Constraints and Meaning (5-10 min)
In “Writing Physics,” a big part of the problem Mermin had with researching physics was also an asset. From one perspective, ordinary language got in the way of him being able to talk and think about physics. But, from another perspective, using language through writing helped him understand concepts in physics much better. It helped him work out what he knew or thought he knew. The limitations of language, counterintuitively, helped form something productive.
How?
Hopefully, in your QSR4 that was due for today, you were able to use writing to help you think through something familiar and know it a little better.
One part of the rhetorical situation, along with exigence and audience, that we went over way back was constraints. Constraints are simply limits placed on us for what and how we say or write something. We will always have constraints of some kind when we engage in rhetoric and sometimes they really get in the way of doing what we want to do.
For instance, time. Perhaps, having only 5 minutes to speak on a topic is really limiting. Maybe there is just more we want to say! However, perhaps that limit of time also forces us to say something in a really creatively concise way that leaves an impact.
The form of our writing is one big source of constraints, and this often gets bound up with audience, as well.
This can mean the genre or the rough “type” of text our audiences expect us to write in.
It could also mean medium or how something is delivered (e.g., verbal conversation, print document, digital document, over email, over a messaging app).
Constraints and Affordances of the Blog and Online Writing (20-25 min)
For the Rhetorical Analysis assignment, the prompt asks you to write your draft as a “long-form blog post” that will be submitted as a final draft on our course website. The audience for this genre of writing is your classmates–write for us! You should know each other well enough by now.
So, let’s think about constraints in blog writing and online writing in general.
And, after that, we should think about affordances, or things you can do in an online space that would be difficult to do in other media (plural of medium).
To get started, let’s think together about things you read online. What do you read? List as many things you can think of, the more specific the better. Take about 2 minutes to list things you read online in this Google Doc.
Okay, let’s go over some of these and hopefully find a suitable example to click on.
What do you notice?
What are the paragraphs like? Why?
What besides the writing is on the screen?
How is it organized?
Are there hyperlinks? Why?
What comes after the post ends?
What is the title? What is notable about it?
So, what are some constraints and affordances for writing online? For blogging?
Circulation and Constraint (10-15 min)
This will be a little harder to grasp, but I want to talk about how not just genre nor medium, but also circulation is really important when considering constraint.
Take the next 2-3 minutes and scroll through a social media app of your choice. Note any patterns across posts that you see. What sorts of posts do you get in your feed? Why? How about any advertisements? What are they trying to sell to you? Why? Try to especially key in on any posts that link to blog posts or articles.
Assuming you are likely part of a demographic that advertisers are interested in (trust me, we are assigned some sort of “bucket” because it is not necessarily “who we are” but “what we might buy based on previous things we engage with”), the posts you are seeing have successfully done something for them to be populated in a feed of someone like you.
What have they done that is successful do you think?
How does any of this relate to constraints you have as a writer who writes something that might circulate on social media?
Midterm and Research Project (10-15 min)
Everyone is scheduled to meet with me next week, right? You got an email with information about your time? If not scheduled, go here to do so: https://calendly.com/daniel-libertz/student-conference
We are going to meet one-on-one next week. Here’s what I want you to bring to that meeting:
- 2-3 goals for your writing for the remainder of the semester
- 2-3 possible research topics for your Research-Driven Writing Project. To come up with these topics, do the first 6 steps for the Research-Driven Writing Project Proposal Process Document.
- And any questions you might have about the class!
You should be able to draw from two pieces of writing that you’ll be working on this and next week to help you think up some goals and topics:
- Midterm Learning Narrative (due 10/20)
- Research-Driven Writing Project Proposal Process Document (due 10/22)
Let’s go over both right now (as well as the Research-Driven Writing Project prompt) and talk questions if we have them.
All can be found on Blackboard in either Assignment Prompts or Process Documents.
The key here to both of these writing assignments due next week is to reread writing you have done so far this semester and think critically about that writing in terms of: goals you have for your own writing, what is working well or needs work in your writing so far, and ways to generate further research for your future writing.
Next Time (2-5 min)
- Mid-term Learning Narrative by 3pm on Tuesday, October 20th.
- For your midterm meeting with me next week, have: 2-3 goals for your writing for the remainder of the semester and 2-3 possible research topics for your Research-Driven Writing Project. To come up with these topics, do the first 6 steps for the Research-Driven Writing Project Proposal Process Document.