Tar Heel Writing Guide [2020-2021 ed.] 9781533928207

Table of contents :
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Writing in the Disciplines
1-1: Writing in the Natural Sciences
Outcome 1: Explaining How the Natural Sciences Work
Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in the
Natural Sciences
Outcome 3: Reading Strategically in the Natural Sciences
Outcome 4: Writing in the Natural Sciences
1-2: Writing in the Social Sciences
Outcome 1: Explaining How the Social Sciences Work
Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in the
Social Sciences
Outcome 3: Reading Strategically in the Social Sciences
Outcome 4: Writing in the Social Sciences
1-3: Writing in the Humanities
Outcome 1: Explaining How the Humanities Work
Outcome 3: Reading Strategically in the Humanities
Outcome 4: Writing in the Humanities
1-4: Writing in Business
Outcome 1: Explaining How Business Communication
Works
Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in
Business Communication
Outcome 3: Reading Strategically in Business
Communication
Outcome 4: Writing in Business
1-5: Writing in Law
Outcome 1: Explaining How Legal Communication
Works
Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in Legal
Communication
Outcome 3: Reading Legal Communication Strategically
Outcome 4: Writing in Law
1-6: Writing in Health & Medicine
Outcome 1: Explaining How Health and Medical
Communication Works
Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in the
Medical Sciences, Social Health Sciences, and
Medical/Health Humanities
Outcome 3: Reading Health and Medical Research
Strategically
Outcome 4: Writing About Health and/or Medicine
Part 2: From Planning to Publication
2-1: Understanding Rhetorical Knowledge through Genre
Awareness
Outcome 1: Identifying the Rhetorical Situation
Outcome 2: Locating and Analyzing Examples of Specific
Genres
Outcome 3: Understanding How Genres Work Within
Discourse Communities
Outcome 4: Recognizing Genres as Sites of Social Action
Outcome 5: Recognizing Rhetorical Options within a
Rhetorical Situation
2-2: The Writing Process
Outcome 1: Generating Ideas
Outcome 2: Planning a Dra.
Outcome 3: Creating a Dra?
Outcome 4: Reviewing your Work
Outcome 5: Writing with a Group
2-3: Conducting Primary & Secondary Research
Outcome 1: Locating Sources
Outcome 2: Evaluating Sources
Outcome 3: Reading Sources
Outcome 4: Integrating Sources into Your Writing
2 4: Publishing and Presenting Your Research
Outcome 1: Identifying and Analyzing Publication
Options
Outcome 2: Preparing a Dra? for Publication
Outcome 3: Following Formatting Guidelines and
Submitting for Publication
Outcome 4: Analyzing Written Versus Oral Composition
Outcome 5: Writing for the Presentation
Outcome 6: Designing Multimedia
Outcome 7: Preparing for the Performance
2-5: Digital Literacy
Outcome 1: Analyzing Multimedia Genres
Outcome 2: Identifying the Right Medium
Outcome 3: Understanding Digital Copyright
2-6: Preparing an ePortfolio
Outcome 1: Understanding Showcase ePortfolios and
Their Usefulness for UNC Students
Outcome 2: Understanding How WordPress Can Be Used
to Create and Manage ePortfolios
Outcome 3: Locating Resources to Design an ePortfolio

Citation preview

Tar Heel Writing Guide 2020–2021

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of English and Comparative Literature

Copyright © 2021 by the Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Copyright © 2021 by Hayden-McNeil, LLC on illustrations provided Photos provided by Hayden-McNeil, LLC are owned or used under license Cover Images: wayfarerlife/Shutterstock.com; Sara Kendall/Shutterstock.com; Bryan Pollard/Shutterstock.com; KPG Payless2/Shutterstock.com; All rights reserved. Permission in writing must be obtained from the publisher before any part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system. ISBN 978 1 53392820 7 (ePub) Macmillan Learning Curriculum Solutions

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Table of Contents Introduction

Part 1: Writing in the Disciplines 1-1: Writing in the Natural Sciences Outcome 1: Explaining How the Natural Sciences Work Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in the Natural Sciences Outcome 3: Reading Strategically in the Natural Sciences Outcome 4: Writing in the Natural Sciences 1-2: Writing in the Social Sciences Outcome 1: Explaining How the Social Sciences Work Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in the Social Sciences Outcome 3: Reading Strategically in the Social Sciences Outcome 4: Writing in the Social Sciences 1-3: Writing in the Humanities Outcome 1: Explaining How the Humanities Work Outcome 3: Reading Strategically in the Humanities Outcome 4: Writing in the Humanities 1-4: Writing in Business

Outcome 1: Explaining How Business Communication Works Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in Business Communication Outcome 3: Reading Strategically in Business Communication Outcome 4: Writing in Business 1-5: Writing in Law Outcome 1: Explaining How Legal Communication Works Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in Legal Communication Outcome 3: Reading Legal Communication Strategically Outcome 4: Writing in Law 1-6: Writing in Health & Medicine Outcome 1: Explaining How Health and Medical Communication Works Outcome 2: Locating and Evaluating Evidence in the Medical Sciences, Social Health Sciences, and Medical/Health Humanities Outcome 3: Reading Health and Medical Research Strategically Outcome 4: Writing About Health and/or Medicine Part 2: From Planning to Publication

2-1: Understanding Rhetorical Knowledge through Genre Awareness Outcome 1: Identifying the Rhetorical Situation Outcome 2: Locating and Analyzing Examples of Specific Genres Outcome 3: Understanding How Genres Work Within Discourse Communities Outcome 4: Recognizing Genres as Sites of Social Action Outcome 5: Recognizing Rhetorical Options within a Rhetorical Situation 2-2: The Writing Process Outcome 1: Generating Ideas Outcome 2: Planning a Dra. Outcome 3: Creating a Dra Outcome 4: Reviewing your Work Outcome 5: Writing with a Group 2-3: Conducting Primary & Secondary Research Outcome 1: Locating Sources Outcome 2: Evaluating Sources Outcome 3: Reading Sources Outcome 4: Integrating Sources into Your Writing 2 4: Publishing and Presenting Your Research Outcome 1: Identifying and Analyzing Publication Options

Outcome 2: Preparing a Dra for Publication Outcome 3: Following Formatting Guidelines and Submitting for Publication Outcome 4: Analyzing Written Versus Oral Composition Outcome 5: Writing for the Presentation Outcome 6: Designing Multimedia Outcome 7: Preparing for the Performance 2-5: Digital Literacy Outcome 1: Analyzing Multimedia Genres Outcome 2: Identifying the Right Medium Outcome 3: Understanding Digital Copyright 2-6: Preparing an ePortfolio Outcome 1: Understanding Showcase ePortfolios and Their Usefulness for UNC Students Outcome 2: Understanding How WordPress Can Be Used to Create and Manage ePortfolios Outcome 3: Locating Resources to Design an ePortfolio

Contributors This guide is authored collaboratively by UNC Writing Program faculty and instructors. In particular, the following people have contributed extensively: Editors Jordynn Jack, Todd Taylor, Jennifer Larson, Tiffany Friedman Writers/Advisors Michael Clark, Jane Danielewicz, Matthew Diem, Jennifer Edwell, Kimmie Farris, Tiffany Friedman, Melissa Geil, Suzanna Geiser, Grant Glass, Ani Govjian, Don Holmes, Jennifer Larson, Hilary Lithgow, Calvin Olsen, Margaret OʼShaughnessey, Courtney Rivard, Sarah Singer, Morgan Souza Contact Writing Program 201 Greenlaw Hall 919-962-6871 https://englishcomplit.unc.edu/writing-program

Resources UNC Writing Center http://writingcenter.unc.edu The UNC Writing Center, located in SASB North and in Greenlaw Hall 221, offers free tutoring services for students. You may visit the

Writing Center to ask for help with a specific paper. Visit the website to make an appointment, browse the Writing Centerʼs online resources, or send a dra. online. To make best use of your time there, please bring a copy of your assignment sheet and your dra with you. ENGL 105 Research Help http://library.unc.edu/house/105help

Make an appointment any time during the semester for a 45-minute research consultation with a librarian. This service is offered specifically for students in ENGL 105/105i! The UNC Learning Center http://learningcenter.unc.edu The Learning Center offers coaching, tutoring, test-prep, and resources for working with ADHD or a learning disability. They also offer support for organization and time-management.

INTRODUCTION What Is a Research University? How Does ENGL105/105i Prepare Students to Become Members of the Research University? UNC is a research university, which means that faculty, graduate

students, and undergraduates are all involved in creating new knowledge, no matter what the discipline or major. Research activities can include working in a science laboratory on campus, interviewing older adults about their experiences with falling, collecting oral histories of workers at textile mills in North Carolina, or preparing a new exhibit at the Ackland Art Museum or Wilson Library. All of these research activities involve publication or communication in a range of modes, including written, oral, and multimedia formats. In your ENGL 105/105i course and beyond, you will have the chance to share and publish your research through university, state, and national conferences; through publications in undergraduate and professional journals; or through websites, installations, and exhibits. ENGL 105/105i will prepare you for the research, writing, presentation, and publication skills you will be asked to do in your major courses, future professions, and experiences within and beyond the university. ENGL 105/105i will provide you with an an

immersive experience in which you can discover your own goals and plunge into the life of the university. Most likely, this curricular approach to writing in the disciplines may be unfamiliar to you; this chapter will serve as an orientation to ENGL 105/105i.

EXERCISE 0-1A: RESEARCH AT UNC

WHAT WILL YOU EXPERIENCE IN THIS COURSE? Since instructors will make choices about the content, genres, and disciplines to include, there will be variation between individual sections of ENGL 105/105i. However, all ENGL 105/105i sections will reflect the following underlying Course Principles and best Course Practices.

