Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Day 1
I have my own desk, computer, and cubicle at the National Environmental Services Center now! We have decided that I will come in twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10-3, and very flexible with Mondays and which hours. I have received my first assignment- two actually. Two articles which is very exciting for me! The first will inform readers about fun ways to educate children, grades k-12, about water, it will list sources on how to do so and reasons why it would be great to teach children about our water. The second article is about pool water safety- what is in that water, what are the dangers, what to look for, how to avoid or solve issues that may arise. Especially with the spring season approaching, this one will be very important. My writing needs to be oriented toward an audience ranging from Ph. D.'s to partial high school educations, and so one of my advisors recommended I aim for a 12 grade-capable reader. The language I use should be easy to read, to the point, and interesting. Today I researched some topics and people to contact, and Friday I plan on creating a very generalized outline of what, ideally, I will have. It is difficult working on two at once, but I will chose one to work on first, or break my days up equally dedicated to both. After more research I will know more about each and then decide which path to take.
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You raise an interesting point here: what exactly does it meant to write at a twelfth-grade level? What specifically does that mean in terms of word choice, sentence length, word order/sentence arrangement, sentence complexity? As you continue working on this project, try to spell out in specific terms what writing at a twelfth-grade level means to you and what specific strategies you use to create that type of writing? And relatedly, what resources could you consult in order to learn what that type of writing looks like, what characteristics mark it? Would any of your PWE textbooks be useful in this regard?
ReplyDeleteSecond, I'd be interested in hearing more about the specific rhetorical situation you imagine that you're working within, that is, the audience, the purpose, and the image that you want to convey about your organization? What strategies do you use to create the document in a way that meets this rhetorical situation?
Third, I'd like to hear more about the research methods you're using to generate the material you need for these documents. How are you deciding what types of information that you need to try to discover? Where are you going / what types of resources are you using in order to try to discover this information? How are you tracking down these resources?