Peer Response Report (2-5 min)

I was curious about feedback you shared with one another. I just wanted a short summary of the sorts of feedback you gave and the kind of feedback you received. Going forward, what I would like is for Group Historians to update me on how Peer Response sessions are going, but otherwise I will trust that you’ll do this work. I will reach out to the Group Historians after the next Peer Response session (there will be one toward the end of September).

Be sure to give! If you are getting feedback, you just have to give it, too, out of respect.

Some things to keep in mind:

-Follow the Peer Response Method document I have! It can be helpful, and like I mentioned, it is grounded in research.

-Another thing to do: Think about what the author wants from you. I would recommend sticking close to what they might want help with. This can help guide your focus and best respect what the writer wants from you. For instance, some writers might really want help with grammar (and, by same token, some may not want this help knowing that they will proofread later on).

-Focus much more on “big picture” stuff than small stuff (e.g., grammatical issues and readability issues). This is not to say you can’t or shouldn’t talk about small stuff, but most of your energy should go toward what you thought the main goal of the piece was, how it was organized, how claims did or didn’t match evidence, expanding ideas, repetition, paragraphing, etc.

-Gotta, GOTTA, gotta praise AND criticize. There should be balance here, don’t skip out on one or the other. Be a human to each other on this. If you like something, explain WHY. If you think there could be more to do, be detailed but KIND. Usually, it is best to start your criticism from a place of positivity or asking questions…something to make sure they know THEY are the writer and not you.

-For the next round of Peer Response, I think I might have you record your voice as you read your draft and share that with your Peer Response partners.

 

 

Genre, Style, Models (20 min)

The word genre might be heard in a few ways. For instance, you might associate it with music: pop, hip hop, R&B, rock and roll, etc.

When listening to hip hop or rock and roll, what do you “expect” to hear?

Genre relates to any form of communication or art. I like this succinct definition, drawn from the work of rhetorical scholar Carolyn Miller, from this video: https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-genre

Genre is what some might call ‘typified rhetorical action’ and what that means is that there are features that repeat again and again, over time, with few differences, in part because audiences expect certain things to happen or because they want certain kinds of experiences. Genre is the name we use to describe the categories that have developed over time for what we read, what we watch, and what we listen to. And the kinds of genres that exist in one culture at one time may not exist in another culture at another time – they’re constantly changing.

An easy example is a grocery list, as shown from this webpage differentiating genre from medium:

a grocery list is a genre that developed out of a need to remember what you are shopping for at the grocery store. It is a set form of writing with general expectations – brief and to-the-point, in a list format, usually following the store’s layout. Genre is determined by need and audience expectation.

 

Genre is sort of the big picture, it is the “style” from a macro perspective. Like the kind of document rather than the kind of sentence, or language within a passage, or tone throughout a piece. Genre considers so many things: it in part means style, but also formatting, organization, design, etc. The main focus is on fulfilling some recognizable form for audiences to recognize for repeated rhetorical situations.

I want to put the idea of genre in conversation with MAYA. Help me out here.

Thompson claimed that Lowey believed in two opposing forces that consumers weigh: neophilia (curiosity about new things) and neophobia (a fear of anything too new).

The MAYA acronym describes the framework to join these opposing forces in order to make commodities most desirable—but Thompson branches out from pure consumerism to art/entertainment, academic knowledge, identity, and songwriting. Pretty much any art, design, or communicative activity.

Questions

1. So what does this mean for genre? What does this mean for something where there are set expectations? Does MAYA apply to that?
2. How true is it that there are set expectations?
3. What can the potential be for violating expectations?

 

Writing a Memoir Essay

Click on the below and choose 3 memoir essays to skim through with your group.

Name 2-3 genre expectations that you notice (e.g., how it starts, how it is formatted, paragraphing, kinds of words used, its organization, what happens toward the end).

Also, consider: who is the audience for a genre like this and what do they want?

15 Essay-Length Short Memoirs to Read Online on Your Lunch Break

 

 

Writing a Letter

Let’s also look over the letter genre.

More information on writing the personal letter can be found here.

Let me say a little bit more here.

Things to keep in mind:

1. Who are you writing to? How would that affect how you write?
2. Always open with some mention of the last time you talked or questions/statements about the correspondent’s life (i.e., something like “small talk” you might do with a co-worker).
3. In the body, you give the reason for writing. Personal letters can sometimes be more scattered, if they are part of a regular correspondence to share updates on your life. This is less common now, since people don’t really use letters to communicate that way anymore. Letters typically have more cohesive focus now.
4. Close with some sort of address back to your reader (sort of mirroring the opening). Could be good to do this throughout the piece, as well, since the letter is engaging in a dialogue with the reader that should be pretty explicit (all writing is a sort of dialogue, but usually more implicit than the letter).

