Social Media, Academic Writing, and Constructing a Review Quickwrite - PowerPoint Presentation

Social Media, Academic Writing, and Constructing a Review

Quickwrite #4: Can Social Media help us with Academic Writing? On p. 537, the authors of Everyone’s an Author assert (claim to be true) that the writing many of us do every day, whether on the internet or in some other informal setting, can prepare us for the work of academic writing. How? What are some of the similarities the authors point out in Chapter 27 (p. 526-537)? Do you AGREE or DISAGREE with the assertion described above? (The assertion is the part in bold.)

Social Media and Academic Writing What are some examples of social media sites? Facebook Instagram MySpace ( H ahaha … right, Ms. S…. Like anyone USES MySpace anymore…) tumblr Various other blogging platforms ( Wordpress , blogger, livejournal , etc.) Message boards

What Social Media writing have YOU done lately? Think back over the past week. Have you done any social media writing? Have you read any pieces of social media writing? If so, what did you read/write? My list might look something like this…. Posted review of latest book I finished on goodreads Responded to discussion of favorite Game of Thrones character on Tumblr Posted the thrown together roast recipe I invented the other night on livejournal Congratulated college room mate on new job on facebook .

What does social media teach us about writing? The writing we do is a representation of ourselves. Just because we are using academic conventions (rules and accepted ways of writing) doesn’t mean that the writing should not express the writer’s individuality. (Compare the paragraph at the bottom of p. 528 that starts with “WOW!” to the more “academic” paragraph on p. 529.)

What does social media teach us about writing? All writing needs to connect to (and know) it’s audience. (Remember that audience is part of each writer’s rhetorical situation.) Ask questions and offer information that will be useful and relevant to your readers. (See p. 529-530) All writing needs to provide an appropriate amount of context. (Context is background information needed to understand what you are writing.) If you know your audience doesn’t need much context, you can leave it out, but if your audience might be unfamiliar with your topic, you will need to give them enough background information that they will be able to understand your points . For example, what background information would be needed to understand the tweet at the bottom of page 530? What background information would be needed to understand some of your social media writing?

What does social media teach us about writing? Organization is important. What do you notice about the organization of the yelp review on p. 531? Images can be an important rhetorical tool. Information is worth being shared. Sources should be cited.

What is “Academic Writing”? Academic writing follows a set of conventions (remember, those are rules/expectations your readers will have of your writing in an academic setting), and it is appropriate for a school or research setting. You can see a brief list of characteristics of academic writing on p. 543

Informal/Appropriate for Social Media Formal/Academic Star Wars is so cool! It’s like… one of the most amazing things ever. Everybody knows about it. Only people who have been living under rocks for the last twenty years don’t. There are lots of things in the movies that are just like stuff that goes on now. I totally love how the Jedi are all wise and mysterious, just like priests or prophets or something. Also, the lightsabers and spaceships rock a lot. There is no denying the effect that the Star Wars saga has had on our culture. Mention the words, “May the Force be with you,” and people of all generations, races, and social classes will most likely get the reference. Elements of the series have even helped us to define and understand our own world. For instance, Darth Vader and the Empire have become universally understood symbols for totalitarianism and oppression. Star Wars is, in actuality, a modern myth, with Jedi and starship pilots standing in for the gods and heroes of Olympus.

Challenges of Academic Writing: Academic writing makes a clear, explicit claim right from the start. Poor example: “Many people everywhere are involved with pop culture.” What is the problem with this sentence as a thesis for an academic essay? Can we help this author? What suggestions would you give him/her? In order to make a claim, you have to know what you think. In order to know what you think, you have to be familiar with the topic.

Challenges of Academic Writing: Organization. Academic writing is organized and structured in such a way that it leads the reader through your points. See p. 544 of EaA for information about patterns of organization. Decide where to put your most convincing ideas. Would they be more effective first, or last? Decide which ideas need to be explained before introducing other, more complicated ideas. Think of your paragraphs as building blocks. You can rearrange them, move them around until you find an arrangement you like that also achieves your purpose.

Challenges of Academic Writing: Balancing the they say and the I say sections of your essay effectively. Learning to write in an academic way is a balancing act. On the one hand, you are expected to do research and refer to what others say about a topic. On the other hand, you are expected to offer your own responses to what others have already said. Too much of others’ writing and not enough of yours is inappropriate, but too little research (others’ ideas) will make it look like you haven’t done your homework on the topic. If you are wondering whether you got this balance right, ask. I’d be happy to work with you.

Introducing Essay 2: The Review Please read the assignment sheet carefully. A copy of this assignment is posted on the class website. Please note the due dates for this assignment. Uploading a rough draft for peer review is not optional. Submitting comments for peers is not optional.

What can I review? Anything that you think you can write about for at least three pages. A restaurant A business that offers a product/service A product Car Gaming console Makeup line And many others A creative work Movie TV show Book Concert Video game Museum exhibit

You get to pick a topic you already know a lot about. This is your chance to review your favorite restaurant, to convince your audience that your favorite movie really is that great, or to expose your audience to your favorite musician’s newest work. Just make sure you think you can produce three pages worth of solid, well-supported ideas about the subject of your review. Finally, remember that even though you are familiar with the topic, your audience might not be familiar with it, and so you will need to give them context.

Features of a Review The chapter in Everyone’s an Author on writing a review begins on p. 229 From p. 234: The characteristic features of a review are: Relevant information about the subject Criteria for the evaluation A well-supported evaluation Attention to the audience’s needs and expectations An authoritative tone Awareness of the ethics of reviewing

How “academic” does m y review have to be? Since you will might be writing about your own experiences with the subject of your review, some use of “I” and “me” might be appropriate, but keep the focus on your subject, not yourself. Some “conversational,” informal language might be appropriate, depending on the subject of the review. But, imagine that you are writing this review for publication, that a magazine or newspaper is paying you to write this review for a broad general audience. This means that while some conversational language may be appropriate, you are writing to a group of strangers of diverse ages and backgrounds. They will be expecting a fair review and logical explanations of why you have the opinions you do about the subject.

Finding a Model Review For ten points of extra credit next class, find a high-quality review for the type of product you will be reviewing. (If you are writing a review of a book, find a review of ANY book written by a professional. If you’re doing a movie, find a professional film review, etc.) Answer the following questions (work must be typed and printed out): Where did you find the review? What was the title of the review and the name of the author? What was the subject of the review? (Name of film, type of car, etc.) What was the author’s evaluation of the subject of the review? (Remember, an “evaluation” in this case is a well-supported opinion about the value or quality of the subject.) So, in other words, what did the author think about the thing he/she was reviewing? What criteria did the author use to make this evaluation? What proof does he/she offer? What did you learn from reading and analyzing this review that might help you write your own?