College Comp 13.1: Research and Paper Expectations

Posted on November 16, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s Plan:

  • Attendance
  • Calendar
  • Friday Sign-ups
  • Paper Expectations
  • Finding Sources with Google Scholar
  • Summarizing Sources (Academic Writing)
  • Homework: What You Need to Do to Prepare for Friday

Calendar

Amazing as it might seem, we only have 4 class sessions left. Here’s the calendar:

  • Friday, Nov 18th. In place of class, I will meet with people for 15 minutes to check on their research progress.
  • Monday, Nov 21st. Class is optional. I will be here to look at paper drafts, help find research, answer questions about difficult readings. If you want extra help, then please email a Monday appointment request for anytime between 10:00 and 2:00. Please note that a complete draft of the paper will be due on Friday, November 25th at 11:59pm. If I do not have a draft of the paper by Friday, I will not be able to provide you feedback before the final draft is due.
  • Monday, Nov 28th. MLA/APA format for papers, citations, and the works cited/reference page. Paper course evaluations.
  • Wednesday, Nov 30th. MLA/APA format for papers, citations, and the works cited page #2
  • Friday, Dec 1st. Crafting introductions and conclusions.

Please note that the final paper will be due Sunday, December 4th at 11:59pm.

Paper Expectations (Grading Rubric)

Final papers should be no more than 2500 words and no less than 2000. Papers should:

  • Have a clear central argument/claim. I should be able to underline the sentence or two that makes this claim explicit
  • Every paragraph in the paper should refer to this claim. At the end of every paragraph, I should know how that paragraph advances the central claim.
  • The introduction of every paper should make clear what problem it is solving.
  • The introduction of the paper should develop kairos (i.e., make clear why the paper is relevant or necessary now).
  • Every claim needs to be reinforced by evidence. Evidence must be contextualized (that is, as a reader I must know where the evidence comes from and why that source is credible; establish ethos for your sources). I will not give a minimum number of sources. Guideline: you should use at least 5 articles.
  • When using text sources, you have a responsibility to summarize the source for the reader.
  • I will pay particular attention to how well you transition into sources and focus attention on particular passages (moving from a general summary of the entire source to sharing with the reader one particular, important part).
  • Papers must anticipate counter-arguments. This can be done by pointing to sources that disagree with your argument, or by inventing hypothetical objections. No argument is perfect; demonstrate that you are aware of your position’s limitations.
  • On the sentence level, I will be checking that each sentence has a logical connection to the one before it. I will be listening for logical breaks.
  • I expect the prose to be error free. Make sure you read your paper slowly and out loud before submitting it. I will hand out a checklist for grammatical concerns after the Thanksgiving Break (first we build the house, then we clean and decorate it
  • Papers need to use at least one analogy.
  • Papers need to cite all sources according to either MLA or APA format.
  • Papers need to be formatted according to MLA or APA format.
  • Papers need a works cited or reference list in MLA or APA format.

So:

  • Makes a central claim: 10 points
  • Introduction establishes kairos (problem/timeliness): 10 points
  • Paragraphs advance argument: 10 points
  • Paragraphs make claims: 10 points
  • Paragraphs contain evidence to support claims: 10 points
  • Transitions into sources establish ethos and orient the reader: 10 points
  • Sentences maintain logical connection: 10 points
  • Paper contains an analogy: 5 points
  • Prose is readable and error-free: 10 points
  • Citations follow MLA or APA format: 5 points
  • Paper is formatted in MLA or APA: 5 points
  • Paper has MLA or APA Works Cited / References list: 5 points

Finding Sources with Google Scholar

I want to follow up Monday’s visit to the library by demonstrating how to find relevant sources in conversation with a source using Google Scholar. To get started, I want you to type the name of one article you found on Monday (or are using in your paper) into the Google Scholar home search page. If you don’t have the title of an article, then I expect you are in a bit of trouble, but you can type in a key word. For my example, I am going to type in the name of a book–Jane McGonigal’s Reality is Broken.

The first important link on Google Scholar is the cited by button under the search result. In my case, I find out that Reality is Broken has been cited 2134 times. But, when I click on the link, I quickly learn (just by skimming titles) that not all citations are useful. In this case, many of the top hits deal with gamification, which is not my topic (Brynat, err, my, topic is about the effects of gaming).

Scanning the titles, however, I see one down the list that looks promising: “The Benefits of Playing Video Games.” While my paper is on the negative effects of playing video games, this could still be useful. Research papers have to consider the counter-argument to their claims. That means that, if this is a well-written article, then somewhere in it there will be a string of citations that deal with the negative effects of gaming (and the abstract supports this idea).

Final check. If you can access the .pdf of your source, you want to do a search for the author’s name. Why? Because I want to know if the article in question has an extended discussion of my first source, or just mentions it in passing (a citation dump). In this case, there’s two references to two main ideas in McGongial.

Of course, I can just do a search for “video games waste of time.” The 6th result is an article called “Dependence on Computer Games,” and it has been cited 450 times.

Two other links worth playing with: the time range on the left side of the page (note that most academic scholarship takes at least a year, if not two, to go from draft to publication). And, next to the Cited By, the Related Articles feed, which uses key words and text scans to make recommendations.

Summarizing Sources

As we move from writing online to writing in a more academic context, I want to stress what it means to use a source. What is research?

Research presents a reader with information she hasn’t read. You should not expect a reader to be familiar with the articles and material you present them. It is your responsibility to introduce it to them, to tell them why it is credible, and to focus their attention on whatever part is important to your problem/claim/argument/position.

So, as you read the articles you found Monday and today, make sure you are:

  • Identifying the claim/problem the article wants to address–can you reduce the article’s purpose to a sentence?
  • Identify the method/evidence the article uses to support its claim
  • Identify, if different from the claim/problem, what change that article wants to make

Let me turn attention briefly to two articles I have written to show how I do this. First, an article comparing Bruno Latour and Emmanuel Levinas, the second an article examining how I apply the teaching style of Jody Shipka.