Course Principles The goal of ENGL 105 105i is to prepare students to write and publish across the disciplines at a research university. In ENGL 105, students will be given broad experience with research and writing in three different disciplinary areas: Natural Sciences, Social Sciences (or Business), and Humanities. Although the goals and approach are the same, ENGL 105i focuses on a single specific area or profession

throughout the semester. Those areas include the following: Natural Sciences, Health & Medicine, Social Sciences, Humanities, Digital Humanities, Business, or Law. Within each unit of the course, you will be asked to produce a genre, such as a literature review or a recommendation report, that is practiced by faculty and professionals in a specific discipline or profession. You will be asked to take on a role and to act “as if” you are members of each of these disciplines. Your goal will be to learn about the writing style, research methods, values, and practices that shape writing in each community and to display that type of writing in your own work. All ENGL 105/105i classes are: Project-based: The three unit projects will engage you in rhetorical situations that explore real-world contexts for writing/research and that start from a problem or research question. Genre-based: The projects include a range of genres, forms, and mediums. You will get experience with genres such as the conference paper, journal article, business pitch, digital exhibit, or recommendation report. These genres will offer spoken and written modes as well as different mediums—including print and digital formats. Research-based: You will undertake research projects that involve a variety of research methods. These methods could be textual research, library research, or they could also include

archival research methods and/or other types of empirical methods—such as interviews, observations, or experimentation. Publication-oriented: Addressing the audience specific to each projectʼs genre (rather than the teacher/grader) is key. ENGL 105/105i students are asked to “publish” their projects for these specific audiences through a course structure using options such as portfolios, conference presentations, submissions to journals or digital publications.

EXERCISE 0-1B: TAKING A WRITING INVENTORY

Course Practices As opposed to a lecture format, ENGL 105/105i classes will be taught using a workshop approach that promotes interactive, experiential learning. The class will function as a seminar with 20 or fewer students, which means that each student will have a voice in the class and will be called upon to participate fully. All ENGL 105/105i classes are: Activity-focused: Each class will consist of a sequence of activities that engage students in the writing process: how to read, write, analyze, interpret, understand, and create texts. You will always be working on a project; each week you should be

working on components of that project in class and between classes. Process-based: Multiple forms of writing or composing will be incorporated. Major projects (three units) will be supported by a sequence of daily assignments. Using a process approach, you will write multiple dra. s, receive ongoing feedback from your peers and instructor, and participate in evaluating your own and othersʼ written projects. Group-oriented: Each of you will become part of a class cluster— small working groups that will serve as writing groups and discussion groups—as smaller cohorts in the larger community. You will be using digital tools (such as Sakai and/or Google Docs) to post and respond to writing and as a communication system so you can access the syllabus and daily assignments. Community-centered: ENGL 105/105i will introduce you to key campus resources and may engage you with projects that seek an audience outside the class. In addition to introducing you to the world-class library resources available at UNC, you may also engage with a range of other campus partners, such as the Media Resources Center, Special Collections at Wilson Library, Ackland Art Museum, Carolina Performing Arts, and Playmakers Repertory Company.

EXERCISE 0-1C: REFLECT ON YOUR LEARNING STYLE

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE IN ENGL 105/105I? Since ENGL 105/105i will be a seminar class and not a lecture class, to be successful, you will need to attend class and participate actively. Your instructor will design a series of activities, including writing workshops, to engage you in the writing and research process. You will most likely be using your laptops in every class for a variety of tasks, such as accessing the course learning system, conducting research through the library website, collaborating with group members on tasks, or reviewing your peersʼ posted dra s. Therefore, attendance is essential; in a workshop environment, it is difficult to make up the work, practice the skills, or interact with others if you arenʼt physically present in the classroom. To be successful in ENGL 105/105i, we recommend that you: Set your own goals for what you want to achieve in the course. Take the initiative to understand the course structure and assignments. Be a self-starter, jumping into activities rather than being passive. Respect others, no matter how similar or different they or their ideas may seem to you. Recognize that you are part of a group and have a responsibility to the other students to work diligently and to respond thoughtfully.

Take control of your own learning by asking questions, visiting your instructor in office hours, and being clear about your goals and expectations. ENGL 105/105i is designed to immerse you through role playing into three different rhetorical situations over the course of the class. Instead of writing papers or essays (as many of you did in high school), you will be challenged to produce several different genres, across different disciplines, that typically occur in particular situations. For example, you may be asked to role play having an internship at a think tank and be asked to write a policy report for the team. In your ENGL 105/105i class, you will analyze examples of the genre in question a policy report, in this particular case then do research on the topic to arrive at your recommendations. Finally, you will produce a policy report for your audience. Every assignment will take on the form and conventions of a real genre whether that be a grant proposal, a podcast, or a journal article. You are already a skilled writer, and you have valuable prior experience with different types of texts. Because we assume this foundation already exists, ENGL 105/105i does not focus on teaching or evaluating basic writing skills per se. Instead, your instructor will be evaluating how well you adopt a given role and produce a project that matches the genre model. Because of the range of disciplines and genres in the course, most students find that they can excel as writers when they connect to a topic or discipline that interests them.

The instructor for your course will provide a syllabus with specific instructions and guidelines. However, below is an overall list of behaviors and practices that will help you to thrive in ENGL 105/105i: Attend all classes Submit work on time Do multiple dra s of assignments Provide thoughtful feedback to others Participate fully in group activities Sustain effort and investment on each dra Make substantive revisions Proofread successfully so that all assignments conform to conventions of edited revised English Meet with your instructor to discuss dra s and/or your progress in the course Show respect for your peers and the instructor Rather than working for a grade, aim to improve as a writer and produce work that is publication-ready Use technology thoughtfully as directed by your instructor to engage with course materials and coursework appropriately Demonstrate academic integrity and follow the UNC Honor Code Academic Integrity: All students at UNC are required to observe UNCʼs Honor Code. All the research, writing, or other work you produce in the course must be your own or be attributed to any sources (electronic or print, etc.) that you cite or integrate. If you are ever in doubt about “original work,” or about citing a source or attributing information from a source, please check with your instructor. This policy covers research and writing that count as homework assignments, dra s, anything posted on Sakai, as well as finished projects in the course. For more, information, see this UNC Writing Center resource on Academic Integrity.

EXERCISE 0-1D: SET GOALS FOR THIS CLASS

PART 1

WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES

1-1

WRITING IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES

This chapter will explore how different natural science fields frame research questions, evaluate evidence, and make knowledge claims, as well as how researchers communicate within and beyond their fields. Additionally, you will learn how to read natural science sources critically for content and for genre models. You will then learn how to apply this knowledge of natural sciences conventions to your own writing.

Key Terms Empirical Evidence: In the natural sciences, researchers build claims by collecting evidence through empirical methods, such as experimentation or direct observation. Research Integrity: Science is a collective endeavor that relies on the veracity, or truthfulness, of individual scientists. Integrity here refers to due diligence in data collection, clear and accurate reporting of results, and transparency about biases. Objectivity: Science is based on data-driven claims, and scientists work to minimize the role of individual bias in their research. Thus, researchers try to take an objective stance, which is an impartial attitude toward the results of a study. Peer Review: The process of evaluating scientific articles for their content and quality usually involves one or more scientists reading and commenting on anonymized versions of articles and sharing their feedback. These reviews help journals figure out which articles to publish and how to help authors improve their work.

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1 Explain how the natural sciences work 2. Locate and evaluate evidence for the natural sciences. 3 Read strategically in the natural sciences 4. Write in the natural sciences.

OUTCOME 1: EXPLAINING HOW THE NATURAL SCIENCES WORK The scientific method can be traced back to Francis Bacon in the seventeenth century. Bacon emphasized making careful, systematic observations about the world. Then, these observations could be used to create generalizations. Bacon claimed that scientists could verify their generalizations by gathering more data, and the verified ideas would become axioms. Bacon also believed that certain types of “facts,” such as direct observations or data from experiments, were most useful. In other words, for Bacon, the best kind of evidence was empirical data rather than abstract reasoning. The natural sciences continue to value empirical evidence—“facts” derived from sense experience, observation, computational modeling or experimentation—as the highest form of knowledge. Researchers design studies to determine whether the studiesʼ findings support a hypothesis (or not). If a hypothesis is supported, other scientists conduct more research to confirm, modify, or refute it. A. er enough evidence has been collected, a hypothesis may eventually become part of a theory—or an explanation for natural phenomena that is widely accepted among scientists. (Of course, any theory can still be challenged, refuted, or modified as more evidence emerges through additional research).

How Is Knowledge Produced in the Natural Sciences?

Researchers in the natural sciences gather information through four main methods. The same general topic can be studied using many different methods, depending on the discipline, skills, and research questions scientists ask. Here we will take the example of wolf research to show this range of methods, which include: Observation: Traditionally, scientists perceive the world by sight, sound, and touch. Observational methods are o en supplemented by scientific tools, which measure and record findings. For example, researchers from Utah State University used GPS radio-collars to track how wolf packs affect the movement patterns of elk across Yellowstone National Park. Experimentation: Rather than simply observing nature, these methods manipulate variables in a scenario in order to isolate or discover properties of the world. For example, researchers in Vienna, Austria, conducted an experiment to determine whether wolves or dogs were more likely to choose—using a touchscreen—to give food to other animals. Modeling and Theorizing: Scientists create models or theories of phenomenon that cannot be directly observed. For instance, researchers in Spain developed a mathematical model to predict whether wolf pups were present in a pack, based on an analysis of the acoustics of their howls. Computation: In the twentieth century, scientists began using new computer technologies to test their hypotheses. For example, researchers in Finland used a computational model to estimate the population of large carnivores, including wolves, based on factors such as human sightings of the animals, information about the terrain, and information about the animalʼs behavior (such as movement patterns, pack size, etc.).

