Author: kgsmith2

Reflecting on the course (~500 words)

For this final blog post, I would like you to reflect back on your writing throughout the semester. If possible, look back at the first assignment you completed for this class, and think about the ways your writing has changed, or the ways your writing process has changed.

• Do you think about writing differently than you did at the beginning of the semester?
• Do you think more about your “process” and work habits now as you complete a writing assignment? If so, why? If not, why not?
• Do you find genre to be a useful concept for you in thinking about your writing in and out of academic settings?
• Even if you still think of writing as a chore and absolutely despise it, do you consider yourself a little bit more informed about writing in your field?

Thinking about the unique approach to writing that we undertook in this class, I’d also like you to reflect on using XML, GitHub, Worpress, etc.

• Did you find developing the schema to be a worthwhile activity in project 2? Why or why not?
• Did writing in XML change the way you think about composing texts outside of this class (or do you anticipate it doing so)?
• Did any of the mix of software and applications we used in this class stand out as especially difficult or as a hindrance to your thinking or writing?

I would also like you to reflect back on the three projects, the readings, and the other work we have completed throughout the term:

• Is there one that stands out as your favorite?
• What about least favorite?
• Are there any particular readings, in-class exercises, videos, or design entries we completed that you especially enjoyed / found helpful?
• Are there any that stand out as being unhelpful?

Finally, I would like you to talk about something you can take away from this class into your future career and academic endeavors. Perhaps it is something as simple as “I’m going to try to recreate peer review with future writing assignments” or “I’m going to think about the rhetorical situation when I write.” Explain why this particular activity, reading, or writing strategy is something you can use in other courses or other work environments.

Reflecting on changes to your genre model (300-500 words)

Before completing this entry, look at the changes that were made to the genre model that you designed for WP2 (look at the updated template file, the team design entry, the documentation, etc.). Below are some generative questions:

• What changes did they make to your schema?
• What is your reaction to these changes? Do you agree or disagree with them? Do you see potential issues with the changes? Do the changes seem worthwhile?
• Are they changes that your group discussed or thought about in some way?
• Do the changes to the schema at all affect the way you see the genre? Or the way you imagine yourself writing the genre?

Design Entry 10: Reflecting on your first draft (300-500 words)

Use this entry to reflect upon your initial draft for WP2 and brainstorm potential changes to the schema. Make sure you read your peer review report before completing this entry. Below are listed some generative questions:

• How did you use the schema (i.e. what was your writing process, where did the schema figure into your writing process)?
• Did you find the schema to be appropriate for your rhetorical situation? Why or why not?
• Were there moments of tension where the schema felt constraining?
• Were there particular moments where an aspect of the schema helped you write your composition?
• Did looking at your peer’s work or receiving feedback from your peer reviewer prompt you to think differently about the schema or way you are using markup?
• Are there aspects of the schema that could be made more specific?
• Are there documentation definitions that could be changed?
• Was using a schema you did not design different than using the schema your group designed for P2? If so, how?
• List out some potential areas you might want to discuss revising your genre model/schema.

Design Entry 8: Thinking about WP3 (in-class; no word count)

Use this design entry to begin looking forward to Writing Project 3. First, read the prompt for the third writing project. Next, take a look at some of your classmates’ projects for Writing Project 2. Finally, look at the template file/documentation for one of the genres you might be interested in. Then, think about some (or all) of the questions below:

• Is there a particular genre that jumps out as interesting to you? What about this genre is useful for you?
• Can you think of a rhetorical situation you might find yourself in your life or your future professional or academic career where one of the genres presented by your classmates might be an appropriate response?
  • What is the situation?
  • Who is the audience?
  • What is the action you want to enact (your desired uptake)?

• What can you learn about the genre from the schema/template file?
• Are there aspects of the genre or the schema that are unclear to you?
• What do you notice about the style, tone, and content of the examples of the genre completed by your classmates?
• What other research will you need to do to compose your own version of the genre?

Uptake and schema writing (300-500 words)

In this entry, try to apply the concept of uptake to the development of your genre model. Think about uptake in two directions—both your genre as the uptake of a previous genre or genres and your genre as the basis for future uptake genres. Below are some generative questions:

• What genre(s) precede your genre, typically? How does your genre uptake preceding genre(s)?
• Are previous genre(s) reflected in your genre model?
• What genre(s) typically follow your genre? What is the ‘desired’ uptake of your genre?
• How is the desired uptake of your genre reflected in your genre model?
• Are there other ways that uptakes influenced the development of your genre model?

Genres and assemblages of texts (300-500 words)

In this entry, I’d like you to think try to think through the Spinuzzi reading and try to use some of his definitional work to trace out the complexities of your own genre(s). No genre, as it were, exists in complete isolation.

Remember that the frameworks he outlines are merely that: frameworks. They exist to help researchers think more complexly about how discourse works. No one is right or wrong, but they do illuminate different things (as he details in the essay). When thinking about the genre(s) you are interested in researching and producing for writing project 2:

• What “assemblages” of texts does that genre typically interact with or become a part of? Are they all internal to an organization or field, or are they meant for wider consumption?
• What groups of people compose, read, critique, or use the genre?
• Is your genre (typically) a direct response to some other text or group of texts? That is, what causes one to enact the genre you are interested in?
• Do any of the frameworks he lists here help you think about how you might go about researching the genre?

Thinking about disciplinarity (mono-, multi-, inter-, and trans-) (300-500 words)

Use the Leavy reading to think about your co-op; apply the concepts we’ve discussed with regard to diciplinarity-multi-inter-transdisciplinarity to characterize the work you and others undertook at this workplace. Listed below are a few questions to spur your thinking, feel free to address them directly or not.

• What kind of workplace were you involved in? What kinds of ‘problems’ did you (or the wider organzation) undertake?
• What other disciplines were represented by your peers? Your coworkers? What level of interaction and integration were present between and amongst different disciplines?
• Is this the kind of work you see yourself doing when you graduate and enter the workforce? Why or why not?

Comparing annotated bibliographies (200-400 words)

Read someone else’s annotated bib and compare it with your own. Below are questions to generate comparison:

• How are they thinking about their discipline differently than you? How is this reflected in the problem statement?
• Looking specifically at the markup—compare the two documents. What is the same? Are there certain tags you each use differently?
• Does this comparison make you view your own bibliography differently? Are there things you would change if you had the opportunity?

Reflecting on the process, genre, and XML-based writing (300-500 words)

In this entry, please take some time to reflect on the first writing project of the course. In particular, I’d like you to reflect on the process of composing in XML markup (as opposed to a normal word processor).

Here are some questions to generate reflection: Did it affect you writing process? If so, how? Did the markup schema we devised in class help you or hinder you? In what ways (did you feel guided, constrained, normal, etc.)? Are there specific aspects of writing in XML that are difficult for you? Were there particular technical issues that arose over the course of this project? Now that you’ve completed your annotated bibliography, are there aspects of the schema that you would want to change? What is your understanding of the “social action” of the genre of the annotated bibliography? As you move to projects 2 and 3, how do you feel about using Oxygen to compose your writing assignments?