In both what you will notice is that when I bring in a name, I dedicate 2-3 sentences discussing that goals that name wants to address: what problem is she trying to solve?

Preparing For Friday

Bring pages for me to read. These pages should be written about your sources. When writing a research paper, write the introduction last. Write about the problem first, but don’t worry about writing the thesis until after you have written about your research material. I would like to have at least 2 pages-double spaced for us to discuss in our meetings on Friday.

I’ll open Friday by asking for you to tell me your elevator pitch–that is, what is the current state of the paper’s purpose (the Booth exercises). I will take a few minutes to read your paper. I will then ask you for what sources you have. We can then spend the remaining time working out an outline for the paper or finding more sources.

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12.3: Final Workshop / Preparing for Final Papers

Posted on November 11, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s plan:

  • Attendance
  • REMINDER: Monday’s class will meet in the library (Michener 303)
  • Workshop: JaRay, Tyler
  • Homework: Last weekly writing (do research), Preparing to Write the Final paper Canvas Quiz

Homework

There’s two obligations for homework. First, you need to complete your last weekly writing. As with last week, this writing should be research for the final project–read something that either talks about a problem or talks about one way to fix a problem. In your writing this week, make a direct connection to last week’s article. Let me repeat, make sure your reading this week speaks to your reading from last week as much as possible. If you are having trouble, email me and I will dig some stuff up for you.

We have a library research session on Monday. Being my first semester at UNC, I’m not exactly sure what the library session will entail. My hope is that they will introduce you to the various databases and search engines you may use to find research. To maximize the effectiveness of the session, I want you to nail down your topic and have done some preliminary research so that you have some names or key words to work with.

So, I’ve put together a “quiz” on Canvas. The quiz revisits some of the Booth reading, and asks you to find/summarize some research. You can and should revisit past weekly writing. This is the time to figure out what of that previous reading is relevant. Note that you will likely have to rewrite your summaries of that material as your paper topic develops, but the time you invested reading and writing was (hopefully) not wasted.

I have finished grading the first wave of Booth quizzes (but admit I am way behind on the weekly writing). The plan now is for us to meet in the library Monday. I will then give you time to do more research in the computer lab on Wednesday. During Wednesday’s class, you will sign up to meet with me sometime on Friday for 15 minutes. Instead of class on Friday, I will meet with each of you for 15 minutes to talk about your projects. I will be available from 9:00 to 4:00. If you cannot meet during that time, then please let me know and we can arrange to meet on Thursday. You will bring a one page, single-spaced proposal paper to our meeting. I will share a template for this proposal in the computer lab on Wednesday.

If there’s time remaining, I want to go over the first question in the quiz:

Now that you’ve had some time to reflect, and hopefully done some research into the question for this week’s weekly writing, I want you to complete this one more time.

Before you do, let me clarify. The first blank should be something narrow and specific–a single person, a single document, a single event. Maybe two people, may three documents, maybe a couple of events. IT SHOULD NOT BE A GENERAL THING. This means do not say “I am studying Black Lives Matter because…” Black Lives Matter is too big, too general. Narrow this down. I am studying “Deray McKesson’s campaign to be mayor of Baltimore…” Don’t say “I am studying Joyce’s Dubliners” That’s too much! Say “I am studying three stories from Joyce’s Dubliners (and name the stories)…” The point here is to be specific.

As to the second blank, you want to be specific here to. What are you looking at your person/object/event in order to learn? “I am studying Colin Kapernick’s protest of the anthem in order to learn what specific policies activists such as Kaepernick support…” I am studying the reasons people attend electronic dance concerts because I am trying to show that there are more reasons than simply drugs and debauchery…”

As to the third blank, this should address a broader problem. It doesn’t repeat the second blank, rather it says “ok, if you buy this analysis of the second blank, then we can use this research to think about this bigger issue.” So” I am studying electronic dance concerts because I am trying to show that people attend for more than just drugs and debauchery in order to argue against mainstream media depictions of these concerts as simply negative.

Something like:

I am studying video game addiction in order to learn more about why players waste so much time playing games in order to complicate Jane McGonigal’s idea that games are healthy for people. Unlike McGonigal, I believe there are a lot of gamers who cannot moderate their play as she advises.

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CETL Video Pedagogy Workshop

Posted on November 7, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s Plan

  • Three Reasons for Teaching Video (6 minutes)
  • Some Nuts and Bolts for Teaching Video (20 minutes)
  • Workshop #1: Working with Still Images (20 minutes)
  • Workshop #2: Editing Video (15 minutes)
  • Saving, Publishing, and Sharing Video (5 minutes)
  • Some Assignments and Projects (10 minutes)
  • Assessing Digital Projects (5 minutes)
  • Some Helpful Resources

Getting Started

Later in the presentation, I will show how to import and work with image and audio files in Moviemaker. If you want to follow along, then you should download this .zip file and save it to your desktop.

Introduction: Three Reasons for Teaching Video [11:30-11:36]

As a theorist, I teach video to introduce students to dense, theoretical concepts, such as OOO (Harman, Bogost), New Materialism (Bennett, Rickert), Posthumanism (Haraway, Hayles), or ANT (Latour, Law). I would suggest that these different theories all challenge commonplace notions of autonomous agency and the traditional prioritization of the human/subject. Filming video from behind the camera allows students to perceive these theoretical postulates by highlighting the importance of space and context. Here I am thinking particularly of Rickert’s work on ambience and rhetoric:

We can say that rhetoric persuades as long as we understand this to invoke less a subjective change of mind or emotional state than a transformation in our worldly situation. […] rhetoric constructed from an ambient perspective cannot simply dissolve the subject/object and human/world binaries without taking the necessary next step of acknowledging that rhetoric’s work is distributed and ecological and wholly incorporating that idea into rhetorical theory. Rhetoric is not solely human doing, as Bruno Latour, Jane Bennett, and other theorists help demonstrate. Nonhuman elements and forces are always in play as a part of human doing, making, and saying. The accomplishments of rhetorical practice are entwined with (re)organizations of the world.

