assignments ENGL 101 Writing Rhetorically
THE BIG TALK: Alumni Interview Project
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Overview. You’ve probably heard the phrase “The Big Talk” referring to that awkward conversation kids have with their parents about you know what. Or maybe, now that you are a little older, it’s what you say when you refer to that conversation you are dreading having with a significant other who isn’t going to be very significant for very much longer. In both of these instances, the phrase refers to a conversation you have with another person where someone learns something. And it is for that reason that it is the right title for our first paper.
As you will see in the essays and podcasts we are studying in class, we the audience learn something—a lot of something—about the people that are the focus of the essay. We learn about them in different ways, but one thing that is central to the essays is that the writer talked to the person they are writing about. Sometimes they talked to other people about the person they were writing about as well. And sometimes they observed the person doing things in order to figure things out about them. So, in other words, they interviewed and observed a subject (a person) in order to figure something out about them. This is the first important thing you should remember about how to do this first paper.
You also get a sense in all of these pieces that the writer didn’t know everything there was to know about his or her subject when they started. They were doing the interviewing and making the observations and doing the research to try to figure something out about their subject. This is the second important thing you should remember about how to do this paper.
In the end, the person who did the interview learned something about this person, and, while the essays might not necessarily show it, we can assume that it made the writers think about themselves, think about their own lives. And that is the third thing I want you to remember about this paper.
Finally, to help you to do a great job with this paper, I'm going to give you some parameters for how to build questions for your interview about. Try to ask this person how they would define a successful life and in what ways they've lived that successful life.
Details
1) Interview your person. For this assignment, you will be assigned a BSU alum as your interview subject. You'll get the name and email address of your person sometime after we start to talk about this first assignment. You will need to reach out to them and arrange an interview that is convenient for both of you. You are welcome to meet with your interviewee, but you can accomplish this essay via email and or skype as well. You need to write 1500 words about your assigned person.
Because these folks are BSU alum, they have a particular connection to you. You are at the beginning of something they've already been through. It would be easy to make this essay about "what should I do at BSU," but that's not really what I want you to find out. I want you to learn about who these people are and how they got there. So, the question you are trying to answer is more like what's your life like? Are you happy with it? What have you done to make your life this way? This isn't an advertisement for Bridgewater. This isn't a survival guide to college. It's about the long view.
2) Interview. After you’ve contacted your person, you need to spend some time getting to know them. You need to talk to them (interview them). This is data collection. The information you collect from interviewing and spending time with this person will help you write the paper. Without it, it will be impossible to write this paper. We will develop a set of questions as a class that each of you will ask your interviewees. You should expect to add questions to that first list, but be sure to include these class-developed questions as well. Data collection is perhaps the most important step in writing a very good paper.
3) Write up what you’ve figured out into an Essay. Finally, you’ll look at all your data that you’ve collected, you’ll think about your original questions and interest in this person, and you’ll develop an essay that helps a reader understand what you’ve figured out. Your thesis, the main point of your paper, will be what you think you’ve figured out. Your proof, the stuff in your essay that proves your thesis, will be drawn from your interviews and observations.
Please remember that this is an essay and not a list of questions and answers. Let me say that again: please remember that this is an essay and not a list of questions and answers. And let me say that one more time: please remember that this is an essay and not a list of questions and answers.
We'll work on developing an essay out of your raw material in class. Additionally, we will compare data--compare the answers you've gotten from your interviewees--in class to try to come up with some (loose) quantitative data about what BSU alums say about what their life is like and how they got there.
Other things:
HOW I WILL EVALUATE THIS PAPER
This paper is worth 15% of your grade. In order to earn a "B" on this paper, you need to turn in/show up for the following:
In order to earn an "A" on this paper, you need to complete all of the requirements for earning a "B" and
In order to earn a "C" on this paper, you must turn in/show up for the following:
As you will see in the essays and podcasts we are studying in class, we the audience learn something—a lot of something—about the people that are the focus of the essay. We learn about them in different ways, but one thing that is central to the essays is that the writer talked to the person they are writing about. Sometimes they talked to other people about the person they were writing about as well. And sometimes they observed the person doing things in order to figure things out about them. So, in other words, they interviewed and observed a subject (a person) in order to figure something out about them. This is the first important thing you should remember about how to do this first paper.
You also get a sense in all of these pieces that the writer didn’t know everything there was to know about his or her subject when they started. They were doing the interviewing and making the observations and doing the research to try to figure something out about their subject. This is the second important thing you should remember about how to do this paper.
