Poetry Experiment
We started with a poetry experiment where you used a list of words/cliches as a starting place for composing a poem. We then shared our poems, and reflected on the processes we used to create those poems. We quickly documented that we engaged in a number of different moves that included: thinking about appropriate forms, exploring appropriate "subjects," and reviewing what we had written, evaluating it and then revising it.
In making these moves - we considered what we knew about poetry (drew from our knowledge of the canon of poetry + poetic form) and we explored our relationships to those forms, our experience and language itself to create the poem. In Cook's terms - these to moves were about craft (drawing from knowledge of the genre we want to write), and technique - discovering our own unique form, content, and language.
Cook's essay on writing as research
We used the vocabulary & experience from this experiment to talk about the three theories of writing as research in Cook's essay. We paid attention to the key sentences where Cook articulated the "heart" of each theory, and we summed up/restated each theorist's points in our own words. This discussion should be documented in your notes. You did a great job on this!
We then briefly covered the opening remarks about why creative writing/writing process is not usually considered a research method:
1. often considered spontaneous or unconscious (as opposed to rule driven and conscious)
2. not economic (the long way is valued rather than avoided).
Finally - we considered why writing/re-writing should be studied as research process (what was important about our discussion). No matter what kind of research you do - you will be writing. As stated in this essay - your research will be enriched watching how the writing process can help you discover the form for your writing, the focus for your communication - and new knowledge that magically arises from richness & complexity pf language itself.
GREAT CLASS. You did an awesome job of tackling that essay. You are definitely getting better at this.
And yes - I forgot to go over the SWS Syllabus. We will get there.
For next class:
1. Email me your first three choices (in order) of the remaining research methods that you think will be most important to you (list posted below). I will use your list to set up groups for class presentations on sample essays. We will talk more about this next week. .
2. Read Chapter 1 & 2 of Bloome et al (the other text book) = On Discourse Analysis.
3. Blog 6: Define discourse and discourse analysis, discuss how it might be useful to you as a method.
List of sample research methods essays:
Sample essays in Discourse Analysis text book (there are four of them) - you would present on one essay.
Visual Analysis
Ethnographic methods
Interviews
Oral History
Qualitative methods
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Poetry experiment
crimson decision clouds analog wish forgetful entrance kinfe sparkle wing excited moor
feather problem nostalgia run delicious extravagant pursue dogged humungous integrity dream
produce correlate hunger mnemonic idiosyncratic words barf
as a matter of fact, wouldn't you know, if I've told you once, oh yeah, what?, uh huh, you can say that again, I hear you, mmm hmmm, no way, what's up,
feather problem nostalgia run delicious extravagant pursue dogged humungous integrity dream
produce correlate hunger mnemonic idiosyncratic words barf
as a matter of fact, wouldn't you know, if I've told you once, oh yeah, what?, uh huh, you can say that again, I hear you, mmm hmmm, no way, what's up,
Monday, September 26, 2011
9/26/2011: Creative Writing and Research
We used the methods narrated in "Composing 'Teacher Training' " both to brainstorm a (pretend - maybe possible?) creative writing project.
Writing process as discovery: Following Pope's process, we - responded to a journal prompt, did some clustering and freewriting, talked about what how we might focus the piece and suggested doing some "focused" freewriting. Although we didn't complete Pope's whole process - we discussed how after writing some "episodes" or "scenes" that helped to suggest what her focus might be, she engaged in what is more commonly recognized as research by visiting (and observing in detail) the setting for her piece, interviewing people who have a different perspective on the same material or have important information; and connecting her work to theories/facts/other research associated with her piece.
Throughout the "real" research part of her process, Pope continued to write - to journal (reflect on, plan, assess and gather ideas); cluster (open up ideas & identifty categories associated with a central concept); freewrite (create associative, unedited sequences of writing related to an idea or focus) and talk to peers and advisors and "experts" (to gather more ideas, assess or validate her current plans and writing, envision new ideas for focus, organization & development). Her writing process was recursive - in that it looped through as series of practices for generating, organizing, articulating, and evaluating (deciding whether she liked them) ideas. After she had a draft - she continued to loop back through her writing process as she revised - and perhaps most importantly - she "watched herself think."
What Cook says about creative writing as a process. The essay is written in 4 sections - if you can state the main point of each section (with a quote to support it) you will have some ideas fo the controversies surrounding creative writing as a research process, and what current theorists state as what it "does".
