Learning Module 6 Recap and Next Time

You made it! In this module, we talked about:

  • Getting a revision plan together for your Rhetorical Analysis (due November 5th)
  • Thinking about how to adapt your Rhetorical Analysis to blog writing
  • How your thinking about your research topic and question is involving
  • Using Stasis Theory to help develop a range of research questions
  • Start/continue process of researching your topic
  • Practicing some evaluation of sources connected to your topic
  • Went over Research Question and Attempt Process Document to get that ready to go for October 29th–to help finalize a research question and drill down further on evaluating sources and their connection to your research question.

Next time:

  • Research Question and Attempt Process Document due by 3pm on Thursday, October 29th
  • Make sure you start to coordinate with your Writing Group about getting some peer review done for your Rhetorical Analysis drafts due on November 5th.

There is a task! It has been a longggg semester, I’m sure. We are getting there. I’m really happy to read your writing and am impressed with so much you have done. Keep your head up.

If you have any recommendations for things to watch/read or music/podcasts to listen to, share it in our Slack channel for that!

I have been listening to System of A Down lately because Victor has been writing about this song. I have also been watching The Boys on Amazon Prime, which is really great. Kind of inverts the good guy/bad guy dynamic of superhero movies and has a nice genre blend of that sort of movie and heist/action movies. Really funny, too. I’m also interested in seeing that Borat sequel that is released on 10/23. Have gotten into Superstore, too, which is a solid show I don’t have to think much while watching.

Have a good weekend!

Research Question and Attempt Process Document

Go to Blackboard>Assignment Prompts>Process Documents to download the prompt for the Research Question and Attempt Process Document.

Read over the prompt and let me know if you have any questions about this assignment due for 3pm on Thursday, October 29th. 

Comment below with your question or type “I don’t have a question” below.

After commenting, click on the button below to go to the final page of the module:

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Choosing Sources

As you continue to search for information that is relevant to your research question, you’ll need to keep in mind what is valuable information and what is not so valuable.

Below is what we talked about on 10/22

Evaluating secondary sources:

    • how is it relevant to your research question?
    • who wrote it (expert? google or google scholar. expert but are they expert in subject they are talking about?)?
    • Reputation of publisher?
    • What are author and publisher’s goals and why?
    • How recent was this, potentially outdated?
    • how credible are sources they cite?
    • how specialized?
    • who was this written for?
    • enough information here to support your research?
    • can you access full document?
    • what is left out?
    • can it be corroborated by other sources?
    • what is web address and is that clue for credibility?
    • does it cite sources for claims?
    • mix of perspectives represented fairly?

These are great questions to ask, and you should consider these questions carefully as you look at each potential source you find. The second reading for today is a more streamlined version of these sorts of questions. Go to page 165 and 166 in the textbook and read through each of the 6 questions.

In a comment below, answer each of the 6 questions to the best of your ability for one potential source you could use in your research project. Use the readings from last week to help you here (especially “Evaluating Sources”)!

If you do not have a source yet…find one! Use the previous page in the module to go find some stuff!

After commenting below, click on the button to continue the module:

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Researching: First Round

So you have a topic to research, and maybe you have a rough draft of a research question you really like (at the very least, you have 5 possible research questions!). Let’s try a run at looking for information about this topic/question.

On 10/22, we looked over that “fake news” research question to try to find some sources to try to address that question. Below is the same list of bullet points for you to try out with your research topic/question.

