Category: Discussions/Homework

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5 Rhetorical moves (Dan)

Upon reading “The problem with diversity in computing” I was able to identify a handful of techniques the other used to communicate his ideas.

First, right off the bat Ian discusses problems that Amy Webb, a professor at NYU, and other females deal with at TSA precheck lines due to the technological systems. Issues such as the X rays not being able to distinguish their underwire bras and large curly hair that results in more extensive checks and pat-downs. By doing this Ian is able to illustrate a problem that is very relatable and understandable. This sets Ian up for further examples to strengthen his argument.

Second, he uses an experience from his own workplace at Georgia tech. There is a certain center at the university that focus on funding and supporting computer-science classes in public schools in Atlanta that are predominantly black. Including this shows that the issue is serious and that there are institutions (like his) that are attempting to fix the issue.

Thirdly, Ian now states “Those efforts have merit, but their impact might be a drop in the bucket given the size of the tech industry.” By saying this he alludes to the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done and that everyone needs to do their part. This is a call to action after expressing the importance of the issue.

Fourth, Ian introduces a new perspective through Charles Isbell, the executive director at Georgia techs “constellations” program. The prospective is that though diversity is important to strive for, the real goal is integration as it would change the entire industry as a result of their presence in the community. This is contrary to Amy’s perspective that we may not need push kids to go into STEM.

The last strategy he uses is by paraphrasing something Amy said. “We’re all discriminated against by computing,” and “Anyone who falls outside of that core group of interests are not being represented”. Ian states that if this is true, then maybe the problem isn’t that its not including the needs of the diverse public but that the problem with computing is intrinsic. I believe by stating this he takes something that someone else has written and flips it in his favor by highlighting what the statement lacks and making it seem not well thought out.

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Discussion week of 7/27, Aaron

The Making Of The Troubles In Northern Ireland

This link posted above is an example of the style of writing I am doing. It’s a traditional research report that starts just as any research essay would- the introduction asking a thesis question and the body of the work breaking it down with different points per paragraph or per page. The advantage of this kind of writing is that it’s really self explanatory- you read the entire article and come away from it with more understanding on a topic than you did prior to reading this, However, this advantage leads directly into the disadvantage of this style of writing. I know this sounds confusing and maybe a little conflicting but my point is this: a lot of people don’t enjoy reading these kinds of reports unless it is something they are assigned to do or are genuinely very interested in, otherwise it may be boring and not something that many people would be interested in. I may be in. the minority in this, but my style of learning suits these kinds of research reports. I am sincerely into sitting in a three hour lecture where a professor goes on about sectarian divides developed between two groups of people over the years, and can sit there and take notes with a smile on my face the whole time. With that being said, I am going to have to direct my audience to something different than previously thought. My writing about how ethnic and cultural bias is effecting education is better suited for people that are studying the field, and not professors who are already inside the ranks of being educators.

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Discussion Week 7/27

From this increased use in social media to connect with others during these unprecedented times, it has come to my attention the sudden increase in social media infographics. One example that has really caught my attention is rather recent, I saw many of my female friends posting on their Instagram and Facebook pages a black and white picture of themselves with the hashtag or saying “challenge accepted”. I stumbled upon this infographic linked below, from the Instagram account @beelzeboobz who throughly explained the origin and meaning behind the black and white picture. The challenge was a way for women to raise their voice and stand in solidarity with the lives of women lost in Turkey due to femicides and murder. With this infographic, and plenty of others floating through social media, I appreciate the directness and call to action that all these posts seem to follow. The posts are not too lengthy, addressing the issue and further providing ways that others can relay the message. One flaw to this would be that there is only so much information that can be presented on these posts. This helped within my own development of a genre to write in as I want to create something similar, but I have come to find that it is the most impactful and striking information that are going to catch an audience’s eye therefore leading them to be curious about wanting to know more.
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Discussion Post Week of 7/27

Election 2020: 11 Ways to Engage Students From Now Until November

I decided to use this article from the New York Times because it is something very similar to what I want to do for my project. This particular article is about the election coming up and ways to engage students from now until November.  After reading the comments on my discussion post from last week, including infographics and quotes from other sources will be a great addition to the article. This helps the reader visualize what’s being said and with the use of research, creates a more credible source. I am first and foremost looking at the length of the article, the format, and the type of tone being used. I notice that this particular article takes a more neutral approach on the subject and allows the reader to create their own point of view. The format is fairly simple with breaks in the pages for the infographics and the interactive aspects. There is a big headline at the top of the article, with subheadings throughout the rest. I have to figure out how I want to divide the information I am going to present to the reader and where to put the infographics so that it aligns with the reading. Ultimately, the point of my article is to create more awareness and helps the reader develop their own opinion about the screening process with the use of the charts, graphs, and quotes.