What we will do in class on Thursday. We will start class by reviewing the Sample Senior Writing Seminar syllabus - so you can think about how this course sets you up to do that course. We are then going to turn to the remaining research methods - and you will identify which method you want to "take the lead on." We will also create the rubric for the presentations, finish up discussion of Cook and creative writing as a research method, and set up for the next class - where we will begin a discussion of discourse analysis.
Read: Cook (195) in Griffin
Blog 5: For your blog you can:
1. Describe the research/writing process associated with a particular creative writing text in a genre that you are considering doing your senior seminar project in. It can be a creative work of your choice - or one of the four texts I previewed (available in the Writing Center at the front desk).
or
2. Describe the research/writing process (make a writing/research plan) you would use to complete the creative project we started in class. Begin with the steps we covered [writing to a prompt, discussion with peers, clustering, talk with peers, freewriting (more talk) . . . .] and go from there. You can use the pattern described in Pope's essay on composing "Teacher Training" - or you can write something that more characteristic of how you write & what you would do to get the best results.
Writing process as discovery: Following Pope's process, we - responded to a journal prompt, did some clustering and freewriting, talked about what how we might focus the piece and suggested doing some "focused" freewriting. Although we didn't complete Pope's whole process - we discussed how after writing some "episodes" or "scenes" that helped to suggest what her focus might be, she engaged in what is more commonly recognized as research by visiting (and observing in detail) the setting for her piece, interviewing people who have a different perspective on the same material or have important information; and connecting her work to theories/facts/other research associated with her piece.
Throughout the "real" research part of her process, Pope continued to write - to journal (reflect on, plan, assess and gather ideas); cluster (open up ideas & identifty categories associated with a central concept); freewrite (create associative, unedited sequences of writing related to an idea or focus) and talk to peers and advisors and "experts" (to gather more ideas, assess or validate her current plans and writing, envision new ideas for focus, organization & development). Her writing process was recursive - in that it looped through as series of practices for generating, organizing, articulating, and evaluating (deciding whether she liked them) ideas. After she had a draft - she continued to loop back through her writing process as she revised - and perhaps most importantly - she "watched herself think."
What Cook says about creative writing as a process. The essay is written in 4 sections - if you can state the main point of each section (with a quote to support it) you will have some ideas fo the controversies surrounding creative writing as a research process, and what current theorists state as what it "does".
What we will do in class on Thursday. We will start class by reviewing the Sample Senior Writing Seminar syllabus - so you can think about how this course sets you up to do that course. We are then going to turn to the remaining research methods - and you will identify which method you want to "take the lead on." We will also create the rubric for the presentations, finish up discussion of Cook and creative writing as a research method, and set up for the next class - where we will begin a discussion of discourse analysis.
Read: Cook (195) in Griffin
Blog 5: For your blog you can:
1. Describe the research/writing process associated with a particular creative writing text in a genre that you are considering doing your senior seminar project in. It can be a creative work of your choice - or one of the four texts I previewed (available in the Writing Center at the front desk).
or
2. Describe the research/writing process (make a writing/research plan) you would use to complete the creative project we started in class. Begin with the steps we covered [writing to a prompt, discussion with peers, clustering, talk with peers, freewriting (more talk) . . . .] and go from there. You can use the pattern described in Pope's essay on composing "Teacher Training" - or you can write something that more characteristic of how you write & what you would do to get the best results.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
September 22: Auto/biography
Today we used your analysis of auto/biographical research books/essays as a basis for talking about the methods and resources auto/biographical researchers used in their work. We generated a list of methods/sources/resources and it is posted to the right under Class notes.
We also discussed Evans' article on the contributions & pitfalls of auto/biographical research. You identified what you saw as the author's main points. My perspective on the focus of the reading is posted to the left. Important "cues" to what Evans saw as central to her essay were provided by her use of numbered lists (first, second, third = sets up the three main points of the essay), definition + use of specialized language )e.g. "hidden author") and the use of concluding sentences that summed up what a discussion was about. I was impressed with how well you did at identifying the important sections/sentences. I think the difficult part for this reading was to interpret what those sentences meant! Because this is a class - you should definitely ASK me or your classmates. If you were on your own and trying to understand a research essay - it is also a good idea to ask a colleague - or to resort to the internet. If you become an English teacher - the NCTE has an email list you can join where you can share your work, aske questions, announce (and find out about) events, and so on. Poets & Writers offers similar connections for writers. Networking is essential for mondern teachers and researchers.
We didn't get to the sample syllabus - but that's OK. We can catch up next time.
I will be grading Blogs 1-3 - beginning Friday morning. Blogs not turned in by that time will be counted as not turned in. We've taken a couple of weeks to get used to blogging - using the software + what is expected of the prompts - and I think you've got it. So, for the rest of the term, blogs not posted at the time I give feedback to the class will be counted as not turned in; to be on the safe side, blogs are due by the beginning of the class after the date they are assigned.