  • For your research question, what is the best approach to address it? What sort of field of study (e.g., history, psychology, economics, cultural or literary studies, rhetorical studies, marketing, sociology, environmental studies, urban planning, engineering)?
  • What sort of evidence is preferred for that field of study?
  • What ways of finding information would give you the highest quality evidence to research your topic? (e.g. library databases like Academic Search Complete or JSTOR or EBSCOHost or the Newman Library’s main search engine, internet search engines like Google or Bing, specialized versions of internet search engines like Google Scholar, specific academic journals that you know will have information on your topic, sites with access to image/audio/video–see here for more on that). It can be good to try multiple places to search because each search method will produce different results. If you are not sure where to start, just pick one. You can pick the ones provided (e.g., Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, Google Scholar) or you can explore the databases page on the Newman Library page)
  • The place to start for most of this is the Newman Library main page. You can use main search bar but also click “Databases” on right side of page to browse options to look for information.
  • Contacting a librarian about places to look for information can always be really helpful. You will learn a ton because they are smart people who specialize in doing exactly what you are just learning to do: find and evaluate information. You can schedule a research consultation here.
  • Thinking about how to search is important by using quotation marks to search for full phrases or Boolean operators (E.g., AND, OR, NOT) to help filter things out is a big help. More information on how to search on this LM3 page.
  • Wikipedia is fine–just see what they cite and grab those sources instead!
  • Popular vs. academic sources–academic sources nearly (but not always) always more reliable. Check web address like “.com” vs. “.edu” or “.org”. Something with “.com” or “.net” might not always be as reliable (just have to do more digging).
  • Do you need any primary sources or just secondary sources? Primary sources are the original data talked about–e.g., your Rhetorical Analysis was analyzing a specific text, that specific text was a primary source. Secondary sources talk about data, so you citing a study of college students about learning styles would be secondary since you are not analyzing their data but their analysis of their data.
  • Worth collecting your own primary evidence (experiments, making observations, interview people, surveys, personal experience)? If so, how will you go about doing that?

After going through these bullets and trying most (if not all of them) for one of your 5 research questions from last page, comment below with the following in regard to that research question:

  1. what academic discipline or disciplines would help you address your topic/question?
  2. what kinds of evidence would best address this question? (go back to the readings due for last class on 10/22 to remind yourself of different kinds of evidence)
  3. name ways of finding information that you will use–like specific ones not just “the internet” or “a search engine.”
  4. name keywords and/or phrases that are relevant to searching for information for your topic/phrase

After commenting below, click the button below to continue the module:

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Using Stasis Theory for Research Question

When you further polish your research question into something that is clear, focused, concise, complex, and arguable (see George Mason Writing Center page that we talked about on 10/22), you would have formed a question that will have a baked-in audience:

An academic discipline that is also interested in trying to answer similar questions.

Throughout the unit, we will talk more about topics related to writing for an academic audience in a specific discipline (e.g., using a documentation style like MLA or APA, writing in a preferred organizational macro-structure like IMRaD or thesis-driven, learning conventions of academic journal articles).

In the Blankenship reading on stasis theory, she presents five ways of thinking about a topic that can help sharpen your research question:

  1. The facts (is it real? does it exist?)
  2. The meaning or nature of the issue (definition: what should we call it?)
  3. The value of the issue (quality: is it good or bad?)
  4. The plan of action (policy: what should be done about it?)
  5. Origin (Causality: what caused it?)

Blankenship offers several examples of claims that could be made in one of these five areas of stasis on pages 192 and 193. Review them now for a bit.

For your research topic, create (at least) 1 possible research question for each stasis. So, you should have 5 research questions. Make sure each is as close to clear, focused, concise, complex, and arguable as possible.*

In a comment below, write out each of your 5 research questions.

After commenting below, click on the button to continue the module.

*This task adapted from Lisa Blankenship’s activity on using stasis theory for developing a research question.

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Unit 3 So Far

Here, from the syllabus, is the course and subgoals for Unit 3:

 

Unit 3 – Research: Knowledge and Writing
The focus for this unit is on research. Now, all writing requires research; research is an investigation into various kinds of information. We can’t really write without doing that. However, generally speaking, and in academic contexts particularly, research usually has a very systematic connotation. In other words, it means close analysis of primary and secondary materials to make some kind of argument about something in a specific disciplinary domain. In this unit, we will consider how research and writing intersect in terms of how writing makes knowledge, how developing information literacy can assist us in making that knowledge, and how there are both general and context-dependent conventions for research writing that help us communicate our research in impactful ways. This unit primarily addresses the fourth Learning Goal (i.e., Identify and engage with credible sources and multiple perspectives in your writing) but it also touches on the fifth (i.e., Use conventions appropriate to audience, genre, and purpose). Below are some sub-goals:

