"The One Who Knows the Tricks Wins the Day": Cultivating MÄ“tis in an Undergraduate, Mixed-major Professional Writing Course

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Published: Jan 4, 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31719/pjaw.v3i1.35

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Hilary Sarat-St. Peter
English Department, Columbia College of Chicago

Abstract

This assignment demonstrates how writing instructors can cultivate students' mētis, a flexible and adaptive way of thinking, by requiring participation in naturalistic rhetorical situations that arise outside the classroom. The assignment, developed for an undergraduate, mixed-major professional writing course, asks students to pursue external professional opportunities. The affordances of naturalistic situations and the requirements of the assignment work together, enabling students to develop three key features of mētis: vigilance, tricks, and multiplicity. Exercising mētis improves students' chances of success when they pursue opportunities in competitive industries.

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How to Cite
Sarat-St. Peter, H. (2019). "The One Who Knows the Tricks Wins the Day": Cultivating MÄ“tis in an Undergraduate, Mixed-major Professional Writing Course. Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.31719/pjaw.v3i1.35
Issue
Vol. 3 No. 1 (2019)
Section
Articles

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