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Posts from 2017-07-10

Focus on Writing in Your Field

Focus on Writing in Your Field published on

This is the post for the week of July 10, 2017.

This week, you will turn in your Professional Bio project and move on to the second major project, which asks you to consider the kinds of writing that people in your field do. We’ll also spend time developing the writing groups.

Anonymous Survey

To get started on our next project, add a kind of writing or two to the PollEverywhere survey shown below. The answers will show up on this page in a word cloud. You can take pertinent answers from the responses to help fill out your second major project.

You need to use one word answers OR hyphenate the words so that they stick together in the word cloud. For example, as an English teacher, I see short stories as a kind of writing in the workplace. I’d enter that as short-story so that the word cloud shows the words properly.

Note that I’m using the free version of PollEverywhere (because I just don’t have $349/semester for this thing), so you can only answer the survey twice (40 answers total for the class).

Readings for the Week

Tasks for the Week

  1. By 11:59PM on Monday, July 10, submit your Professional Bio Statement in Canvas. The grace period ends at 11:59 PM on Thursday, July 13.
  2. Collaborate to set ground rules for your writing group. The primary work of your writing group is explained in the Writing Groups Overview. You may also collaborate to write some short documents. Your group should make a set of guidelines that covers all of the following:
    • If you want, contact information that group members can use to contact one another outside Slack and Canvas.
    • Group responsibilities (division of labor) for the project. For instance, do you want a leader? Who is responsible for making sure everyone gets feedback on drafts?
    • Communication policies that account for how the group will deal with any issues that arise, such as someone being offline for a few days.
    • Revision strategies and plans.
  3. Read the Analysis assignment, and ask any questions you have. If you have any questions about the assignment, check in #general in Slack to see if they have already been answered. If they have not, post your question there, and I will answer when I check in. Asking a question is not required.
  4. Begin work on the Analysis assignment. Use the suggestions in Step 3 of the Analysis assignment (Research writing in your field) to begin work on your project. The information in items a to e (below) will help you with specific parts of your project:
    1. Find info to help with the Audience column in your project in Audience Analysis: Primary, Secondary, and Hidden Audiences (from Writing Commons).
      There is a missing image that is here: http://writingcommons.org/images/Audience_Analysis.JPG
    2. Find info on ethics. If you are focusing on ethics in your table, check out Chapter 9 (9.1–9.6) of Technical Writing by Hamlin, Rubio, and DeSilva. You need to click through to access all the sections of the chapter.
    3. Find info on intercultural and global issues. If you are focusing on intercultural and global issues in your table, check out Practicing Intercultural Communication from Writing Commons.
    4. Work on the design and phrasing of your Analysis of Writing project. Apply information from the Ten Ways to Improve Your Writing and from the slideshow in the assignment to your project. For instance, pay attention to things like the layout of the columns, how you phrase the information in your table, and the alignment of the information in the columns. You will find more information in the linked resources.
    5. Check any of the textbooks for information on the specific kinds of writing. The textbooks can especially help with describing the characteristics of kinds of writing.
  5. Share a draft of your Analysis of Writing project  in the Feedback on Analysis of Writing Projects on Canvas.
    • In your message, ask your group to look at anything you are trying to improve. Let them know the kind of advice you need.
    • Provide feedback to your group members, using the strategies in the Peer Review Commenting Strategies video.
    • Your Analysis of Writing project is due Monday, July 17 at 11:59PM. The grace period ends at 11:59PM on Thursday, July 20.
  6. By 11:59PM on Friday, July 14, write your 07/14 Labor Log in Canvas. Specific questions for your log are included in Canvas. The grace period for your log entry ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, July 17.

 
Last updated on 10th July, 2017, 1:26 AM

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