EXERCISE 1-1A: NATURAL SCIENCE METHODS

Who Produces Knowledge in the Natural Sciences? There are four major fields within the natural sciences: biology, chemistry, physics, and the earth sciences. Each of these fields can be subdivided into smaller fields and specialties. Keep in mind, though, that the natural science fields are o en not as discrete as the chart below implies. Many fields (such as biochemistry, paleontology, geochemistry, and chemical physics) are interdisciplinary, meaning they integrate knowledge and methods from different disciplines.

Figure 1-1.1. Academic Disciplines in the Natural Sciences

Researchers in each discipline have specific methods that they use. While most of these disciplines may use some combination of observation, experimentation, theorizing, and computation, they have unique techniques to do so. For example, particle physicists might conduct experiments using a particle accelerator such as a Large Hadron Collider. Researchers in microbiology might use DNA sequencing techniques in their experimental studies. In their writing, scientists typically provide detailed explanations of the methods they use, and they assess othersʼ writing based on how precise and effective they judge those methods to be.

EXERCISE 1-1B: NATURAL SCIENCE FIELDS

What Do Natural Scientists Value? Scientific research methods all value credible data, or information, o en (but not always) in the form of numbers. When scientists read research produced by others, they o en focus on the results first—the data described in an article or showed in visualizations such as graphs, charts, or diagrams. They may also consider the scientific methods used and consider how appropriate and effective those methods may be. When a problem—such as accusations of scientific fraud—emerges, it typically happens because others have noticed problems with the data or methods

used. That means that scientific writing usually focuses on how data was gathered, what specific results were obtained from a study, and what the data means for researchers in the field or for a current issue, such as climate change or habitat loss. Scientists also value research integrity. Because scientific claims are based on the continual amassing of evidence; false evidence is a threat to the basic character of the scientific process. The falsification of data on any level is a violation of the trust scientists place in each other to conduct their research carefully, accurately, and honestly. Also, because the body of scientific knowledge grows with each new study, scientists value up-to-date information. If a study relies on outdated information, the findings may not be credible or consequential. And since no individual scientist can collect all the evidence about a topic, the scientific community must work together to expand our knowledge about the universe. Although scientists may keep their work private during a study, they move quickly to disseminate findings once they have results. In addition to dissemination of new knowledge, scientists value citation as the practice of giving credit where credit is due. For more information about citing research, see Part 2, Chapter 3.

EXERCISE 1-1C: NATURAL SCIENCE VALUES

How Is Knowledge Circulated in the Natural Sciences? The process of conducting research involves multiple types of writing as shown in Figure 1-1.2. For example, in the early phases of a study, scientists write to brainstorm, connect with collaborators, and apply for grants. They also write literature reviews to assess what research has already been done on a topic. These literature reviews may be published as standalone documents in scientific journals or incorporated into the introductory material for a grant proposal or research article. During the data collection phase, scientists write other kinds of documents, such as lab or field notes and project updates. A er a study, scientists circulate new information by publishing their findings in journal articles, presenting conference papers, or delivering a poster presentation—all genres intended for other scientists. Scientists may also write commentaries, policy reports, or other documents that circulate information to wider audiences. Any new contribution to the body of scientific knowledge can become the basis for future research.

Figure 1-1.2. Scientific Publication Cycle

Below youʼll find some of the most common ways that scientists circulate the new information they have found through their studies. Additionally, youʼll see some genres that scientists use to begin new research projects. GENRE

AUDIENCE

ROLE

PURPOSE

RHETORICAL SITUATION

JOURNAL

Readers of JYI

Undergraduate

Argue for

You have

ARTICLE

and

researcher in

significance

completed a study

undergraduate

nutrition

of research

of the role of B

researchers in

findings and

vitamins in stroke

science

explain why

recovery for your

B vitamins

undergraduate

can be

thesis and want to

useful in

publish the results

stroke

in the Journal of

recovery

Young Investigators JYI .

CONFERENCE

SSSA

Undergraduate

Argue for

You are presenting

PAPER

Conference

researcher in

significance

your research

attendees

biology

of research

findings on

findings

Agrobacterium tumefaciens and plant DNA at the Social Science Society of America conference (SSSA).

CONFERENCE

CUR attendees

POSTER

Undergraduate

Demonstrate

You are displaying

student

significance

a poster that

researcher in

of research

shares results from

chemistry

findings

your independent study on solar energy conservation at UNC’s Celebration of Undergraduate Research (CUR).

LITERATURE

Other

Undergraduate

Evaluate

You read all of the

REVIEW

scientists with

student

existing

recent research

an interest in

researcher in a

research

about

the topic (not

medical

and/or argue

neurodegenerative

necessarily

research lab

for a specific

disorders and

approach

precision

experts)

medicine, and you want to argue for a specific direction for future research. You publish your results in the Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal.

GRANT

SURF selection

Undergraduate

Persuade

You want to apply

PROPOSAL

committee

researcher in

granting

for a Summer

members

plant biology

agency to

Undergraduate

give money

Research

to fund new

Fellowship (SURF)

research

grant to study lichen in Costa Rica.

POLICY

Carolina

Intern with the

Present

You are an intern

REPORT

Housing

Three Zeros

research and

with the Three

Department

Environmental

argue for a

Zeros

staff

Initiative at

course of

Environmental

UNC

action

Initiative at UNC and are tasked with reporting on the use of renewable energy in UNC campus housing and advising the Carolina Housing Department about improvements and recommendations that can be made.

CAROLINA

Carolina

Undergraduate

Inform UNC

You write an

SCIENTIFIC

Scientific

science writer

community

article that

ARTICLE

Magazine

members

highlights cutting-

readers

about new

edge research at

research in

UNC and

UNC science

translates the

programs

research methods and results of a recent study.

EXERCISE 1-1D: NATURAL SCIENCE GENRE

OUTCOME 2: LOCATING AND EVALUATING EVIDENCE IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES Researchers in the natural sciences primarily value evidence from scholarly (also called peer-reviewed) journal articles. However, there are many types of natural science writing that can be useful for you as a student writer. In your research, you will generally encounter three primary types of sources: Scholarly Sources: Articles written by scientists, clinicians, or researchers that are published in peer-reviewed journals and intended for professional audiences. These include traditional peer-reviewed journal articles (sometimes called “experimental” articles), literature reviews (compilations of recent peer-reviewed journal articles about a certain topic), and comment pieces (brief opinion pieces that are published in response to other peerreviewed journal articles). For more information, see Scienceʼs description of the four different types of articles that it publishes. Popular Sources: Blog posts, websites, social media posts, and other emergent digital sources written by science writers/journalists and intended for popular audiences. One example of a popular source is “Even Viruses Can Get Infected With Other Viruses,” which is a news story (written by science journalist Sarah Yang and published in The Atlantic) that

discusses three new algae-related viruses found in Ontario, Canada. As you evaluate popular sources, you might draw on Health News Reviewʼs criteria to help you determine if they are well-written. Hybrid Sources: Sources written by professional or academic organizations that are intended for popular audiences. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

page about flu vaccines is created and maintained by the CDC, a government organization, to educate the American public about the risks and benefits of flu vaccines. You can find some of these types of sources in the databases listed below, all of which are available through the UNC Libraries:

TYPE OF

DATABASE

RESEARCH

NAME SCOPUS

USEFUL FOR

Research articles, literature reviews, and commentary across multiple scientific fields.

ONE-STOP SHOPS

Web of

Research articles, literature reviews, and commentary

Knowledge

across multiple scientific fields You can also use indexing

Complete

tools to determine how o en an article or a particular researcher has been cited, with links to those citations

OVERVIEWS,

Access

Overviews of scientific topics. Read articles to get a

NEWS, AND

Science

summary of a topic, and then use the works cited to find

SUMMARIES

further research. Today’s

Overviews of current research in different fields Use the

Science

topic index to browse ideas for your own research topic

Science

News about recent research studies. O en provides

Daily

overviews of studies reported in journal articles that can help you interpret the original journal article it cites. This is also a great way to narrow down topic ideas by identifying areas of current research interest in a field.

CQ

Policy-oriented overviews of science and health topics.

Researcher

Use the works cited as a starting point for your own research.

REFERENCE

Science in

Descriptions of basic science concepts and processes,

Context

such as “cell division” or “kinetic energy.”

CDC

Federal guidelines, general information about diseases.

TOOLS

For more information about identifying scholarly and popular sources, see Part 2, Chapter 3.

If you have a few keywords in mind, you can focus your library search by using discipline-specific databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Most databases allow you to limit your search to a specific range of years, culling the most recent publications. If you have already found a helpful source, mine the references list for more sources of interest. Also, pay attention to what journals publish on the topic; you can search within a particularly salient journal or even skim the titles of their recently published articles to find new sources. You should see what keywords they identify and use those keywords for additional searching.

For more natural sciences research resources, check out the UNC Libraryʼs Science Resources 101 Research Guide.

EXERCISE 1-1E: EVIDENCE IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES

OUTCOME 3: READING STRATEGICALLY IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES There are several reading strategies you might employ as you work with natural science materials. You may: Read a text for content. Critically evaluate the text. Assess the conventions of a genre. This section will discuss these strategies and guide you in reading strategically.

