Tag: prompts

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Instructions for submitting your final work

With the end of the summer term quickly approaching, you’ve got some looming deadlines, but you’ll have a little bit of extra time. Read on for instructions and deadline info.

Final projects will be due by the end of the day on Thursday, 8/6 (this is a 24-hour extension). Please post your project to the blog, and be sure to do the following:

  • if your project takes the form of anything other than a blog post (for which you could use Expressions to build your document), please insert your project into the post as a usable file (i.e. PDF) or link. Use the Add Media button on your post to do this. Remember that you can title that media in the Add window, so that whatever text you want to have will appear where you embed the link.
  • in the body of your post, include a brief outline of the rhetorical situation for your text–the audience, purpose, mode of delivery/publication, etc. (Remember that you have full control over this and can create whatever hypothetical situation you desire.)
  • categorize your post as “Taking it public,” and tag it with “final project,” “unit 3,” “week of 8/3,” and [your name]

 

Your Unit 3/final course reflection will be due by the end of the day on Saturday, 8/8 (this is also a 24-hour extension). Please refer to the unit 3 assignment sheet for the prompt for this 500-word post. Please note:

  • this should read like an essay (not just a Q&A)
  • you should categorize this post as “Taking it public,” and tag it with “week of 8/3,” “reflection,” “unit 3,” and [your name]
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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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Discussion posts for Week of 7/20

I am working my way through your research portfolios and will be getting you some feedback as soon as I can. While you’re waiting for that, please review the  unit 3 assignment sheet and get started on the week’s readings, a couple of texts on building healthy cultures within an organization that look rather different from the essays/articles we’ve been reading.

Our focus is on genre this week and next. To refresh, “genre” refers to the sort of reasonable responses we make to recurring writing situation–need to reach out to a prospective client? a formal business letter can be a good way to initiate contact. Need to show what you know to a teacher on an exam? a 5-paragraph essay might get the job done. Need to impress a potential employer? An organized, clean, easy-to-read resume is a good plan. Have to make a sales pitch? A snazzy Prezi might be just the thing. Genres take shape because we find them to be helpful, audience-centered ways to accomplish a particular kind of communication task. The demands of the writing situation dictate the sort of genres that might be appropriate. As you move toward presenting your research, it’s time to explore possible genres for that work.

For this week’s discussion, please respond to both of the questions below. Categorize your posts as “Discussions,” and tag them with “week of 7/20,” “unit 3,” “genre,” and [your name].

  1. Notice the practical focus of both of this week’s readings (these aren’t just about sharing information for curiosity’s sake but rather about rendering it usable for a particular audience and purpose). Select one of this week’s readings to focus on, and examine how the authors do that–how do they process what they’ve learned to make it actionable for a reader? what readers? what writing/rhetorical strategies do you see them employing to make this information usable for their readers? Be specific and analytical–why do you think they go about it in this way? How effective do you think it is for that particular audience?
  2. It’s time to start imagining the possibilities for your own research writing in Unit 3–given what you want to discuss, for what purpose, and to whom, what are some of the options for you? What kinds of texts would this sort of reader be likely to engage with? where/when/on what platform do you see them getting this info? what kinds of expectations would your readers have about
  • level of detail
  • writing style
  • length of text
  • time spent reading
  • citation method
  • types of evidence/sources

Your response work might carry over a little into next week–you can either respond to their answers to #2 above, or read through a couple of your classmates’ project proposals after they’re due on Sunday, 7/26. Either way, please comment on at least 3 of them.  Try to offer up your suggestions for what forms their work might take, given the parameters they’ve outlined.

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Discussion prompts for week of 7/6

We’re diving into a series of conversations this week–around the physical design of office spaces, around the issues you’re exploring in your own inquiries, and around the very work of research and pulling together a range of perspectives. Let’s continue all of that work on the blog.

For this week, everyone should respond to #1 and then choose 1 of the other 2 questions to answer. Your initial posts are due by the end of the day on Thursday, and then I’ll ask you to log back into read through your classmates’ posts and respond as you wish.

