Running List of Past Daily Work 


For Wednesday, 1/18:

Before you arrive on the first day, please check the email that I sent you on Monday, 1/16, and consider whether this section is the one you want to take this term.


In Class on Wednesday, 1/18:


Before Friday, 1/20:
*As a reminder for this first round of work-out-of-class, you should expect to average about 2 hours out of class for every 1 hour in class. Take your time on the assignments below. If you find that you are exceeding 2 hours, stop and submit whatever you have.

  • Complete this incoming survey.

  • Review the course syllabus and bring any questions to class regarding policies, major assignments, required materials, etc.
    *Note: The course schedule is a work in progress, as we confirm library dates, etc. I expect to have that document updated on Friday.

  • Read:

  • Complete notebook prompt #1:

    • Reflect on your own experiences as a thinker. How have you chased down ideas, explored them, tried to test them and work them out?
      *Please HANDWRITE your responses in your field notebook. Bring your notebook to class with you on Friday.


      Note from the syllabus (emphasis added):

      Notebook Assignments (15%)
      You will keep active journals all semester, based on part on prompts that I will provide in class. You are always welcome to write more, but not less, than assigned. For each assigned prompt, you should write about 2 pages (handwritten, single-sided). You should also take notes on the course, on your ideas outside of class, on general observations and reflections; drawings and “off-topic” notes are encouraged, as well. I will evaluate notebooks twice: first, during individual student-professor conferences, and again at the semester’s end. These are graded based on completion, with minimal completion of the all prompts warranting a C+ to B; notebooks that go “above and beyond” will receive grades of B+ to A.


In Class on Friday, 1/20:

  • Discuss in small groups:

    • how does observation such as Canfield & co.’s help us think?

    • how can variations among the types of notes/observations help us understand the writing process?

    • consider (always) the balance among close observation, fact-noting, and response


Before Friday, 1/20:
*As a reminder for this first round of work-out-of-class, you should expect to average about 2 hours out of class for every 1 hour in class. Take your time on the assignments below. If you find that you are exceeding 2 hours, stop and submit whatever you have.

  • Complete this incoming survey.

  • Review the course syllabus and bring any questions to class regarding policies, major assignments, required materials, etc.
    *Note: The course schedule is a work in progress, as we confirm library dates, etc. I expect to have that document updated on Friday.

  • Read:

  • Complete notebook prompt #1:

    • Reflect on your own experiences as a thinker. How have you chased down ideas, explored them, tried to test them and work them out?
      *Please HANDWRITE your responses in your field notebook. Bring your notebook to class with you on Friday.


      Note from the syllabus (emphasis added):

      Notebook Assignments (15%)
      You will keep active journals all semester, based on part on prompts that I will provide in class. You are always welcome to write more, but not less, than assigned. For each assigned prompt, you should write about 2 pages (handwritten, single-sided). You should also take notes on the course, on your ideas outside of class, on general observations and reflections; drawings and “off-topic” notes are encouraged, as well. I will evaluate notebooks twice: first, during individual student-professor conferences, and again at the semester’s end. These are graded based on completion, with minimal completion of the all prompts warranting a C+ to B; notebooks that go “above and beyond” will receive grades of B+ to A.


Before Monday, 1/23:

  1. Complete the Wood between the Worlds exercise (this exercise is also notebook entry #2). 2 handwriiten pages in your journal; sketches count. :)

  2. Spend time with the following, about “the writing process”:

    • Read: https://writing.ku.edu/writing-process 

    • “Read” the attached article, “Modeling and Remodeling Writing” by John Hayes. A few notes, though:

      • The presentation of this article is probably excessively boring. It’s not you.

      • Know that John Hayes has been a key writing researcher for decades; his research has influenced the shape of this class, however obliquely, just because his ideas/findings have been “in the ether” of the rhet/comp world for so long. 

      • I’d recommend you READ the abstract, SKIM the headings to get a feel for the content, and then actually take 10-15 minutes to STUDY Figures 1 and 2, which are his old and updated models of “the writing process,” based on extensive study. Can you figure out what’s going on in these? You may need to turn to the running text for some definitions, etc., but we’ll focus on the Figures for a little bit in class on Monday.