Multimodal dimensions of video can better attune students to the affective/ambient dimensions of spaces/encounters. From behind the camera, students are more likely to attune themselves to these entanglements, to record the ambient and nonhuman actants that shape human behavior. (Ong–writing abstracts, pulls things out of context. Film, less so).

As teacher, I teach video to leverage students’ innate familiarity with video. Put simply, many of our students watch more than they read. They have developed sophisticated, but often unconscious, understanding of the mechanics and syntax of video. This is *not* to say they are “digital natives.” They don’t necessarily know how to use complicated technology and/or software. But I do believe we can take advantage of their unconscious knowledge of how video should work, their genre awareness, to teach advanced rhetorical concepts (many of which they struggle to recognize in print).

I had the good fortune as a graduate student of meeting Cynthia Selfe, just as I was starting my research into new media pedagogy, and asked her how she justified teaching photoshop, web design, video production, and other multimedia in English classes (a question that I was asked quite often in 2004). Her reply echoed Aristotle: “It is my obligation to teach them how to express themselves through all available means.”

As a rhetorician, I teach video very much in light of Selfe’s response. It is my obligation to teach students how to best participate in civic discourse. This means teaching them how to compose in the genres and mediums that dominate our contemporary civic sphere (and to suggest ways they might develop new genres).

Some Nuts and Bolts for Teaching Video [11:36-11:56]

First, there’s some equipment issues to deal with:

  • Make sure you know what computer labs have what software (MovieMaker, iMovie, Adobe Premiere). Generally, I do my first video project in MovieMaker because it is so easy to use and I know virtually every student has access to it (it is included in every copy of Windows).
  • What I put in my syllabus (part 1): This course requires access to a digital recording device. A smart phone capable of recording digital video is sufficient. Note that, if you do not have a smart phone, the UNC library will loan video equipment.
  • What I put in my syllabus (part 2): You will also need to purchase a tripod for your recording device. These generally run from $8-20. Note that the UNC library also rents tripods for smart phones.
  • What I say in class (part 3): I am neither a film scholar, a video producer, or a technology expert. As a rhetorician, my expertise concerns hypothesizing how different audiences might receive different messages, and maximizing the communicative potential of a message to best change the actions of those audiences. As a compositionist, I am an expert in developing heuristics, researching genres, and engendering reflective processes that will help you compose more effective texts. Our work with video is part of an experiment to see how we can transform the composing methods developed for print into new forms of media. How can we “write” video? How much of our knowledge and pedagogy regarding written composition and rhetoric translates into a digital realm?

Second, there’s a pretty consistent set of readings and videos I use to familiarize students with the elements of shooting video:

Finally, when working with video, it is extremely important to stress file saving and storage. While programs like MovieMaker claim to “import” files, they are actually only creating paths to other media. This means that when you save a movie file, you are saving paths to other files. If you then move the movie file, you have invalidated all the paths (the dreaded Microsoft Red X’s of death). In plainer language, you’ve lost your whole movie.

This is especially an issue for students working in computer labs and saving files on a flash drive. The easiest way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to create a folder when you start a movie project and save all image, audio, and video files in the movie in that folder. That way, all the files move at once.

Workshop #1: Working with Still Video [11:56-12:16]

Normally when I do this type of presentation, I introduce students to video by having them make a video from still pictures. This allows me to introduce the features/functions in editing software before we begin to work with actual video.

Again, if you want to follow along, then you should download this file and unzip the contents.

Here’s a link to the tutorial I use in a shorter class session. The tutorial uses still images and pre-recorded audio, limiting the amount of downtime. It is meant to introduce students to importing files, using timeline and transition tools, layering audio files, and exporting files (file types, compression, etc). I often follow this activity up by asking them to make a music video for a song, or animating a news article (read and record the article to images).

Workshop #2: Editing Digital Video [12:16-12:31]

It is also possible to work with video projects in a workshop. Here are some scripts I located via BPPlayhouse’s Acting Scene’s database.

Working in groups of three, I would like you to shoot a short video. I have packets with two person dialogue scenes (your choice of American Beauty, Back to the Future, Dirty Dancing, or Pulp Fiction). You should shoot your dialogue 3 times, from different angles. After shooting, we will upload your videos and edit them in MovieMaker.

Your videos should take into account the conventions mentioned above. Let’s briefly cover some of the conventions mentioned above:

  • Video’s should be shot in identifiable shots, starting with a wide establishing shot, moving to a mid shot, and then a close up shot, before concluding with a mid/wide shot. Shoot your dialogue from 3 different angles.
  • Video’s should frame shots according to the rule of thirds.

After you have shot your videos, come on back and we will upload them into the computer. This should take about 3-5 minutes, depending on the length of your clips.

Note that what takes much longer is “rendering” or compressing video. When working with longer high-definition projects, rendering with Adobe can take up to 3 hours. Last night I made a short, sample movie with iMovie as a refresher. While the movie is only 1:20, it took almost 4 minutes to render, and then another 8 minutes to upload to Google Drive so I could share it (that’s over my home’s Internet wi-fi). Make sure students anticipate long rendering and transfer times when working on projects and negotiating deadlines.

Editing Some Video

Step One: Populating the timeline.

Step Two: Trimming clips.

Step Three: Adding a title screen.

Step Four: Making a still image, adjusting image time.

Step Five: Adjusting Volume.

Step Six: Transitions.

Step Seven: Adding Background music.

Saving, Publishing, and Sharing Video [12:31-12:41]

We’ve already talked about the importance of saving video projects in a folder. Now I want to talk a bit about file types and saving video.