Reading for Scientific Content Scientific literature is o en highly technical, and it can be difficult to read. To be an efficient and effective reader, keep the following suggestions in mind: First, donʼt skip the abstract! Scientific abstracts offer a concise overview of the text. They usually provide information about the topic and scope of the study, the methods used, the key results, and the implications of that study. If the abstract seems relevant to your project, you can download or print the article to read more carefully later. Keep in mind that sometimes an article may not be directly relevant to your project, but it can still be useful. For instance, if you are searching for evidence about lichen in Costa Rica,

you might come across an article about lichen in Honduras. This article could, for example, tell you something about ways researchers collect, analyze, and categorize types of lichen, even if not in Costa Rica specifically. Second, before you read, look over the structure of the article to determine what elements will be most important for you. Scientific literature tends to be highly structured, and most peer-reviewed experimental journal articles follow the IMRAD structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The Introduction section can be useful for getting an overview of existing research on a topic, since researchers o en cite other studies to show how the current study extends research in the field. It should also provide a general sense of how the study was conducted and what hypothesis the researchers used. The Methods section is useful for explaining how the researchers gathered data for their study. While these sections are sometimes highly technical, you should be able to get a sense of the type of study involved (such as an experiment versus an observation study), the tools and approach used, and if relevant, the population studied (whether of plants, animals, or people) and their characteristics. The Results section provides the study data in detail, o en using charts and tables to provide visualizations of the data. This section can be highly technical, but researchers o en summarize the findings

more generally in the abstract and the Discussion. You can read those first and then go back to the Results if you need more specifics. Finally, the Discussion section describes the implications of the study for the scientific community and sometimes considers the studyʼs broader relevance, such as its applications for human health or for environmental policy. The Discussion section also identifies some of the studyʼs limitations, which you can use to help you read more critically. O en, the Discussion section is easier to understand than the Methods or Results and provides a summary of the main takeaways for the research, so reading it first can help you better interpret the article as a whole. To get a better idea of how scientific articles work, examine the sample article below.  

 

EXERCISE 1-1F: READING FOR SCIENTIFIC CONTENT

Reading Science Critically

Scientists do not blindly accept conclusions. They evaluate texts by critically engaging with the numerical data or statistics, visualizations of data, and the logic of the argument.

Statistics Science writer Lewis Cope explains, “Being a good science writer doesnʼt require heavy-li ing math. It does require some healthy skepticism, and the ability to ask good questions about various things that can affect research studies and other claims” (19). He then provides a list of questions you should consider when dealing with statistical evidence: 1. Has a study been done, or is a claim being made on the basis of only limited observations? If a study was done, how was it designed and conducted? 2. What are the numbers? Was the study large enough (did it have enough patients or experiments or whatever) to lead to believable conclusions? Are the results statistically significant? That phrase simply means that, based on scientific standards, the statistical results are unlikely to be due to chance alone. 3. Are there other possible explanations for the studyʼs conclusions? 4. Could any form of bias have affected the studyʼs conclusions, unintentional or otherwise? 5. Have the findings been checked by other experts? And how do the findings fit with other research knowledge and beliefs?

You can use these questions to help you evaluate whether a studyʼs statistics are sound (Cope 19).

EXERCISE 1-1G: READING SCIENCE CRITICALLY

Visualizations Visualizations are an important element of science writing. Scientists use visualizations, such as charts, graphs, and figures, to illustrate their data or claims. When you are reading, you should pay attention to how these visuals are incorporated into the text and how they interpret the results of the study. Evaluate the visualizations by asking yourself the following questions: 1. What is the visual depicting? How is the visual labeled? What colors are used? How does the use of text and color influence your perception of the data? 2. Does the author highlight or emphasize certain aspects of the data? How? 3. How is the visual organized? What units are used to measure the data? How do these measurements influence the aggregation of the data? Has the data been cropped or filtered? 4. Does the visual include a key? Is the visual easy to read? Does the author provide a textual interpretation of the visual?

5. Who produced the data? Did it come from a reputable source, such as a university or governmental agency? What do you imagine was the intent behind the study? For example, the graph in Figure 1 1.3 is three dimensional, but only

two dimensions are being considered in the data: number of students enrolled and year. The third dimension is unnecessary and potentially misleading. The use of three different shades of grey is also unnecessary and again, could confuse viewers. While the data come from a reputable source, the United States Department of Education, they are presented in a way that detracts from the findings. The three dimensional effect makes it harder to see that public school enrollments were higher in 2005 than 1970, which is the general trend depicted in the data.

Figure 1-1.3. Sample data visualization (NCES)

EXERCISE 1-1H: VISUALIZATIONS

Logic As mentioned earlier, scientists make claims by using reason. For example, inductive reasoning uses specific observations to make broader generalizations. The quality of an inductive claim depends on the evidence used. However, there is always some uncertainty. Because these generalizations cannot be absolutely guaranteed, scientists tend to use cautious, or hedging, language. For example the following passage uses hedges (here, shown in bold) that modify the level of certainty in the second sentence: “What we have seen is the ability of these cells to feed the blood vessels of tumors and to heal the blood vessels surrounding wounds. The findings suggest that these adult stem cells may be an ideal source of cells for clinical therapy. For example, we can envision the use of these stem cells for therapies against cancer tumors […]” (University of Minnesota).

Consider how different the second sentence would sound if the authors had written “The findings show that these adult cells are an ideal source of cells for clinical therapy.” In the process of scientific

discovery, inductive reasoning is useful for generating hypotheses and formulating theories. Deductive reasoning moves in the opposite direction: from a general claim to a specific occurrence. While inductive reasoning involves uncertainty, deductive claims are certain provided that the premises are true. In chemistry, for example, it is known that noble gases are stable. Also, we know that neon is a noble gas. Therefore, scientists can logically conclude that neon is stable. As you gain more knowledge in a scientific field, you will be better able to evaluate scientific claims. However, you can start developing this critical skill by paying attention to how scientists reason and make claims.

Reading with Genre Awareness In your future coursework or in other writing situations, you may want to look for models. For example, if you were preparing to write a grant proposal, you could locate several examples of the genre. First, you should read each version carefully, paying attention to how each example is formatted and organized. Also, you should make observations about the content, argument, and style of the text. A er you have read a few examples, you can compare them. Grant proposals will share certain similarities by virtue of the conventions of the genre. However, some aspects of the text might be prescribed

by the grant-offering institution. In your comparison, note how the proposals differ and reflect on what strategy will be most effective in your rhetorical situation. You can also develop genre awareness for other kinds of compositions, such as a lab presentation, conference poster, or educational video. For these situations, you will want to pay special attention to the use of visuals, vocal techniques, and body language in addition to the organization of content.

EXERCISE 1-1I: GENRE AWARENESS

OUTCOME 4: WRITING IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES As youʼve seen, writing is an important aspect of research in the natural sciences. While you are an undergraduate at UNC, you may need to write lab reports or submit a grant proposal to request funding for your summer research project. This section will focus on two key conventions in science writing—the use of sections and passive (versus active) voice—to help you become a more effective science writer.

Use of Sections As noted in the “Reading for Scientific Content” section above, scientists o en use formalized schemes to organize their writing. One primary reason for the use of headings is to make information easily accessible. However, different genres tend to organize information in different ways. Review articles or popular science journalism may also use sections. However, these texts are o en organized thematically. For example, an article about an environmental issue may introduce the topic, explain the problem, and then discuss a potential solution. Or a source may make a call to action. As you look at genre models, consider how organization connects with purpose and audience. Look

at a few examples of different scientific genres and compare their organizational schemes. What does each structure emphasize to readers? What does it downplay? How does the organization contribute to the purpose of each genre? How might you characterize each organization strategy?

Active versus Passive Voice Students o en struggle with the distinction between active and passive voice. Since there is not an ironclad rule about which to use in what circumstances, you should become aware of when and why you might choose active or passive voice. Some introductory sciences courses, for example, ask students to use passive voice in lab reports and other written work. In short, in active voice, the subject acts; in passive voice, the subject is acted upon. For example: Active: We conducted an experiment over the course of four days. Passive: The experiment was conducted over the course of four days.

Active voice is associated with strong, clear sentences, while passive voice can create ambiguity. Also, active voice tends to be more concise than passive voice, and concision can be key if you are trying

to stay under a word or page limit. Most scientific style guidelines now allow researchers to write using the active voice (typically “we,” since most scientific papers have more than one author). In passive voice, sometimes verbs are turned into nouns, which are called nominalizations (e.g. evaluation, decision, and argument). Nominalized forms o en end in “-ion/-tion,” “-ment,” “-ity/-ty,” or “ness.” For example: Active: The authors concluded that colored stimuli positively affected memory retention. Passive: The conclusion that colored stimuli had a positive effect on memory retention was made by the authors.

Nominalizations frequently represent stabilized concepts or theories, such as diffraction, precipitation, electricity, or (as in the case above), conclusion and retention. It is hard to avoid using these types of nominalizations when writing about science, but you can try to limit other kinds of nominalizations when appropriate. Also, passive voice is sometimes accompanied by a secondary problem: dangling modifiers. A modifier describes, clarifies, or gives more detail about a concept. However, when the concept being modified is missing, it is considered a dangling modifier. Consider the following example: Original: Based on the results, plant growth was positively influenced by the fertilizer.

The first clause, “based on the results,” implies that the subject is a conclusion; however, the subject of the sentence is “plant growth.” Revision #1: The results indicate that plant growth was positively influenced by the fertilizer. This revision eliminates the dangling modifier and retains passive voice. Revision #2: Based on the results, we conclude that plant growth was positively influenced by the fertilizer. This revision retains the introductory modifier and eliminates passive voice.

Despite its limitations, passive voice is o en perceived as more objective and scientific. Passive voice can be useful when you want to emphasize the research and not the researcher. Also, passive voice is sometimes used as a hedging technique to qualify or avoid overstating the application of a claim. If you decide to use passive voice, make sure that the sentence is still coherent.

Learn more about the passive voice in this video from the UNC Writing Center.

EXERCISE 1 1J: ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE VOICE

RESOURCES FOR WRITING IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES McMillan, Victoria E. Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences. Macmillan, 2011. Penrose, Ann M., and Steven B. Katz. Writing in the Sciences: Exploring Conventions of Scientific Discourse New York Longman, 2010

1-2

WRITING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Broadly speaking, the social sciences seek to answer questions about humans, their identities, and their social systems. When studying the behaviors of individuals, groups, political systems, or cultures, social scientists ask the following questions: What is it? How does it develop and change?