For Wednesday, 1/25:

  • Work on your deduction game—DO NOT GOOGLE ANYTHING, and DO NOT OPEN ANY OF THE #2 or #3 ENVELOPES! Just try to identify what you can and figure out what your various authors are doing. Some links to help you with identifying handwritten materials:

  • *Note: DO keep track of the steps you’re taking to figure out your mystery authors. For Friday, I’ll be asking you to write in your notebooks on the following questions: Who do these people seem to be? What are they trying to do? How are you going about your deductions?

  • Write your mini-paper and upload that document here. Mini-paper instructions follow:

    • Write a 2-page essay in MLA format over the prompt below.

      *Note that this essay is graded only based on completion—finish and submit it, and you’ll receive full credit (as part of your process work for the larger Analysis/Synthesis assignment). I’m reading these primarily for 2 things—first, to see how well you know MLA format already (I’ll tailor future class time accordingly, to fill in gaps as needed but to avoid going over a lot of information you already know); second, to get a sense of how you all are engaging with the archival materials in the context of our 1510 class, so I can modify upcoming class sessions based on interests and needs. With that in mind:

      • Write about 1-3 specific strategies within “the writing process.” You saw what Hayes did with an article on this topic—how would YOU describe the writing process, based on specific examples from the readings? For those examples, refer to:

        • your notes so far on your deduction assignment (in the few samples you have across your 4 envelopes, can you start to observe some divergences in early approaches to the writing process?

        • the Hayes article and the KU Writing Center page, both on “the writing process”

      • Tie observations to specific moments in source material, whether print or video, and cite your sources as best you can.

      • Use MLA format to the best of your current ability (i.e., look up minor items if you need to, but don’t hurt yourself trying to learn things you don’t know).

      • To the best of your ability, include a clear thesis (that is, one sentence stating your main/controlling idea) and distinct paragraphs with topic sentences and transitions.

      • Include a note at the end of your paper, telling me:

        a) what you felt most confident about in writing this essay

        b) where you felt most ill-prepared in writing this essay 

      • This is the evaluation rubric you’ll get back, FYI. To reiterate, that rubric is just a simple a feedback mechanism for both of us; your grade is wholly based on completion.


For Friday, 1/27:

  • Keep working on your deduction game. For now, still DO NOT GOOGLE ANYTHING, and DO NOT OPEN ANY OF THE #3 ENVELOPES! Just try to identify what you can and figure out what your various authors are doing. (You each now have 3 sets of authors; feel free to talk to your classmates about the materials.)

  • Write in your notebooks (2 pages, single-sided; this will be notebook entry #3): DO keep track of the steps you’re taking to figure out your mystery authors. For Friday, I’ll be asking you to write in your notebooks on the following questions: Who do these people seem to be? What are they trying to do? How are you going about your deductions?

  • Optional: Feel free to start on the assignments for Monday, 1/30, if you want to—

    • Here are the readings we’ll discuss on Monday:

      • excerpts from William Zinsser’s Writing to Learn

      • Abraham Flexner’s “On the Usefulness of Useless Knowledge”*This one is older—written in 1939. If it helps, you’re welcome to explore this related page, celebrating the essay and the Institute for Advanced Study, which [founding director] Abraham Flexner was discussing. The Institute launched in 1930 and is still active today; scholars can apply for fellowships, and if selected, they get housing and a salary for 2 years to do whatever they want. There are no demands on output; they get offices but don’t have to use them. They have resources and no expectations. And the Institute has had 34 Nobel Prize laureates and 42 Field medalists participate in their work in the past near-century. Flexner’s article reflects on why this model is valuable.

    • And here’s notebook prompt #4, also due Monday:

      • Look again at the notes you’ve been taking on the documents in your various envelopes. How do these process materials connect to the Zinsser and Flexner pieces you’re reading for Monday? What is obvious to you about these connections, and what is challenging to you? What do you think it will do to your “final” writing products (whether for classes or other writing you might do) to do more of THIS kind of writing (i.e., the observing/writing-to-learn/working-it-out-on-paper kind of writing)?


For Monday, 1/30:

  • Now that you’ve unlocked the full online archives (hooray!), go ahead and explore more of what’s available from/about your authors. (And feel free to explore the others if you want to.) Take notes as you have ideas that might be helpful for your first essay assignment (which, you’ll recall, is available on this website under Unit One).

