Day 4: Audience and Purpose

You will get into groups by your major.

Quiz
We will begin this class with a quiz on THIS ARTICLE.

You will have 10 minutes to complete THIS QUIZ based on the reading.

Evaluating Your Audience
For each video, answer the following questions in your group.

-Who is the intended audience of the video clip?
-How might other audiences perceive this video?

Once we have watched all of the videos, answer the following question in your group.

-What are some differences you observed from the three versions of The Three Little Pigs?









Catering to the Audience
When we talk to someone face-to-face, we know just who we are talking to. We automatically adjust our speech to be sure we are communicating our message. Many writers don't make those same adjustments when they write to different audiences--usually because they don't take the time to think about who will be reading what they write. To be sure that we communicate clearly in writing, we need to adjust our message--how we say it and what information we include--by recognizing that different readers can best understand different messages.

Three Groups of Audiences
Three categories of audience: the "lay" audience, the "managerial" audience, and the "experts."

The "lay" audience has no special or expert knowledge. They connect with the human interest aspect of articles. They usually need background information; they expect more definition and description; and they may want attractive graphics or visuals.

The "managerial" audience may or may have more knowledge than the lay audience about the subject, but they need knowledge so they can make a decision about the issue. Any background information, facts, statistics needed to make a decision should be highlighted.

The "experts" may be the most demanding audience in terms of knowledge, presentation, and graphics or visuals. Experts are often "theorists" or "practitioners." For the "expert" audience, document formats are often elaborate and technical, style and vocabulary may be specialized or technical, source citations are reliable and up-to-date, and documentation is accurate.

If you know what your audience wants & needs and identify what they already know, it will help you determine:
-how to write
-how much information to include
-how long to make your text
-how subjective or objective you should be
-how formal or informal your text should be

Purpose
Consider the following list of purposes for writing.
Persuade, Evoke emotion, Entertain, Explain/Define, Inform, Critique

Select a purpose from the list that is associated with each question I ask.
-Am I trying to educate my audience about a subject they do not know much about?
-Am I trying to explain to my the good and bad parts of a something?
-Am I trying to convince my audience to agree with my point of view on the subject?
-Am I trying to demonstrate to my audience that I know about this subject?
-Am I trying to amuse by writing something funny, beautiful, or dramatic?

Once you have a greater understanding of the purpose of your writing, try to complete this PURPOSE ACTIVITY in your group.


Lastly, you will select a term or concept that is specific to your major. In your group, you will need to explain that concept to the class in 3-5 sentences. Your group should present the concept to the class. You should assume that the class is a "lay" audience.

Day 3: Thesis Statments, Introductions, and Conclusions

Objectives: You will be able to:

-Identify the criteria of a strong thesis statement
-Practice revising weak thesis statements
-Identify types of introduction hooks
-Understand the parts of an introduction
-Understand the parts of a conclusion
-Practice identifying parts of a conclusion

We will start class by getting into groups.

Introductions

Introduce Yourself
In your groups take a few minutes and introduce yourself to your group members.

I will then ask some groups to share the information that was discussed in these introductions.

You might see that there are some parallels between personal introductions and introductions to academic essays.

Hooks
You want to capture the attention of the person you are introducing yourself to just like you want to capture the attention of your readers at the beginning of your introduction.

In writing, common ways to begin introductions are:

-Quotes
-Facts/Statistics
-Definitions
-Personal story/anecdote
-Striking example
-Intriguing statement

As a class, we will work through the INTRODUCTION HOOK EXERCISE.

The Rest of the Introduction

Now that you have the reader's attention there are three more parts of an introduction that will follow:

1. Hook--Grab the attention of your audience
2. Justification--Explain why this topic is important/relevant/interesting/problematic
3. Background--Provide general information on the topic to familiarize your reader with your topic. Along with the general information you can explain definitions and current events.
4. Thesis statement--
More activities with introductions can be found HERE

Thesis Statements

In your groups you will come up with a definition of a thesis statement and then create a thesis statement based on your definition. Each group will share their definition and example.

Afterward, we will consider four basic guidelines to create good thesis statements. Taking into account these guidelines, each group will be asked to revise its example thesis statement.

As a class, you will work through THIS WORKSHEET on thesis statements.

Lastly consider these four phrases:

-In my opinion…
-As far as I am concerned, I think…
-It is my personal belief that…
-I agree / disagree…
-My thesis statement is…

These four phrases are bad ways to introduce your thesis statement. Revise your group's thesis statement once more in light of all the information we discussed.

