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Week 6: Monday, September 30th - Friday, October 4thGoals for this Week
Connection to Course GoalsSharing issues in class fosters a sense of writing community. Students learn that writers exchange ideas in public spaces and they gain insight from what others are exploring. They also learn that writers can share sources in a collaborative environment as a means to create new texts. This process draws students' attention to other students and away from the instructor allowing for a more comfortable atmosphere - and one that is more conducive to peer review and workshop. The discussion about audience is important because many of the choices that students make (about content, language, tone, etc…) will be determined by their audience, in this case college-aged readers of Talking Back. You will also evaluate their issue analysis with the perspective of a student reader in mind, so students need to envision their audience as readers beyond you. Finally, the discussion about writing effective interview and survey questions will help students think critically about their target readers and these readers' needs and interests. It is our hope that the audience exploration essay will help students see that public writing is situated among meaningful contexts and audiences. Required Reading and AssignmentsRead about "Interviewing" and "Writing Surveys/Questionnaires" on pg. 250 - 252 in the PHG. Write five to eight interview or survey questions for the audience exploration essay. Potential Activities for this Week
Allow each student 1-2 minutes to answer the following questions in a group discussion. The "Round Robin" approach works well: · What is your topic? · What is your issue within that topic or your research question? · Why did you choose this issue (personal and social relevance)?
Some possible responses: · to appeal to their interests · to connect with them so that you seem credible and trustworthy · to find out how informed they are and whether they're thinking critically about your issue · to avoid boring them or repeating what they already know · to avoid insulting them
Interviews · Provide you with more control because you're there to guide the discussion (you can ask interviewees to elaborate on their answers and you can clarify confusing questions for more accurate responses). · Provide a more comfortable atmosphere for raising personal questions. · Lend themselves to witnessing body language (you can note which questions interest your interviewees and which questions make them nervous). Surveys or Questionnaires · Produce a wider range of responses. · Are much easier to tabulate. · May lead to more honest responses since writing is more anonymous that talking. Second, discuss audience. Students should interview a range of other students at CSU. For example, rather than interviewing five freshman art students, tell them to interview one freshman art student, one senior political science major, one sophomore athlete, etc… Third, discuss effective interview or survey questions. Use pg. 250 - 252 in the PHG and the points below to guide this discussion. Effective questions will: · be clear and focused · be shaped for a target audience · avoid confusing or ambiguous language · be respectful and somewhat objective · take into account different uses for open ended and closed questions Most importantly, effective questions will address the writer's purpose - which in this case is to find out what students already know about an issue, to realize their attitudes toward the issue, and to help determine the complexity with which they view the issue (Avoid asking questions for the sake of asking questions; stick to your purpose!) Note: Tell students that the length of the interview or survey will depend on their purpose. Typically 5 - 8 questions works well.
Peer Review Questions:
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