  • Read:

  • excerpts from William Zinsser’s Writing to Learn

  • Abraham Flexner’s "On the Usefulness of Useless Knowledge"<—link is repaired!
    *    This one is older—written in 1939. If it helps, you’re welcome to explore this related page[<—link repaired] celebrating the essay and the Institute for Advanced Study, which [founding director] Abraham Flexner was discussing. The Institute launched in 1930 and is still active today; scholars can apply for fellowships, and if selected, they get housing and a salary for 2 years to do whatever they want. There are no demands on output; they get offices but don’t have to use them. They have resources and no expectations. And the Institute has had 34 Nobel Prize laureates and 42 Field medalists participate in their work in the past near-century. Flexner’s article reflects on why this model is valuable.

  • Write in your notebooks (this is prompt #4):

    • Look again at the notes you’ve been taking on the documents in your various envelopes. How do these process materials connect to the Zinsser and Flexner pieces you’re reading for Monday? What is obvious to you about these connections, and what is challenging to you? What do you think it will do to your “final” writing products (whether for classes or other writing you might do) to do more of THIS kind of writing (i.e., the observing/writing-to-learn/working-it-out-on-paper kind of writing)?



For Wednesday, 2/1:

  • Remember to meet at the Harrison-Small Building (near Clemons/Alderman/the Berlin Wall); 1st floor auditorium! We will not be in the classroom.

    • You won’t be allowed to keep backpacks, ink pens, bound notebooks, or food/drink/gum near the collection materials. There will be a designated area where we can leave these personal belongings for the duration of the class. Pencils, loose paper, and phones are all acceptable to use.

  • Watch the rest of the Rachel Carson special.

  • Read through*

    • Carson’s Silent Spring, Chapter 3

    • WSJ review of Silent Spring from 2018

    • “The Desolate Year” from Monsanto Magazine, 1962

      *“Read through”=familiarize yourself with the basic materials available; make some broad observations, and mark a few specific items for yourself to read carefully in the next round of reading. Even with this abridged set of materials, there’s too much content here for you to read carefully given course time constraints! So your job for now is to get a sense of what’s happening, and then know that you will revisit these materials again and again throughout the unit; so plan to re-read SOME of the material carefully and multiple times.

  • Write in your notebooks (this is prompt #5):

    • Write about 1-3 aspects of the rhetorical situation around Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, based on what you have read so far. (Don’t look things up outside the material you’ve been provided through this class.) So for example, you might:

      o   Reflect on what public assumptions she was facing and how she seems to be trying to persuade readers in Chapter 3.

      o   Consider the complications she faced in raising an issue at odds with major economic powers.

      o   Discuss the issues at stake in arguments about scientific data based on sociopolitical pressures/perspectives.

      o   Look at the style/voice Carson chooses in Silent Spring, Chapter 3, and consider how that voice might resound (or not) with general readers in 1962, scientists in 1962, and general readers today.

      Tie your observations to specific moments in source material, whether print or video, and cite your sources as best you can.


For Friday, 2/3:

  • Write notebook response #6:

    • Reflect on your time in Special Collections—what did you find striking or thought-provoking? How did this visit affect your understanding of the writing process, possibly in connection with what you’ve been able to explore in our envelope/digital archives?

  • Read through*

    • “Inside Oliver Sacks’s Creative Process”

    • “Effects of levodopa in parkinsonian patients with dementia”

    • excerpt from Awakenings

    • excerpt from On the Move (Sacks’ memoir, written near the end of his life; notice the change in voice and style from the other two published pieces)

      *“Read through”=familiarize yourself with the basic materials available; make some broad observations, and mark a few specific items for yourself to read carefully in the next round of reading. Even with this abridged set of materials, there’s too much content here for you to read carefully given course time constraints! So your job for now is to get a sense of what’s happening, and then know that you will revisit these materials again and again throughout the unit; so plan to re-read SOME of the material carefully and multiple times.

  • Draft a rough outline for your Unit 1 paper:


For Monday, 2/6:

  • Heads up: You might want to revisit the general Daily Calendar to remember major deadlines. The final draft of this first paper is due next Wednesday; you’ll bring your drafty draft to class on Monday, and then rewrite and submit the final for grading on Wednesday. Though remember, you can revise and most people do, so even the “final” doesn’t need to feel claustrophobic.

  • Move from outline to first draft—

    • Note: Be sure you’re saving your files somehow, not overwriting them; you’ll need to submit your draft work as part of your portfolio.