  1. With the due date approaching for your research portfolio, it’s time to start practicing writing about your sources. Please compose an annotation for 1 of your sources, following the guidance on the unit 2 assignment sheet. This annotation should be 2 paragraphs long–1 of summary, 1 of analysis/ discussion of how this source will be useful to you. The draft is good practice for you, and provides me an opportunity to give you feedback on adjustments that you might want to make as you continue to work toward the portfolio (which is due next Wednesday, 7/15)
  2. Choose one of the responses from “Readers respond: open offices are terrible for women,” and consider how the writer builds upon the ideas in the original article (“The subtle sexism of your open office plan”). Use Harris’s terms from chapter 2 of Rewriting to describe what you see this writer doing (i.e. extending, illustrating, etc.) and what intrigues you about that. How does this person open up a new line of inquiry with their response?
  3. In the reader response piece, Katharine Schwab introduces those letters with a brief overview of some of the patterns she detects in their feedback. This segment includes some jump-out links to other related articles, and then segues into a selection of letters that focus on the gendered implications of open office plans (the impacts that disproportionately affect women). Thus, Schwab facilitates a complex discussion with many participants, but it’s by no means exhaustive. What else would YOU want to inject into the discussion? What is an issue/perspective you think is not represented here? (You can draw on your own experience if you wish, or conjecture as to what others might wish to incorporate, but offer up another take on this using one of the templates from They Say/I Say, any chapter.)

Please categorize your post as “discussions/homework,” and tag it with “unit 2,” “week of 7/6” and [your name].

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prompts Benjamin Fisch

1.) Wong makes many points that add to this larger conversation about diversity and inclusion. One of the points that really stood out to me, is somewhat counterintuitive when thinking about it. The following quote sums up what is trying to be said. “Notions of equality are gen-erally associated with assumptions of sameness; when everyone is treated the same and gets the same things, this is assumed to ensure that everyone is treated fairly. However, treating everyone the same is a surefire way to exacerbate and reproduce inequal-ities, precisely because it actively obscures and denies relevant differences, including how different groups have historically been treated, which must be acknowledged to be fairly addressed at present.” The point of all of this is treating everyone the same in the workplace or in society actually would not work. It actually would back fire and lead to even more inequality.

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Discussion posts for Week of 6/29

We’re going to take it a little easier this week on discussion–please respond to both of the questions below by Wednesday, 7/1; you do not need to reply to your classmates’ posts, though I certainly encourage you to read through what others have to say.

In “Changing organizational culture,” we see a rather different type of writing, one that’s pretty approachable and readable, but still presenting intensive research in a way that’s geared toward a very specific audience. What we’re looking at here is a trade/professional journal. Like scholarly journals, they often include peer-reviewed articles, but they’re designed for practitioners (in this case, in the workplace safety industry) rather than for other academics. The end result is detailed research that’s usable for people working in this field.

In part we’re looking at this article as a sample of a genre that might be useful for you to consider for your own inquiry. SUMMON (the SU Libraries’ search tool) allows you to select “trade publication” as a Content Type option in an Advanced Search. It can be really helpful to see what folks within a given field are talking about, how they’re making use of current research, developing best practices, implementing ideas, etc. The material there tends to be very current material from experts–good stuff to use when you’re trying to understand the implications of a particular issue.

And we can also learn some lessons from this text about how to develop an argument that will reach our readers. Wong does a solid job of making explicit connections between theory and practice as she translates this material for a non-academic audience. Let’s home in on how she makes this work.

Please respond to both of the questions below for this week’s discussion.

  1. Wong is entering a conversation around diversity (including the business case and the ethical case folks have made for diversity) and inclusion that was going on long before she showed up. What does she have to add to this discussion? Focus in on 1 particular contribution you see her making to this larger conversation. Name it, explain it, tell us where to find it, and talk about what you think is significant about it.
  2. Review chapter 8 of TSIS, which is about connecting the parts. Locate a place in Wong’s article where you see her doing this important work, and identify the TSIS moves that you see her using in this segment. Again, point us to a specific passage, and talk us through what she’s doing there and why it matters.

Categorize your posts as “Discussions/Homework,” and tag with “unit 2,” “week of 6/29,” and [your name].

