We’ve already started to talk about how our ideas and knowledge (and how text) is a mash of a lot of things from the past. We wrote about this idea in class on June 27–based on films or music we like, characters or comics. From that talk, we realized that writing in college is a lot like the process(es) we learned about today: it’s a collection of information, a mashing up of that information, a remixing of that information, and then a sharing of that information. In order to write, we need to emulate, transform, and combine. THIS process is what academic learning is all about: we need to copy thinking, replicate processes, consume ideas and transform them as we make them our own, and THEN combine them in new and thoughtful ways to provoke more thinking–by ourselves and our readers. The key is attribution. Know where you come from from; know where your ideas come from; know when to give credit where credit is due.
Now onto the subject of this first paper: you.
You are the topic, or rather, your expertise. What are you an expert at? What is your “expertivity"? Your expertise could be shoes, fishing, reading, writing, the high jump, a genre of music, computer coding, building bird houses, drawing. What is it that you do and are really great at? It can be anything that is appropriate to talk about in a class (you know what I mean!).
In a way, you are the research for this project–what you’ve learned about something, how you learned it, who taught you, where you go to keep learning (from experience or from reading or watching how-to videos), and how you would pass on your expertise to someone else. How could you share what you have become great at?
Your greatness doesn’t need to be the cure for cancer (!)–though please do that in the future, okay?–but can be something you did that was spectacular:
- An undefeated baseball season–how did that happen, how did you get to be good at it and stay good at it?
- A class that you were amazing in–how did that happen? How did you get to be amazing at biology?
- A project you worked on–the yearbook. Was it the best yearbook ever? Why?
Whatever you choose to write about,
it needs to be something you do that you’re great at–you need to explain how
that came about, how you learned, and how you might pass on that knowledge. At
the minimum this is what matters–details and execution will make what you write
about special.
You’re going to write a paper that is a mash up of all the learning you acquired about a topic/skill/activity/sport, and how you use that skill, and how you’d teach that to someone else. Ta-da! The Mash-Up Paper.
This paper must meet these criteria:
You’re going to write a paper that is a mash up of all the learning you acquired about a topic/skill/activity/sport, and how you use that skill, and how you’d teach that to someone else. Ta-da! The Mash-Up Paper.
This paper must meet these criteria:
- You must come up with guiding questions for your “research.”
- You must brainstorm somehow (10-minute writing, lists, outline, cluster, web, notes, whatever you like).
- You need to interview others that know of your expertivity (a teammate, a former teacher, a former classmate, a friend, a family member–you need to get their opinions, quote them, and include them in your Works Cited page).
- You need to talk about this expertivity with your classmates in this program.
- You need to talk to the instructor and your tutor about your expertivity.
- You need to write at least three full pages for the main paper (Times New Roman, 12 pt., MLA format–exactly). The final stapled portion of unit 1 will be a total of five pages (Consultation Page and Works Cited page).
- You need to find outside sources that confirm or support your expertivity that you might direct a “beginner” toward–and include a “To Learn More About _________, Consult These Sources” page before your Works Cited. (Of course, you can name it something better than that.)
- You need at least two drafts and a final draft. We’ll work on drafts in class and in lab sessions.
- And you need to write me a short letter that tells me what you learned from doing this as a writer (use the language of your Writing Spaces readings to help you think of ways to describe what you did as a writer–esp. the E. Shelley Reid article). This letter will not be a part of the stapled final product.
- You’ll need to load your paper to Turnitin.com. We’ll set this up for you, and you can work on this submission in lab or at home. You’ll have a chance to upload a draft and learn how to use Turnitin.com to make your writing better. You’ll need to upload the final draft to Turnitin.com on June 12 before 1 pm and PRINT RECEIPT!! No submission or receipt=Late Work. I don't accept late work, period!
- EVERYTHING needs to be turned in together, in hard copy. Be sure your name is on the front of a three-prong folder as well as on every single page. Turn in everything in a three-prong folder in the exact order listed below. Please FOLLOW directions carefully!
- Unit 1 Stapled together (3 FULL pages, Consultation Page, and Works Cited page).<--MLA format! [Front Pocket]
- Letter to Professor Piro (don’t misspell my name or your name and SIGN the letter). [Front Pocket]
- Brainstorming (whatever you come up with–use it and put it in the prongs) [Inside 3 Prongs]
- Notes through the research process (include everything you jot down from conversations to emails to anything that moves you to write this project) [Inside 3 Prongs]
- Rough Draft #1 [Inside 3 Prongs]
- Humpty Dumpty [Inside 3 Prongs]
- Rough Draft #2 [Inside 3 Prongs]
- Peer Review Forms and Papers [Inside 3 Prongs]
- Conference Paper [Inside 3 Prongs]
- Rough Draft #3 [Inside 3 Prongs] ** Make sure each revision shows progress because revising is essential to writing!
- Any notes to me concerning issues and etc. [Back Pocket]
- Turnitin.com Receipt [Back Pocket] **No Receipt/Submission=Late Work, Unacceptable!