    • Upload your full* first draft to this Drive folder; send word if you have trouble with Drive.

      *First drafts should be very drafty! “Full” in this case means about 2/3 of the way written (so, about 800-1000 words), with placeholders explaining what’s missing, questions addressed to your peer readers, etc.

    • As you’re drafting, keep track of your organization and planning, but also take time to ask yourself why you’re developing the points you are.

      • What’s interesting to you about these? Why? What would you want to read about them if you were the audience?

      • If you’re bored (by the content, not by the tedium of necessary things like citations), can you skip these lines without losing your overall message?

      • Keep pausing to ask yourself, not “is this sentence grammatical?” (that’s for later!), but “why do we care about what I’m saying here? how do I make obvious what matters?”


In class on Monday, 2/6:

“[I]n Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you're taught,
just as English boys and girls are taught essay-writing. The difference is that
people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted
to read the essays.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

 
 

Peer Review Instructions

  • In groups of 3-4, open the Google Drive folder and make (private) comments in your notebooks and (public) comments in one another’s draft files in two rounds.

    • Round One: IDEAS!

      • What is this author arguing? What’s the main idea, and what are the smaller/supporting ideas?

      • What’s especially interesting or important about what they’re saying? What’s the same as your own arguments, and what’s different?

      • What do you maybe want to change about your own argument after reading theirs?

      • What other support do you see for their arguments that they haven’t included?

    • Round Two: Execution

      • Does the basic organization of the essay make sense to you? Is there any place you’d expect them to move things around, cut material, or add new material?

      • How is the “voice” of the paper? Formal, conversational, serious, funny, etc?

      • Is each sentence/phrase adding valuable material, or are there lots of places where the author could be more clear and direct?

      • In terms of support, does the author generally have at least 2 citations in each body paragraph?



For Wednesday, 2/8:

  • Final drafts due. Submit to this folder. If you have trouble accessing the folder, please contact me.

  • For citations, the important thing for THIS paper is just to make it obvious WHAT you’re referencing and GENERALLY WHERE you got it. We’ll work on more precise citations in Unit 2. But for your reference, here are the slides I showed in Monday’s class; you’ll probably find the very last slide most helpful. :-D


For Friday, 2/10:

  • Do NOT come to our regular classroom. Meet in Clemons Library, Room 407!

  • Complete this survey from our UVA librarians.

    • Ahead of our library instruction, the librarians we will be working with have a short, 5-minute survey they are asking you to complete. Your survey responses will help the librarians tailor their instruction to your specific questions and needs. It is also part of a research study the librarians are conducting, and you will find more information about that at the survey link. You are not required to take the survey, but our librarians would really appreciate it!

  • Read over the Unit II assignment, review your notes from Elise Heffernan’s presentation on Wednesday, and brainstorm some research questions you might be interested in. You’ll be able to use at least some of the library time to chase down information to start on your research quest.

  • Optional:

    • Feel free to read ahead for Monday if you want to. We’ll be looking at this section of Born to Run as a fun example of a research narrative.



For Wednesday, 2/8:

  • Final drafts due. Submit to this folder. If you have trouble accessing the folder, please contact me.

  • For citations, the important thing for THIS paper is just to make it obvious WHAT you’re referencing and GENERALLY WHERE you got it. We’ll work on more precise citations in Unit 2. But for your reference, here are the slides I showed in Monday’s class; you’ll probably find the very last slide most helpful. :-D



For Friday, 2/10:

  • Do NOT come to our regular classroom. Meet in Clemons Library, Room 407!

  • Complete this survey from our UVA librarians.

    • Ahead of our library instruction, the librarians we will be working with have a short, 5-minute survey they are asking you to complete. Your survey responses will help the librarians tailor their instruction to your specific questions and needs. It is also part of a research study the librarians are conducting, and you will find more information about that at the survey link. You are not required to take the survey, but our librarians would really appreciate it!

  • Read over the Unit II assignment, review your notes from Elise Heffernan’s presentation on Wednesday, and brainstorm some research questions you might be interested in. You’ll be able to use at least some of the library time to chase down information to start on your research quest.

  • Optional:

    • Feel free to read ahead for Monday if you want to. We’ll be looking at this section of Born to Run as a fun example of a research narrative.



For Monday, 2/13:

  • Read this section of Born to Run as a fun example of a research narrative and be ready for a brief discussion.