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Week of 7/27 Discussion Post – Mike

 

Seth Godin’s ebook “Fix Your Really Bad PowerPoint”, is thirteen years old, but the concepts still seem groundbreaking today. HighSpark took those concepts and applied them to the fantastic presentation I’ve shared here.  I never see PowerPoints like this at my company. In his blog post, Godin mentions being forced to use a template. Well, it’s the same thing where I work. Lots of bullets, lots of “swim lanes”. Lots of boring.

I absolutely love this presentation, simply because it is so incredibly different than what I’ve seen before. That said, there are several thoughts that hit me as I flipped through the slides. First of all, would something like this be appropriate for my audience? Secondly, I’m no graphic artist; how the heck am I going to put together slides that look this cool?

I think the answer to the first question is “Probably not.”. That’s not to say that a lot of the ideas here won’t work. I just think an overly flashy style might detract a bit from my message. I certainly plan on using graphics, but perhaps in a bit more of a conservative manner. Admittedly, that’s partly due to my lack of graphic design skills more than an aesthetic choice!

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Week of 7/27 Discussion Post – Dominique Van Gilst

http://jiqueens.com/media/pdf/911/ZrTT9119590.pdf

I decided to use a back to school night powerpoint presentation as my example because I am looking to do something similar for my project. This particular sample is different because it is a back to school night presentation. However, I like the way that it breaks up different topics, and doesn’t have too much on one slide. I also like that the presentation is colorful because it will keep the audience more engaged and interested. My presentation will be about inclusion in the classroom, and how parents can teach their children more about it at home. The sample that I have found works pretty well, but I would definitely add more to mine to make it more interactive and more like an in person presentation for my audience, including voice overs on each slide. I also want to include resources for the parents that they can use to explain inclusion to their children so that they are not at a loss when it comes to how to describe differences and acceptance to their students.

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Discussion prompt for Week of 7/27

In this week’s discussion, you’ll focus on identifying one or more usable models for your own writing, recognizing that we can learn from and build on how others present their ideas. Much like we’ve been working with the templates in TSIS, such models can provide us with jumping-off points that will allow us to develop our own thinking.

I’ve given you a few pieces to get you started. You’ll find a folder of sample texts from different genres in the Unit 3 folder of Assigned Readings on Blackboard. Look through these to take in some of the many possibilities for what research-based writing can look like, and then browse around the web for some more examples. Locate a text that looks/works kind of like what you envision for your own project–something in that same genre (i.e. a magazine article, a memo from an HR department, a PowerPoint delivered to a professional audience, etc.). It doesn’t have to be on the same or even a related topic–you’re just looking for an example of a genre (or type of writing) that you’re going to be writing in.

For your post, once you’ve located an example, please share it with us by linking it to your post, and then talk about what you think of this text as an example of that genre–what are some of the unique or distinctive features of this type of writing? how well does this particular sample work? what do you like about it? are there ways in which you think it is less than successful? what lessons will you take from this to use in crafting your own project? (Bear in mind that we can learn both lessons in the positive–I really like how they did this, and I’m going to try to do something similar–and lessons in the negative–I don’t think they did a good job with X, so I want to make sure to do better).

Your post should be >150 words and must include an embedded link to or a picture of the sample you’re discussing. Please categorize your post as “Discussions/Homework,” and tag it with “week of 7/27,” “genre,” “unit 3,” and [your name]. Posts are due by Wednesday.

Then, for your response work this week, please read through 2 classmates’ drafts (which will be up by the end of the day on Friday). In order to ensure that everybody gets feedback, please go to the list of posts on the blog dashboard. Click “All Posts,” find the post with your draft, and then read the 2 immediately below that. In your comments (>100 words each), please highlight what you think is working well, what you’d like more explanation of, any questions that you have about the content, and any suggestions you have about how best to reach the audience this person is targeting. Your feedback is due by the end of the day Sunday, 8/2 (note this is an extension from the original due date).