Unit
1 Grade Break Down
10%
Reading Quizzes
10%
Writing Assignments
10%
Drafts/Peer Reviews and Conferences
10%
Letter
60%
Final Paper
The seven characteristics that matter in college writing are
these: Focus (audience), Content (critical thinking), Organization, Style,
English Language Conventions, Information Literacy, and Writing Process.
See the below charts for details regarding how papers will be evaluated. The criteria above for this particular project does matter, but the characteristics of good writing and those various levels of excellence go into the evaluation process for all the units.
See the below charts for details regarding how papers will be evaluated. The criteria above for this particular project does matter, but the characteristics of good writing and those various levels of excellence go into the evaluation process for all the units.
Overview
of 7 Vital Characteristics of Academic English Writing
Below is the breakdown of grade ranges to show how each of the 7 Characteristics of Successful Academic English Writing will be used to assess your writing.
Overview
of Grade Ranges for Assessment
Unit 2 is the
Remix Project (Deadline July 3)
Format:
- 3-4 (meaning at least 3 full pages) page essay explaining your research process and connecting to the required readings from this section.
- 6-10 pages of notes in logical order that cover information from 4-6 sources
Purpose:
The assignment is designed to help you practice with attribution in MLA format and help you gather research for Unit 3. You must include the proper works cited entry for each source as well as the correct citation format for the information you copy/paste.
This project is a gathering of information — you need loads and loads and loads of information in order to write the final paper … so rip and remix what you find. Take notes on everything you do and everything you find.
Content and Focus:
This is a “research” project—you need
to explore an area of your field that interests you and engage in research.
Information literacy is what we call it these days (see your grading
rubrics). This project feeds directly into the last project, a report of
information about writing in your field (more on this next week).
For now, here’s what you need to do (Unit 2, this is the first part of research project, which will culminate in Unit 3.):
You must keep extensive typed notes. You’ll need all your notes and thinking and print-outs and more for the packet for your final paper. You will not be able to go back and re-create this work. If you don’t have all your work in the final packet, you risk earning a failing grade. Take notes, work this process, or you will be so deeply sorry come the final project.
Part I: Getting Familiar with Finding Information
Find databases in the areas that are of interest to you (in a particular field).
- Search through those databases to find articles that interest you.
- Save articles that are full-text to a flash drive.
- Read selected articles to learn what they are really about — take notes or discard as you will — then go find articles that work better.
You will have a section in Unit 2
that answers these questions in complete sentences:
- How many are there (list as many as you can)?
- What are the runs for the journal (when did the library start carrying these and how many years do they have copies of)?
- Are there only hard copies or are electronic versions available?
- When did that happen? And are the copies abstracts of full-text?
- Who publishes the journals? Who writes for them?
Explore the two Creative Commons links and find articles that are of interest to you (for your
field).
- How many articles did you find looking in both links (rough estimate).
- What are the dates of publication (Really old articles in your field are probably not great for doing research.)?
- Who are the publishers?
- Who are the authors? Are they professionals doing what you want to do?
Find national associations for the
field you want to enter.
- What is the purpose of this organization?
- What written materials do they publish for the profession?
- Do they have conferences or continuing education opportunities?
- Do they have a blog?
- Is there more than one association affiliated together?
- Is there more than one association that might be of interest to you and your field?
Find websites dedicated to learning
in your field and/or dedicate to disseminating information in your field.
- What websites are there?
- What do these websites offer?
- Who “writes” the content for these sites?
- How can you trust this information?
In case you’re confused, look at
this sample for Part I:
Be sure to format your Part I like
this example.
Part II: Collecting All of the
Information I Need
For this section, you need to actually collect your information from your 4-6 sources. Begin each section with the MLA-correct works cited entry for the source. Then copy/paste the exact sentences with the words and/or ideas that you will use to create Unit 3.
Be sure to format the copy/pasted material with quotation marks (It’s a quote after all!) and an MLA citation that documents from where the information comes.
Look over the sample for Part II for help:
Be sure to format your Part II like
this example.
Unit
2 Grade Break Down
5%
Reading Quizzes
5%
Writing Assignments
40% Notes
50% Essay
This assignment will
be submitted in the following manner:
Front Pocket: Essay (stapled together)
Notes (stapled together)
3 Prongs: Brainstorming
Outline
Handwritten or Typed
versions of your notes
Rough Draft #1 of Essay
Rough Draft #2 of Essay
Peer-Reviewed Copies and
Forms
Conference Draft
Rough Draft #3 of Essay
Any Revisions of Notes
Back Pocket: Notes to me, if any.
Photocopies of all
materials used for Notes. I will need a copy of the title page and copyright page,
and then I will need a copy of the page on which the material can be found.
Yes, this task will result in a lot of copying.
 |
| Share Your Knowledge! |
Unit 3: The “Share
Your Knowledge” Paper (Deadline July 24)
The deadline for this last paper is
July 24 at the beginning of class. Hard
copy 3 prong folders must be in my hands by that time. No late papers are
possible. Final versions will be due to Turnitin.com at 1 pm on July 24, but
you’ll have two opportunities to upload and check for attribution errors!
