Unit Two: Researching Material
About Unit Two:
The writing process begins far before you actually start crafting paragraphs or sentences for the draft you want to “go public.” As we’ve already discussed in detail, we need to know some things before we start writing them. And yet! Writing is part of the discovery process—we learn WHILE we’re writing, too. So you’ll spend the bulk of this semester investigating research questions that are of interest to you, and you’ll write a lot throughout the whole process. We’re breaking things into 2 main units, though, so we can focus on different elements of the process.
In Unit Two, you’ll practice a range of research strategies, from bibliographic and/or archival to field and empirical methods. We’ll use the scientific method for articulating and refining research questions, putting off final conclusions until we’ve reviewed as much data as possible. We’ll also incorporate “write to learn” strategies, to help you make your own invisible ideas visible, to order and make meaning of your research material, and to identify research gaps or tangles in logic. By the unit’s end, you’ll present to us your source material with an emphasis on your own research process—how did you approach your questions? How did your thinking evolve through your research and writing? Your final assignments include a live presentation and a companion essay.
Unit Two: Major Writing/Presentation Assignment
*Presentations will be graded on completion.
I.e., if you include 8/10 of the required content, you will receive an 80.
Presentations may be revised for completion as new data comes in.
(For example, if an interviewee is late in returning notes, etc.)