For Monday:
Read: Teacher Training (posted to the right), and "Composing 'Teacher Training'" (handed out in class). If you did not get a copy - there is an extra copy of the article in the notebook in the writing center. You may copy it - but please return it to the notebook.
Blog 4: Imagine and describe 3 possible research projects you might like to do for your senior seminar project. Include information about the focus, where, when, how you would do it. Include questions or misgivings you have about whether you would be able to do what you have imagined.
We also discussed Evans' article on the contributions & pitfalls of auto/biographical research. You identified what you saw as the author's main points. My perspective on the focus of the reading is posted to the left. Important "cues" to what Evans saw as central to her essay were provided by her use of numbered lists (first, second, third = sets up the three main points of the essay), definition + use of specialized language )e.g. "hidden author") and the use of concluding sentences that summed up what a discussion was about. I was impressed with how well you did at identifying the important sections/sentences. I think the difficult part for this reading was to interpret what those sentences meant! Because this is a class - you should definitely ASK me or your classmates. If you were on your own and trying to understand a research essay - it is also a good idea to ask a colleague - or to resort to the internet. If you become an English teacher - the NCTE has an email list you can join where you can share your work, aske questions, announce (and find out about) events, and so on. Poets & Writers offers similar connections for writers. Networking is essential for mondern teachers and researchers.
We didn't get to the sample syllabus - but that's OK. We can catch up next time.
I will be grading Blogs 1-3 - beginning Friday morning. Blogs not turned in by that time will be counted as not turned in. We've taken a couple of weeks to get used to blogging - using the software + what is expected of the prompts - and I think you've got it. So, for the rest of the term, blogs not posted at the time I give feedback to the class will be counted as not turned in; to be on the safe side, blogs are due by the beginning of the class after the date they are assigned.
For Monday:
Read: Teacher Training (posted to the right), and "Composing 'Teacher Training'" (handed out in class). If you did not get a copy - there is an extra copy of the article in the notebook in the writing center. You may copy it - but please return it to the notebook.
Blog 4: Imagine and describe 3 possible research projects you might like to do for your senior seminar project. Include information about the focus, where, when, how you would do it. Include questions or misgivings you have about whether you would be able to do what you have imagined.
Monday, September 19, 2011
September 19: Auto/biography as a research method
Genre expectations. We began class by reviewing what we mean by genre and genre analysis. A genre is a class of texts (like mystery novels, or love letters, or RPGs, or 5-paragraph essays) that has a particular audience who expects to use/read the text in a particular way (for agreed on purposes) and which generally has characteristic subject materials and forms. In this definition we are using the term text to mean a representation (in print, on film, through drawing, or in digital code) that can be interpreted. In this definition, books, movies, song lyrics, web sites, and youtube videos are all texts - and there are "genres" (different classes) within each group of these different kinds of texts. For example,for movies there are action films, comedies, dramas, mysteries, horror, scifi, chickflicks etc = each with its own set of audience expectations & formal conventions ( the order, kinds of images/characters, and other features related to how it looks).
One way to analyze genre expectations for a particular genre or text is to ask the following questions:
Who is the text written for?
What is the text's purpose (what does it set out to accomplish)?
What is its focus?
How is it organizaed?
For our purposes - we will also want to think about patterns in how authors create texts within particular research genres. So - as we talk about methods, for each sample research essay we will think about:
- what research genre(s) does this text draw from?
- what methods did the author use?
- what skills did s/he need?
Pattern for this class: As we study each of the research methods - we will begin by talking about a particualar example from the research - and then you will read an essay in Griffin which talks about issues and ideas associated with that research method. Today we talked about auto/biography. I began by setting up Thursday's reading (pointing out 3 issues Evans identifies as problems with autobiographica research) - and by asking you to think about some of the issues you might use auto/biography to explore (good list).
Discussion of Oates interview. Discussion of the Oates' interview about Blonde focused on her statements on what she wanted to do (the book's purpose); her process for writing the book, and her methods/sources for information. This discussion validated Evans' point that auto/biography is not simply a presentation of facts = but a statement about the time and place where the subject's life took place. Details should be in your notes.
Examples of how researchers use auto/biographical methods: I then provided an overview of 5 texts that use auto/biography to develop research in language and literature.