You have now mashed up and remixed. Now you will get to share your knowledge with others, exactly what professionals do all over the world: they learn; they mash up their learning, and they remix it; then they… share. Otherwise, what’s the point of seeking knowledge or attempting discovery or engaging in scientific experiments? So one team can have all the knowledge and expertise on a topic? That’s not good. That’s not right.
Girl Talk SHARING Music with college students!
The central driving question for this last paper is three fold:
- What do scientists in your field write? (blogs, journal articles, theoretical books, textbooks, history books, lab reports, policy statements, and so on).
- Who is the audience for these works, and what’s the purpose?
- What specific professional have you studied/chosen and what has he/she written in order to share knowledge with his/her professional community?
The answers to these questions can
guide your Unit 3 writing experience.
Paper organization, with possible
paragraph focus/order:
- Introduction
- Talk about a text
- Talk about another text
- Talk about another text
- Professional
- Talk about a text published by the professional you’ve chosen
- Personal reflection on the whole process and what you’ve learned about writing in your field
- Conclusion
Or organize it this way:
- Introduction
- Personal reflection on the whole process and what you’ve learned about writing in your field
- Professional
- Talk about a text published by the professional you’ve chosen
- Talk about another text
- Talk about another text
- Talk about another text
- Conclusion
Just because these are two
possibilities, doesn’t mean there aren’t a dozen other ways to organize. You
can start with your professional if you want… you just need to make it all
flow, work on transitions, and tell the story you want to share in the order
that makes sense to you and that you feel is appropriate to your writing goals.
You have loads of things to say about the texts you’ve found through the research you did during Attribution Week. Bring that knowledge to your paper as you weave in quotes to support your thinking and what you want to share with your reader.
REMEMBER–this paper is about the kind of writing professionals within your field of study do, NOT your understanding of the content. You are just starting out. You need to know the kind of writing that’s possible in your career; you don’t need to have the content down cold. Please remember Mike Bunn's article "Read Like a Writer"!
HOWEVER, the content will support your discussion of the kind of writing you’ll discuss. For example, you could write that a mechanical engineer could be a textbook writer, and then you could give an example of the writing in the textbook, commenting upon how it’s important for the engineer to be clear and concise.
Or you could write about how nurses
have found it important to define their roles through policy documents or
manifestos (like the Remix Manifesto we watched: RiP!)–then
you could illustrate your point with a quotation and comment about how nursing
writers have to be strong advocates of their profession.
THINK along these lines… you’ve got the idea of expertivity down. You did your research. Now you’re going to share something about what experts do to share their knowledge. Voila! It all comes together now, doesn’t it?
Think of your primary audience as students who will be in your exact spot next summer, speak to them. Your other primary audience is me, Prof. Piro. But who are your secondary audiences? You know who… be ready to write about them in your letter…
And remember you need a letter to me to “introduce” your final paper. This letter should do the following:
- Write about your audiences.
- Write about your purpose.
- Link the work you did on Unit 2 with the writing you are doing for Unit 3.
- Specifically mention readings that helped you read and write over the course of these two projects.
- Refer to your writing process for Unit 3–give me specifics, even number the steps you’ve taken to make this project happen.
- Write about how aligning thinking and projects can help you get more done than you ever dreamed possible (like mixing in your scientist as a writer with your Unit 3 paper on what experts in your field write!!!).
- I expect this to be pretty lengthy–this is the culminating project–so you’ll have lots to say.
Unit 3: Format/Length Criteria and Some Ideas
- Be 7 pages long (including one page for the Works Cited).
- Include reference to your professional as part of the paper and what your professional has written (remember this text you create about your professionals can provide you with talking points for your poster presentation).
- May include a picture of your scientist and/or pictures
of your texts or journals. These, however, cannot just serve to
lengthen your page count.
- Use MLA formatting perfectly.
- Include a Works Cited page, perfectly formatted, please (go to the Purdue OWL to see the latest and greatest about attribution!)
- Please use Times New Roman font in 12 pt.
- If you’d like to use section titles, please just make them 14 pt. size in the same font as the rest of the paper.
- Also, make sure your font in pagination (header) is the same as in the whole paper.
What am I forgetting? There’s always
something, isn’t there? We’re driving in the fast lane with the music cranked
up, the windows rolled down, and headed to the beach. And you know we always
forget something when we go to the beach… So let’s brainstorm as we read and
see what we might have forgotten. I’ll add it to this site later!
Unit 3 Grade Break Down
5% Reading
Quizzes
5%
Writing Assignments
10% Turnitin.com Attribution Tests
20% Letter
60% Essay
This assignment will be submitted in the following manner:
Front Pocket: Essay
(stapled together)
Letter
(stapled together)
3 Prongs: Brainstorming
Analysis
of Sources
Outline
Rough
Draft #1 of Essay
Rough
Draft #2 of Essay (accompanied by Turnitin.com Test #1)
Humpty
Dumpty Exercise
Rough
Draft #3 of Essay (accompanied by Turnitin.com Test #2)
Letter
Rough Draft #1
Peer-Reviewed
Forms (2)
Conference
Draft
Rough
Draft #4 of Essay
Rough
Draft #2 of Letter
Back Pocket: Notes
to me, if any.
Turnitin.com
Receipts (3)
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