Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Rhertorical Context, Good Ideas, and Dissonance

Hi, there! Tonight we're going to do a lot of things, as usual.

  1. I'll return your summaries to you and discuss ways that they could have been improved.
  2. I'll explain the concept of "rhetorical context," using the article you summarized as a means to explain it. One of the most important things you should get out of tonight's class is a better understanding of the terms "rhetorical context" and "rhetorical situation."
  3. I'll show you where to find the article that you must summarize for next week, and point out the criteria again on how I'll grade these (25 pts. total).
  4. You'll take a look at the blog page that will now be online and see if your link works, perhaps comment on a few other people's blog entries.
  5. We'll talk about the concept of "Dissonance" and how it is related to getting good ideas for your papers.
  6. We'll go over the handouts "Framing a Good Guiding Question" and "Looking for Good Key Words."
  7. I'll introduce you to the databases and start with the basics of how to search them, including how to make the citations convert to MLA or APA style.
  8. You should make Entry #3 on your blog be 3 paragraphs about your 3 top choice topics.
  9. I'll show you what I want you to do for Entry #4 (convert the bibliographic style to proper disciplinary--MLA and APA styles).
  10. Assignment: Complete Entry #3, Make entry #4, Read chs. 5 and 6, and start locating sources from databases and the Internet.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Tonight's Agenda

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I had asked you to write a 1-paragraph summary of the article I gave you by Eric Gorski. Feel free to comment on this with either the commenting function (see below), or via email at wendywarrenaustin@hotmail.com. So, if I recall this accurately, this summary will be the first thing that I will collect after taking attendance.

We'll be doing a lot of things tonight in class. Mainly:
  1. We're going to talk about the beginning process of research, and the importance of keeping your options open for a little while.
  2. You'll do Ex. 1.1 in class, if you have not yet been assigned this (I don't think I assigned this, but if I did, that's even better.).
  3. We'll discuss what constitutes a Good Guiding Research Question.
  4. We'll also discuss how to get some good KEY WORDS to look up various topics, and what LCSH stands for and why it's important.
  5. Then, everyone will be instructed in how to set up a research blog that you will use for this class, mainly the homework, notes, and other reflective writings I'll ask you to do now and then. I have a handout on this.
  6. For your first post, I want you to say whether or not you did a research paper before, what the experience was like, and anything else you want to add to the question posted on this blog besides simply YES or NO>
  7. For your second post, you'll type in or cut and paste Ex. 1.1.
  8. Finally, we're going to talk about how to read research articles. This will be the first of several discussions in which we'll discuss how to read more difficult texts.
  9. Your homework will be read chs. 3 and 4 in Research Matters.
  10. Keep in mind the topic of the "difficult text" you had to read and wonder (and/or be prepared for) whether we'll have a surprise quiz next week on the reading assigned today.