Education is my Agenda: Biography of Gertrude Williams
Mike Rose's Lives on the Boundary
Essay by two researchers who use their children's experiences as evidence of literacy learning at school
Biography of Virginia Woolf
Lucy Grealy's Autobiography of a face
These texts are available at the receptionist's desk in the Writing Center. DO NOT TAKE THE BOOKS OUT OF THE CENTER. If someone is reading the book you are interested in - I strongly suggest that you work together. For Thursday, you are asked to do a "scan" of one of these texts - and to answer the questions that will produce a sort of genre analysis on your blog. Yes - lots of this will be speculative - and that is OK. Do some thinking. The research tools we build for this course will be as good as the work you put into them.
Read: Evans in Griffin (p 31); Senior Seminar Syllabus (Rich) posted to right
Blog 3: Choose one of the auto/biographical research texts previewed in class today (available in the Writing Center) and analyze it in terms of:
- purpose (what was the author trying to do? what is the main point of the text)
- process: how do you think the author went about producing this text? What do you think s/he did to write it?
- methods/sources: what materials did the author gather to produce this text? How did s/he gather them? This list might include things like interviewing (say who), analyzing texts (what kinds of texts), and reflecting on experiences for methods - and it might include things like the subject's journals or writings (be specific is possible); archival holdings at library's or special collections; newspapers, film archives, classroom observations and so on.
The purpose of this blog is for us to create a comprehensive list of the methods + skills auto/biographers use. We will share this list - and you can have it as a reference for any auto/biographical work you might choose to do.
In class Thursday we will spend the first half identifying methods, sources, tools and processes for auto/biographical research - and the second half discussing the limitations of this approach. Good class and see you Thursday.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
No Class September 15
I am sick and will not be in class today. Sorry for the short notice.
For Monday - read the Oates essay - I will send it to you as an attachment to your Kean email address - and if you get a chance look through Blonde - the work Oates is talking about in the interview. So even though this is an interview - it is an author talking about one way to use autobiographical research in writing.
In class we go over both your discussion of the research methods that interested you - and we will introduce autobiography as a research method.
I hope to read and reply to your blogs over the weekend - but I will see how I am doing.
For Monday - read the Oates essay - I will send it to you as an attachment to your Kean email address - and if you get a chance look through Blonde - the work Oates is talking about in the interview. So even though this is an interview - it is an author talking about one way to use autobiographical research in writing.
In class we go over both your discussion of the research methods that interested you - and we will introduce autobiography as a research method.
I hope to read and reply to your blogs over the weekend - but I will see how I am doing.
Monday, September 12, 2011
September 12: Generic Research Essays in Writing Studies and Literature
Great class today! Thanks for your good participation. I am getting better at estimating the length of class - I realized that last semester all my classes were combined two-periods - so I think I am having some time getting used to having less time. Today was better and I will keep working on it.
What we did in class:
We reviewed Moreno and Fetterley in terms of focus, supporting points, essay organization (what each section of the essay did or accomplished), methodology, methods. I didn't spend much time talking about audience and how readers "use" these essays - but I should have. Fortunately - we will be talking about these same ideas all term - so there is time.
We wrapped up by pointing out that these were "generic" essays - in that they made predictable moves and can be used as models for essays written for similar audiences/purposes.
Moreno: Moreno's essay was a typical writing research essay, focused on an idea-centered discussion about how one particular approach to teaching writing can improve composition pedagogy.
Fetterley. Fetterley's essay is a feminist, textual analysis of Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." Fetterley used her analysis of the words on the page to appropriate (takes over, re-interprets for her own purposes) Faulkner's story so that it became a feminist message about how violence oppresses both the victims and the victimizers.
Introduction: sets up the focus of the essay - to demonstrate how "it is impossible to oppress without in turn being oppressed," in particular and with respect to the structures of the patriarchy.
Textual analysis (she analyzed moves in the text, in terms of specific references to the text in more or less the following order):
Conclusion - re-states + develops focus set up in the introduction.
We discussed the methodology, methods, and skills (sort of) associated with each text. In terms of identifying methodologies - think about the author's assumptions. And as you are thinking about their assumptions - think about how & where you agree and disagree with those assumptions. We will work on learning the names for groups of assumptions as we work our way through the course. For today, Moreno is a fit with critical pedagogy, and Fetterley fits with feminism. Both of these approaches are concerned with social justice and are about changing (transforming) the world into a "better" place.
Our general approach for studying research methods in writing studies and literature.
We will read two essaysabout each of the different methods used to study langauge and literature (except discourse analysis - for which we will read more). We will begin by reading a sample essay that illustrates the method - and then we will read an essay from Griffin that discusses & critiques the method from the sample essay. I will model this approach for the auto/biography, creative writing methods - and then you will do presentations for the rest of the term (I will be on your team - but we will follow your lead). Tonight's assignment is to give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the different methods/sample essays. You are NOT committed to give a presentation on the method you blog about - this is just exploratory. See what you think.
