Responses to Text-Based Research Questions

Responses to Text-Based Research Questions

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1.     What specifically do you want to learn about a particular phenomenon? In other words, “What is interesting about the Denver music scene” is not a specific question. However, “How has the research and practice of music theory evolved in Colorado?” asks a specific question.

2.     Ask questions that are more open-ended and that are not loaded. For example, “Is legalizing needle exchange programs detrimental to Denver?” only offers two potential answers: “yes” or “no”.

3.     Further, the question might feel “loaded” in that your reader might think that you already have an answer and you are merely trying to find data to support your answer.

4.     A research question that shows that you are an open researcher would look like the following: “What potential impacts of a needle exchange program in Denver should residents consider before voting on the measure?” This question demonstrates that you know this question is likely a complicated one that may resist an easy answer.

5.     However, the question also allows you to pick a position and defend it. This is important to consider as this paper asks you to argue for a position. Remember that you can make your case stronger if you demonstrate that you understand the positions of conflicting points of view surrounding the issue.

Learning to Read Like a Writer, Joey Messina, In-Class

1. “Reading Like a Writer” is quite different than from reading in other classes. Reading you might do in other classes usually is performed in order for you to absorb information from the writing. It is meant to be a way to merely read the writing in order to get a better understanding of the content or ideas in the writing. However, when you do Read Like a Writer, you are involving a method of trying to figure out how the piece of writing was actually put together by the author by analyzing his or her techniques that they may use in their writing. Then you need to question why the author used those techniques in the writing. From questioning why the author used a particular structure in the writing, to why the author used certain words in the writing. Finally you need to look at the most important choices the author may make in their writing, and look to see what different ways the author could have gone with the writing and how it could affect the readers.
2. Readers might identify to the choices that I make as a writer. I might use the choices in my writing that would be based on the audience to whom I am writing to. This would affect the tone, sentence structure, and style that I would use in my writing.
3. I did like the technique that Bunn used when he wanted to ask the two questions about knowing the purpose of the piece of writing as well as knowing who the intended audience is for this piece of writing while reading. Asking these questions while reading my articles, did help me when we had to decipher the author’s rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos in my readings in order to make a persuasive argument in their favor last quarter. This is a technique I also hope to use in our upcoming papers when we do have to research and find appropriate articles for our topic.
4. If you want to better understand a piece of writing, it is essential in order to learn about the specific context of the text. At first before even reading the actual writing itself, you can learn a lot about the text from the title. The title can help you define the tone of the piece as well as the author’s intended audience. It would be also quite helpful to look up the author and research his personal history and preferred genre in order to get a sense of the context of the piece of writing.

Daily Note, Monday 3/28

Monday March 28, 2011

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1.  Notes on first blog posts.

2.  Library: Introduce Carrie Forbes.

3.  Database orientation: leave today with at least 3 potential sources.

4.  Classroom: briefly discuss 2 articles for today.

5.  Apply the “Strategies for Rhetorical Reading” (pp. 213 – 219) to my paper, “Hill’s text-based, in-class example.”

Library In-class Work

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Notes on Your First Blog Posts

Blog Posting Notes

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1.    Please remember to use a unique title. For example, “RLW Reading Discussion Questions/Answers” is not unique. Who posted this? What type of post is it (in-class, major assignment, peer critique, etc.)?

2.    Please use the proper labels that I ask you to use. For example, the first posting should have used the following labels: in-class, writing, section xx.

3.    Please do not create labels. I will provide labels for you. Please click on “Show All” next to the label box and choose the labels that you want (or begin typing the label and select from what shows up in the box). Remember that all postings should have at least 2 labels: “section xx” and the type of assignment that you are posting.  

4.    Please remember to “Preview Post” before publishing. Make sure that your post looks the way you want it to look.

5.    Please remember to publish your posts. Saving a post as a draft does NOT publish it to the blog. It is each student’s responsibility to ensure that her or his post is published to the blog and is not just saved as a draft.

6.    Please examine the right side of the blog (make sure that you open up the archive titled “3/20 – 3/27”). If you look to your post and see that you received full credit (as everyone who properly posted did), then please continue to post properly. If you do not see the note that you received full credit, then please correct your posting by 10 p.m. on Monday 3/28 to receive half credit.

Hill's text-based, in-class example

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Library Reminder

Hi folks. Just a reminder that we will be in the library one day this week. Please read the text below carefully as not all courses meet on the same day.

10 a.m. - noon and noon - 2 courses: In the library on Monday (3/28).

2 - 4 course: In the library on Wednesday (3/30).

We will meet next to the staircase at the West end (entrance end) of the library. Enter the library and turn to the left. You will see the room next to the stairs.