Conclusions

Conclusions contain three main parts:

1. Thesis Statement--Restate your thesis statement in a new way. If you just copy and paste from the introduction, you reader will think you are lazy.
2. Summary--Briefly present the main arguments/main points of your essay again.
3. Closer--A closer can be one of three things. For a unified essay, try to relate your closing statements to the Hook presented in the introduction.
3A. Call to Action: Explain what the reader should do after reading your essay
3B. Question: Ask what happens if nothing changes
3C. Prediction: Suggest what might happen if a situation does not change
3D. Suggestions for Future Research: Explain what future research could be conducted and how it might help solve the main issue you discuss

As a class, let's test our conclusion knowledge with THIS EXERCISE

Announcement 1: Formatting Guidelines

Every assignment you submit should be formatted this way unless otherwise instructed.

Font size: 12pt
Font style: Times New Roman
Line spacing: Double-Spaced (ctrl+A and then press ctrl+2)Do not insert extra spaces between paragraphs by hitting the enter/return key twice.
Margins: 1-Inch margins on top and bottom; 1-Inch margins on left and right sides
Indentation: The first line of every paragraph should be indented (tab key). This is equal to half an inch.
Text alignment: The text should be aligned to the left side of the page and jagged on the right(ctrl+A and then press ctrl+L).
Special formatting: Do not make your entire document bold or italicized.
References: should follow APA format

Reflection 1: Your Writing Process

Your Writing Process
As we saw in class today, everyone has different ways of writing essays. Write a short essay (300-500 words) about your own writing process when you have to write an academic essay. Be honest in your answers! Things you might want to discuss include:

-What kind of papers have you written?
-What steps do you go through?
-Do these steps change with each assignment? Why?
-Which step is hardest for you?
-Looking at your process, how well do you think it works? Would you change anything, if you could?

Don’t spend more than an hour or so writing this essay, and don't worry so much about grammar. Your grammar will not be assessed in this essay. You should, however, make sure you follow the appropriate FORMATTING GUIDELINES and maintain a focus on the topic of the essay.

Value
10 Reflection Points
Reflection
reflection_firstname_lastname_1.doc
Due
1/31/12

Homework 1: Needs Analysis

Make sure you have the NEEDS ANALYSIS survey completed
as well as a picture of yourself uploaded to your shared Dropbox.

Value
5 Homework Points
Picture
picture1_firstname_lastname.jpg
Needs Analysis
needs_analysis_firstname_lastname.rtf
Due
1/25/12

Day 2: The Writing Process and Basic Essay Structure

Objectives: You will be able to:
-Practice using language creatively via descriptions
-Understand what effective rhetoric is
-Discuss personal brainstorming strategies
-Identify the important parts of an essay

Mystery Object

I will begin class by putting you into groups of three. One person must be the speaker, one person must be the typist, and one person must be the artist.

I will call the speaker from each group to the front. Each speaker will see an object that I have hidden. The speakers must return to their groups and describe the object to the typist and the artist without saying what the object is and what it does. You may only describe what it looks like, feels, tastes like, smells like, and what it sounds like.

The typist will then have to write down a description of what the object looks like.

Lastly, the artist will open up the paint program on the computer and paint a picture that represents the typists description.

After each group finishes their painting, we will compare to see who was closest to the original object.

Rhetoric

"Rhetoric is the art of putting one's case in the strongest and best possible way. It combines the audience's expectation and the writer's desire to please - to communicate with their audiences. Rhetoric is all about effectiveness" (McCuen-Metherell & Winkler, 2007).

In your groups you need to read two paragraphs. You will need to ultimately decide which one is rhetorically better. Answer the questions after each paragraph to help you make your decision.

Scenario

you are a freshman in college who is undecided about what to major in. You are be interested in English literature, but you're not convinced it's the best fit for you. Fortunately, you have two friends who are in that major. You e-mail them to ask them why they chose their major and what they like about it.

RESPONSE FROM FRIENDS 1 AND 2

Brainstorming


Writing with creativity and details, knowing when to add more and how much is too much, are things writers learn over time. But each writer has to start somewhere. So, how do you start to develop an idea you have for a paper? Or, more basically, how do you come up with ideas?

Get back into your groups and each of you should share examples of occasions at work or at school that require you to generate ideas. Also, explain how you come up with those ideas.

After your discussion, each group member should come up and briefly share a method that he/she uses to brainstorm.

Outlining

Brainstorming helps you generate ideas, and the next step, outlining, helps you organize those ideas. A well organized paper will make the focus of your writing clearer and easier to understand--two desirable qualities in academic writing.

As a class we come up with what you believe are the four important elements of a paper.

In your groups, work together to come up with a brief explanation of what each is and what it does.

Day 1: Course Policies

Today we will get to know each other as well as review the course policies presented on THE FIRST DAY HANDOUT.

You will also be required to set up a Dropbox account if you haven't already. You will need to create a shared folder on Dropbox and share it with me. This is how you will submit assignments. The directions for this can be found HERE.

You will then be quizzed on your knowledge of THE FIRST DAY HANDOUT. You will be put into groups of 3. Each group should answer three questions in order to receive participation points for the day.

During the last 50 minutes of class you will take an in-class exam. You will be given a paper. You must read the paper and respond to the essay question given.