When you are working in an editing software like Moviemaker or iMovie, the file you save will be a “raw,” working file (the .wlmp in Moviemaker). When you *publish/export* your movie, you will need to select a file type (called codecs). While there are a lot of choices, I recommend MP4, if only because it is the most widely supported file type.

If you are planning on working with video projects, then you should plan ahead for how you will receive the projects. As I said above, file sizes for video files can be very large (in the multiple GB). One possibility is to share the work publicly via YouTube, Vimeo, or another video sharing site.

  • YouTube; Vimeo
  • Dropbox
    • Pros: Private, Freemium, Relatively easy to use
    • Cons: Limited server space (so it is temporary storage at best)
  • Zip and Email
    • Pros: Private, Free, Relatively easy to use
    • Cons: Email clients (e.g., gmail) increasingly limit file uploads to 25mb, .zip files can be disorienting to some less tech-savvy students
  • CD-Rom
    • Pros: Private, Virtually unlimited file size
    • Cons: Increasingly, laptops no longer come with CD-R/DVD-R drives, CD-Roms cost money
  • Google Drive / One Drive
    • Pros:Free. Private. Efficient
    • Cons: You only get 15gb of free storage space. That can fill quickly.

Here is a link to some documentation on using student One Drive accounts.

Assignments and Projects [12:41-12:51]

Key resource: the PechaKucha presentation format. 20 slides x 20 seconds a slide.

I have published on something called the Kalman Project, inspired by multimodal artist Maira Kalman. Here’s an example by a Jaclyn Diaz.

Here’s a link to the course description for an Advanced Creative Nonfiction course I am teaching next semester. The course is composed of 4 video projects and stresses the importance of reflection.

And here is the proposed syllabus for a new course in the English writing Minor called Professional Writing and/as Digital Video.

Assessing Digital Projects

Yesterday, someone asked about how I deal with assessing these projects. I wrote an article that addresses how we handle student anxiety toward non-traditional projects!

The short answer is to involve students in generating the rubric for the project.

Helpful Resources

The links below are resources that I often use while teaching video. Please feel free to email me if you have questions, or would like for me to come and give a tutorial for your class. I am more than willing to work with you to figure out what you want students to make and give a tutorial on how to make it.

  • Creative Commons (both for images and music)
  • Audacity: a free OS agnostic audio editor
  • Photoscape: a free image editing program for Windows
  • paint.NET: a free and more robust image editing software for PC
  • Seashore: a free, user-friendly image editing program for Mac
  • GIMP: a free, agnostic, professional quality image-editing software (high power, high learning curve–similar to Photoshop)

Further Reading

Here’s a few readings I recommend sharing with students if they(you) have questions about teaching multimodal composition.

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College Comp 12.1: Reviewing Research Questions

Posted on November 7, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s Plan:

  • Attendance
  • No Class Wednesday
  • Workshop “Volunteers”
  • Reviewing Research Questions
  • Homework

Reviewing Research Questions

I am studying Dubliners because I am trying to find moral paralysis in order to help my reader understand better how moral paralysis shows up in Dubliners.

I am studying the BLM movement because i’m trying to find out how we can learn to accept each other for who we are and not be judged by the color of our skin in order to help my reader understand better that racism is still a very big role in choosing who gets different opportunities.

I am studying the BLM movement because i’m trying to find out how we can learn to accept each other for who we are and not be judged by the color of our skin in order to help my reader understand how racism still exists and it has started to create fear in some communities.

I am studying the BLM movement because I believe they offer us ways to learn to accept each other for who we are and not be judged by the color of my skin in order to help my reader understand how we might overcome the racism that still exists and has started to create fear in some communities.

I am studying the music industry because I want to find out how to solve a problem in order to help my reader better understand how their consumerism isn’t much better than music piracy for the artists that they want to support.

I am studying the music industry and free culture because I want to find out if media streaming is any better for artists in order to help my reader better understand how they could be hurting an industry they love, without being aware of the issue.

I am studying vaccinations because I want to find out why there is an anti-vaccination movement and what scientific evidence lead people to be an activist in that community in order to help my reader understand how it affects them and what they are able to do to get a better understanding of the topic.

In terms of your audience, are you really writing to anti-vaccers? Or are you writing to those in the medical community, to let them know how they might more effectively communicate with anti-vaccers? Or are you writing to politicians, to let them know the importance of passing legislation to counter the rising anti-vac movement? Those are two really different papers! And they require different research (one into the anti-vax movement itself–what it says, and why it distrusts science, the other into the history of politics and medicine, showing other occasions in which the government has forced vax and medical procedures).

While question 7 offers a more specific argument than question 6, I think you need to reflect on the purpose of your paper a bit more–what change do you hope to make in the world.

I am studying serial killer media because i want to find out why people are drawn to such morbid topics in order to help my reader better understand the appeals within media today.,

I am studying why we put faith in healing crystals because I am trying to find out if there is an evolutionary fear of the unknown and uncontrollable we are built with that makes us want to believe in higher powers in order to help my reader understand better the draw to crystals they may feel and where it came from.

I am studying the ways we can connect to our crystals spiritually because I want to find out the best ways to connect in order to help my reader understand how to get the full effect of your crystal.

I am studying Inclusive classrooms because I am trying to find the effects it has on all students in order to help my reader understand why this method of learning and teaching needs to be integrated into more schools.

I am studying BLM because I am trying to figure out how we can better this country in order to help my reader understand better meaning of why things are the way they are today.

I am studying racism because i want to find out how we can start to make a change and not live in a racist world, in order to help my reader understand how the youth plays a big part in making a change.

I am studying the perspective of a counselor because I want to find out how they can best help themselves and their clients in order to help my reader understand how the counselor uses techniques to better others.

I am studying the election results because i am trying to understand what happened in order to help my reader understand how to win the presidency next time.