For Thursday, Ilook through your calendar and do a quick read of the sample methods essays. Skip Auto/biography and Creative writing (I am going to "model" the presentations using those), and browse through sample essays for discourse analysis (in your book in Chapter 3 of On Discourse), visual analysis (in the Writing Center, in the blue notebook at the receptionist's desk = just ask for it - and don't take it out of the Center); ethnography, interviews, oral history, and quantitative (links to the right). You may need to go through the Kean Data base to access the articles for oral history and quantitative methods.
Think about which methods interest you and what you might like to use them for. Jot down idea, questions - anything you might like to know and bring them to class - and I will see if I can come up with the answers for you. You might be interested in more than one method = and that's great!.
Blog 2: Do some writing about the research essay you found most relevant to your interests and career goals. Identify (as best you can) the genre expectations within the piece. Who is it written for? How will it be used? What kinds of information does it include and how is it organized? (in some sense you will be doing the same kind of analysis we did of Fetterley & Moreno in class). This does not need to be polished writing - but it does need to be real.
I will be reading blogs and giving feedback for Blogs 1 & 2 over the weekend. I would like to give you some tips/pointers on your first blog before asking you to write your second - but my teaching schedule is too tight - so I will go with what I can do. From the quick read I did last night and this morning - you look like you are on the right track. The most important things to remember are to write to the prompt + to provide evidence for your ideas/claims. These are not mini-essays. They are supposed to be places for you to explore - put ideas out there and see what you think of them.
Big words: As you read the essays, keep track of "big words" and at the beginning of class we can define them = start our own glossary.
See you Thursday!
What we did in class:
We reviewed Moreno and Fetterley in terms of focus, supporting points, essay organization (what each section of the essay did or accomplished), methodology, methods. I didn't spend much time talking about audience and how readers "use" these essays - but I should have. Fortunately - we will be talking about these same ideas all term - so there is time.
We wrapped up by pointing out that these were "generic" essays - in that they made predictable moves and can be used as models for essays written for similar audiences/purposes.
Moreno: Moreno's essay was a typical writing research essay, focused on an idea-centered discussion about how one particular approach to teaching writing can improve composition pedagogy.
- Introduction: The essay began with an introduction that identified the problem the essay would "solve"; reported what other researchers have written about the problem, and identified/connected to the audiences essay (who could use/benefit from the essay's information).
- Context: The second section described the course Moreno was studying = focus of course; writing assignments, class dynamics. This second section also generally contains a description of the methods researchers use to gather and analyze data.
- Presentation of data: Data for this essay were Raymundo's writings. Moreno presented + discussed the data using the "sandwich" method - where she set up what the data would show, presented the data, and then discussed findings. Some researchers divide the presentation of data, and the analysis of data into two sections.
- Conclusions: States the larger implications of the data = what they show for the discipline with respect to the paper's thesis (the usefulness of writing classes as places for multicultural students to explore identity and writing). Concluding sections also often propose additional research that should be done to solve the problem or explore the ideas central to the essay.
Fetterley. Fetterley's essay is a feminist, textual analysis of Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." Fetterley used her analysis of the words on the page to appropriate (takes over, re-interprets for her own purposes) Faulkner's story so that it became a feminist message about how violence oppresses both the victims and the victimizers.
Introduction: sets up the focus of the essay - to demonstrate how "it is impossible to oppress without in turn being oppressed," in particular and with respect to the structures of the patriarchy.
Textual analysis (she analyzed moves in the text, in terms of specific references to the text in more or less the following order):
- characterization of the narrative voice
- plot analysis
- characters/narrator's response to events of the story
- identification of metaphoric significance of story elements
- connections to cultural assumptions of patriarchy
- syntax (word order) + language
- draw parallels between different elements in the story (the tableau + the discovery of the murder)
Conclusion - re-states + develops focus set up in the introduction.
We discussed the methodology, methods, and skills (sort of) associated with each text. In terms of identifying methodologies - think about the author's assumptions. And as you are thinking about their assumptions - think about how & where you agree and disagree with those assumptions. We will work on learning the names for groups of assumptions as we work our way through the course. For today, Moreno is a fit with critical pedagogy, and Fetterley fits with feminism. Both of these approaches are concerned with social justice and are about changing (transforming) the world into a "better" place.
Our general approach for studying research methods in writing studies and literature.
