relevance as compared to the public reception. Third, by having to
incorporate images (like in the Profile of a Place essay), students again are taught to think
intentionally and rhetorically about how they choose and place images in their essay in order to
bolster their arguments.

The third assignment is relatively unchanged from the Discovery essay from the common
syllabus, though I have added a focus on social media. I decided I wanted to leave this
assignment as it is because of the value I think it adds to the course as an inquiry-focused
curriculum. This assignment also meets the second course outcome of learning to interact with
secondary sources in a way that incorporates their own voice in conversation with that of
external sources.

The Meme Analysis Papers scattered throughout the semester (typically in a biweekly fashion)
are meant to be a new spin on the RAPs from the common syllabus. In this course, however,
these will serve a more informal purpose as a way to start conversations at the beginning of the
weeks they are due. By involving students in practical applications of studying memes by having
them choose memes that are especially relevant in the week or two before each MAP is due, I am
hoping to capitalize on the fact that memes have a short shelf life and can thus provide ample
content to write on throughout the semester. Though this activity could seem trivial, it once again
connects to McComiskeys idea of being able to create discourse in social contexts. Since these
are the source of many students daily interactions, I feel these MAPs can be used to bring about
important conversations regarding how we look at memes and understanding the value they add
to an increasingly digital culture.

Lastly, the final portfolio will act as a summative assignment that asks students to bring together
all the materials they have submitted throughout the semester and reflect on their progress. By
this point, students will have acquired strategies of revision and editing over the course of the
semester due to peer reviews and in-class discussions of these strategies. Though I have enjoyed
the portfolios students have turned in this semester, I feel as though it will prove beneficial to
only ask them to submit a portfolio for their final project. By asking them to provide a reflection
on their progress as well as create a meme that portrays what they feel their semester has been
like, students will have a chance to demonstrate their knowledge of the tools they have acquired
over the course of this class.

I wholeheartedly believe in the importance and relevance of this course. Students should be able
to engage in conversations with and critically analyze the world around themof which digital
culture is forming an increasingly formidable partin addition to being able to demonstrate
proficiency in academic and/or professional writing for their fields. This course challenges
students to write in various genres, provides them with strategies and tools to be able to edit and
revise their own work, and offers them opportunities to bring other voices into conversation with
their own.

Thank you all in advance for the time you are taking to review my materials!

-Daniel Archer