  • Continue researching the topics you’re considering for Unit 2, using the library resources Haley introduced on Friday.

  • On Monday, we’ll talk about the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and research ethics, esp. in connection with your upcoming projects.

    • Please review the relevant Wikipedia page, which is a helpful overview, as well as reading more specifically about

    • the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (one of the most recognizable events that led to the development of the IRB),

    • the Belmont Report (a major document that articulates key guidelines for ethical research in the U.S.), and finally

    • UVA’s IRB process (we have 2 separate IRBs, one for medical and one for non-medical research).

  • Heads up: We will NOT meet synchronously on Wednesday or Friday next week, because I will be traveling for a research conference. I will give you asynchronous work for the rest of the week, but we’ll be doing heavy lifting in Monday’s class!



For Wednesday, 2/15:



For Friday, 2/17:

  • Spend at least an hour in the library databases (be sure to click the “peer reviewed” button when you search!) exploring peer-reviewed research related to your topic. Make use of the abstracts and headings in the articles to skim and select some that are most relevant to you.

  • Respond to the prompt in Collab (under “Discussions”).



For Monday, 2/20:
*If you haven’t yet completed Friday’s (um, or Wednesday’s, a couple of you) assignment, be sure to go back and do that first! I’ll continue reading these over the weekend.

(a) Read through your peers’ project ideas on Collab and review the sample projects from past semesters.

(b) Reflect on your own project idea and what you’ve seen so far in the databases. Keep in mind, research is the main focus of this unit; you WILL have time to re-do steps if you’re not satisfied with the results.

(c) With all these things in mind, reflect in your field notebooks (for notebook prompt #7): are you actually energized by your initial research questions and early outcomes? Do you want to pivot to something that would interest you more? You might also go back through your own search/viewing histories of late on the web, on TikTok, and as much as you can recreate on Instagram or other platforms you access often; also your recent text conversations with friends and family; whatever you’ve actually been doing. Do you notice any themes or ideas that you seem to care about that you might prefer to dive into? What’s holding you back from exploring those?

(d) Bring your laptop or tablet to class on Monday.

Heads up: On Monday, we’ll do some reflective writing exercises and then we’ll talk about the practicalities of your empirical (i.e., collecting-and-analyzing-data-to-test-a-hypothesis) studies, as well as your interviews.



In-Class on Monday, 2/20:

  1. (a) What do you find most interesting and/or fun about your research topic? 

    (b) What personal connections (if any) do you have to your topic? What personal archival material can you imagine including to show this connection?

  2. Take a minute to review this empirical design worksheet (due Wednesday)—even before starting, reflect back on what you HAVE learned so far from reading in the databases, etc. What answers do you want but can’t find, and how might you start to answer at least one of them with a small empirical study of your own?

  3. Consider the practicalities of your upcoming interview, including legal and functional issues involved.



For Wednesday, 2/22:



For Friday, 2/24:

*Update: I’ve fallen ill and am likely contagious. Sigh. I’ll be in my office, but I’m moving class back to Zoom (so sorry) to minimize infection. DO sign in to https://virginia.zoom.us/j/4629103081 and plan for the time to be interactive—we’ll do our Surveypalooza first, and then I’ll go over MLA and ask you to go ahead and put your citations together for whatever sources you have so far.

  • I’d recommend going ahead and reaching out to interview subjects now, to try to set up times for synchronous interviews or get asynchronous exchanges started.

    • Here is sample language for reaching out to interview subjects with a bit more seniority. DO be sure you’ve modified all the text in red. :-D

  • Create your Qualtrics surveys.

  • If you want to survey our class (recommended, not required) to at least collect some starting data, send me the link to your survey (via text or email) NO LATER THAN FRIDAY AT 8 AM (so I can load all the links to our course website). We’ll open our class “Survey-Palooza” on Friday. This will be the only opportunity to use our class as your survey pool, so if you don’t send in, you’ll need to distribute your survey on your own.

  • Use Qualtrics (for moderately sensitive data).

  • Include a notification statement as your first “question”; force a single response of “I agree” in order to proceed. (You can refer to the UVA IRB “Study Information Sheet” template for language to include.)

  • Include at least 5 people in your survey sample.

    • For the purposes of our class, you are allowed use a skewed sample (i.e., just send to your friends, etc.), so long as you acknowledge limitations in documenting and interpreting your data. Obviously, collecting broader and more statistically reliable data will give you better content to write about in Unit 3, so make informed choices about your approaches.