How does it function and interact? The need to understand systems is what guides social scientistsʼ development of methods and theories in the inquiry process. Their decisions about the best methods to use, in turn, affect how they write about their findings.

Key Terms Qualitative Methodology: Captures detail and complexity by researching people or groups over long periods of time in order to understand subjectsʼ specific motivations, belief structures, behaviors, and actions. Quantitative Methodology: Collects numerical data from a sample in order to use statistics to interpret subjectsʼ general motivations, belief structures, behaviors, and actions. Ethnography: Offers a detailed study of a culture, usually based on prolonged participant-based observation. Open ended Questions: Provide respondents with the option of answering with descriptive answers about their thoughts and feelings. Closed-ended Questions: Limit respondentsʼ choices to set a number of possible answers.

OUTCOMES

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Explain how the social sciences work. 2. Locate and evaluate evidence in the social sciences. 3. Read strategically in the social sciences. 4. Write in the social sciences.

OUTCOME 1: EXPLAINING HOW THE SOCIAL SCIENCES WORK How Is Knowledge Produced in the Social Sciences? The social sciences are largely divided by two different methodological approaches. While all social scientists share a similar interest in understanding the relationships among people, behaviors, and social systems, the way they choose to study this relationship may be primarily qualitative or primarily quantitative. Qualitative research refers to methods that lead to descriptive results, such as observation notes from an ethnographic study in a community. Quantitative research refers to methods that yield numerical results, such as statistics drawn from surveys. Methods are the steps a scholar uses to study a specific research subject. For example, imagine you were interested in studying how UNC students, as young adults, form their opinions on the criminal justice system. While there are many different ways that you could go about studying this interesting and important topic, you are faced with an important choice. You must decide to: A. study a small number of people in great detail; or B. study as many people as possible, but with much less detail.

Your answer to this central question about the best methods to study your research topic will determine: How you collect your data. How you analyze your data. How you communicate and write about your results. Researchers in the social sciences gather information through six main methods: Observation: Researchers in the social sciences may use field research or ethnographic observations to learn more about a particular community or culture. This entails spending time living with people, observing daily life, talking with informants, etc. Researchers write detailed field notes that they later analyze, using those notes to generate theories about the community they observed. Surveys: Social science researchers may develop surveys to determine what large groups of people think and know about an issue. They then analyze the survey information, which could include both quantitative data (such as responses to questions based on a Likert scale) and qualitative data (such as responses to an open-ended question). Focus Groups: Social science researchers may use focus groups to determine what a smaller group thinks about a topic. In a focus group, the researcher prompts participants to discuss a topic and takes notes on their opinions and ideas. Interviews: To get a deeper understanding of what a select set of people think about an issue, researchers might conduct

interviews. In an interview, respondents can provide more detailed information than they could in a survey, and researchers can get a better sense of peopleʼs motivations, thoughts, and feelings. Researchers might analyze interview responses to identify a set of themes that appear across interviews. Theorizing: Researchers may draw on any set of methods to develop new theories in their discipline. Or, they may primarily work with other theories to extend, critique, or challenge them. Data and Statistical Analysis: Some social science researchers work with existing large data sets, such as census data, to ask new questions. They use statistical analysis so ware tools to help them analyze data to provide new information.

EXERCISE 1-2A: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES

Who Produces Knowledge in the Social Sciences? As shown in Figure 1-2.1, UNC has departments and centers in which

researchers study many different facets of human life and cultures.

Figure 1-2.1. Social sciences departments and centers at UNC-Chapel Hill

Generally, the following disciplines in the social sciences use qualitative approaches: Anthropology History Sociology Political Science Generally, the following disciplines in the social sciences use quantitative approaches: Geography Economics Sociology Political Science

Researchers may also employ mixed-methods research, meaning that they draw from a range of techniques, including qualitative and quantitative, to generate evidence.

What Do Social Scientists Value? Qualitative Methods Social scientists who use these methods value detail and complexity. They believe that in order to truly understand the relationship among people, behaviors, and social systems, researchers must spend a significant amount of time with a smaller number of people so that they can really understand their subjectsʼ motivations, belief structures, behaviors, and actions. Qualitative researchers do not typically deal with numbers. Instead the data they collect are descriptions and detailed responses from research subjects. To capture this data, they o en use observations, diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires, and unstructured interviews. A common qualitative method used in the field of anthropology is called ethnography. An ethnography aims to study culture by examining “the relationships, rituals, values, and habits that make people understand themselves as members of a group” (Kahn 176). The way in which anthropologists study these rituals and habits is by living with a culture for an extended period of time. While living in

this new culture, they take extensive notes of all the interesting things they observe. These notes are called observational field notes. When taking field notes, ethnographers are careful to write down everything that could inform how people create meaning. Therefore, they might begin by noting what at first seems like mundane facts: the physical surroundings (color schemes, sounds, layout, objects) and then move to describing the characteristics of people and their activities. For ethnographers, all of these detailed notes are their primary data. In order to analyze this data, they reflect and write critically about how these behaviors and actions create meaning for the culture. In the above example of studying UNC studentsʼ political opinions on the criminal justice system, a qualitative social scientist might also use ethnography. This social scientist would live in the residence halls with a group of students, attend their classes, hang out with them in the evening, go to campus organization meetings, and interview them multiple times using open-ended questions. Such an approach would give the social scientist a solid understanding of what makes this specific group think and act. The social scientist then uses this deep understanding of the group to generalize about others in similar social positions. However, one limitation of this approach is that the social scientist has only collected data from a small group of students. Other social scientists thus choose to use quantitative approaches, which can help with investigating a larger group of subjects.

Quantitative Methods Social scientists who use quantitative methods value numerical data that they collect from larger samples. They believe that in order to truly understand the relationship among people, behaviors, and social systems, researchers must investigate a large number of people and must use statistics to analyze the results. They see this approach as more objective than qualitative approaches, which again rely on a single researcher making interpretations of peopleʼs behaviors. Quantitative researchers always convert their data into numeric form. To capture this data, they o en use experiments, questionnaires, and surveys that are closed-ended, meaning that the questions have a very specific set of answers. Quantitative researchers might also work with existing datasets, such as census information. In the example, again, of studying UNC studentsʼ political opinions on the criminal justice system, one method a quantitative social scientist might pursue is to send a survey to the entire UNC student body. In this survey, there might be 20 questions about the studentʼs opinions on the criminal justice system. Students would be given a limited number of possible answers to each question (i.e., A, B, C, or D). The social scientist would then use a computer so ware program to analyze the data and run specific statistical inquiries. Such an approach would give the social scientist clearer understanding of the opinions of a large group of UNC students. Of course, this approach also has the limitation of not always being able to represent the

thought processes or other complexities that led students to make their choices.

How Is Knowledge Circulated in the Social Sciences? Social scientists write in a number of scholarly and popular genres. However, no matter the genre, social scientists will always discuss their methods in order to help convince readers of the dataʼs validity. Researchers want readers to believe that the data is legitimate, because the researchers will use this data as evidence to support their argument. Additionally, they will always address other social scientistsʼ work and theories to demonstrate knowledge of the field and contributions to a larger and important conversation in the field. The genre that social scientists write in is determined by the audience they are trying to convince. For example, if theyʼre writing to: Other social science scholars, possible genres would include Journal articles Conferences papers and presentations Books Academic blogs Potential funders, possible genres would include

Grant applications Policy reports Popular audiences, possible genres would include Newspaper articles Blogs Below youʼll find examples of genres commonly used by writers working within the social sciences. GENRE

AUDIENCE

ROLE

PURPOSE

RHETORICAL SITUATION

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Other student

Psychology

Argue for

You have

researchers;

student

significance

completed a

undergraduate

researcher

of research

study about

findings

anxiety among

researchers in science

first-year college students and you want to publish your findings in the Yale Review of Undergraduate Research in Psychology.

CONFERENCE PAPER

Researchers,

Anthropology

Argue for

You are

students, and

student

significance

presenting

faculty

researcher

of research

your research

findings

findings on

attending the

rural

SEUSS

community members’ attitudes about wind energy at the Southeastern Undergraduate Sociology Symposium (SEUSS).

CONFERENCE POSTER

Researchers,

Public policy

Argue for

You are

students, and

student

significance

presenting

faculty

researcher

of research

your research

findings

findings on the

attending the SEUSS

effects of student housing on gentrification in Chapel Hill at UNC’s Celebration of Undergraduate Research (CUR).

SURVEY OR FOCUS GROUP REPORT

Campus

Intern at CAPS

Synthesize

You are

mental health

and

interning in the

policy makers

interpret

office of

results of a

Counseling

survey or

and

focus group

Psychological Services (CAPS) at UNC, and you’ve

been hired to assess students’ experiences with accessing services. LITERATURE REVIEW

Other

Undergraduate

Evaluate

You want to

sociology

researcher in

existing

review existing

researchers

sociology

research

research on

with an

and/or

multiracial

interest in the

argue for a

student

topic

specific

identity and

approach

institutional

for future

support at

research

universities and publish it in UNC’s JOURney undergraduate research journal.

GRANT PROPOSAL

Committee

Undergraduate

Persuade

You want a

members

researcher in

granting

Summer

evaluating

geography

agency to

Undergraduate

SURF

give money

Research

proposals

to fund

Fellowship

new

(SURF) grant to

research

support field research in the Galapagos Islands to study the spread of invasive

species and its effects on local farmers. POLICY BRIEF

Legislators

Education

Argue for a

You write a

and policy

researcher

course of

policy report

action

that provides

makers

researchbased evidence in favor of (or against) implementing virtual pre-K programs in North Carolina.