 

·      Write to learn (e.g., writing out processes and aspects of a topic to see what you know, moving from analysis to synthesis, moving from summary to analysis, coordinating multiple voices to reveal something new)

·      Develop information literacy (e.g., finding information via search engines/library databases/stacks, evaluating source credibility and relevance, analyzing primary vs. secondary sources, using citation tools)

·      Learn differences in research genres and disciplinary knowledge (e.g., using documentation style, IMRaD vs. thesis-driven paper)

·      Write with other voices (e.g., paraphrasing, direct quotes, summary, footnotes, endnotes, managing claims and evidence with other voices, qualifying claims, counterarguments)

·      Organize and making an argument (e.g., stasis theory, Toulmin’s model, organizing sources and mapping their use, making an annotated bibliography, supplementing research process onto writing process)

 

So far, we have talked about the following in relation to Unit 3:

  • how the process of writing itself can help us slow down and confront what we know or do not know (e.g., Mermin piece, QSR4).
  • how to formulate a research question (e.g., 10/22 lesson)
  • how to initiate searches for information and evaluation information you find (e.g., 10/22 lesson, textbook reading)

We have mainly addressed writing to learn and information literacy so far. Today, we will continue examining both of these subgoals in more depth by using the reading on stasis theory to think about further developing your research question and the short reading on questions to ask when choosing sources to think about information literacy.

Hopefully, you have done some of the following since our class on 10/22 and your meeting with me when we talked about your research projects:

  • thought more about your topic
  • thought more about potential research questions
  • started to search around for information related to your research question
  • started to evaluate information you found
  • started to think about your own data you might collect and how
  • scheduled a meeting with a librarian
  • scheduled a meeting with another expert knowledgeable about the subject you are researching
  • taken notes on some sources you have found
  • did some brainstorming and writing to think through your research topic and question
  • come up with a schedule for how you’ll work toward your research project

On our Slack channel on writing practice and process, post a quick note on one thing that has changed since we talked last week about your research project. Could be related to your research topic, question, or sources you have looked for or found so far. Could be a question you have, something surprising you discovered, a new angle you are thinking about taking on your project, etc.

After posting in Slack also comment below “I have posted to Slack”, and then click below to continue the module.

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Rhetorical Analysis Revision Plan

You did it! You submitted the first draft of your Rhetorical Analysis. You got some feedback from peers, you got some feedback from me. You have, no doubt, thought more about it (even a little bit!) since you turned it in.

Now it is time to start planning (and start doing) revision.

As with the Literacy Narrative assignment, I’m going to ask you to consider (but not require you to submit) a Revision Plan.

Here are those guidelines for formulating this plan:

  1. It’s about love!!!! Ask yourself: What do you love about this piece? What do you want to return to and work on more? Why? Choose “love” and not “well, this was bad” or “well, this was pretty good.” Instead, what did you enjoy working on most? What is the most exciting part of this text? Why? How do you build off of that? Or, what about this text, generally, interests you the most? There will always be moments where you’ll have to revise something you don’t want to ever look at again. Still, even for something you rather not look at again (which will happen to you), finding something that attracts you to it, something that can make it a positive experience, will both motivate you and also help you to identify its strength.
  2. Let yourself be guided. How can you let that excitement and energy guide you? What enhances that energy? What takes away from that energy?
  3. Hear out others (including yourself). Part of (but not ONLY) what should inform you is the feedback you have received previously: my comments on your draft, peer response feedback, your old notes as you were working on the draft, etc.
  4. Task list. Begin to develop some tasks that can assist you in addressing the above. (e.g., revise this paragraph, move this section up earlier and adjust it so it fits, add this supporting argument, do this analysis and see where it takes me, do more research for secondary sources). Consider what YOU want to do with the piece and the comments you received from others.
  5. Be specific. As you write out your tasks, you MUST be specific. Why are you doing this task? As in, what about your writing has led you to think you should do to enhance the essay overall? How will you do this task? As in, what specifically do you have in mind as some potential changes that would work to address the “why” of the task you chose. For example: I will add more secondary sources to support the claim I make in paragraph 4, I need to show a more cohesive transition between section 3 and 4, my argument is too broad so I need to be more specific about the limits of my argument when I make the main argument early on, I want to incorporate my lessons on style to many of sentences that are a little harder to read.
  6. Be a planner. Finally, if helpful, begin to develop a schedule of when and how you will work on your revision. Revison (or any aspect of writing!) benefits from work that is spread out rather than work that happens all at once. A fresh mind is an asset. Backwards plan. “This is due 11/5, what do I need done by 10/24? By 10/27? By 11/2? Etc.”.
  7. Are there new constraints or affordances to consider? Are there new things you have to consider now? For instance, do you need to more closely consider the genre and medium you are writing in? (i.e., blog post on our course website, hyperlinking, paragraph length, structure/organization, potential use of images)

