Moving from Social Media to Academic Writing

1. Note: if you need to turn in any freewrites from previous days, you can turn them in up front now. Moving from Social Media to Academic Writing

2. Social Media and Writing • What are some examples of social media sites? • Facebook • Instagram • Twitter • MySpace (Hahaha… right, Ms.Lawson…. Like anyone USES MySpace anymore…) • Tumblr • Vine • Various other blogging platforms (Wordpress, blogger, livejournal, etc.) • Message boards • Any other examples…?

3. What Social Media writing have YOU done lately? • Think back over the past week. Have you done any social media writing? • Have you read any pieces of social media writing? If so, what did you read/write? • My list might look something like this…. • Posted review of latest book I finished on GoodReads • Responded to discussion of favorite Game of Thrones character on Tumblr • Posted the roast recipe I invented the other night on Pintrest • Congratulated college room mate on new job on Facebook.

4. Can Social Media help us with Academic Writing? • A arguable claim about Social Media Writing: • “The writing many of us do every day, whether on the internet or in some other informal setting, can prepare us for the work of academic writing.” • Do you AGREE or DISAGREE with the claim above? • Can you think of at least two point to support this claim? • Can you think of at least two points against it?

5. What can social media teach us about writing? • The writing we do is a representation of ourselves. • Just because we are using academic conventions (rules and accepted ways of writing) doesn’t mean that the writing should not express the writer’s individuality. • Even if it is not about you specifically, all writing can be seen as representing the self—because your experiences, knowledge, and the texts you have been exposed to determine what you can write. • By extension, all writing can be seen as a product of the culture, time period, and place it was written in.

6. What can social media teach us about writing? • All writing needs to connect to its audience. • Ask questions and offer information that will be useful and relevant to your readers. • All writing needs to provide an appropriate amount of context. • Context is background information needed to understand what you are writing. • If you know your audience doesn’t need much context, you can leave it out, but if your audience might be unfamiliar with your topic, you will need to give them enough background information that they will be able to understand your points.

7. For example, what background information would be needed to understand the following tweet as evidence for racism in pop culture?

8. What does social media teach us about writing? • Culture defines writing. • Organization is important. • Context is important • Images can be an important rhetorical tool. • Information is worth being shared. • Sources should be cited.

9. What is “Academic Writing”? • Academic writing follows a set of conventions (remember, those are rules/expectations your readers will have of your writing in an academic setting), and it is appropriate for a school or research setting. • Academic writing is a WAY of writing, and is not limited to certain subjects or topics.

11. Common problems when transitioning to Academic Writing: • Not having a clear, explicit claim right from the start. • Example: “Many people everywhere are involved with pop culture.” • What is the problem with this sentence as a thesis for an academic essay? • In order to make a claim, you have to know what you think. In order to know what you think, you have to be familiar with the topic.

12. Common Problems in Academic Writing: • Lack of organization. • Otherwise known as “I have a lot of research and ideas, but I don’t know how to DO ANYTHING with them.” • Decide where to put your most convincing ideas. Would they be more effective first, or last? • Due to copy/paste, the standards for organized writing have increased. • Decide which ideas need to be explained before introducing other, more complicated ideas. • Think of your paragraphs as building blocks. You can rearrange them, move them around until you find an arrangement you like that also achieves your purpose. • “With great power, comes great responsibility” 

13. Common problems in Academic Writing • Lots of what other people say, not enough of what you think. • Learning to write in an academic way is a balancing act. • On the one hand, you are expected to do research and refer to what others say about a topic. • On the other hand, you are expected to offer your own responses to what others have already said. • Too much of others’ writing and not enough of yours is inappropriate, but too little research (others’ ideas) will make it look like you haven’t done your homework on the topic. • If you are wondering whether you got this balance right, ask. I’d be happy to work with you.