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Overview of Week of 7/27

As we head into the final stretch of the course, your focus will be on developing your Unit 3 project. That will unfold through a few different steps. this week. Please read on for more about what you’ll be doing (and how, when, and why).

Make sure you take the time to review comments from me and from your classmates on the blog, as well as the feedback you received from me on your research portfolio, project proposal, and project plan. I’m looking forward to seeing how these projects take shape in the coming days.

As you’re doing that work, some things to keep in mind about genre. As we’ve been discussing (see below), genre is not simply a template, but rather a response to the demands of the subject matter/author’s purpose and the needs of the audience. (This might sound familiar–this is how Graff and Birkenstein talk about their They Say/I Say templates, as starting points for organic work, rather than as static cookie-cutter patterns. Those TSIS techniques may come in quite handy as you are working to orchestrate a complex conversation among you and your sources!)

For that reason, it’s essential that you head into this drafting work with a very clear picture of your audience and a clearly articulated objective. You have free license here to invent the parameters of your rhetorical situation, and in fact you’ll need to provide a brief statement of that situation with your draft. Tell us who you’re writing for (as precisely as possible), and explain the circumstances under which that audience will receive your text (i.e. browsing through social media, sitting at a professional conference, visiting their company’s Human Resources Department or their university’s Career Services Office, etc.).

As you see from the rubric for this project (below), your project will be evaluated based upon both content and approach–how well you work with your sources to develop and communicate your ideas AND how effectively you convey that material to your given audience within the situation you have constructed. Make sure you consult the criteria listed in the rubric as you are drafting and revising.

Content
Has clear research focus/question /2
Provides appropriately detailed examination of research focus/question /2
Provides background/examples appropriate for target readers /2
Includes discussion of/implications for workplace culture(s) /2
Utilizes and appropriately references source materials /2
Subtotal /10

 

Presentation of information
Clear visual organization of ideas/information—constructed for easy comprehension by readers in the situation you have outlined /1
Makes effective use of visuals (graphics, images, pull-quotes, white space/background, other) to enhance reader understanding and interest /1
Text is not marred by proofreading errors /1
Language is clear, engaging, and audience-appropriate /2
Subtotal /5
TOTAL:  /15

Your draft (with brief accompanying statement explaining the rhetorical situation for your text) is due by the end of the day on Friday, 7/31. Please post this to the blog. You’ll each read and respond to at least two of your classmates’ drafts by the end of the day on Saturday, and will begin revising your drafts based upon their feedback, even as you are waiting for additional feedback from me.  See this post for the particulars regarding your posts:

If you would like to talk with me about your draft-in-progress or any of your other work in the course, please email me directly, and we can communicate that way or set up a time to talk by phone. 

So here are this week’s tasks:

Reading

  • genre samples on Blackboard–check out the Genre Samples folder in the Unit 3 readings folder to see some of the various forms that researched writing can take
  • sample(s) you locate on your own of the type of text you’d like to develop–thinking about your target audience and your intended purpose, look for texts that seek to reach a similar objective

Writing

  • draft of your Unit 3 research project (post to blog as link or attachment by Friday, 7/31)
  • revision worksheet–considering and reconsidering your own draft as you await feedback from me and from your classmates (due by Sunday, 8/2)
  • discussion work as outlined in the post below:

