WRA 453 Grant & Proposal Writing

1. WRA 453Grant & Proposal Writing Fall 2004 Bill Hart-Davidson hartdav2@msu.edu Session 4: Interview Questions for Grant Writer Shadowing Project

2. About others’ attempts to categorize the aims of discourse into static categories that correspond with genres: “As Lee Odell has recently pointed out, their perceptions of discourse derive from retrospective analysis, from surveys of products of composing rather than the processes. As a consequence, they encourage a static, monolithic view of such concepts as “purpose” and “reader,” oversimplifying them after the fact in a way that fails to preserve the vitality of their function in actual composing.” Insights from Knoblauch & Friends…

3. Retrospective account of an ongoing or recently completed proposing project Sample documents, drafts, notes, etc. Observations of your informant doing some “proposing” or “grant seeking” work that you find interesting Remember your sources of data:

4. What genres and communities interact to form the genre system of grant funding? What are the roles and functions of this genre system? What type of knowledge does participation in the text genres and genre system require of grant writers and how do these writers develop such knowledge? Your goal in P1, as informed by Tardy

5. What type of knowledge does participation in the text genres and genre system require of grant writers and how do these writers develop such knowledge? Your goal in P1, as informed by Knoblauch What operational purposes motivate your informants decision making? What decisions do they make? How successful do these turn out to be?

6. What Motivates Writers of Proposals? “The sense of purpose that shapes strategy is something more concrete, more immediate, and less encompassing: it is not generic but operational. Generic purposes are ideal and therefore simple…Operational purposes are specific to real situations and often quite complex.” What operational purposes does Kinneavy cite as important for the proposal writers he studied?

7. What Motivates You? • Knoblauch suggests: • Solving a problem or performing a task according the instructor’s directions • Impressing (or refusing to impress) the instructor • Receiving an acceptable grade • Revealing or concealing real attitudes, opinions, beliefs • Creating or sustaining an acceptable self-image • Receiving peer approval or avoiding disapproval

8. Your task today… Using Knoblauch & Tardy to guide your inquiry, conduct an interview with Bill H-D. Two choices: A recent contract proposal (more like a business proposal) A recent research grant proposal As a group, plan the questions…make a request for materials, etc. Then, when you are ready, start the interview. The goal here is to have a practice run for your own interview.

9. For Next Time Introduction to project 3: proposing a major project or initiative