Xianfeng Mou, 09 Fall, Engl 106
Sequenced Writing Overview
Purpose
Now that you have created an authorial persona for the reader in the first project, from this moment on your task is to write yourself into the culture and carry out intellectually sophisticated dialogues with other members in your culture. To achieve that, you will carry out a sequenced writing project; that is, you will write a total of four papers (for now group collaboration has not been entertained or finalized), in four different genres from four increasingly informed perspectives, on the same subject over the course of this semester.
The idea of a series of assignments forming a sequenced writing project grows from the belief that students develop their writing skills best when each writing assignment they do builds directly on the experience and knowledge students have gained from completing the previous writing assignments.
Preliminary Requirements
In the sequenced writing project, you may write on a topic of your choice with the approval of your instructor. Remember the five major myths that the class is investigating throughout the course: the myth of education and empowerment; the myth of individual opportunity (the issue of class, money, and success in America); the myth of gender (equality, inequality, or contestations); the myth of the melting pot; and the myth of freedom in a “New World Order.”
For each myth, I have preselected some primary readings to spark interest or discussion. You can either start from the subject that you are really passionate about, or you can skim through those key readings to get inspired if you are not sure about your topic at this moment. If those readings still cannot satisfy you, you are free to select other articles covered in each myth or elsewhere if they answer your needs. We have already investigated a little bit about the myth of education and empowerment. So you know some ropes around.
However, to do the sequenced writing project well, you must select a topic that meets the following four requirements.
1. You must feel very passionate about the topic and want to learn more about it, since you will spend much of the term producing four full papers on the subject.
2. You must already have had some (pivotal) personal experience with the topic you will write on.
3. This must be a topic that will allow you to do all four parts (Personal Narrative, Literature Review, Interview Report, Argumentative Essay) of the project. If a topic cannot possibly allow you to do these four segments, it is not good and you need to explore other more promising topics.
4. Since you will be interviewing an expert or authority on your topic for the Interview Report, it is recommended that you do some preliminary thinking or research about the possibility of finding your expert before deciding on your topic. In other words, if an expert is not going to be available, better discard your topic now.
Topics Explored (mostly by Internationals)
Here are some examples of topics students have written on integrating their personal experience with their topics. Most of them are international students. Since these topics do not specifically address our cultural context approach, they are only aimed at showing you the ropes of connecting your personal experience with intellectual pursuits.
Financial aid for students (This student was having financial problems.)
The Iranian and American criminal justice systems (This student’s father had been imprisoned for political activity, and she was taking a course in criminal justice.)
The question of Puerto Rico becoming one of the United States (This student was from Puerto Rico and was going to have to decide on how to vote on this question.)
Pros and cons of joining the co-op program (The student had part-time work experience and was thinking of joining the co-op. He compared these two choices.)
Reasons leading to famine in Ethiopia (This international student was from Ethiopia. He went to a famine-stricken region for relief work. And he wanted to find out reasons leading to persistent famine in his home country.)
As you can see, in each case the student had already had some personal experience with the subject of their project before they began the project. For the sequenced writing project, take your time deciding on an appropriate topic, one that will keep your interest through four complete writing assignments. You can think of this sequenced writing project as gathering data for a research question. So consider choosing topics that you can and would like to do research on.
You do not have to feel constricted within one particular myth. You can combine one or two myths and find a very rich perspective that others have not intelligently talked about before. The key is to do your thinking, reading, and exploring.
Reminder:
Once you have decided on a topic, you cannot change it in the middle of the semester. Therefore, think and research carefully.
One-page research proposal
Each student is required to write a one-page research proposal in which you will tell the instructor what your research topic is, what your personal experience about the topic is, what you have known or learned about the topic (what previous investigators have found out already), and in which direction you think your research is going.
The last specific question, which direction your research is probably headed, is important for you to consider now because it will ensure your chosen topic will not be either too broad or too narrow. It has to be both manageable and sustainable to carry you through to the end of the semester.
If you are able to answer all these four questions, you are doing well. Finish this proposal within this week, Week Four.
Brief explanations about the four incoming projects:
Personal Narrative is a paper in which you tell one or two events you have experienced yourself which make(s) you realize the topic means so much to you that you want to devote the rest of the semester researching about it.
Literature Review is a project in which you will do archival research, finding books, articles, on-line sources and determine what previous investigators have found out about your topic and what they can tell you. You do not want to waste your time on some findings that others have already made.
For Interview Report, you will find an expert, someone who has extensive experience or expertise in your topic so that he or she can tell you wisdom that is not available through archival research. This part is called field research.
For the last argumentative paper, you will take your stand, your specific position, to argue for what you believe in, to refute or accommodate others’ disagreements, or state what you believe others should do or should not do regarding your particular topic and beliefs.
*Adapted from materials provided by Professor Tony Silva. Expanded and revised especially for this cultural approach, Fall 2009. Creative Commons rights.
