WRIT 417 Writing for Cultural Engagement

Exploration of writing focusing on rhetorical strategies, cultural contextualization from a biblical perspective, and theological nuance necessary for Christian writers.

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, students 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. Students will have two discussions in this course. Each thread should be a minimum of 450 words. Students will need to reply to at least three peers with at least 250-word replies for each. Note: Before replying to a student with multiple replies, students should make sure all students have at least one dialogue partner for their original thread.

Article Analysis Assignments (2)

For this assignment, you will choose an article that engages culture from a Christian worldview. Find a reputable blog, article, or essay that is theologically orthodox and of excellent quality. Once students have read the article, they should analyze it using the seven headings provided for them 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

Cultural Engagement Draft Assignment
This is a draft one assignment aimed at helping students toward their next submission–the Publication Investigation Assignment. Here students will need to begin their cultural engagement writing. This is not, however, a rough draft. What you submit may be incomplete, but it should not be rough. What you should submit here will be as polished as possible–even if you do not have all of your argument completed. 

Cultural Engagement Publication Assignment
In your Publication Investigation Assignment, you explored several publication outlets and their requirements to publish on their site or in their publications. For this assignment, you 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, students will need to write a short article aimed at publication on a topic that integrates a Christian worldview into the cultural conversations of our day and age. 

Publication Investigation Assignment

For this assignment, students 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). You will need to identify the publisher and then, in your own words, describe the publication procedures for this particular publisher. Is there a length requirement? Is there a style guide? Are there topics they encourage or discourage? Include in your synopsis whatever is necessary for publishing with this publisher. The research students do here will aid them in aiming well at publication–for their 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 students 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 you to the overarching ideas of the material. Each essay quiz synthesis as between three and five questions.