We will read two essaysabout each of the different methods used to study langauge and literature (except discourse analysis - for which we will read more). We will begin by reading a sample essay that illustrates the method - and then we will read an essay from Griffin that discusses & critiques the method from the sample essay. I will model this approach for the auto/biography, creative writing methods - and then you will do presentations for the rest of the term (I will be on your team - but we will follow your lead). Tonight's assignment is to give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the different methods/sample essays. You are NOT committed to give a presentation on the method you blog about - this is just exploratory. See what you think.
For Thursday, Ilook through your calendar and do a quick read of the sample methods essays. Skip Auto/biography and Creative writing (I am going to "model" the presentations using those), and browse through sample essays for discourse analysis (in your book in Chapter 3 of On Discourse), visual analysis (in the Writing Center, in the blue notebook at the receptionist's desk = just ask for it - and don't take it out of the Center); ethnography, interviews, oral history, and quantitative (links to the right). You may need to go through the Kean Data base to access the articles for oral history and quantitative methods.
Think about which methods interest you and what you might like to use them for. Jot down idea, questions - anything you might like to know and bring them to class - and I will see if I can come up with the answers for you. You might be interested in more than one method = and that's great!.
Blog 2: Do some writing about the research essay you found most relevant to your interests and career goals. Identify (as best you can) the genre expectations within the piece. Who is it written for? How will it be used? What kinds of information does it include and how is it organized? (in some sense you will be doing the same kind of analysis we did of Fetterley & Moreno in class). This does not need to be polished writing - but it does need to be real.
I will be reading blogs and giving feedback for Blogs 1 & 2 over the weekend. I would like to give you some tips/pointers on your first blog before asking you to write your second - but my teaching schedule is too tight - so I will go with what I can do. From the quick read I did last night and this morning - you look like you are on the right track. The most important things to remember are to write to the prompt + to provide evidence for your ideas/claims. These are not mini-essays. They are supposed to be places for you to explore - put ideas out there and see what you think of them.
Big words: As you read the essays, keep track of "big words" and at the beginning of class we can define them = start our own glossary.
See you Thursday!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Thursday, September 8
We covered a lot of new ideas and language today -and hopefully this blog can help sum some of it up for you. If you didn't get all the new terminology - don't freak out - we will be going over it, and over it - just keep asking questions and trying out your ideas.
The importance of methods courses: We began by going over Griffin's introduction. She emphasized the fact that methods courses were a new feature of training in English studies - and pointed out their importance. By studying methods prior to designing your senior research projects - or entering your careers - you will be set up with a range of methodological choices; and you will have had a chance to think about, discuss, and practice different methods - so you have a basis for making choices. As pointed out in Griffin's introduction and emphasized in class: your methodological perspective - and your choice of methods - influence both the kinds of questions you can ask - and the answers you will find.
Methodologies, methods, and skills. Griffin makes a point of distinguishing among methodologies, methods, and skills.
methodologies: the perspective, point of view researchers use to think about their work. Methodologies usually have a particular set of assumptions about how the world is; what it is possible to discover or "prove" (how knowledge is discovered or made); what is ethical; and which methods are best suited for discovering knowledge.
I gave an example of different methodological perspectives with respect to interviewing. In a positivist methodological approach the world is knowable (we can accurately perceive and represent it), facts are real, provable, and out there and research subjects (people) are containers with the "truth" inside them that interviewers need to "extract" without contaminating it. From a social constructivist perspective, our knowledge of the world comes to us through our representations - and those representations are learned and created through experiences with family and community. There are multiple truths, and new truths are created through interactions between people. From this perspective, interviewers are more likely to engage the interview subject in conversation that asks the subject to explore and reflect on experience - rather than report "facts" or "what happened."
methods: approaches to gathering information - how you carry out the research. The list of approaches in the table of contents are all methods.
skills: techniques or tools for carrying out a method.
As pointed out by Griffin - distinctions among the three classifications can get fuzzy. Also as pointed out by Griffin, your methodology = your assumptions about the way the world is, what counts as a "fact," how to treat research subjects, and what methods fit with these ideas - will shape the kind of research you do.
Methods covered in this course: In our course, we will cover methods for auto/biographical, creative writing, discourse analysis, visual analysis, ethnographic, interviewing, oral history, and quantitative studies.
The terms discourse and ethnography were both new.
Thinking about who you are as a researcher. I asked you to do some writing about what kind of research you might do. I suggested you consider the purpose of your research (what you might want to accomplish); to describe your opinions on how to discover and represent truth (is there one truth? when their is more than one truth - is one truth better than another? etc); how you think you should treat your research subjects; and what kinds of methods you think you might be interested in doing. We will spend more time on these questions (and your exploration of your answers) as we talk through the first couple of methods during the next weeks.