EXERCISE 1-2B: ETHNOGRAPHIC WRITING

OUTCOME 2: LOCATING AND EVALUATING EVIDENCE IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES In their writing, social scientists use evidence generated through quantitative and qualitative methods (as described in Outcome 1), but they also draw on existing research published in academic journals. They use this existing research to establish the framework for their study, justify the methods used, and interpret the results in light of field-specific theories and concepts. As a student, you may be given assignments that ask you to do your own original research (such as conducting a survey or interpreting an existing data set). Alternatively, you may be asked to draw primarily on existing research that you synthesize and evaluate (as in a literature review or policy report). For primary research, such as interviews, surveys, or ethnographies, you should consider the following questions: What is my research question? What method would best help me to answer that question? Who are the people I want to study? How can I reach those people and inform them about my study?

What are the ethics involved in my study? How can I inform participants about potential ethical concerns? (For surveys or interviews): What questions do I want to ask? How can I word these questions effectively so that I do not bias the participantsʼ responses? What types of questions will yield the results I am looking for? (For instance, open ended questions versus close-ended questions).

EXERCISE 1-2C: SOURCES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Secondary research can help you to describe the results of your research in relation to existing research in a field. You can find many secondary sources in the databases and tools listed below, many of which are available through the UNC Libraries.

TYPE OF

DATABASE

USEFUL FOR

RESEARCH

NAME

DISCIPLINARY

Sociological

Research articles, literature reviews, and reports in

DATABASES

Ab stracts

sociology and related fields.

America,

Research articles, literature reviews, and commentary

History and

focusing on American history

Life Anthropology

Research in ethnology, archaeology, folklore and

Plus

material culture.

OVERVIEWS,

Contexts

Articles, essays, and book reviews for general readers

NEWS, AND

interested in sociology. This is a good place to locate

SUMMARIES

topics or accessible overviews of a recent book or article.

Sapiens

Articles, essays, and book reviews for general readers interested in anthropology. This is a good place to locate topics or accessible overviews of a recent book or article.

Issues and

Finding overviews of policy issues, which you can mine

Controversies

for further sources. The lists of topics are also useful

on File

for helping you find a topic for a project such as a policy brief.

CQ

Policy-oriented overviews of science and health

Researcher

topics. Use the works cited as a starting point for your own research.

REFERENCE

United States

Comprehensive data, with tools and apps you can use

TOOLS AND

Census

to explore information.

DATA

Bureau Statistical

A good source for statistics related to a variety of

Abstract of

topics (focuses on the United States).

the United States

At UNC, you can get help with social sciences research methods at the Odum Institute. They can assist with topics including setting up an online survey using Qualtrics so. ware, developing effective interview questions, or interpreting the results of your research.

EXERCISE 1 2D: WRITING ABOUT QUANTITATIVE DATA

OUTCOME 3: READING STRATEGICALLY IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Because social scientists value methods and data, much social sciences writing is based on informing readers about the methods the researcher(s) used to acquire the data, the legitimacy of their evaluation of the data, and the larger significance of the data for understanding human behavior and/or society. As a reader of social sciences texts, it is important to pay careful attention to the methods and data that authors use to make their arguments. Regardless of genre, a critical reader of social sciences texts asks questions about the legitimacy of methods and data. For example, these are the types of questions that you should keep in mind when reading any social sciences texts: Genre What genre is this? Who is the intended audience? How is it organized? Methods What evidence does the author use to support the argument? Does the author use qualitative or quantitative methods? Why did the researcher decide to use those specific methods?

Was the researcher relying on existing scholarly sources when choosing those methods? Did the researcher pay attention to sample size and representation when choosing research subjects? Argument What other rhetorical conventions is the author using to convince readers? What other sources does the author cite? How do these additional sources support the authorʼs argument? Results How did the researcher analyze the results? How did the researcher present the results? Did the researcher draw on other scholarly work to discuss the significance of the data? Is that other scholarly work relevant? (i.e., related by topic or method, not outdated) Most scholarly social sciences genres will include a general introduction, a review of literature, description of methods used to acquire data, an explanation of the results of the data, a discussion of the significance of the data, and a conclusion discussing the larger implications of the findings for the field or policy in which it originated. To get a better idea of how social sciences articles work, examine the annotated sample article below.

 

 

OUTCOME 4: WRITING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Social scientists value evidence-based arguments, although they sometimes disagree about how best to acquire that evidence and about what exactly counts as data. Regardless of their approaches, though, they always carefully write about their methods and data so that readers can understand how it was acquired and analyzed. In your own social sciences projects, you will gather evidence, analyze the data, and write about the dataʼs significance using a qualitative and/or quantitative approach. As discussed above, quantitative social scientists value numerical data. However, writing about large amounts of data in a simple and easy to understand manner can be difficult. As a result, quantitative social scientists o. en rely on creating data visualizations to demonstrate the significance of their data (much like the natural scientists do, as described in Part 1, Chapter 1).

You likely have seen such data visualizations when political commentators try to make sense of the results from a presidential election. They o en show a map of the United States and color states blue or red with the number of electoral college votes each candidate is predicted to have won. Such a visualization makes it much easier to see the results from each state simultaneously. However, these maps can also confuse area for population size it is not clear from the

map, for instance, that some “red states” are less densely populated than many “blue states.” Researchers should be careful to avoid this kind of confusion by selecting visualizations and variables carefully. When using these data visualizations in their writing, quantitative social scientists go to great lengths to explain to their readers how to interpret the data in the visualizations. Therefore, the data visualizations and the writing work together to create the argument. In order to understand how the data visualization and writing work together, imagine the following: You are a quantitative social scientist working at a nonprofit that focuses on improving access to higher education. You have just completed a six-month study analyzing how college students pay for their education. Your nonprofit wants to use this data to advocate for more affordable options in paying for higher education, so you are in the process of writing a policy recommendation to give to federal government officials. To illustrate your key points, you create data visualizations that make recommendations about how the federal government should change their policies. Figure 1-2.2 shows a sample data visualization for this

project.

Figure 1-2.2. Sample data visualization (“Student Financing,” vii).

Researchers who use qualitative methods also take great care in presenting their data, which could be quotations from interviews or open-ended surveys or—for ethnographic observations—descriptive details, bits of conversation, or anecdotes. Writers carefully introduce and usually interpret these types of evidence, similarly to how they incorporate quantitative data, by helping to draw out the implications or significance of the evidence. When dealing with large amounts of quantitative data, such as openended survey responses, researchers o en use specific methods with which to analyze the responses. For instance, they may use qualitative coding, which involves reading through a set of responses, developing

a code list of themes they see repeating, and then coding the individual responses based on the list. The researchers may then pull out some representative quotes for each theme to use in an article or report. (See the annotated sample article in Outcome 3 for an example of how researchers use this type of coding).

EXERCISE 1-2E: WRITING ABOUT QUALITATIVE DATA

1-3

WRITING IN THE HUMANITIES

The arts and humanities are an exciting field of study: the humanities bring imagination, inclusivity, beauty, and depth to human interactions, whether those interactions be personal or global. In this chapter, you will explore how scholars in the humanities frame their research, compile evidence, and reach out to audiences as they tackle some of the “big questions” about the human experience.

Key Terms Original Interpretation: Humanities writing o. en seeks to offer fresh interpretations of a primary text or a fresh solution to a problem. Engagement: The ability to see connections between the past and the present, or between a specific example and a larger issue, shows that readers are engaged with their subjects. Skepticism: Skeptical readers weigh evidence carefully and thoughtfully to recognize complexity and to consider more than one side of every question. Close Reading: When you read beyond the obvious message to consider how factors such as form, word choice, and tone affect meaning, you are engaging in a close reading of the text. Criticism: When writers offer an interpretation of a work, they add their ideas to the body of criticism on that work and its central concepts. Theory: Critical interpretations in the humanities o en follow specific interpretive models.

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Explain how the humanities work. 2. Locate and evaluate evidence in the humanities. 3. Read strategically in the humanities. 4. Write in the humanities.

OUTCOME 1: EXPLAINING HOW THE HUMANITIES WORK The humanities focus on what we have in common, despite differences in language, culture, geography, politics, or history. They thrive by encouraging people to see patterns and connections and to express these connections in scholarship, in dialogue, and in creative work—art, music, poetry, fiction, drama. As a way of understanding the differences in the way the sciences and the humanities work, consider the following example regarding wolves. To understand how much territory a wolf needs to flourish in the wild, a wildlife biologist might track a wolfʼs movements with GPS so ware and from there develop a map charting these movements. The biologist could say definitively that a wolf hunts in territory of X square miles. A humanities scholar might focus on the intersection of wolves and humans by asking why wolves figure so prominently in European fairy tales. Does their prominence in these stories signal that humans and wolves share similar characteristics? Does the appearance of wolves in metaphors (he “wolfed” down his food, a “wolfish” grin) suggest an attempt to differentiate humans from wolves? Could this fascination/fear of wolves affect our treatment of the wolf in the wild? The scientist keeps the focus on the wolf and its ecosystem. The humanities researcher keeps the focus on the wolf-human intermix. Another distinction between the sciences and the humanities has to do with the questions each raises. Scientists focus on issues of fact and definition, working to establish data and evidence that, over time, can lead to more and more confident answers to questions such as “do wolves hunt beavers?” (as we saw in Chapter 1-1). The humanities, in contrast, tend

to ask questions that are more evaluative. For example, should we view Nathaniel Hawthorneʼs character Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter as an adulteress who deserves the condemnation of her community? Or should we view her as a rebel challenging an overly strict social world? Is the real focus of the book Hester or is it her community? Is Hester a villain or a heroine? These questions focus more on how we interpret a literary artifact than on the facts about that artifact (such as when it was published or who wrote it).

