PB3A
I spent the weekend
thinking of new genres to create for a younger and older audience. After losing
my mind a bit, I decided to turn to friends for inspiration, but they too were
as uncreative as I am. As you may have guessed, option 3 was also not a realistic
option for me because it involved a bit too much creativity. This is why I have
decided to choose the second option for this writing project. I feel that since
it is a topic that I understand well, I will really be able to learn a lot more
than if I wrote about option one. I am also glad that our past writing
assignments have focused on scholarly articles, because I have a great
understanding for their rhetorical devices and conventions. I think that I will
be able to produce a very well written essay since I have a good understanding
for the prompt and of the course readings.
I am considering choosing the article on Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder: Evidence-Based Research for the Third Millennium. Since I am a psychology major, I am always drawn
towards articles that focus on psychological concepts. Also, this article
specifically focuses on people who served or are serving in the military and
who now suffer from PTSD. Since I want to be a counselor for people in the
military, I am really excited to focus on this article. I am also considering
writing my paper on Depression, PTSD, and
Comorbidity Related to Intimate Partner Violence in Civilian and Military Women though.
This is definitely another topic that I find very fascinating and I know I
could really tear this piece apart in my essay. It is an interesting topic that
doesn’t get paid much attention, yet it is a very important and crucial topic.
Women who are abused by their partners suffer from PTSD as much as women who
are in the military do. Both of these topics are very dear to my heart and I feel
that the hardest part about writing this essay is going to be committing to one
of those topics. On the bright side though, if my biggest concern going into
this essay is which scholarly article to focus on, then I’m going to say that I
am definitely headed in the right direction with this paper.
In order to really master this project, I am going to reread the course
readings, Dirk’s Navigating Genres, Boyd’s Murder! Rhetorically, Carroll’s Backpacks vs. Briefcases., and Bunn’s How to Read Like a Writer. This will
give me a solid example of how to write a Writing
Spaces type of essay. Since my audience is directed towards college students
in a composition class, I think that I will really be able to include my own voice
throughout the whole piece. This is the best option to really show what I have
learned in this class. I have to admit, I am definitely a lot more pumped for
this writing assignment than I was for the last project.
The fact that your topic for your project is about something that you're really passionate about is super cool. It sounds like you're one of the few people who seems to actually know what direction they want to take their paper in and that’s awesome! By choosing the second prompt, I think you'll have the ability to let your voice shine throughout your paper, as well as incorporating how much passion you have for the topic. I think if you’re having a hard time picking between which article to choose, you should just use both, because why not? In most of the articles we’ve read from Writing Spaces, they uses a lot of different examples from various sources, and you could potentially do the same. In the end, it sounds like you have your plan for this project together and are very prepared.
ReplyDeleteI think that this project is such a great way to express how we feel about the course in a creative way, and I think you using your passion and interests will really drive you into putting a very different style and unique voice to the scholarly article. I think that revisiting the readings is a really great idea prior to beginning your article, since that's the kind of 'style' you need to match. However, I think you should be careful to not do things as exactly as the past readings that we have seen. I just remember what De Piero said, about how after seeing good examples we tend to follow those exactly. I think that's the one worry you will have, but I think your project will turn out great.
ReplyDeleteEnnfield,
ReplyDeleteYour first few sentences made me laugh. So funny.
Yay, option #2! A Writing Spaces piece! You’re the FIRST STUDENT to go this awesome route! Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for Miss Ennfield! I think you’ve got two good reasons here—“I feel that since it is a topic that I understand well, I will really be able to learn a lot more than if I wrote about option one”—so I’m happy with that. I’m also doubly happy because I remember you telling me on Day 1 that aspired to become a military psychologist someday, so this aligns with your existing interests/goals, and that makes me ecstatic. Really.
So my suggestion for a way to start this is: what are the conventions of the Writing Spaces pieces? Like you said, going back and reading them is great, but going back and DECONSTRUCTING them is even better. What are all those little ingredients that make it… IT?
The tougher questions, I think, are: OK, how can you analyze this scholarly article through the styles/structure/conventions/moves of a Writing Spaces piece? What ABOUT that scholarly piece merits analysis? How can you “bring it to life” through the spirit of a Writing Space publication? Ask yourself: what are my goals for this piece?
One suggestion I have is one of the writing tips I shared with the class, ~3 weeks ago: think about the TITLE of your piece. (Actually, TITLES might be better—that’ll give you more freedom.) By thinking about what you might title your piece, you’ll be forced to think, “OK, what am I really doing here? What is this piece that I’m writing essentially ABOUT?”
You got this, Ennfield! I’ve got a bunch of confidence in you, and I’m excited for this. Have fun with it, inject some of your “voice into it,” and rock it out.
Z
Hey Alexandrea! I think that it is really good that you are motivated to do a good job on this paper. I am also more excited for this one than I was for the last one. However, I do have some comments. When you have to examine scholarly articles like this, it might be harder than it looks. You are probably a lot better with identifying these conventions than I am. But, I think it might prove difficult to identify all of the different conventions and try and make them into a writing piece just like the ones in our course reader. Also another thing that I think is important is to not make the piece almost exactly like the ones in our course reader. I think it might be good to let your voice shine through a little bit. But otherwise, I think you know what you are doing here. I hope you have fun doing this! I think you will do great!
ReplyDeleteI definitely LOL’ed at your comment about all of your friends being uncreative. This is the first proposal I’ve read for idea two and I love it! I like that you picked a scholarly article associated with your major — since you are familiar with the topic, creating a Writing Spaces type essay will be much more simple! Reading this, however, it wasn't clear how exactly you’re going organize your essay. Structure will be key for this project, and you should think about how you’re going lay it out and incorporate all your ideas before you start. I think that re-reading the course readings will be very beneficial. Maybe you will even find some way to incorporate some ideas or even quotes. I agree that you’re headed in the right direction with this paper, can’t wait to see what you come up with!
ReplyDelete