Preview readings for next class. You will be reading Judith Fetterley's textual analysis, and Renee Moreno's ethnographic study of a writing class. Fetterley's essay is a "typical" literary textual analysis, and Moreno's study is typical of studies done for writing studies.
The class was divided rouighly in half - with (most of) the teachers were assigned to read Moreno's essay, and the writers (mostly) were assigned to read the Fetterley essay.
Blogs: Clearly, we did not spend class time to set up the blog. Some of you stayed after class to get set up -I am assuming the rest of you can either figure it out on your own [go to blogger and create an account - - or sign into your kean gmail, hit more >> at the top of the page and when the drop down menu opens click on the blogger icon, and follow the directions].
Once you have created your blog, copy the URL (the www.blogger.comNAME OF YOUR BLOG address in the address bar) into an email and send it to the course email address = ENG3029@gmail.com.
If this is too many directions for you - stop by my office during office hours or before class on Monday and I will walk you through it. Because I didn't leave time for this in class - obviously I will cut you some slack on the deadlines for the blog post if you need it.
FOR NEXT CLASS
Read: Moreno + Fetterley. You need to read both essays - but you will answer the prompts only for your assigned essay. For the essay NOT assigned to your essay, you will write a list of questions or ideas you would like to talk about..
Create your blog and write your first post:
Prompt (for the assigned essay): 1. List what you see as the essay's main focus (what it "shows") and the points or evidence it offers to "prove" that point. 2. Discuss or describe the essay's methodological approach, its methods, and how the author analyzed her data. 3. What other kinds of research projects or problems would this author's approach be good for? What might you use this methodological approach for?
For the "other" essay: list any questions you think would help the class come to a deeper understanding of the essay's findings, its methods, its methodological approach, and so on. .
A note on your blog posts: As stated in the syllabus - I expect the blogs to be informal writing. I do not correct grammar in blog posts. I am looking for evidence of thinking - and questioning. If you do not understand something - try to make clear what you don't understand in your blog so we can talk about it in class, You will get feedback on your first blog posts - early and often - so you will get a better and better idea about what is expected. So just hang in for this first one and do your best.
Good class today - we really covered a lot of ground. Sorry for the long (yawn) post - but I figured at this point you might want some details. See you on Monday and if you have questions be in touch.
The importance of methods courses: We began by going over Griffin's introduction. She emphasized the fact that methods courses were a new feature of training in English studies - and pointed out their importance. By studying methods prior to designing your senior research projects - or entering your careers - you will be set up with a range of methodological choices; and you will have had a chance to think about, discuss, and practice different methods - so you have a basis for making choices. As pointed out in Griffin's introduction and emphasized in class: your methodological perspective - and your choice of methods - influence both the kinds of questions you can ask - and the answers you will find.
Methodologies, methods, and skills. Griffin makes a point of distinguishing among methodologies, methods, and skills.
methodologies: the perspective, point of view researchers use to think about their work. Methodologies usually have a particular set of assumptions about how the world is; what it is possible to discover or "prove" (how knowledge is discovered or made); what is ethical; and which methods are best suited for discovering knowledge.
I gave an example of different methodological perspectives with respect to interviewing. In a positivist methodological approach the world is knowable (we can accurately perceive and represent it), facts are real, provable, and out there and research subjects (people) are containers with the "truth" inside them that interviewers need to "extract" without contaminating it. From a social constructivist perspective, our knowledge of the world comes to us through our representations - and those representations are learned and created through experiences with family and community. There are multiple truths, and new truths are created through interactions between people. From this perspective, interviewers are more likely to engage the interview subject in conversation that asks the subject to explore and reflect on experience - rather than report "facts" or "what happened."
methods: approaches to gathering information - how you carry out the research. The list of approaches in the table of contents are all methods.
skills: techniques or tools for carrying out a method.
As pointed out by Griffin - distinctions among the three classifications can get fuzzy. Also as pointed out by Griffin, your methodology = your assumptions about the way the world is, what counts as a "fact," how to treat research subjects, and what methods fit with these ideas - will shape the kind of research you do.
Methods covered in this course: In our course, we will cover methods for auto/biographical, creative writing, discourse analysis, visual analysis, ethnographic, interviewing, oral history, and quantitative studies.
The terms discourse and ethnography were both new.
- Discourse is "language in use"; we all participate in many different discourses and we learn them from the groups (discourse communities) who use them. At school - you learn academic discourse. You may have a different discourse (way of talking and being) that you use with your friends. Discourse is made up of both the words you use - and the assumptions, values, beliefs - and power structures - associated with your patterns for talk.