How Is Knowledge Produced in the Humanities? Scholars in the humanities also have a range of research methods, which, depending on the writerʼs purpose, may be used singly or in combination. These methods include: Close Reading: Scholars analyze texts (or images, performances) with attention to linguistic, rhetorical, or structural devices used. For example, a rhetoric scholar might analyze how metaphors of hope and despair function in Martin Luther Kingʼs speeches. Theoretical Interpretation: Scholars interpret texts using a theory (such as feminist theory or critical race theory). For example, a cultural studies scholar might examine the rise of the “selfie” through the lens of Erving Goffmanʼs theory of selfpresentation. Historical Interpretations: Scholars use historical documents to situate a cultural artifact (image, text, music) within its historical and cultural context. A literary critic could explain the role of fashion in Jane Austenʼs writing by examining the history of dress in England during the 1800ʼs. Digital and Quantitative Methods: Increasingly, scholars are using digital tools to answer humanities research questions. For example, a communication scholar might use computational tools to analyze a corpus comprising thousands of newspaper articles in order to explore how the term “controversy” functions in public discourse about global warming. Performative Methods: In some fields, such as music, drama, and performance studies, scholars conduct research by experimenting with different types of production. For example, a scholar in dramatic art might write, produce, and perform a play that draws attention to the challenges facing migrant workers in the United States. The scholarʼs research might involve interviewing migrant workers, transcribing their stories, and dramatizing those stories as scenes in the play. Qualitative Research: In some humanities disciplines, scholars may use observation, surveys, interviews, and focus groups to conduct research. For example, a religious studies professor might conduct field research in Taiwan to learn about a small community practicing Mormonism. This type of research is very similar to the research conducted by many social scientists, as described in Part 1, Chapter 2.

EXERCISE 1-3A: METHODOLGICAL APPROACHES

Who Produces Knowledge in the Humanities? Two broad categories of people produce knowledge in the humanities: scholars and artists. As shown in Figure 1-3.1, these scholars come from many fields: ancient and

modern languages, communication studies, literature, philosophy, rhetoric, and religion, among others. Scholars produce interpretations of the world around us in the articles, talks, and books they produce. Artists create works that engage us on multiple levels— aesthetic, intellectual, visceral—and invite each of us to interpret the meanings of the work. These works include music, songs, poetry, novels, stories, paintings, sculptures, and dramas.

Figure 1-3.1. Academic disciplines in the Arts and Humanities

EXERCISE 1-3B: DISCIPLINES IN THE HUMANITIES

What Do the Humanities Value? The humanities are part of the “liberal arts,” a term whose roots trace back to the Latin word liber, meaning “free, unrestricted.” The liberal arts education was developed as an alternative to strictly vocational or occupational training. Students with liberal arts educations were free to take an active part in civic life because they had sufficient understanding of history, government, philosophy, and religion to make informed decisions and choices that could benefit a community. In recent decades the terms “liberal arts” and “humanities” are o en paired in the phrase “arts and humanities.” Because of these deep roots in civic engagement, the humanities value the following: Making an Original Claim: Humanities scholars welcome new interpretations of a text or problem. Fresh visions are more valuable than repetitions of alreadyexpressed views (whether these views were expressed by classmates, professors, or literary critics). To encourage this original thinking, a humanities assignment may ask you to not work with secondary sources; instead, it may ask you to focus on a primary text and to offer your own observations about it. Engaging with Ethical, Political, and/or Philosophical Problems: Although a humanities project may analyze a specific text or cultural artifact (a play, a work of art, a musical composition), the goal will likely be to look beyond that particular artifact to see how your analysis addresses a broader problem or theme. For instance, you might conclude that your analysis of 17th-century Spanish paintings demonstrates how Spaniards were grappling with complexities of race relations that emerged out of Spainʼs colonization of Central and South America. Skepticism and Open-Endedness: The English words “skeptic” and “skepticism” derive from the ancient Greek verb “skeptesthai,” meaning “to examine closely,” “to inquire,” or “to investigate.” Skepticism in the humanities does not mean having doubts, but instead using inquiry or investigating a claim or an issue. This inquiry or investigation brings intellectual rigor to established views as well as to new proposals. Open-ended means that there is not a specific limit or answer. Something

open-ended allows for adaptability and change. An open-ended question—such as “What does the ʻred badgeʼ in The Red Badge of Courage mean?”—allows for diverse responses.

How Is Knowledge Circulated in the Humanities? Knowledge is circulated in the humanities through a variety of genres written for diverse audiences. Some common genres for academic audiences include journal articles, conference papers, and book reviews. Genres aimed at the general public include reviews (film, restaurant, book, performance), articles (newspaper, magazine), blogs, and exhibition notes. Still other formats might be intended for business or government audiences (policy reports, grant proposals). In addition, some “texts” are not conventionally written. These texts could include paintings, sculptures, music, dance, or multimedia productions. Although they might not produce static compositions, each of these genres is nevertheless communicating specific meaning/messages to audiences. Below, youʼll find some of the most common genres used in the humanities. GENRE

AUDIENCE

ROLE

PURPOSE

RHETORICAL SITUATION

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Undergraduate

Literary critic

Present a unique

You are writing

English majors

interpretation

an article

and readers of

based on textual

about the role

the STDR

and/or archival

of reproductive

evidence

technologies in speculative fiction and want to publish it in the Sigma Tau Delta Review STDR .

BOOK REVIEW

Other specialists in

Book reviewer

Summarize and

You are a

evaluate a new

rhetoric,

the field

book

composition, and literacy scholar and have been asked by the journal Present Tense to review Dr. Candace EppsRobertson’s book, Resisting Brown: Race, Literacy, and Citizenship in the Heart of Virginia.

CONFERENCE PAPER

Attendees of

Undergraduate

Argue for a

You are

the Pacific

philosophy

particular

presenting

University

major

position or

your ideas on

Undergraduate

interpretation

consciousness,

Philosophy

using

free will, and

Conference

philosophical

desire at the

texts

Pacific University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference.

CONFERENCE POSTER

Attendees of

Art critic

Offer an

You are

the CUR

interpretation of a

presenting

conference

significant work of

your visual

art

analysis of Julie Heffernan’s “Self-Portrait as Dirty Princess” (2004) at UNC’s Celebration of Undergraduate Research (CUR).

DIGITAL EXHIBIT

Visitors to the exhibit (or

Curator

Curate a selection

You are

of materials, offer

interning at

potential

a justification for

Wilson Library

visitors)

putting these

and are tasked

materials

with creating

together, and

an online

share relevant

exhibit that

background

features

information

archival materials from the Special Collections.

GRANT PROPOSAL

SURF grant

Undergraduate

Persuade granting

You are

selection

researcher in

agency to give

applying for a

committee

English

money to fund

Summer

new research

Undergraduate

members

Research Fellowship (SURF) grant to visit the Elizabeth Barrett Browning archives at Baylor University. OBITUARY

New York Times

Staff writer

readers

Inform readers

You are writing

about the life,

an obituary to

accomplishments,

share the

and death of a

important

notable individual

contributions of a forgotten historical figure for the New York Times overlooked obituary section.

PROFILE

New Yorker readers

Staff writer

Inform readers

You are writing

about a notable

a profile about

individual’s

an up-and-

background,

coming or re-

accomplishments,

emerging

and future plans

writer, artist, or film maker

for the New Yorker. USER DOCUMENTATION/INSTRUCTIONS

UNC students,

Technical

Help readers to do

You are

faculty, and

writer

something

interning at

staff

the Media Resource Center and have been asked to write user-friendly instructions to help students set up a web.unc.edu WordPress website.

VISUAL STORY

NPR readers

Staff writer

Share a story

You are a

about a pressing

member of the

topic using text,

National

photography,

Public Radio

illustration, data

(NPR) Visuals

visualizations

Team and are

and/or video

tasked with sharing a longform news story about an emergent topic with NPR’s readership.

WIKIPEDIA/WIKIVERSITY PAGE

Wikiversity

Wiki

Share

You are a UNC

readers

contributor

foundational

Libraries intern

information about

and have been

a person, place, or

tasked with

thing

creating an “online memory” of an individual interviewed for the Federal Writer’s Project in the form of a Wikiversity page.

EXERCISE 1-3C: GENRES IN THE HUMANITIES

OUTCOME 2: LOCATING AND EVALUATING EVIDENCE IN THE HUMANITIES Research Questions in the Humanities Creating a research question is a helpful way to focus a humanities research project. Suppose you are studying World War II in a history class. You cannot feasibly cover the entire war in a single composition, so you need to narrow your scope. Perhaps because movies have familiarized you with the soldiersʼ experience of the war, you begin to wonder about the civilian experience. You could narrow the focus further by concentrating on one particular civilian population: women. Your research question might be “What challenges and disruptions did World War II bring to civilian women?” But that question is still very broad. You could narrow it further by asking how the war affected: Women living in a war zone (British and French women, for example). Women living remote from the war zone (American women). Women at first distant, but then in the midst of war (German and Japanese women).

Then you might further narrow your topic a. er doing some preliminary research. For instance, in the United States, women on the home front worked in factories, conducted scientific research on the Manhattan Project, developed nutritional guidelines for soldiers and civilian workers, and much more. You might settle on a much narrower question like “How did the women working in shipyards in World War II interpret shi ing gender roles and norms?” For more information about research questions, see Part 2, Chapter 3.

Sources in the Humanities For most research projects in the humanities, sources will generally fall into four categories: primary, secondary, popular, and scholarly. In the World War II project, for instance, primary sources could be diaries, memoirs, letters, photographs, newspaper and magazine articles from the 1940s, advertisements, and creative works from the time period. These sources offer specific details that will be valuable to your project. Secondary sources might include histories of the era, documentaries about the time period, and critical works on the topic. These sources can help you assess the meaning or significance of the details in your primary sources. Additionally, you might include other popular sources, such as recent newspaper or magazine articles, as well as scholarly sources, such as peer-reviewed journal articles and books about the history of World War II.

