WRIT 417 Writing for Cultural Engagement

Writing is an art and science that Christians have stewarded across time to make known the mysteries of the gospel (Eph 6:19). As such, the student in this course will be equipped to utilize their talents for engagement using both explicit and implicit commentary on culture grounded in a nuanced and robust theological framework.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

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Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (2)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. The student will have 2 discussions in this course. Each thread should be a minimum of 450 words. The student will need to reply to at least 3 peers with at least 250-word replies for each. Note: Before replying to a student with multiple replies, the student should make sure all students have at least one dialogue partner for his/her original thread.

Article Analysis Assignments (2)

For this assignment, the student will choose an article that engages culture from a Christian worldview. The student must find a reputable blog, article, or essay that is theologically orthodox and of excellent quality. Once the student has read the article, he/she should analyze it using the seven headings provided for him/her in the assignment instructions. 

Butterfield Analysis Assignment

For this assignment, you will analyze one of the chapters from Butterfield’s first six chapters. You will organize this assignment much like you did in the Article Analysis Assignments by using the seven headings provided in the instructions. 

Cultural Engagement Assignments (2)

Cultural Engagement Draft Assignment

This is a draft one assignment aimed at helping the student toward his/her next submission–the Publication Investigation Assignment. Here the student will need to begin his/her cultural engagement writing. This is not, however, a rough draft. What the student submits may be incomplete, but it should not be rough. What the student should submit here will be as polished as possible–even if he/she does not have all of his/her argument completed. 

Cultural Engagement Publication Assignment

In his/her Publication Investigation Assignment, the student explored several publication outlets and his/her requirements to publish on his/her site or in his/her publications. For this assignment, he/she will be writing one article aimed at one of these outlets. The length of this assignment will need to fit the expectations of the publisher. Here, the student will need to write a short article aimed at publication on a topic that integrates a Christian worldview into the cultural conversations of this day and age. 

Publication Investigation Assignment

For this assignment, the student will need to identify five publishers (not book publishers) that publish articles or blogs on cultural engagement (think The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, Christ & Pop Culture, wng.org, etc.). The student will need to identify the publisher and then, in his/her own words, describe the publication procedures for this particular publisher. Is there a length requirement? Is there a style guide? Are there topics it encourages or discourages? The student will include in his/her synopsis whatever is necessary for publishing with this publisher. The research the student does here will aid him/her in aiming well at publication–for his/her final assignment. Publication of the final assignment is not required but knowing how to write to the expectations of a publisher is a key skill to learn. 

Quizzes (5)

These are essay quizzes based on the reading. Each quiz requires the student to synthesize ideas from the course material. The questions in these quizzes are not meant to be factual one-liners that students easily miss. Instead, they are meant to connect the student to the overarching ideas of the material. Each essay quiz synthesis as between three and five questions.