Eventually, I encourage you to address all 8 of the below questions, but, for now, just comment below with responses to of the below questions or instructions.

  1. What do you love about this piece? What do you want to return to and work on more? Why? Choose “love” and not “well, this was bad” or “well, this was pretty good.” Instead, what did you enjoy working on most? What is the most exciting part of this text? Why? How do you build off of that? Or, what about this text, generally, interests you the most?
  2. What feedback will you incorporate do you think? Why?
  3. How will you enhance or add analysis to your draft?
  4. What might be a change to your thesis?
  5. What are some changes that you’ll make to make it fit the genre of the blog post through the medium of online writing?
  6. What about your word choice and sentence structure? How will you revise your style in a way that best fits what you want to do in your piece and in ways your audience would appreciate?
  7. Write out ALL of the specific tasks you will take based on: what you love, the feedback you got, and other considerations. Be SPECIFIC.
  8. What is your schedule for getting this done? Consult your writing schedule that you did for today!

After commenting below, click the button to continue the module.

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Rhetorical Analysis Revision: Online Writing and Blogging

In the final draft, I want you to write to the class as your audience and I want you to do that with two related forms in mind:

  1. the genre of the blog post/online article
  2. the medium of online writing

This form of writing assumes a stance of entertaining while also informing readers. So how can you both entertain us by making it clear there is something interesting about your analysis but also inform us about something meaningful about it?

Consider the following characteristics:

  1. The way you open your piece (how do you grab interest?)
  2. your thesis statement (how do you make clear what argument is about?)
  3. the title of your piece (how do you grab attention while still being truthful?)
  4. how you hyperlink to other information (how do you provide access to sources that inform your writing?)
  5. how you incorporate visuals throughout the piece (what would be relevant to what you are writing about but also nicely positioned to break up the writing for keeping interest?)
  6. paragraphing function and length (are your paragraphs clear on what you are doing in them? do you signal to your reader what they’ll be about and how they connect to other paragraphs? are they too long for reading experience of reading on screen?)

Here are some examples that you can use as models…take notes on them and see what you want to try to imitate in relation to above characteristics in your revision!:

Billy Bean article from FiveThirtyEight that we went over in class.

Review of Armani Caesar’s album The Liz Tape on Pitchfork (which also qualifies as a rhetorical analysis!)

Review of Borat sequel on The Ringer (which also qualifies as a rhetorical analysis!)

Analysis of AOC’s speech about harassment and misogyny from July 2020 (which uses rhetorical analysis!)

 

After reviewing these characteristics, reviewing the four example posts/articles above, and looking through your rhetorical analysis draft, do the following:

  1. Choose a paragraph you’d like to revise
  2. Consider which characteristics of blogging and online writing from above that you’d like to apply to revising that paragraph
  3. Revise the paragraph
  4. Paste the paragraph into a comment below
  5. Write up a brief explanation of what you revised and why (no more than 100 words)

Comment below with #4 and #5 from above list!!!!!!

After commenting, click on the button below to continue:

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QSR4: Research, Making Knowledge, and Writing

We will be wrapping up our unit on rhetoric pretty soon and start our unit on research-driven writing.