 

Literacy Narrative Revision (5 min)

So, the Literacy Narrative Revision is why I went over memoir essays and personal letters in particular. Let’s go over the prompt for the assignment. I know you read it for the Learning Module but I think it is worth going over together.

 

Revision Plan (25 min)

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 (NOTE: let me know if you are having trouble with reading my comments on a PDF that you submitted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
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 x 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 10/15, what do I need done by 10/14? By 10/12? By 10/8? Etc.”.
7. Are there new constraints? Are there new things you have to consider now? For instance, in our Literacy Narrative assignment you have to: consider the Liao reading in terms of the sorts of things Literacy Narratives tend to do, you have to consider the genre of the piece and audience expectations for that genre, and you have to pay more attention to style (e.g., what sorts of words does your audience expect?)

Let’s make a draft of your revision plan now

Begin to answer these questions:

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? (Mine will be to you soon! By tomorrow)
3. What aspects of Liao’s perspective will help guide your revision do you think? Why? How?
4. Who is your audience for your revision? What genre will you write in? If a letter, who are you writing to? If a memoir-style blog post or article, what sort of publication and what kind of audience is there for that?
5. What about your word choice and sentence structure (the latter here will make more sense after Learning Module 3)? 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?
6. Write out ALL of the specific tasks you will take based on: what you love, the feedback you got, and the new constraints you have (Liao, audience, genre, style)? Be SPECIFIC.
7. What is your schedule for getting this done? Consult your writing schedule that you did for today!

 

I’m not going to require that you turn in your Revision Plan, but I do have the above also in document form on Course Documents in Blackboard.

Writing Session Plan

When you have a schedule (tentative as it might be, things come up), it is worth planning out how your session might go so you can get started right away. You won’t be sitting around wondering what you might do. Helps get ahead of procrastination, which can sometimes be in response to feeling overwhelmed or feeling like you have a really large task ahead of you that you can’t get your head around. Having a realistic plan for a writing session can break your large writing task into a smaller one.

Go to Blackboard>Course Documents>Assignment Prompts>Process Documents to download “Writing Session Plan.”

Follow this plan for two writing sessions that you will work on for your Literacy Narrative Revision. That means, you will get started before 9/24! So, fill this out and turn it in on Thursday (9/24) by 3pm. Wanted to give this to you now so you have time to schedule 2 writing sessions that you could both plan and reflect on.

 

My Feedback (2-5 min)

I’ll get you feedback on your Literacy Narratives by tomorrow.

Here’s how I give feedback philosophically and generally:

1. I ask a lot of questions but I don’t expect answers. It is to push you to reconsider what you have, but it is up to you what you change.
2. I provide at the end three things: what I thought was working really well generally, what I thought you could revise for that assignment in particular (in general terms), and a larger writing goal I think you could work on beyond the specific paper.
3. If you have a .pdf file: You will get marginal comments from me within the pdf and a separate Word document that has the associated rubric. I assign points here and provide my three things (from #2 in this list) right after that.
4. If you submitted a .doc file: I will put marginal comments in the document itself and then have the associated rubric at the end of the document.
5. You will get my feedback through Blackboard. I’ll send an email out once I have everybody’s in there. There will be a brief comment and then the attached feedback (either one or two documents depending on whether you submitted a .pdf or .doc).
6. PLEASE READ MY COMMENTS.
7. PLEASE ASK ME QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE THEM.
8. PLEASE TAKE GREAT CARE IN YOUR REVISIONS AND REMEMBER THAT IT IS ***YOUR*** PAPER ULTIMATELY.

 

Makeup Work (1 min)

Some folks are starting to miss some work. Please stay in touch with me! I don’t want you to fall too far behind. Stay in touch with me. I have my limits, but in the early going, I’m going to work with you to get stuff done so you can be successful in this course. I’m on your team here, I’m not your adversary.

 

Next Time (2-5 min)

-Reading Annotation for Blankenship by 3pm

-Reading Annotation for Graves, Corcoran, and Blankenship by 3pm

-Reading Annotation for Blankenship, Graves, and Eickmeyer by 3pm

-Learning Module Activities by 5pm

-GET STARTED IN LITERACY NARRATIVE REVISION DUE ON OCTOBER 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• (which also means getting started on Writing Session Plan which is due September 24–next Thursday)