I am studying The fall of Donald Trump because I want to find out which steps caused him to fail, In order to help my reader understand how we can avoid a loss again in four years.

In both cases, I think you can be a bit more specific.
I am studying Trump’s performance in the three presidential debates because I want to demonstrate how he failed to articulate policy, missed opportunities to undermine Clinton, and came off like a creepy stalker in order to show how, with better training and focus, Trump might have won the White house.

That leads to a paper that close reads three specific speeches. That’s different than:

I am studying news coverage of the Republican primaries to understand how the party nominated such an unlikeable candidate in order to prevent the party from making the same mistake in 2020.

I am studying mental illness because i am trying to learn how to prevent people from suffering in order to help my reader better understand why mental illness is important.

I am studying psychopathy because i want to find out how in differentiates from sociopathy in oder to help my reader understand the difference and become better educated.

I am studying chemical biology because I am trying to create an easy to understand scientific piece about the possible benefits of hibernation in order to help my reader better understand the basic mechanics behind hibernation and it’s benefits.

I am studying practical applications of hibernation because I want to find out how it can be applied to common diseases that plague our society in order to help my reader understand how hibernation can be beneficial to society.

I am studying Colin Kaepernick’s actions because I want to find out how he will take his protest to the net step in order to help my reader understand how it will affect the fight against social justice.

I am studying The national anthem protest because I am trying to figure out the impact of the protest in order to help my reader understand better how to fix the social justice fight.

I am studying if raves are more than just kids taking drugs and listening to loud music because I want to find out if its really a problem in order to help my reader understand the rave culture.
I am exploring raves to show that they are more than just kids taking drugs and listening to loud music because I want to argue that there are productive and valuable dimensions to electronic music culture. I have identified two primary valuable dimensions X and Y. Of course, this isn’t to say that there aren’t issues with drugs in raves. However, mainstream media exaggerates/focuses on drug issues and utterly ignores the other, more positive, dimensions.

I am studding what players have to mentaly do to improve because I want to find out how they progress from not knowing much about the game to being a seasoned gamer, in order to help my reader understand how to be better at the game and progress.

The quality of this paper will be directly tied to the depth and quality of the research you do. You really need to find a variety of other player guides so that you can craft a compare/contrast guide.
I also think, because you are playing a MOBA, that you might want to develop a section that addresses MOBA’s biggest issue–the perceived jerkiness of the players. Beyond gameplay, what can new players do to ensure a positive social experience that makes them want to stick around and play. This means doing some research to show that this is a perceived problem, and looking into things other people and the LoL developers themselves recommend for addressing it.

Homework

This week is the last weekly report writing. I want you to be strategic. No matter what you read this week, make sure it is something that will show up in your final paper. I have office hours today (1:00-2:00), Wednesday (1:15-3:00), and Thursday (12:00-2:00). I will not be on campus Tuesday because I am giving a presentation and then have to vote.

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College Comp 11.1: Reviewing Signals, Prepping Booth

Posted on October 31, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s Plan:

  • Attendance
  • Workshop Volunteers
  • Review Crafting a Signal
  • Wayne Booth
  • Homework

Workshop Volunteers

Here is a list of the eligible candidates:

  • Betty
  • Tyler
  • Elena
  • Lawrence
  • JaRay
  • Courtney

Review Crafting a Signal

Here’s the original text I asked you to work with:

Which is why we see extra content being made for games days after they are released. 97% of games after 2011 have Downloadable content(DLC). “DLC is additional content created for a released video game. It is distributed through the Internet (Links to an external site.) by the game’s official publisher. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from aesthetic outfit changes to a new, extensive storyline, similar to an expansion pack.”

And here is a sample response:

Wikipedia states that 97% of games after 2011 have downloadable content. It describes it as content created for a released video games, that is distributed through the internet by the games official publisher. Downloadable content can range from outfit changes to extensive story lines, and is similar to an extension pack. [Transforms quote into paraphrase, which is good, but what about the last sentence]

Here is another response:

According to Wikipedia, “DLC is additional content created for a released videogame. It is distributed through the Internet by the game’s official publisher. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from aesthetic outfit changes to a new, extensive storyline, similar to an expansion pack.” We can see extra content being made for games days after they are released. Ninety-seven percent of games after 2011 have Downloadable content (DLC).

Here’s the other selection I asked you to work with:

With an explosive number of fans Frankie and Adam X learned how to break into illegal spaces to throw bigger parties. They would cut the locks off of the gates to old factories and warehouses and set up inside for their underground concerts.

I saw a number of answers like this one:

Which is why we see extra content being made for games days after they are released. 97% of games after 2011 have Downloadable content (DLC). Wikipedia defines that “DLC is additional content created for a released video game. It is distributed through the Internet by the game’s official publisher. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from aesthetic outfit changes to a new, extensive storyline, similar to an expansion pack.”

Here’s a way to make the transition a bit smoother:

Wikipedia defines DLC as “additional content created for a released video game.

When in doubt, this works:

Wikipedia released an article explaining what and how downloadable content works. Games nowadays, released after 2011, have Downloadable Content(DLC) which is additional content created for an already released video game. The games official publisher distributes the content through the internet is several types, ranging from outfit changes, to a new story line. (Wikipedia, 2016, Entertainment)

Two correct answers:

According to Wikipedia, “97% of games after 2011 have downloadable content”. Wikipedia also states that “DLC is additional content created for a released video (Links to an external site.)game. It is distributed through the Int (Links to an external site.)ernet (Links to an external site.) by the game’s official publisher. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from aesthetic outfit changes to a new, extensive storyline, similar to an expansion pack.”

Extra content is constantly changing and being added to the video game industry. According to Wikipedia 97% of games after 2011 have additional downloadable content. This wikipedia article states “DLC is additional content created for a released videogame. It is distributed through the Internet by the game’s official publisher. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from aesthetic outfit changes to a new, extensive storyline, similar to an expansion pack.”

