"Moves!"

I.  Can't.  Wait.  To.  Teach.  This.  Lesson.
#omfg
#truestory

Whether you realized it or not -- and whether I, the writer, realized it or not -- I made some "moves" right there.  I tapped into my pop culture resources and used some informal conventions of the modern "millenial" generation to (1) reach you, my target audience, by writing a somewhat unusual teacher-to-student "hook" in the beginning (2) let you know that I'm honestly juiced up to teach this lesson... perhaps my enthusiasm for this will be contagious, and (3) let my hair down for a change.

Some other moves I made right there?

• put the key buzzword in boldface for added emphasis
• #'d that list so you realized that there were only a few things you had to get through
• #'d that list so that my punctuation (commas) would come across more clearly -- the #s allowed me to separate each "thing" without using commas.  By using #s, I can save my commas within each item/thing so you (probably) wouldn't confuse them as an additional unit/thing
• used the "rule of 3" (a cheap trick that most readers seem to enjoy)
• finished the list with a joke.  If I started that list with my "long hair joke," would it have been as effective?  Probably not -- punchlines usually work best at the end.

OK, so your paper/project is coming up, and you can base part of your argument and analysis on your informant's textual (written) moves -- what they're doing, how they're doing it, and whether you believe that it was effective.

By studying this, my hope is that you'll be able to detect writers' moves more clearly and, in doing so, consider adapting what you find to be effective.  Think of this as a way to open up your tool kit.

Ever hear of two musicians "jamming out"?  Well, this is essentially what you're doing as a (good) reader.  You're listening to what the writer/musician is trying to communicate, and if you like what they've done, feel free to "borrow that lick."  (But remember: if you're borrowing their ideas/research, you need to attribute that work to them in a citation!)

Blah blah blah.  Here are some videos that can help us start thinking about "moves."

#thisissocool

Readings for HW

Since the portal is down and you can't access the readings, I've uploaded them to my Google Drive and you can find links to them below.  Two access the first two links, you need to be logged into your Gmail account -- the same one you're using to post your personal blog.

1. Everything's an Argument: Rhetorical Analysis
2. Everything's an Argument: Finding Evidence
3. Bunn's How to Read Like a Writer 

Remember, the draft of your interview questions is due next week (June 25th) and these readings that I've assigned -- and each assignment, i.e., the artifact analysis -- are all designed to help you think through each step of this course paper/project.

The course is picking up full steam now, so it's super-important that you get/stay on the ball and successfully complete all of your work.  

Professional Email Request and Artifact Analysis

To recap today's lesson: polish up your professional email request to your prospective "informant" (the person you'd like to interview for our course project).  Some good ideas:

• try to establish a polite, formal tone
• be super-clear about what it is that you want from them
• anticipate any questions that they might have (this might require clarifying terms that they're not familiar with, i.e., "artifacts")
• get to the point as quickly and concisely as possible
• consider using the 3-tier structure (opening/intro, body, closing) that is outlined in Ch 8
• include a "signature" at the bottom

Remember, you might get a "Sorry, but I can't help you" response from them, so it's very important that you email them as soon as possible (like, tomorrow!) just in case you need to find/contact a new informant.

Your next assignment (due June 18th) is the artifact analysis.  Basically, you're analyzing the artifacts that you've found -- any types of documents (hard copy or digital) with written language -- to determine the conventions of its genre and its rhetorical features (audience, purpose, tone, context, argument).   Use our upcoming reading on "Rhetorical Analysis" as your guide.  There a ton of questions in there that can get you thinking about how to take a long, hard look at these documents. 

To get writing artifacts for this project, there are basically two ways you can get them:

• publically (online or available/free in someone's store... or a museum, even) 
• privately (your informant would have to email them to you or give you a hard copy)

Ideally, you want both, but both aren't necessary.  

Please know that I'm not looking for perfect sentences, sharp transitions, and well-structure paragraphs in this assignment; I'm just looking for your ideas.  Don't put any added pressure on yourselves.  Use your first-order thinking, and you'll do just fine.

Here are some videos that can probably help you think through your artifact analysis.  I hope you dig 'em!

Art Museum "Audio" Tours and Saturn Devouring His Son

I'll explain in class.