  • Don’t “force responses” for sensitive questions; always give responders a way to skip questions.

  • For sensitive questions, always include an “Other” option and then “Allow Text Entry” (on a drop-down menu within the answer option) to allow for write-in clarifications.

  • Generally:

    • Keep your surveys between 5-10 questions.

    • Prioritize easy-answer questions (multiple choice and sliders are nice options).

    • Include 2-3 short answer questions at the end, to collect quotes for your essays.

  • You may send links for your opinion surveys and/or for surveys you’ll use for your empirical studies. Be sure to anonymize all data (under “Survey Options”).

  • Read this 3-page excerpt from the MLA Handbook, 8th edition. It will give you important context for understanding MLA as I present it on Friday. Note: “MLA” means a set of style guidelines set up by the Modern Language Association (an organization of English scholars). It’s just one way of doing things, but it’s how we’ll do things in this class.

    • Also, if it incentivizes you—a LOT of people flunk the 2nd paper on the first round because they do the MLA work incorrectly. You can revise it, of course, and replace the grade, but if you want to avoid a failing grade on the first round, one key way to do that is by paying attention to MLA now, rather than reconstructing it later.



In-Class on Friday, 2/24:

Part I: Survey-palooza! Please complete all of the surveys below. If you sent me a link and do not see it here, please notify me ASAP so I can add it during class time.

  1. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6EAr7GRxipF1SRw 

  2. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1BnoXK5fu4QIEOq

  3. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1WUbU3a0RjAXrmK

  4. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b9oSzB1JdrbtraS

  5. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3x7eq2J3ERSLqcu

  6. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0qDOSBY6Sq1Hnka

  7. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_55bn6yVZg4DOTPw

  8. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_40oBJIucf8a5sPQ

  9. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eQahqB4xIamcQ8S

  10. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bdxiFviOrJphdMW

  11. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5zhFrm9ZhvBU3bg

  12. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9S7upukcR0Qs3zg

  13. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0cw3N7zXb9L4XCC

  14. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0c905iT1Bg0k3Bk

  15. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8pk14GuEwiYHaES

  16. https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8pk14GuEwiYHaES

Part II: MLA Primer, Part II

Part III: Conference Sign-Ups





For Monday, 2/27:

  • Make sure you’ve completed all of the surveys from Friday! Preferably by 5 pm on Friday, but definitely by Monday.

  • Prepare for your student-professor conference with me by having all of the following ready to share:

    1. Your research design worksheet (completed! informal is fine);

    2. all of your sources so far (in digital or hard copy for now, with any notes you've made already);

    3. your draft of your slides-in-progress, with MLA citations in place (and MLA questions you're having)--on your laptop is fine; you don't need to print out unless doing so helps you;
    *Note #1: You’ll want to use the assignment sheet to make sure you’re including the required information on each slide (see esp. section I.b.). The basic categories don’t fit for every source, so I expect you to have to make appropriate modifications ( figuring out what those would be requires some critical thinking, but you’re up to it—adapting is part of documentation!)
         *Note #2: I also added my old sample presentation and slides to the Unit 2 page, in case you want to see how mine turned out back-when, alongside the student submissions.

    4. your field notebooks, with all of your notebook prompts so far (I'll assign grades based on completion);

    5. anything else you want to discuss!



For Monday, 3/13:

Welcome back!

Come to class with your notes-in-progress toward your Unit 2 presentation. We’ll pick up where we left off.



For Wednesday, 3/15, and Friday, 3/17:

  • Be sure you have signed up for your small group presentation.

    • Before your presentation, drop your slides and presentation script to this folder.

    • Come to your presentation time prepared to talk for 8-10 minutes, to discuss any follow-up questions that arise, and to listen attentively and ask questions of your peers.

    • By Friday at 5 p.m., drop your Unit 2 paper to this folder.

    • If you have questions about the assignment, please refer first to the main assignment page.



For Monday, 3/20:

  • No preparation needed; we’ll start on Unit 3 in class!

  • For review in class: We are defining academic writing based on 3 characteristics::

    • Academic writing takes place in a larger academic conversation. (You’re writing with sources and for others; think back to the idea of the Parlor from Week 1 of this class.)