Here’s a sample answer:

Dan Wender at thump.vice.com gave some insight on how the PLUR movement began. [needs one more sentence before I can assess]

Here’s three similar sample answers:

Dan Wender’s 2015 article on Frankie Bones and how he became the the godfather of the PLUR movement talks about how after they got an explosive number of fans, Frankie and Adam X learned how to break into illegal spaces to throw bigger parties. They would cut the locks off of the gates to old factories and warehouses and set up inside for their underground concerts.

In Dan Wender’s article, “How New York Legend Frankie Bones Became the Godfather of the PLUR Movement,” he mentions how with an explosive number of fans Frankie and Adam X learned how to break into illegal spaces to throw bigger parties. They would cut the locks off of the gates to old factories and warehouses and set up inside for their underground concerts.

Dan Wender’s 2015 article on Frankie Bones and the PLUR Movement goes deeper into Frankie Bones life and how he got involved in the Peace, Love, Unity Movement. Wedner states that with an explosive number of fans Frankie and Adam X learned how to break into illegal spaces to throw bigger parties. They would cut locks off the gates to old factories and warehouses and set up insides for their underground concerts.

[Great first sentence, second sentence needs something]

One more example:

With an explosive number of fans, Frankie and Adam X learned how to break into illegal spaces to throw bigger parties. In a 2015 article on Thump, Dan Wender writes about how these two would cut the locks off of the gates to old factories and warehouses and set up inside for their underground concerts.

Why this Matters So Much

When it comes to media outlets such as HLN, NBC, CNN, MSN, it becomes harder to separate fact and ‘fluff.’ “When you turn on Nancy Grace (or any show on HLN), you hear from mental health “experts” who proceed to tell you that Casey Anthony is a psychopath or sociopath. They say she has a narcissistic personality disorder. They say she’s a pathological liar. The problem is that none of these “experts” have ever met Casey Anthony or studied her past. They sell you their “expert opinion” with superficial analysis” (Casey Anthony: Summarizing the Psychologists, 2012). How is it possible to validate the “health experts” or “professional psychologists” from random people? It is mutually impossible to solidify news/media outlets sources when it comes to making claims such as mental health and mental processing. News coverage outlets such as shows like, Nancy Grace or Dr. Drew, use psychological terms as form of emotional connection to the views. They harness the essence of pathos with their viewers be assigning the offender’s mental health characteristics and illnesses. Although, when provided cold hard facts, media outlets still choose to ignore it.

Life is a bumpy road waiting to be fixed. There are always those situations in life when we try as hard as we possibly can, but no matter what the outcome is unchangeable. Laurie Meyers addresses this terrible truth in her article “Facing the Specter of Client Suicide,” noting that there are things outside of a therapist’s control. A counselor guides their client in the right direction as much as they possibly can but at the end of the day the client has a mind of their own. Finding out that you have done everything that you can to help a person and come to find out that their lives ended in the worst case scenario has to be one the most heart wrenching feelings ever encountered. Time has no limits when it comes to relationships.
As a counselor it is essential to build a relationship and bond with your clients in order for there to be a sense of trust and comfort on both sides. A client seeks help for deep down issues that they most often can’t talk to just anyone about. This being that it is easier for a person to open up and be honest if they are comfortable and know that their information is strictly confidential. Although it can be difficult to maintain a professional relationship, especially while discussing personal issues, it is still possible and matter of fact is done every day. As a professional it is emotionally hard because it is not acceptable to physically show it.

Things to Focus on in the Booth Reading

Pages 20-22, your relationship to your reader

Page 30, dealing with inexperience (Burke’s Parlor)

Pages 14-15, finding a topic in four parts

Page 41, 3.1, from an interest to a topic

Page 43, 3.2, from a broad topic to a focused one with four key terms: conflict, description, contribution, development

  • How does X’s description of Y differ from A, B, and C?
  • How could X contribute to our understanding of Y?
  • How has understanding of X developed over time?
  • How does X’s understanding of Y differ from Z’s understanding?
  • What are 3 different ways of fixing X problem?

    • Page 45, Page 49: make sure you ask a question worth answering

Page 52, one sentence, three blanks:

  • I am studying…
  • Because I want to find out…
  • in order to help my reader better understand…

Wayne Booth

For homework, I’m going to ask you to read a selection from Wayne Booth’s The Craft of Research. This reading should help prepare you to develop a research question for the final paper. Anticipating Booth’s strategy, I would specify that we want a meaningful and practical question. We will work with the Booth to develop potential questions in Wednesday’s class in the lab.

If time allows, I’d like to take some time in class to begin reading the Booth.

Homework

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College Comp 10.1: Pathos and Apology

Posted on October 24, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s Plan:

  • Attendance
  • Workshop Volunteers (the list grows smaller)
  • News
  • Pathos
  • Apology
  • Homework

News

Two points here. First, there will be no class on Wednesday November 9th (that’s three Wednesdays away). Second, there will be no more reading in the Duffett, unless you want to compose a final paper about a specific fan community. At this point, there’s so few people studying fan communities, that I think our time will be better spent reading material dedicated to generating a research topic. I will distribute some of this material next week.

There are a few of you who have projects that would benefit from Duffett’s approach, and who might want to spend time focusing on chapters that deal with specific elements/dimensions of fan culture. As we get closer to developing research questions, we’ll discuss this more.

Pathos

Last Monday I spent time discussing logos; this week I want to spend time with one of the other major rhetorical appeals: pathos. Traditionally, philosophers (and a number of rhetoricians) have been skeptical of pathos. They believe(d) emotion gets in the way of logical, factual argument. Ideally, from their perspective, we would learn to leave our emotions and the door and remove emotion from decision-making.

Typically, rhetoricians do not share this ideal; emotion is a key element of our human condition and is often necessary to temper our rational judgements. Furthermore, rhetoric is often concerned with how we move someone from knowledge to action–and this movement often requires emotional encouragement.