14. Break time

15. Encouraging Effective Class Discussion • Have respect for your classmates, even when you disagree with their ideas. • Build our class’s understanding of the topic at hand by… • Adding an additional point or example to what someone else has said. • Connecting two ideas that have been discussed separately. • Challenging what someone else has said by countering his or her points. • Ground your discussion of a text by quoting specific, relevant passages of the articles we read.

16. Discussion: Small Groups to Whole Class • Often, when we do class discussion, I will have you brainstorm and talk about the topics in small groups before moving the discussion back to the whole class. • You can elect –or volunteer– a representative of your group to share the ideas, issues, and answers to questions that your group discussed with the wider class and myself. • Although not everyone will be comfortable talking in front of large groups, I do want everyone to try to contribute something. All opinions and perspectives hvae value! • Also, if you aren’t sure what to say ask questions! Sometime the best thing a group member can do is ask a classmate to clarify or further explain their perspective or point!

17. Our Identities and Our Cultures • Racial Identity • Ethnic Identity • Gender Identity • Cultural Identity • Nationality • Subcultures • Other Cultures based on: Age, Wealth, Religion, Sexuality, Politics, Disability

18. Academic Vocabulary Terms • What do these terms mean in an Academic Context? • Historic Minority • People of Color (POC) • Marginalized • Politicized • Racism = Power + Prejudice • historic systems of oppression that are still in the process of being dismantled BUT are also still being reinforced in many ways. • White Privilege • Intersection of Race + Class • Classism and Economic Injustice often work hand in hand with Racism and Ethnocentrism

19. Discussion Questions for Readings • “On the Merits of Racial Identity” p.132 • Uses “identity” primarily in the sense of political/cultural identity • Make sure there is at least one textbook in your group. • Discuss Question 1 in your groups, and after you discuss record your own answers to the question in a short paragraph. • Allow the group discussion to influence your answer—dialog should always enrich our opinions on any topic.

20. Discussion Questions for Readings • “Identity Beyond Stereotypes” p.139 • Uses “identity” primarily in terms of cultural/personal/racial identity • Make sure there is at least one textbook in your group. • Discuss Question 3 in your groups, and after you discuss record your own answers to the question in a short paragraph. • Allow the group discussion to influence your answer—dialog should always enrich our opinions on any topic.

21. What is “Rhetoric”? • Definition of RHETORIC (from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary) • 1: the art of speaking or writing effectively: as • a: the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times • b: the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion • 2a: skill in the effective use of speech • b: a type or mode of language or speech; also: insincere or grandiloquent language

22. Who Uses Rhetoric? • The short answer is, everyone. • If you have ever convinced someone to come around to your point of view, written a facebook post, or written a clever tweet on twitter, you have used rhetoric effectively. • Rhetoric is simply the study of how to communicate effectively and persuasively. • When I talk about “rhetorical choices,” I am talking about the choices that a writer makes in order to fulfill the purpose of the piece of writing and communicate effectively.

23. Scaffolding Assignment #1: Rhetorical Analysis and Response • Tomorrow, I will pass out more detailed prompts and we will discuss: • Scaffolding Assignment #1: The Rhetorical Analysis • Scaffolding Assignment #2: The Argument Proposal • The Research Paper • For The Rhetorical Analysis, you will be choosing a reading in the textbook that relates in some way to your tentative Research Paper topic. You will then do a rhetorical analysis of that reading and respond to the ideas in it. It should be 2-3 pages. • Start by looking through the table of contents in Pop Perspectives and explore some of the readings that look like they might interest you. • For now, review pages 15 and 16 in Pop Perspectivesif you want to get an idea of what you will be doing in your Rhetorical Analysis and Response.

24. For Thursday • Thursday, 7/24 • How to Analyze Rhetoric and Evaluate Claims • Also discussing Sports and Pop Culture • Due: • Pop Perspectives “Rhetoric” pages 24-29 • Pop Perspectives • “Throws Like The Girl She Is” and “I Am Not A Mascot”