Today’s Plan:
- They Say, I Say review
- Talk about Discourse Communities
- Share Communities List
- Share Proposal Project
- Research and post to Canvas
- Index cards
- Homework
Identifying a Community
As I mentioned in our first class and throughout our discussion of the syllabus, you will spend this semester writing in a particular community. Let me emphasize that I say writing in a particular community and not writing about a particular topic.
A topic is a generic matter. You can write about topics to a generic audience. For instance, you could write your standard argumentative paper about immunizations, the death penalty, abortion, etc. But this kind of writing isn’t really aimed at a particular audience or group. It just sort of exists as something for you to hand to me. This is precisely the kind of writing I don’t want you to do.
Research shows that writers develop best when they are writing to a specific group of people about something they all care about. This means we need to find (a) space(s) in which people write, comment, share, reflect, and most importantly *theorize* your interests. By theorize, I mean that people aren’t just reporting news about your topic/activity/interest, but analyzing, debating, critiquing, exchanging, the best elements of your community, the best ways to appreciate your community. We aren’t looking for flame wars, but we are looking for informed and constructive disagreement (whether that concerns the best way to tank Susano Extreme, the emotional depth of Jar Jar Binks, the likelihood that Trump raises the debt ceiling, the chances Cam Newton becomes a tier one quarterback, or whether Jon Snow will ride a dragon). We will talk about this more as you develop your projects, but at minimum I am not interested in projects that report *what* happened, or perhaps even *why* it happened, but rather measure the significance or what happened, projects what might happen next, and explain how to make that happen.
Your writing this semester should be responsive. That is: some event happens that people in your community care about. They you read 3-4 pieces by people in the community that share different opinions or perspectives. Then you write a piece that compares and contrasts those perspectives, while situating yourself amongst them and, hopefully, offering new insight. So while each individual assignment might be about a topic (a particular event that just occurred or is about to occur), your writing is primarily directed toward a community. The challenge is in making sure you are reading material that will stimulate good writing. That’s a main reason why the proposal project, outlined below, focuses in on finding writers worth following.
But before we get to the details of the proposal, let’s take a look at the communities we have developed.
The Proposal Assignment
Vitals:
- Length 700 to 1000 words
- MLA or APA format with Works Cited / References list and citations where appropriate
Submitted to canvas - Due Sunday, Sept 3 at 11:59pm, Proposal Project
Note that it is strongly encouraged that you visit office hours to discuss your project with me before submission. Office Location & Hours: 1180D Wednesday 1:00-2:00. Thursday 1:00-2:00. Also by appointment.
Let’s take a look at the short project description:
In the proposal project you will articulate to me which discourse community you will join. Medium.com facilitates this process during account creation, since it offers you a variety of topics you might be interested in reading about. In addition to these recommendations, my fellow instructors and I have developed reading lists for various topics. You will begin by selecting one of these topics and identifying which authors or outlets you will pay attention to. You will also identify active places on the Internet at which people are writing and commenting and identifying a few of the major personalities that drive this community, beyond those we supply. I am interested in learning what you can add to this community, and how you see yourself fitting in. We will discuss this project more during the first week of class.
The proposal project is meant as an exercise in invention, in generating ideas that you can execute in the coming weeks. Writing on deadline every week can be more difficult than it might seem; this stage of the semester is meant to help you develop a wealth of materials that you can revisit in future weeks.
Grading Rubric:
- Sufficient Research: [51%] while I can’t put an exact number here, I’ll be looking to see that you have done your homework, so to speak, and that your paper reflects reading and research into the topic by explicating the names, sites, terms, activities, etc central to your topic. This should include numerous citations (both quotations and/or paraphrases).
- Arrangement: [13%] Following below, I’ll be looking to see that your proposal reads like a proposal and follows the genre conventions we identify in class
- Edited Prose: [13%] I expect that you will have carefully edited your prose for correctness and clarity. Also, since we are dealing with digital documents, I will be checking that links are properly hyperlinked.
- MLA or APA format: [13%] I will be checking three things here. First, I will be looking to see that your proposal is formatted according to MLA or APA guidelines. Second, I will be paying attention to how you format subject headings. Third, I will be paying particular attention to how you use direct quotes and/or paraphrases (checking the parenthetical, quotation marks, commas, etc).
Genre and/as Proposal
First, let’s talk about the term genre. Then we’ll talk about some of the fundamental parts of any proposal. Finally, I want to flesh out what my specific expectations are for the arrangement of this proposal.
I would like your proposal to have 3 sections:
- Project Description
- Preliminary Research
- Potential Topics for the First Two Weeks
The first section should be a Project Description. In a few paragraphs, this section should give me an idea of what you want to write about this semester: what community will you join? What is your background in the topic: are you a novice just joining the conversation or have you been invested in this for years? Is that investment casual, or is it more rigorous? Why do you think this community is important and worth doing right now?
The second section should be Preliminary Research. This section should give me concrete specifics about the community. Who are the people currently writing about this topic? Who does your community consider experts? Whose writing would you want to emulate (who is really good at this?) Point to a few specific articles from the links we have provided that looked good to you. Point to a few sites that are currently publishing that you might also draw upon. Make it clear what places you will be reading for ideas. I’m not looking for a mere bulleted list here, but rather a section that flushes out some of the key nodes in the discursive community you are engaging.
Given that you will be publishing on medium.com, I will expect your paper to detail a few of the writers there who are doing good work. We’ll talk more about this in future classes as we get to know medium.com.
The final component of the proposal is your Potential Topics. Here is where you trace out what topics you think your community will be addressing over the next month, so that I get a sense of “proof of concept.” You aren’t in any way wedded to these topics: I have said before, the primary force driving this semester is the idea of community. Communities are always reacting to unpredictable events in real time, and I want your process to be fluid enough that you can switch on the fly. But, at the same time, I want you to do enough research into your community that you have a sense of upcoming events, releases, problems, that your community will likely address.
I have developed a proposal template that you can use to begin the project. Note that it is not in MLA or APA format. This is meant as a heuristic, a process for discovering, improving, and organizing an idea.
Again, let me stress that you have freedom to design a project that interests you. My central concerns are that 1) you read things every week and 2) you develop the ability to summarize, synthesize, and react to those readings productively. I know this happens more if you are interested and engaged in what you are writing about. Don’t develop a topic because you think I will like it. Develop a topic because you think you will like it.
Homework
Community research assignment. To get us started on the path to the proposal, the homework asks you to begin thinking about and researching a potential topic. I want you to write a two paragraph (or more) post for Canvas. In the first paragraph, give us some general sense of what community you want to join, your background with the community, your motivations, etc. In the second paragraph, compare two recent articles on a topic the community is currently discussing. They can be in agreement or disagreement. The test here is to measure how well you can summarize an article (or two) and put them in conversation. Can the rest of us, who aren’t in the community, understand the debate?
BE SURE TO EMBED LINKS TO ARTICLES. Get used to writing in a hyper environment. You can find quick instructions for hyperlinking in Canvas here.
Next class in ROSS 1240 computer lab.
