Assignment Directions

How to Set Up Your Blog:

You will be using Blogger.com to keep a blog about your line of inquiry. You will have a series of entries that will ask you to consider your research from various angles.

  

What you need to do first:

1. On the right side panel, choose join this site and set up an account.
2. Complete your profile and upload a photo. 
3. Create your blog. Give it a title and a url address. Title it and design it however you want; it's your blog.
4. Select a design template and layout for your blog. 
5. Set your privacy settings so that your blog does not appear in search engines or is listed on blogger if you don’t want others outside of class to read it. 
6. Be a Follower--You need to "follow" me and the members of your writing group so that you can leave feedback for them. 
7. Be sure to follow/join your own page so that your blog will show up on my list. (I know it seems silly to have to follow your own blog, but for some reason, that's how it works.)

Your blog should be set up and ready to start when you return from Spring Break!!

I’m used to essays… why blog?

“Writing has got to be an act of discovery. . .I write to find out what I'm thinking about.”   ~Edward Albee

Yes, an essay is easier. They make it easier to rely on familiar formulas that are teacher-centered rather than writer-centered. I want to you get out of your comfort zone and do something a little different that is still academic and research-based at its core. Blogging allows you to get the same benefits you would get from a traditional essay, but…

Blogging also creates a more relaxed, freer and creative writing space and gives you a chance to engage with, critically examine and respond to your research in different ways, rather than a standard essay format. One of the main goals of this course is to learn to conduct meaningful research and then evaluate and engage with what you find using different writing situations. Furthermore, a blog juxtaposes personal and academic “writerly” goals. In order to blog, you must have a strong sense of what you want to say, who you want to say it to, and how you can say it the best.

One purpose of a blog (in this class) is learning to write and communicate effectively, but it is also about writing to learn—using writing as tool for taking vague thoughts and ideas and turning them into observations that are clear, meaningful and deliberate. In order to do this, you have to examine, analyze, make connections and reflect on your research.

Your blog should also consider other readers: me, your group members and others who would benefit from your research. Your goals as a blogger should also be to draw readers in, to help them understand the importance of your research and to get them thinking about the issues and conversations surrounding your research. 

A strong blog…

•  Considers the purpose and has something interesting and thought-provoking to say
•  Has a strong awareness of audience and writes in a way that makes things appealing, clear and convenient for the reader. 
• Gets and keeps the readers’ attention. 
• Should NOT sound like a list, a journal entry, or a research report. You must take the prompt (or overall purpose) for that blog entry and then decide how you can take ownership of your own research, opinions and writing to create something new, unique and cohesive with each entry. 
• Incorporates quotes and paraphrases from sources clearly into the text. 
• Can synthesize information from multiple texts within the same blog entry and make connections between different sources.
• Employs a myriad of strategies (expert opinions, studies, statistics, quotes, personal experience, anecdotes, personal observation, etc.) to connect with readers.
• Cites and documents sources used.

What to Blog About:

“I write…to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means.”  ~Joan Dideon

Blog Entry 1

Begin by reflecting on why you chose your line of inquiry. What was your initial interest? Why did you see it as important. Your first blog entry should provide context for what you're blogging about for your readers, so they understand the purpose behind your blog.

Your first entry welcomes the reader, introduces your Inquiry Question and provides necessary background information for your readers. Your entry should help readers understand why you chose to engage in this line of inquiry and also understand the significance or “human element” of your line of inquiry. (In other words, why do you care? What's more, why should they?)

Blog Entry 2

Begin by reflecting on what you've discovered and identify some aspect of your research (a certain claim or perspective on the issue) that resonated with you because you found yourself in agreement. It could have changed your perspective or it could support an original assumption you made about the issue. (This could be reflected in one or in multiple sources.) Write a blog entry that responds to this perspective or claim in a unique and thoughtful way by pulling in your research and personal observations. As you draft your response, consider:

• Why are you in agreement with that perspective? 
• What do you want an audience to think about regarding that issue would you want them to question? 
• How can you get the audience’s attention at the beginning of the blog and get them interested?
• Which sources or examples from your research can you use in this blog to explain your perspective? 
• How does it connect to, and stands up against, your own observations and experiences?

Blog Entry 3

Begin by reflecting on your research and identifying some aspect of your research that you found yourself in opposition to or questioning for some reason. It could have changed your perspective or it could support an original assumption you made about the issue. (This could be reflected in one or more sources.) Write a blog entry that responds to this perspective or claim in a unique and thoughtful way by pulling in your research and personal observations. As you draft your response, consider:

• Why do you disagree with that perspective? 
• Which sources or examples from your research can you use in this blog to explain why you disagree? 
• How can you get the audience’s attention at the beginning of the blog and get them interested?
• Are there any situations in which this perspective might be valid or understandable? 
• How does it connect to, and stands up against, your own observations and experiences?

Blog Entry 4

Reflect on what you’ve found and what concluding thoughts you have regarding your research. Write a blog entry that offers some overarching thoughts and questions about what you’ve discovered about your issue. Consider the following questions when drafting your entry:

• What you’ve learned about your topic. (What new perspectives about your topic did you encounter? What new information about your topic did you encounter? Where did this information come from?)
• Which opinions or assumptions about the topic, that you began this process with, have been altered, even slightly, by something you encountered/discovered during your research? This doesn’t mean your entire opinion or perspective has changed. Dig a little deeper; it could be something as simple as a surprising piece of information, statistic or story that made you have to consider something you hadn’t thought of before.
• Which opinions or assumptions about the topic, that you began this process with, have been reinforced in some way by something you encountered/discovered during your research? Again, this doesn’t have to refer to your entire perspective on the issue. It could even be a small piece of information that you identified with because you’ve observed it yourself, experienced it, etc.
• Describe your current opinion(s) or perspective(s) about the issue or what you perceive to be the answer(s)to your question. Be detailed. Remember that your opinion doesn’t have to be “black and white,” it could still be somewhere in the “gray” area, and it is possible to identify with more than one perspective, even after research.
• After conducting all this research, what new questions have arisen about the topic (As you continue working with this line of inquiry, what new questions or curiosities do you have about this issue?)

Blog Entry 5

The last blog entry is simply a bibliography of your informed research. This includes sources you directly cited, as well as primary sources and secondary sources that informed or shaped your perspective and knowledge of the topic.

How to Get/Give Feedback and Track Your Writing Process:

Your blog will go through several stages of development. Therefore, each time you publish a draft of your entry, you will save the draft/version number in the title.

[For example, Title (Entry 2--Draft 1)....or Title (Entry 2--Draft 2)...and so on.]

Your questions and concerns for your group will be left in the comments section below each entry. Further "process" instructions will be explained in class. Feedback from group members will also be left in the comments section below, along with the name of the reviewer.