As a writer, there’s two primary ways that I want to think about pathos. First, I want to think about how we want our reader to feel when they finish reading our piece. This is the typical way we think about pathos: in terms of a writing producing an emotion in her audience.

However, I also want to frame pathos alongside kairos, which we discussed as the moment in which a piece of writing is encountered. To recall, kairos asks the question “why am I writing this / reading this now? This question is (usually implicitly) answered at the beginning of every speech, as a part of the introduction.

Part of this introductory address involves recognizing and shaping the audience’s preconceptions. That is, rhetoric recognizes that audiences do not come to situations impartial–they bring expectations, attitudes, preconceptions, etc. to the moment. As writers, we need to be able to anticipate and acknowledge audience’s positions from the beginning, if we want to best be able to shape their feelings and behavior in the end.

Let’s look at an example of pathos in action, from President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union.

Apology

I want to think about pathos in terms of a more recognizable genre: the apology. I’d argue that a good apology is difficult to execute for a number of reasons, the most significant being the attempt to argue (to deploy logos) in a rhetorical situation in which the audience expects the performance of pathos.

There’s two things that often mar an apology. The first is more performative–there’s something in the delivery of the apology that marks it as either insincere or overly tugging-on-the-heart strings. The second is more subtle, but almost always damning, and that is shifting from an acknowledgement of wrong-doing to arguing that one hasn’t done anything wrong, or, just as bad, insinuating that there are reasons for why one had to make a transgression.

Another issue is what I like to call ethical distancing. A prime example of this would be Alex Rodriguez’s defense for using PED’s in baseball; Rodriguez apologized for using PED’s but then said that he was just “young and stupid at the time.” This move attempts to create a second, older, “dead” Rodriguez who isn’t the same Rodriguez currently apologizing (and therefore, by logical extension, shouldn’t be punished for his past transgression because, obviously, he knows better.

What we see in these non-apologies is an attempt to take the power to forgive away from the audience–to force their hand. This never works. I would argue that the best apologies do the opposite: they create what philosophers would call an aporia, a kind of empty intellectual space. Take for instance the recent apologies of Hillary Clinton (for her email scandal) and Donald Trump (for his lewd comments) from the recent debates.

COOPER: Thank you, Mr. Trump. The question from Patrice was about are you both modeling positive and appropriate behavior for today’s youth? We received a lot of questions online, Mr. Trump, about the tape that was released on Friday, as you can imagine. You called what you said locker room banter. You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?

TRUMP: No, I didn’t say that at all. I don’t think you understood what was — this was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it. I apologize to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly I’m not proud of it. But this is locker room talk.

Trump’s was, in a way, a non-apology. While he began by apologizing for the comments he made (sort of?), he then attempt to force a rhetorical frame on them (calling them “locker room talk”) and insinuating that those who would blame him had misunderstood (that the mistake was actually their’s–this is akin to the cardinal sin of apology: “I’m sorry if my words offended you” vs “I didn’t realize how my words would offend other people”). This is similar to A-Rod’s “young and stupid” frame (a bit different). This, in essence, takes away the audience’s ability to hold Trump accountable and is an effort to minimize his fault. Outside of a few circles, Trump got crushed pretty badly for this apology.

Compare this to Hillary Clinton’s apology for emails. Originally, Clinton made a similar move and tried to dismiss the importance of the emails. But, in later interviews and debates she stuck to this approach:

“I have been asked many, many questions in the past year about emails, and what I have learned is that when I try to explain what happened, it can sound like I am trying to excuse what I did,” Clinton said. “And there are no excuses. I want people to know that the decision to have a single account was mine. I take responsibility for it. I apologize for it. I would certainly do differently if I could.”

Notice here two things: first, there is no move to dismiss the importance of the allegations against her. In fact, she acknowledges that this was a bad strategy in the past. Second, notice that she doesn’t distance herself from her transgression (like A-Rod). She owns it.

I also want to call attention to something she doesn’t do: she doesn’t provide or invent a reason for why she made her mistake. As human beings, we are addicted to reasons. We always want to know why. We have to know why. While a risky move, I think the best apologies frustrate this desire for a reason, for a why. We create an empty space. The reason I think this works is because it then moves the audience to start creating reasons why, justifications. Audiences *might* do this if an apology provides them with nothing else to do.

But if an apology has a built in reason, offers its own justification, then audiences are likely to set themselves to work dismantling that justification. Taking it apart piece by piece. The joy of destruction. Especially, as in the Trump case, if they feel as if the justification is being forced on them.

I came up with this theory while researching an article on Michael Vick’s apology for dog-fighting. While Vick originally argued against his guilt and mocked people’s criticism, he emerged a very different person after his conviction. Take a look at his statement. Now whether we think this statement is sincere or strategy is a question. Honestly, I don’t care. I cannot look into Vick’s soul and judge the authenticity (and I would say the same about Clinton). But I can look at his words and recognize the self-control it takes to own a mistake like this one, to stand there and *not* offer justifications even when others already were. What I thought was interesting was that, despite the outrage over Vick’s actions, by and arge the court of public opinion eventually exonerated him. And in many cases, television personalities invented reasons for his transgressions.

Time Permitting: ZeFrank

A few videos on College. Video 1 and Video 2.

Homework

Today I wanted to expose you to a big topic: pathos, and to think about one way to approach that topic via a specific, narrow, genre: the apology. This week I want to you think constructively, even playfully, about how to put this approach into action. I want you to write a post that apologizes to someone, for something. The apology can be sincere. It can be playful. It can be satiric. Over the years I have given this assignment many times, and I am always impressed by the range and depth of the responses it elicits. There are some standard templates for writing apologies, but don’t be trapped by them. Think about the audience you are addressing, and the purpose of your apology.