- Ethnography is the study of groups of people to discover their "insider" meanings for "the way the world is" (their discourses). Ethnographic studies use "participant observation."
Thinking about who you are as a researcher. I asked you to do some writing about what kind of research you might do. I suggested you consider the purpose of your research (what you might want to accomplish); to describe your opinions on how to discover and represent truth (is there one truth? when their is more than one truth - is one truth better than another? etc); how you think you should treat your research subjects; and what kinds of methods you think you might be interested in doing. We will spend more time on these questions (and your exploration of your answers) as we talk through the first couple of methods during the next weeks.
Preview readings for next class. You will be reading Judith Fetterley's textual analysis, and Renee Moreno's ethnographic study of a writing class. Fetterley's essay is a "typical" literary textual analysis, and Moreno's study is typical of studies done for writing studies.
The class was divided rouighly in half - with (most of) the teachers were assigned to read Moreno's essay, and the writers (mostly) were assigned to read the Fetterley essay.
Blogs: Clearly, we did not spend class time to set up the blog. Some of you stayed after class to get set up -I am assuming the rest of you can either figure it out on your own [go to blogger and create an account - - or sign into your kean gmail, hit more >> at the top of the page and when the drop down menu opens click on the blogger icon, and follow the directions].
Once you have created your blog, copy the URL (the www.blogger.comNAME OF YOUR BLOG address in the address bar) into an email and send it to the course email address = ENG3029@gmail.com.
If this is too many directions for you - stop by my office during office hours or before class on Monday and I will walk you through it. Because I didn't leave time for this in class - obviously I will cut you some slack on the deadlines for the blog post if you need it.
FOR NEXT CLASS
Read: Moreno + Fetterley. You need to read both essays - but you will answer the prompts only for your assigned essay. For the essay NOT assigned to your essay, you will write a list of questions or ideas you would like to talk about..
Create your blog and write your first post:
Prompt (for the assigned essay): 1. List what you see as the essay's main focus (what it "shows") and the points or evidence it offers to "prove" that point. 2. Discuss or describe the essay's methodological approach, its methods, and how the author analyzed her data. 3. What other kinds of research projects or problems would this author's approach be good for? What might you use this methodological approach for?
For the "other" essay: list any questions you think would help the class come to a deeper understanding of the essay's findings, its methods, its methodological approach, and so on. .
A note on your blog posts: As stated in the syllabus - I expect the blogs to be informal writing. I do not correct grammar in blog posts. I am looking for evidence of thinking - and questioning. If you do not understand something - try to make clear what you don't understand in your blog so we can talk about it in class, You will get feedback on your first blog posts - early and often - so you will get a better and better idea about what is expected. So just hang in for this first one and do your best.
Good class today - we really covered a lot of ground. Sorry for the long (yawn) post - but I figured at this point you might want some details. See you on Monday and if you have questions be in touch.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
First class
Class on Thursday, September 8 will be in the first floor computer lab - next to the vending machines & the writing center. Bring your book.
We spent class getting to know each other - talking about who we are as writers, what research is, and thinking about how you might use research in your future work as a writer. It looks to me like we have a great group - with enough common interests (and enough differences!) to make for some good discussions. Thanks for your good contributions to today's conversation.
For next class: I handed out hard copies of the syllabus & calendar (posted to the right). Please read through the syllabus carefully and if you have questions we will talk them over in class.
Read the introduction to Griffin. In addition to providing a history of research methods in English Studies, she makes distinction she makes among research skills, methods, and methodologies, and provides an overview of the methods discussed in the book.
Pay attention to:
We spent class getting to know each other - talking about who we are as writers, what research is, and thinking about how you might use research in your future work as a writer. It looks to me like we have a great group - with enough common interests (and enough differences!) to make for some good discussions. Thanks for your good contributions to today's conversation.
For next class: I handed out hard copies of the syllabus & calendar (posted to the right). Please read through the syllabus carefully and if you have questions we will talk them over in class.
Read the introduction to Griffin. In addition to providing a history of research methods in English Studies, she makes distinction she makes among research skills, methods, and methodologies, and provides an overview of the methods discussed in the book.
Pay attention to:
- differences among skills, methods, & methodologies. . . why does she bother to call these differences to our attention?
- the different research methods => think about which methods might be relevant in your personal and professional life. What kind of research do you see yourself doing in the future? What would you like to learn about?
Great class! And I am looking forward to hearing/reading about your research interests + agendas.
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