For Friday

Hello all,

Today we opened class with a discussion about seeds and planting seeds. This discussion led into our exploration of our potential as writers.

We explored some of the suggestions for the syllabus. I have made those suggestions, and I reposted the document under moodle and I am emailing it to you all. Remember, we can always revise the syllabus, so let me know if you see anything that needs to be addressed. Thanks to Bret, Alison,Sarah, and Alex for suggestions.

We had a fantastic discussion about the Elbow/Barthlomae debate. Caitlin mentioned that Bartholomae only seemed to present one side of the argument, and Bret suggested that even through it was one-sided, the response to Elbow was very respectful and engaging. Baalika and Sarah (with some help from Dean) highlighted the level of academic prose and sentences in the work (which at times made reading the work difficult). Brenna focused her discussion on the notion of Bartholomae's underestimation of the students who are writing. Her point about the divorce example was really engaging. Some questions that we explored were: Dean's confusion at the utopian space and time in the classroom, Sarah's desire to know Bartholomae's writing background, and Sarah's focus on the experience of writing in the academy.

We then spent some time practicing Elbow and Barthlomae's methods in relation to our next stage of writing: thinking about what we want to write about for our project one narrative. We did both methods. Please bring these to class on Friday, so I can check them off.

Elbow (Cubing)

Describing: Physically describe your topic. What does it look like? What color, shape, texture, size is it? Identify its parts.
Comparing: How is your topic similar to other topics/things? How is it different?
Associating: What other topic/thing does your topic make you think of? Can you compare it to anything else in your experience? Don't be afraid to be creative here: include everything that comes to mind.
Analyzing: Look at your topic's components. How are these parts related? How is it put together? Where did it come from? Where is it going?

Bartholomae (Questioning)
Definition: Definition asks the writer to describe the nature of the topic. (What is X? What was X?) Take a fact or an idea and identify that fact or idea for the reader by providing a definition. Begin by using a dictionary or other sources of etymological meanings to define the subject or topic. For example: Rhetoric is the art of influencing the thought or action of an audience.The writer would then continue to define the subject or topic of rhetoric. Remember: there are many ways to define a topic. The writer may use a reference source definition, or the writer may choose to define a topic by what that topic is not. For example, a writer might define the color 'white' by saying that the color is the opposite of 'black.'

Analogy: Analogy asks the writer to reveal more about the topic by determining how the topic is similar or different from something else. (What is X like or unlike?) This method also helps to reveal what is known and unknown to the writer about the topic. Crafting an analogy also helps the writer to demonstrate the topics and arguments to be presented to the intended audience. For example: The brain is like a computer

3. Consequence: Also called Cause and Effect, Consequence asks the writer to consider how the topic came to be, to isolate what consequences the topic had or might have in the future, and to predict an outcome or behavior based on patterns that have already occurred. (What caused or causes or will cause X? What did X cause or is X causing or will X cause?) For example: If the new safety measures are not in place, the future of aviation will be in danger. Consequence requires the writer to elaborate upon the origins, development, and eventual outcome of a consequence from beginning to end. For example: If the new policy is not approved, the company will lose 50% of their customers to competitors.

4. Testimony: Also called Support from Evidence, Testimony asks the writer to use external sources of argumentation (expert opinions, factual data, statistics, and laws) to support arguments and claims. (What does an authority say about X?) For example: The Surgeon General’s report on the health risks of cigarette smoking. While the reliability and authority of external sources may be called into question, questioning the credibility of testimonials can be a good place for the writer’s own line of argument to begin.

Remember you will need to select one of the various areas to explore in your draft which is due on Friday. Your draft should be 2-3 pages long (ds) and needs to explore an aspect of the writing process.

We then had a short grammar time moment where we looked at sentences. Remember, you need to svo and svo;svo in your draft.

Assign:
Polish draft (2-30 pages) for Thursday review workshop (bring to class)
Make sure that you "see" me as a follower of your blog. If not email your blog url address.

Thanks so much and take care,

Kat