    • Therefore, academic writing is disciplinary—and you the author need to take into account the conventions of your discipline when you’re writing to an audience. (That disciplinarity DOESN’T mean you just have to “fall in line,” especially with bad habits—ahem, passive voice in the sciences, ahem—but that you have to know what people are expecting and deal with those expectations somehow to communicate your ideas.)

    • Academic writing contributes new knowledge in some form—might be truly unprecedented (like Einstein’s work in relatively) or might be bringing together sources that weren’t together before to reveal something (like Carson’s work in Silent Spring).

  • In-Class—notebook prompt #8:

    • Consider your own research project. What have you found most interesting/valuable so far?

    • Who do you want to tell about it—and why? And therefore, how?



For Wednesday, 3/22:



In-Class on Wednesday, 3/22:

  1. Notebook Prompt #9:

    a) Reflect on the pros and cons of the styles the authors use in both Salmond’s and Leschen’s/Buckley’s articles. Note that both of these articles are one that Sword points to as examples of effective writing within their fields—i.e., we’re working with the assumption that they’re both “good,” but obviously each one has different advantages and disadvantages for writers/readers alike. Thoughts?

    b) Think about other books or articles you’ve read that dialogue with/cite a lot of sources, and are also interesting. :-D Can you think of any? What do you remember about how those authors managed?

  2. Slides



For Friday, 3/24:

  • Read these excerpts from Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace.

    • I’ve attached a PDF with highlights in it, to help you quickly identify main points. Don’t feel like you have to achieve mastery of every technique here, but try choosing one or two to work on in your revision and upcoming paper.

    • I do recommend this full book, although the newest edition is always expensive. As you can see, though, it’s been updated many times (you’re reading from the 12th edition); the older editions are usually very cheap online (as low as $5), and we have a few older copies in our libraries on Grounds. [The new copies DO have some useful updates, enough that I was willing to buy one; you can leaf through the various Introductions for a quick reference list of what changes took place between editions.]

  • Also skim over these two items:

  • Go back again to the Green and Yellow revisions on your first essays, and see if you can strengthen them even more. Look at ALL of your transitions, not only the ones I marked, and try to strengthen them.

    • Then bring those drafts back to class with you, so you’re ready to dive into the Blue items on Friday.

  • Bring your calendars to class; We really will have sign-ups for workshop and for regrade meetings.



In-Class on Friday, 3/24:







For Monday, 3/27:

  • Class has been cancelled. Please just continue on with your independent work; we’ll pick up on Wednesday where we left off.



For WEDNESDAY, 3/29:

  • Write in your notebooks (prompt #10):

    • Who IS your target audience? What are you hoping they get from your project (information, persuasion to believe or do something, comfort . . .??)

    • What form would your audience most likely respond to? (Digital-first or print-first? Audio/video? Interactive?)

    • What tone would be effective in communicating your message to your audience?

  • Draft a rough outline of the project (sketch as needed)

  • Write 2 DIFFERENT introductions to your project. Consider the different directions you could take.

  • OPTIONAL: Sign up for a regrade meeting (for Essay #1)



For Friday, 3/29:



For Monday, 4/3:

  • Hannah and Kobra, please drop your workshop drafts to the link above before class time.

  • Eric and Heidi, a friendly reminder that your drafts are due Wednesday before class time.



For Wednesday, 4/5:

  • Eric and Heidi, please drop your workshop drafts to the link above before class time.

  • Lily and Sean, a friendly reminder that your drafts are due Friday before class time.



For Monday, 4/10:

Part I: Make a 3D version of your outline; take a picture and upload the picture here.

  • The level of detail you include is up to you; just somehow model at least the major claims and subclaims of your paper using the [string, notecards, binder clips, and push pins as needed] from your coursepack box.

  • I recommend color-coding your cards, so sketching out your supporting info. on the cards by whether they appeal primarily to pathos (emotion), logos (logic), or ethos (ethics/credibility). [I used pink=pathos; orange=logos; green=ethos—your system only needs to make sense to you.]

  • Consider setting up your 3D outline in a way that you can leave it up for the next few weeks, so you can add/modify things as you draft and revise. For some of you, this approach may be fabulous; for others of you, it will drive you crazy. Try giving it a chance for a couple of days and then doing whatever works for you.

  • There’s an image of mine at the bottom of this post, for whatever it’s worth. You can modify yours as works for you!