In the end, the person who did the interview learned something about this person, and, while the essays might not necessarily show it, we can assume that it made the writers think about themselves, think about their own lives. And that is the third thing I want you to remember about this paper.
Finally, to help you to do a great job with this paper, I'm going to give you some parameters for how to build questions for your interview about. Try to ask this person how they would define a successful life and in what ways they've lived that successful life.
Details
1) Interview your person. For this assignment, you will be assigned a BSU alum as your interview subject. You'll get the name and email address of your person sometime after we start to talk about this first assignment. You will need to reach out to them and arrange an interview that is convenient for both of you. You are welcome to meet with your interviewee, but you can accomplish this essay via email and or skype as well. You need to write 1500 words about your assigned person.
Because these folks are BSU alum, they have a particular connection to you. You are at the beginning of something they've already been through. It would be easy to make this essay about "what should I do at BSU," but that's not really what I want you to find out. I want you to learn about who these people are and how they got there. So, the question you are trying to answer is more like what's your life like? Are you happy with it? What have you done to make your life this way? This isn't an advertisement for Bridgewater. This isn't a survival guide to college. It's about the long view.
2) Interview. After you’ve contacted your person, you need to spend some time getting to know them. You need to talk to them (interview them). This is data collection. The information you collect from interviewing and spending time with this person will help you write the paper. Without it, it will be impossible to write this paper. We will develop a set of questions as a class that each of you will ask your interviewees. You should expect to add questions to that first list, but be sure to include these class-developed questions as well. Data collection is perhaps the most important step in writing a very good paper.
3) Write up what you’ve figured out into an Essay. Finally, you’ll look at all your data that you’ve collected, you’ll think about your original questions and interest in this person, and you’ll develop an essay that helps a reader understand what you’ve figured out. Your thesis, the main point of your paper, will be what you think you’ve figured out. Your proof, the stuff in your essay that proves your thesis, will be drawn from your interviews and observations.
Please remember that this is an essay and not a list of questions and answers. Let me say that again: please remember that this is an essay and not a list of questions and answers. And let me say that one more time: please remember that this is an essay and not a list of questions and answers.
We'll work on developing an essay out of your raw material in class. Additionally, we will compare data--compare the answers you've gotten from your interviewees--in class to try to come up with some (loose) quantitative data about what BSU alums say about what their life is like and how they got there.
Other things:
- Papers should be 1500 words, or about 5 pages, double-spaced, in 10 or 12 point fonts, preferably garamond or times new roman, with one inch margins all the way around.
- Do not use a cover page. Instead, put your name, date and ENGL101 in the upper left corner, single-spaced.
- Always, always, always have a title. A good one.
- See syllabus for specific dates regarding the workshop for the draft of this paper and due date when you will turn it in to me.
- You will get feedback on the draft you turn in to me and will be expected to revise this piece for the midterm portfolio.
HOW I WILL EVALUATE THIS PAPER
This paper is worth 15% of your grade. In order to earn a "B" on this paper, you need to turn in/show up for the following:
- Participate in the "practice" interview, your partner interview & presentation.
- Turn in all of the email correspondence between you and your interviewee (you will cc me on all of these emails as well).
- Show up for your writing fellow meeting to discuss draft at least once.
- Show up for the workshop in class (see the syllabus for when that is) with a complete draft of your paper.
- Turn in the workshop worksheet your reader filled out during the workshop.
- Turn in your revision plan reflection that you completed in response to your reader's workshop comments
- Turn in a 1500 word draft to me on the day it is due (see the syllabus for when that is) with reflection on what you feel is successful about the paper and what you want help with (NOTE: increased length will not make up for late or incomplete work) .
In order to earn an "A" on this paper, you need to complete all of the requirements for earning a "B" and
- Write thoughtfully about how you used your revision suggestions in your paper as part of your reflection on what you feel is successful about the paper and what you want help with.
- Turn in a 1500 word draft to me that reflects the ideas we discuss in class about writing a good profile: strong, original thesis about what makes this person a successful person, their life a successful life, good evidence drawn from the interview, revision from workshop draft to final draft, a real essay, not just a list of questions and answers.
In order to earn a "C" on this paper, you must turn in/show up for the following:
- Turn in all of the email correspondence between you and your interviewee (you will cc me on all of these emails as well).
- Show up for the workshop in class (see the syllabus for when that is) with a complete draft of your paper.
- Turn in a 1500 word draft to me on the day it is due (see the syllabus for when that is) with reflection on what you feel is successful about the paper and what you want help with.