 

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Discussion prompts for Week of 6/22

This week’s work centers around focusing and surveying, and we’re going to stick with that theme in discussion. I’d like you to consider an analogy to photography here. When you’re getting ready to take a picture, you need to make a whole lot of decisions. That starts with deciding what your subject is going to be–what you’re going to focus on. In the course of making that decision, you’re also weighing what else is around that focal point, deciding what to include and exclude based on how you frame the image (whether and how much you zoom, how you refocus if you do zoom in, and deciding whether and how to overlay filters and other effects).

image that depicts a person focusing camera lens

That’s kind of how research works–figuring out what’s worth focusing on requires a lot of surveying the landscape to see what’s out there and what’s interesting, and then making a series of decisions about how to compose a final image that you think others will want to see.  We’re entering the surveying phase now–looking to see what’s out there and then deciding where to focus and how to frame the shot.

Please respond to both of the prompts below by the end of the day on Wednesday, 6/24, and then tune back in later in the week to respond to a couple of your classmates’ posts.

  1. What search tools have you tried, and what are you noticing about them–how they work, what kinds of sources you turn up with different tools, what specialized features (i.e. Advanced Search features) seem especially helpful? If you’re running into roadblocks, explain what you’ve tried, so we can offer suggestions to help you keep moving forward.
  2. Plot some research goals for yourself. As you can see in the unit 2 assignment sheet you will need to have at least 1 scholarly source, and at least 1 primary source (check out the post below for a rundown of what constitutes a primary source). You’re welcome to include a variety of sources beyond that, but will want to ensure that your sources represent a range of different viewpoints and contributions. What kinds of texts are you hoping to find? Which fields and voices do you want to make sure are represented? How will you work to find them?

A refresher on source types:

Types of sources

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Discussion prompts for week of 6/15

As we move forward into Unit 2 this week, our focus will be twofold:  identifying and practicing rhetorical strategies (thinking about how we say what we do) and working to articulate the specific issues we’re interested in exploring further beneath this big umbrella of organizational culture. This will be foundational to the larger work of Unit 2: exploring.

For this week’s discussion work, please respond to question 1 and either of the other questions. Your posts are due by Thursday, 6/18–an extension from the original date, as you have a brief analytical exercise due by Wednesday (see the Unit 2 schedule of assignments and the associated dropbox on Blackboard).

  1. Our primary purpose in Unit 1 was to expand the body of shared knowledge on the subject of diversity and organizational culture, and each of you has made an individual contribution to that effort. Now I’d like you to review your classmates’ contributions to see what they’ve added–click on “canon” in the tag cloud to read these. What have you found interesting and significant in what you’ve read in their posts? Please be specific in naming the issues that have stood out to you and in pointing us toward 1 particular media element (graphic, video, link, etc.) that really made an impression on you. Taking these contributions as a set, how are you seeing the idea of “diversity and organizational culture” differently?
  2. “Flashpoint” is one of those buzzwords used in lots of different ways, in fields as far removed as management and gaming and exercise and chemistry. And since it’s proven to be so flexible, in rhetoric, too. For our purposes, it refers to a sort of rhetorical spark, a moment in the text when we see an important genesis or shift—when something important suddenly becomes clear. Pick such a flashpoint in “The Problem with Diversity in Computing,” and walk us through your chain of thought using one template from TSIS that’s designed for presenting the reaction you want to capture. (Chapters 4 and 5 of TSIS offer lots of ideas)
  3. Crafting effective transitions can be a real challenge for writers, but we can learn a lot from examining how others approach the task. Consider how Bogost uses transitions to develop his argument by focusing on a specific passage—the movement between one paragraph and another or between one section and another. How does he lay the groundwork for the move? How does he pick up on one of those pieces to move forward with? Be specific—quote and analyze in detail.

Please categorize your posts as “Discussions/Homework,” and Tag with “unit 2,” “week of 6/15,” and [your name]. Read through your classmates’ posts later this week, and respond where you see fit.

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Discussion prompts for Week of 6/8

This week you will be watching three TED talks and reading another article that all intersect with our big umbrella topic of organizational culture. (Think of this like a Venn diagram:

Venn diagram

I think this can be a helpful analogy because it is much the same tactic that we take in research: we are not simply looking for the one “perfect” source but rather for a source that interacts with our ideas in someway that move them forward. And the more voices we hear from in that research (the more perspectives we incorporate), the more likely we will arrive at a fuller understanding of the topic we’re examining.

For this week’s discussion I would ask that each of you respond to question #1 and then either #2 or #3. Please categorize your list as “Discussions/ Homework” and tag it with “week of 6/8,” “unit 1,” and [your name].