  • Write Notebook entry:

    • How did the 3D outline exercise work for you? What was SOMETHING it helped you to see better in planning your essay? Do you think you’ll keep it up through your workshop date, at least, to help you think through revisions? Why or why not?

Part II: Workshop prep!

  • Camille and Justin, please drop your workshop drafts to the link above before class time.

  • Kayla and Santosh, a friendly reminder that your drafts are due Wednesday before class time.



For Monday, 4/10:

Part I: Make a 3D version of your outline; take a picture and upload the picture here.

  • The level of detail you include is up to you; just somehow model at least the major claims and subclaims of your paper using the [string, notecards, binder clips, and push pins as needed] from your coursepack box.

  • I recommend color-coding your cards, so sketching out your supporting info. on the cards by whether they appeal primarily to pathos (emotion), logos (logic), or ethos (ethics/credibility). [I used pink=pathos; orange=logos; green=ethos—your system only needs to make sense to you.]

  • Consider setting up your 3D outline in a way that you can leave it up for the next few weeks, so you can add/modify things as you draft and revise. For some of you, this approach may be fabulous; for others of you, it will drive you crazy. Try giving it a chance for a couple of days and then doing whatever works for you.

  • There’s an image of mine at the bottom of this post, for whatever it’s worth. You can modify yours as works for you!

  • Write Notebook entry:

    • How did the 3D outline exercise work for you? What was SOMETHING it helped you to see better in planning your essay? Do you think you’ll keep it up through your workshop date, at least, to help you think through revisions? Why or why not?

Part II: Workshop prep!

  • Camille and Justin, please drop your workshop drafts to the link above before class time.

  • Kayla and Santosh, a friendly reminder that your drafts are due Wednesday before class time.




For Wednesday, 4/12:

  • Kayla and Santosh, please drop your workshop drafts to the link above before class time.

  • Nathan and Sebastian, a friendly reminder that your drafts are due Wednesday before class time.



For Friday, 4/14:

  • Nathan and Sebastian, please drop your workshop drafts to the link above before class time.

  • Gabriela and Melany, a friendly reminder that your drafts are due next Monday before class time.


In-Class on Friday:

 
 

mini-lesson links:


For Monday, 4/17:

  • Gabriela and Melany, please drop your workshop drafts to the link above before class time.

  • Tuan and Arnav, a friendly reminder that your drafts are due Wednesday before class time.


In-Class on Monday, 4/17:


For Wednesday, 4/19:

  • Tuan and Arnav, please drop your workshop drafts to the link above before class time.

In-Class on Wednesday, 4/19:

Mini-lesson—first person in a research project

Use first person when:

  • You are a key figure in the research narrative (conducting a test, or an interview, for example)
    *See esp. pages 17-18 and 26 in Sacks’s Awakenings.

  • You are sharing particular insight/expertise as the primary researcher on a topic.
    *See esp. pages 45 and 100 in this excerpt from Walter Isaacson’s Leonardo Da Vinci.

For Friday, 4/21:

  • Review your own workshop notes; reload your project in your mind. We’ll have a mini-lesson on sentences and punctuation, and if we have additional class time, we’ll go ahead and work on some of your sentences for felicity. Regardless, next week, we’ll launch into final revisions and course wrap-up, so make sure you’re working in the background!

  • Read Tuan’s draft.

For Monday, 4/24:

For Wednesday, 4/26:

Sign up for a final review meeting if you want one (link is above)—we can use these for pre-grades of Essay 3 or a check-in on any other grades you want to check on before things are finalized on 5/2.

We’ll continue final copy edits and proofing during class time, so just bring your draft with you.

For Friday, 4/28:

  • Clean up the formatting of your last paper, per Wednesday’s class. Here’s a quick checklight of the items we reviewed together.

  • Come with any questions you have about formatting, etc.—we’ll do a citations check in class on Friday and go over any technology questions that are coming up. Feel free to ask about anything you’d find more interesting. :-D

In-Class on Friday, 4/28:

  • Review/make the corrections on your Unit 2 essays—for regrades, but also to make sure you know how to format your citations in your Unit 3 projects.
    *Note: If you are reading this before class, I’m still marking up some of the essays—in theory, all essays will be marked up by class time; I’m posting grades in Collab as I finish each essay.

  • Example of a figure/caption embedded in Google Docs.

Past daily assignments will be linked here.