From the syllabus, here are the goals for the research unit:

Unit 3 – Research: Knowledge and Writing
The focus for this unit is on research. Now, all writing requires research; research is an investigation into various kinds of information. We can’t really write without doing that. However, generally speaking, and in academic contexts particularly, research usually has a very systematic connotation. In other words, it means close analysis of primary and secondary materials to make some kind of argument about something in a specific disciplinary domain. In this unit, we will consider how research and writing intersect in terms of how writing makes knowledge, how developing information literacy can assist us in making that knowledge, and how there are both general and context-dependent conventions for research writing that help us communicate our research in impactful ways. This unit primarily addresses the fourth Learning Goal (i.e., Identify and engage with credible sources and multiple perspectives in your writing) but it also touches on the fifth (i.e., Use conventions appropriate to audience, genre, and purpose). Below are some sub-goals:

 

·      Write to learn (e.g., writing out processes and aspects of a topic to see what you know, moving from analysis to synthesis, moving from summary to analysis, coordinating multiple voices to reveal something new)

·      Develop information literacy (e.g., finding information via search engines/library databases/stacks, evaluating source credibility and relevance, analyzing primary vs. secondary sources, using citation tools)

·      Learn differences in research genres and disciplinary knowledge (e.g., using documentation style, IMRaD vs. thesis-driven paper)

·      Write with other voices (e.g., paraphrasing, direct quotes, summary, footnotes, endnotes, managing claims and evidence with other voices, qualifying claims, counterarguments)

·      Organize and making an argument (e.g., stasis theory, Toulmin’s model, organizing sources and mapping their use, making an annotated bibliography, supplementing research process onto writing process)

 

Research, ultimately, is a way to make knowledge. To do things and think as a way to produce something even slightly new in terms of knowledge. This is what college is for, this is what your professors do professionally.

Writing aids this process, and that is where we are starting are unit on research.

For our fourth Question for Second Reading Response, I want you to get some practice in explicitly writing in a way that can help someone know something as a way for you to think about how writing does that.

Go to Blackboard>Course Documents>Assignment Prompts>Questions for Second Reading Response. Download the prompt for QSR4 and read it.

Comment below if you have any questions about this prompt. If you have no questions, just type “I have no questions” below.

After commenting below, click on the button below to continue.

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Reflecting at Midterm: Learning Narrative and Midterm Meeting

These past few pages are essentially engaging in the act of reflection (as was the Learning Module last week when it asked you to think about how your revision went). There is a lot of research in composition and rhetoric that suggests that taking moments to reflect about your writing can greatly improve it.

This makes intuitive sense–if you never stop to think about how things are going, and what you want to improve, how could you ever make necessary changes to improve?

With that in mind, we will be doing two things at midterm that build off of what we have done so far in the Learning Module (and in Learning Module 4 when you were asked to reflect on the Literacy Narrative revision):

  • The completion of a Midterm Learning Module by 3pm on Tuesday, October 20th.
  • A brief 10 minute meeting with me on October 20th, 21st, or 22nd.

To star to think about this and to get this all coordinated, you have two tasks to complete for this page:

  1. Review the prompt for the Midterm Learning Narrative, and let me know if you have any questions in a comment below. (go to Blackboard>Course Documents>Assignment Prompts>Major Writing Projects)
  2. Claim a spot on my schedule to meet with me for 10 minutes. We will meet briefly to talk about how things are going and go through any questions you might have.

At the end of the semester, you will do a more robust version of the Midterm Learning Narrative called the Experiential-Learning Document. The goal is to get you comfortable reading your own writing closely as a way to think about how you want to keep working and growing as a writer.

When you are done reviewing the prompt and scheduling a meeting with me, comment below with the following:

  1. Write a question you have about the Midterm Learning Narrative. If you have no questions, write “I don’t have a question.”
  2. Write “I have scheduled an appointment.” for the Midterm Meeting on October 20th, 21st, or 22nd.

After commenting below, click on the button below to continue.

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