  1. We use the term “rhetoric” to discuss how we make arguments (what we do and how and why, not just what we say). Since a hefty portion of your work in this upcoming Expanding the Canon blog post hinges on rhetorical analysis, let’s do some practice–working with one of the TED talks for this week (Heffernan’s, Fried, or Salecl), talk to us about what you find interesting in their rhetorical approach. How do they engage the audience? What kinds of strategies do they use to explain their ideas? What do you think is interesting or significant about the way that they present their arguments and appeal to their listeners?
  2. Choose one of the talks that you watched this week and examine how this speaker works with evidence. What kind of evidence do they use? How do they explicate the connections between their evidence and their claims?  Be specific. How do they walk the audience through their argument? What are some of their argumentation tactics that you find effective? Note that you will need to watch the talk at least a second time, and take notes while you are doing it; you can also access a full transcript of the talk on the TED website.
  3. Choose one of the talks, and discuss how this presenter adds to our body of knowledge around organizational culture. Who is the speaker/author, and what kind perspective do they contribute? (You may need to do a quick Google search to get a sense of who they are.)  What kind of connections do you see between this take and other things we have been learning about organizational culture? If you were to make a Venn diagram (or a few) articulating the connections between this text and other ones that we’ve read, what would it look like? You can have some fun with this using an online Venn creator like this one or by sketching it out by hand and incorporating the image(s) into your post):

    Venn Diagram Maker Landing Page

    Please post your responses by the end of the day on Wednesday, 6/10, and respond to at least 2 of your classmates’ posts by the end of the day on Saturday, 6/13.

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Overview of Week of 6/1

Now that we’re getting our feet under us in terms of what organizational culture is, why diversity and inclusion are part of the conversation, and how thinking about rhetorical situation can help us to engage with complex texts, it’s time for us to build on that.

As a group, we’ve all been working with the same set of texts, and that gives us a shared foundation of knowledge. What I’ve tried to assemble here is a set of texts that function as a canon–works that are essential to an understanding of the subject matter, important and influential works. But there’s so much more out there to explore, and that will be your primary work for the week–looking around to locate an additional text that you think should be part of the canon.

Canonical works are substantive–building on careful and thoughtful research. They provide new insights and ideas, and don’t simply re-present known information. They work well for their audience, so that they can contribute to the world of knowledge.

Chances are you’ll need to look at several articles to find one that does all this and that meets the particular criteria that are set forth on the unit 1 assignment sheet . The SU libraries’ website is a good place to start here. You can use the Advanced Search functions there to help filter the results so they meet some of the basic criteria to start with. You’ll find a number of useful tutorials on the library site if you’re not already familiar with using it. This search tips page is a good place to start.

(A quick note on using SU libraries vs. Google Scholar–you’ve already paid for the SU services and won’t ever bump into a paywall; on Google Scholar, you often will. The library also provides free research support, which you can’t get on Google.)

So, where to begin? Here’s an overview of your tasks for the week:

Reading assignments:

  • chapters 2 and 3 of TSIS
  • chapter 1 of Rewriting by Joe Harris (PDF on Blackboard)
  • “Understanding key D&I concepts” (PDF on Blackboard)
  • your selected article (that you plan to contribute to the canon)–to write an effective summary, you will need to read this carefully and probably more than once. Be sure to consult the close reading handout and the handout on summary.

Discussion/writing assignments:

  • write a 100-200 word summary of either the Kaplan and Donovan article from this week OR the Austin and Pisano article from last week, and submit this on the blog (categorize as “Discussions/Homework”; tag with “K&D” or “A&P” as appropriate, along with “week of 6/1,” and [your name] (due Weds., 6/3) 
  • respond to 2 of this week’s discussion questions (available here). Categorize as “Discussions/Homework”; tag with “week of 6/1,” “unit1,” and [your name]. (due Thurs., 6/4): 

    Discussion prompts for Week of 6/1

  • respond to at least 2 of your classmates’ discussion posts on the blog (due Sat., 6/6)
  •  write a 200 word summary of your selected article. Include a link to or PDF of the article you’re working with, and reference the author and title of the text you are summarizing. Categorize this as “Expanding the Canon”; tag it with “summary,” “week of 6/1,” and [your name]. (due Sun., 6/7)