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College Comp 9.3

Posted on October 21, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s Plan:

  • Attendance
  • No class on Wednesday November 9th
  • Sigma Tau Delta
  • Workshop
  • Homework

Sigma Tau Delta Invite

Sigma Tau Delta invites you to attend our Halloween Event “A Little Night Music”. This event will be on Friday, October 28th and starts at 7pm in the Spruce A room in the University Center.

“A Little Night Music” is a Scary Story Reading at its heart. We all gather round and read scary or Halloween stories, poems, or other forms of literature. Anyone from our community, member or not, can read.

If you would like to read something, please use this Sign-Up Genius to tell us of your intent. Also please leave the title of the work you will be reading.

Workshop

January 2016 Washington Post piece on transformation of “politically correct.”

Blackhawks logo.

Goes too far?

Homework

Remember that I want you to incorporate an analogy into your writing this week. Please copy and paste your analogy into your writing report under special requirements.

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College Comp 9.2: Crafting Analogies

Posted on October 19, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s Plan:

  • Attendance
  • Office Hours
  • Workshop Volunteers
  • Analogy Quiz (Canvas)
  • Review Analogy Quiz
  • Homework

Office Hours, Workshop Volunteers

I’ll be in the office today from 1:15 to 3:00. Please feel free to come by if you want more feedback on your writing or need to make up some assignments.

Confirming Workshop Volunteers

We’ve got 4 different volunteers this week.

Analogy Workshop

There is a 6 question analogy workshop in Canvas (look under quizzes).

Homework

Because we have 4 volunteers for workshop this week, I will ask that you read and comment on 3 of the 4 discussion forums. My hope is that each volunteer gets at least 10 responses, so please look at how many responses a piece has and spread the attention around.

As usual, I’ll aim to have all 4 pieces up by this evening.

Gods and spirits help us all, the third presidential debate is tonight. I recommend reading something like fivethirtyeight’s policy comparison and following politifact’s debate fact checker.

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College Comp 9.1: Analogies (Metaphor and Simile)

Posted on October 17, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s Plan:

  • Attendance
  • Wednesday, Nov 9th: class cancelled
  • Campus Climate Survey
  • Extra Credit Opportunity: Writing Center MLA/APA workshop–Monday at 5 in Ross 0280
  • Workshop Volunteers
  • Metaphor
  • Homework

Metaphor

In today’s class I want to focus on analogies (metaphors and similes).

First, let’s understand the parts of an analogy, the tenor and the vehicle. Let’s think about this analogy:

Arguing with an idiot is like playing chess with a pigeon.

How about:

“Regular” marriage and “gay” marriage are like bikini tops and bras.

To Shakespeare, sonnet 73:

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

In this famous sonnet, Shakespeare composes three quatrains, with different vehicles, that all share the same tenor.

A few more examples from Presidential speeches (I want to look specifically at Reagan and Clinton).

What makes metaphors effective? They are rhetorical, enthymematic, interactive. They force the audience to complete the thought, to tease out the relationship between the tenor and vehicle. They surprise, and by surprise, potentially delight. For a bit more, let’s look to Wayne Booth’s 1978 essay “Metaphor as Rhetoric: The Problem of Evaluation.” (Pages 52-57)

What makes metaphors fail? Often, it is when a metaphor is trite and expected or asks the audience to do too little or too much.

So far I have addressed metaphor in terms of obvious artifice–metaphors that are crafted to draw attention, to stand out. But philosophers, rhetoricians, linguists, sociologists and others are also interested in less explicit metaphorical language. A famous work here is by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, called Metaphors We Live By. Let’s read and look at some examples.

Let’s talk about how this approach to underlying, structural metaphors, can be analyzed. Thanks George (RIP).

Homework

This week I want you to craft a metaphor in your writing. Please copy and paste the metaphor in the weekly report.

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College Comp 8.2: Making Data Meaningful

Posted on October 12, 2016 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Today’s Plan:

  • Attendance
  • Confirm Workshop Volunteers
  • Office hours
  • UNECE’s “Making Data Meaningful”
  • Washington Post article
  • Homework

UNECE’s “Making Data Meaningful”

I want to start today by examining the UNECE’s (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) guide for scientists and statisticians, Making Data Meaningful. I want to focus on the fourth section of the first chapter, titled “How to Write a Statistical Story.” The section advocates structuring your writing as an inverted paragraph and focusing attention on the first sentence and first paragraph.

Washington Post Article

Now I want to put this theory into practice in two ways. First, I want to read a recent article to see how the journalist deploys this approach to statistics. Second, I want you to write a summary of that article that follows the UNECE’s advice (and follows my expectations for contextual information: who, what, where, when, why). First, let’s read the article.

After you have read the article, I want you to write a short article/summary that reports this information to a class of high school seniors. Imagine it would be published in a high school newspaper. Follow the advice on pages 10-13 of the UNECE’s guide. Additionally, remember to build credibility and introduce a source by sharing relative contextual information.

I would approach this as a two paragraph story. In the first paragraph, focus on what “they” say, sharing both the statistics that Post reporter Jeff Guo uses in his story and highlighting what you would see as his purpose/argument.

In the second paragraph, reflect on Guo’s argument. You are in a unique position to offer insight into Guo’s piece; how do you position yourself alongside Guo’s story (i.e., that many “good” high school students struggle in college? That there are non-intellectual personality factors X, Y, and Z that shape/influence/contribute to student success)? Is there something he doesn’t mention? Is there something you wish you knew last year that you know now? And remember to inform your audience (here imagined as high school students) who you are.

Help

My choice of article today is, of course, strategic. I can see that many of you are struggling to adjust to university expectations. I strongly encourage you to reach out to UNC’s Tutoring Center (for help in classes other than English) and/or Writing Center (who can help organize and strengthen your writing). Further, set up an appointment with UNC’s academic support people–they can direct you to workshops on study skills and adjusting to university life.

Homework

We will have three pieces up for workshop on Friday later today in Canvas.

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