    Discussion prompt for Week of 7/27

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Week of 7/20 – Discussion

  1. One reading I’m choosing to focus on is on Mollie West’s “How To Create a Culture Manifesto (And Why It’s a Good Idea).” As the title already begins to suggest, the author is giving the reader/ audience a direction of where her blog post will lead. It’s an effective way of attracting an audience that may be skeptical or may just want simple and direct answers. Throughout the entire reading, I see West realize this and use it so that her message can easily reach large audiences in a short amount of time. From the beginning paragraph, which defines and explains the context of the article, to the end, which offers a do it yourself (DIY) template to approaching a manifesto, West is strategically tailoring an audience platform in mind.  Its a very linear reading structured with a brief general intro, main headlines, and bullet-listed points. She strengthens her position on “Why It’s a Good Idea” by giving real-world examples of companies (she lists a diverse pool of companies too) who have applied this approach and succeeded. Similarly, she’s choosing to highlight these companies’ evolution with time (i.e. Warby Parker) which aligns with the trends we see in today’s workforce “to increasingly value meaning work.” All this considered, West’s article serves to push/ employ an audience that can take direct actions for creating organizations that have a good workplace culture and environment.
  2. The second reading we were assigned this week on ethical culture really inspired me to want to include clean/ graphics-oriented supporting evidence. Given this text was lengthier and intended more for a different audience (i.e. a HR manager looking at detailed case studies or alternative data methods for improving their workplace culture), I still liked the way the authors structured the text having easy to read diagrams (like the Pyramid figure chart) followed up with statistics and discussions on the latter end. With respect to what I’d like to discuss on language diversity in the workplace, I could see myself readopting this kind of approach but in a sort of reduced magazine format. It wouldn’t be as long of a written publication/ research issue as the article we were given presents, but rather a platform that introduces users to a field they may not be aware of. My reasoning behind this would be to quickly engage a reader with the topic, reflect on their own experiences, and channel them to open a conversation with friends, family, colleagues, etc. Since most researchers and authors on studying language diversity stress that there is not enough attention on the issues it can potentially create, including short-read text blurbs summarized with graphic diagrams would be a good place to start. It’d look to have the same purpose Mollie West does in her article for raising awareness and pushing her audience to look further into a specified subject.
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Discussion Week 7/20

  1. I decided to focus on “How to create a culture manifesto for your organization” article by Mollie West for the prompt. It was easy to identify how author Mollie West turned what she had learned about creating culture manifesto and turning it into something the reader can learn as well. Throughout the article she values and product breakdown of notable companies Etsy and Warby Parker as they were prime examples to display this culture manifesto she had learned. The audience, from my own understanding, is most likely individuals who are involved with business promotion or working to promote other non-profit organizations. The author is able to subsection each business and then target her understanding of how the said business was able to create their own culture manifesto. Providing evidence and bullet pointing key values and principles makes it easy for the audience to identify what draws consumers and the public in. I think the author made the article as organized as she did so the audience can then go back and easily be drawn to reread the values and reasons why the businesses Etsy and Warby Parker were able to develop and use these said values to bring in a consumer base. The organization of the article is extremely helpful, in my opinion, to guide the audience through each of the tactics the companies use to target and build their consumer base, without this organization of the process it takes to create this culture manifesto, it would be much harder to pull away from the reading the key factors as to what brought each company success.
  2. After focusing primarily on the LGBTQ community, I think it would be best to focus my research writing on the topic as well in regards to organizational culture. My target audience would be those who associate with the LGBTQ community and others who are advocates for them as well. This would involve educating not only the LGBTQ community members on the research I have learned, but also turning the research to implicate what others who do not identify as such should learn. The purpose of my research would be to advocate for lessening the heterosexual norm within the office, as it is stereotypically thought of as a straight male working in these environments. Promoting gender diversity would encompass not only women but others who identify as transgender, non-binary, etc. I think there are plenty of options when it comes to how I would encourage gender diversity in the workplace and this can range from individual work to group work, and even so with whole organization work. Most of the texts I want to look for are those who feel targeted or vulnerable in the workplace and what they have experienced. I am a strong believer of learning from past mistakes and taking those moments of ignorance and turning them into a learning lesson, this is primarily what I would try to do with these stories I find. I think what would be interesting is looking into social media outlets, and seeing what influencers or the public have shared with their own experience being a minority in the workplace. I want to get into a good amount of detail, really trying to elaborate and paint a picture for the reader so they can place themselves within these stories. I would prefer the texts not to be too long, but powerful enough that the reader remembers the detailed account read. My writing style I would aim for a casual conversation, because through so many articles authors demand a change but I think that this instead should be an ongoing conversation that implements the reader as well. My purpose is to educate the reader, inform them of what others experiences in a day to day setting in the workplace, it wouldn’t be a “blame game” per say where the reader or anyone who is heterosexual is at fault because this gender discrimination is not experienced by everyone. My citations would be quoted such as “ – John Doe, 20, non-binary” so then the reader can better understand who is telling this story and where do they fall in terms of in the LGBTQ community.