Matthew Annis Headshot

Matthew Annis

Lecturer

Department of Liberal Studies
National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Matthew Annis

Lecturer

Department of Liberal Studies
National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Bio

Education

B.A., English, University of Rochester

M.A., Humanities and Social Thought, New York University

M.S., Deaf Education, Rochester Institute of Technology

Biography

  • Rochester native. Grandparents were experts of the Rochester Method. Parents met through NTID (SVP '73). NTID alumni '14.
  • Taught middle school and high school at the Indiana School for the Deaf.
  • Passionate about critical thinking, creative expression, and helping students succeed.
  • Theater geek

Fun fact about me: I have a chihuahua who likes to sit on my shoulder while I drive!

Selected Publications

Annis, M. H. (2007). The Fisher King. The Camelot Project.  https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/annis-the-fisher-king-essay-and-bibliography

Currently Teaching

NENG-221
3 Credits
This is the first course in a four-course intensive English sequence. In this course, selected shorter readings give students the opportunity to strengthen their reading comprehension skills and world knowledge. Readings will include nonfiction, fiction, and theme-based articles from library databases. The readings also serve as prompts for writing at both the paragraph and essay levels. While developing their expository writing skills, students learn to recognize and apply the traditional rhetorical modes used in writing. Students also will develop skills in summary writing. Other components of the course include grammar and vocabulary instruction, along with editing and proofreading strategies. Vocabulary is taught both incidentally as it appears in readings and formally using a vocabulary text. The readings follow a specific theme and also will serve as models for examining style, organization and grammar. In order to continue their reading and writing skill development in Bridge to College English I (NENG-231) and Bridge to College English II (NENG-232), students must complete this course and co-requisite Analytical Reading and Writing II (NENG-222) with grades of “C-” or better. (NTID Reading Test score 98-124 and NTID Writing Test score 50-59, or by department permission.
NENG-222
3 Credits
This second course in the four-course intensive English sequence continues to strengthen students’ reading comprehension skills and world knowledge, with an added emphasis on critical reading, thinking, and writing. Readings will include nonfiction, fiction, and theme-based articles from library databases. Students identify and examine an author’s purpose and tone, bias, assumptions, opinions, facts, examples, evidence, patterns of organization, and audience. Students also develop inference and deduction skills while learning to recognize and avoid overgeneralization and oversimplification in their writing. This course, which follows a specific theme, includes a short novel or novelette— fiction or non-fiction—as part of the required reading. In order to continue their reading and writing skill development in Bridge to College English(NENG-231) and Bridge to College English(NENG-232) students must complete this course and co-requisite Analytical Reading and Writing I (NENG-221) with grades of “C-” or better. (NTID Reading Test score 98-124 and NTID Writing Test score 50-59; or by department permission.
NENG-231
3 Credits
This is the first of two Bridge to College courses that also serve as the final two courses in the four-course intensive English sequence. This course exposes students to a variety of reading material, including nonfiction, fiction, and theme-based articles from library databases. It includes a reading of a full-length novel, either fiction or non-fiction, and it offers strategies for reading comprehension and interpretation beyond prior courses where applicable. Students will engage in a variety of writing activities related to the readings. Vocabulary is taught both incidentally as it appears in readings and formally using a vocabulary text. In order to qualify for testing and placement in Written Communication (NENG-241), Critical Reading and Writing (UWRT-100) or First Year Writing: Writing Seminar (UWRT-150) students must complete this course and co-requisite Bridge to College English II (NENG-232) with grades of “C-” or better. (NENG-221 and NENG-222 with grades of C- or better, or NTID Reading Test score 125-144 and NTID Writing Test score 60 or greater.