Eberly Center

Teaching for Transfer through Comparative Genre Analysis in First-Year Writing @ CMU

Wetzel, D. & J. Wolfe

"This poster presents qualitative evidence supporting the effectiveness of Comparative Genre Analysis (CGA) for preparing students to transfer rhetorical knowledge across disciplinary contexts. CGA is an analytic method that involves careful, rhetorical comparison between genres. Prior research suggests that, when compared to a traditional argument-focused curriculum, incorporating CGA into existing first-year writing classes helps students focus on the rhetorical elements of the class and prepares students to analyze unfamiliar writing prompts. We report on how first-year writing students exposed to CGA are more successful than students taught using a traditional argument curriculum in naming the rhetorical knowledge that they have learned. Moreover, these students can list more similarities and differences between assignments they completed in FYW and writing prompts from other disciplines."

Danielle Wetzel, English DC

Joanna Wolfe, English DC