The intended audience for your composition will then help you determine which sources will be most useful to you. For example, if you are trying to help a non-expert audience understand World War IIʼs effect on womenʼs lives, you might reference details from current popular magazines about the ongoing significance of “Rosie the Riveter.” If you are writing to a more specialized audience, you will want to use sources that provide much more critical and in-depth assessments of their evidence, such as history monographs (singleauthored academic books). For more information about sources, see Part 2, Chapter 3.

The following table provides an overview of some of the sources available to you through the UNC Libraries: TYPE OF RESEARCH

DATABASE NAME

USEFUL FOR

DISCIPLINARY

MLA

Research articles, literature reviews, and

DATABASES

International

commentary across English, Comparative

Bibliography

Literature, and modern languages

America, History

Research articles, literature reviews, and

and Life

commentary focusing on American history.

Anthropology

Research in ethnology, archaeology, folklore, and

Plus

material culture

Arts and Letters

Articles, essays, and book reviews for general

Daily

readers interested in the humanities. This is a good

OVERVIEWS, NEWS, AND SUMMARIES

place to locate topics or accessible overviews of a recent book or article.

New York Review

Reviews of recent books. This is a good place to

of Books and Los

identify possible topics or accessible overviews of

Angeles Review

a recent book or article.

of Books PRIMARY DOCUMENTS

UNC Special

Archival materials, including letters, diaries, rare

Collections

books, etc.

Newspapers com

Historical newspapers, digitized and easily searchable

Ancestry.com

Information about historical figures. Can be used to research your own family history as well. Free to UNC users on campus if you go through the library website.

REFERENCE

Oxford English

Definitions of key terms, with information about

TOOLS

Dictionary

the etymology and past usage of words Preferred dictionary for humanities writing

OUTCOME 3: READING STRATEGICALLY IN THE HUMANITIES Reading Critically Humanities scholars value attention to detail. They look for patterns, themes, and relationships within a particular work or among several works. They look for how a work presents some type of argument and how the work supports this position with specific evidence. To do this, humanities scholars will o en make extensive notations on a text; these notations include strategies such as asking questions or making observations in the margins of books and articles, “scanning” the meter and rhyme of a poem, or circling key words and images in a book.

Reading with Genre Awareness Close reading is a perhaps the most important aspect of research and writing in the humanities. Close reading is a process through which a scholar considers the content, framing, history, and genre of a document (such as a novel, poem, or even a set of historical brochures about birth control) or visualization (such as a work of art, photograph, graphic, or chart).

If you were to closely read the definition of “critical thinking” from National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, you would first read the text carefully: Critical thinking is “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness” (“Excellence in Critical Thinking”). Then, you would begin asking questions about the text including: What does “intellectually disciplined” mean? What differences are inherent in the words “conceptualize,” “analyze,” “synthesize,” and “evaluate”? What does it mean “to reason”? What would constitute “sound evidence”? Using your questions, as well as other observations (which you might develop using the DOCS Chart described below), you would develop an argument about the true, underlying meaning of the critical thinking definition. Humanities scholars also o en read images as text. When they do, they o en ask: Who is the audience for the image? How do design elements such as color, contrast, repetition, alignment, perspective, proximity, and size inform a viewerʼs understanding of the image? What is the relation of written text to image? Humanities scholars look for visual metaphors and consider how all of the visual elements

contribute to the creatorʼs argument and the compositionʼs overall meaning. A DOCS (Design, Organization, Content, and Style) Chart, as described in Jordynn Jack and Katie Rose Guest Pryalʼs How Writing Works: A Guide to Composing Genes, can guide you through a close reading of texts or visuals:

DOCS CHART Design

What do you notice about how the document is laid out? Pay attention to fonts, line spacing, colors, sizes, contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity, and balance. Does the document make use of bullet points? Numbered lists? For what types of lists? Does the document include visuals? What type? Do the design choices promote or distract from readability?

Organization

Is the document divided into sub-sections? If so, how are they marked? How are they organized? How are paragraphs organized? How does the author transition between paragraphs? Describe the underlying organizational scheme (e.g., chronological, narrative, thematic, etc.).

Content

What type of information does the document present? What words, phrases, or concepts stick out? What type of information does the document leave out? What argument is the author presenting? How does the author support this argument? What details are especially effective in supporting this argument?

Style

How would you describe the style of the writing? Is the language concise or wordy?

Is the language formal or more casual? How much does the author assume their audience knows about the topic? Is the author’s use of specialized language, or jargon, appropriate for the audience?

EXERCISE 1-3D: ANALYZING HUMANITIES GENRES

To get a better idea of how humanities articles work, examine the annotated sample article below.  

 

OUTCOME 4: WRITING IN THE HUMANITIES Writing in the humanities crosses a wide array of genres, from academic journal articles and conference papers to popular articles, reviews, and proposals. The particular rhetorical situation determines the genre most appropriate. For example, an intern at the Ackland Art Museum might write placards, web material, or information sheets for visitors, while a film studies major might write a review of a new film for The Daily Tar Heel. A biology major might apply for a grant to travel to the University of Toronto to study Renaissance medical texts over the summer. A Memorial Hall employee might write a press release about an upcoming speaker. The key to success in all these endeavors is to tailor the composition to fit your purpose and meet your audienceʼs needs. Writers in the humanities find value in every detail of life, wherever and whenever that life was lived. They are inquisitive about ties that bind us and about controversies that roil us. To pursue these interests, writers in the humanities strive for precision in language. While they value logic, evidence, and reason, they also value beauty of expression. Also, more tangibly, humanities writing uses:

Active Voice: Humanities scholars tend to use the active voice more o en than scholars writing in other disciplines, mainly because of a difference in focus. Humans are the focus of research in the humanities, and humans act. The active voice emphasizes the performer of the action, while the passive voice emphasizes the object or recipient of the action. While other disciplines may want to focus on a survey or experiment, the humanities focus on the actions of a character in a work of fiction, of a writer, or of a critic or scholar. Example 1: Literary critic Joanna Pawson argues that… Example 2: In Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen portrays… Example 3: In a key scene in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth overhears…

Literary Present: Notice that the three examples above all use the present tense, even though Jane Austen is dead and Pride and Prejudice was written more than 200 years ago. The humanities use present tense when discussing elements from a literary text or film or painting because the work itself is still “alive.” The characters in the book have not aged or changed since Jane Austen created them, and Pawsonʼs arguments are still part of the critical conversation on her topic. Therefore, when you discuss elements from a literary text or film, use the present tense. Example: In a turning point in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth rejects Mr. Darcyʼs marriage proposal.

However, when you are discussing elements referring to the history of a text, an authorʼs life, or its historical context, use the past tense. Example: Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice in an era when women had few rights.

Sometimes you may even mix tenses, depending on whether you are speaking about the text and its effects (present) or its historical context (past). Example: Pride and Prejudice demonstrates [present] how womenʼs choices were constrained [past] by economic and legal factors.

Limited Use of First-Person Perspective: You may have learned that using the first person (“I” or “we”) is inappropriate in scholarly writing. In the natural sciences and social sciences, scholars o en use “we” to describe the research methods used. In the humanities, however, using “I” or “we” is less common unless you are flagging an argument (e.g., “I argue that…”). The advice you may have received about avoiding the first person “I” reflects the fact that literary scholars do not phrase their interpretations as subjective observations (“I believe that”) but as factual observations about a text (“This text demonstrates that…”).

1-4

WRITING IN BUSINESS

Business communication informs, persuades, and evaluates. To accomplish this goal, business communication conveys meaning powerfully and concisely through targeted, audience-centered language.

Key Terms

Plain Language: Plain language avoids jargon, clichés, bureaucratic language; it never uses a big word when a small one will do. Emphasis Strategies: Emphasis strategies showcase key ideas, using layout and organization tools consistent with the key conventions of each genre. Universal Design and Inclusivity: Principles of Universal Design ensure that your compositions are accessible to the greatest number of people. Inclusivity focuses on assuring that your communications are accessible to all audiences, regardless of culture, gender, age, sexuality, and ability. “You” centered Language: “You” centered language is an essential tenet in business communication. Business messaging focuses on its audience, and “you” centered language reflects this awareness. Positive Tone: Audiences respond more effectively when presented with messages (even negative ones) in positive language. Audience Analysis: Audience analysis is a specific analysis completed before creating any business message be it a written document or a presentation—that answers questions about an audienceʼs demographics, level of knowledge, and expectations.

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1 Explain how business communication works 2. Locate and evaluate evidence for business communication. 3 Read strategically in business communication

4. Write business communication.

OUTCOME 1: EXPLAINING HOW BUSINESS COMMUNICATION WORKS How Is Knowledge Produced in Business? Business communication relies on persuasive tools to communicate its messages to its discourse communities. It draws from multiple disciplines, including psychology, anthropology, history, statistics, and economics, to gather all relevant information. In all its genres—from resumes to policy reports, from business plans to memorandums (“memos”)—business communication relies on both qualitative and quantitative data to substantiate claims and produce knowledge. Business documents are clear and concise, they present information in easy-to-read formats, and they o. en highlight this information using visuals and formatting emphasis strategies. Knowledge production in business genres depends on the purpose and audience of those genres. Research methods in business include: Market research: Market research encompasses a number of document types, such as industry reports that have information about growth rates, market size, market share, competition, and industry forecasts. Market research also includes SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analyses, barriers to entry, and operating cost structures. Demographic research: Business writers use demographic research to examine population targets, labor markets, distribution channels,

consumer and producer price indexes, migration trends, health data, workforce indicators, and related factors. Psychographic research: Business communicators also use psychographics to learn more about consumer markets. While demographics focus on who the consumer is, psychographics consider what the consumers value and what motivates them to purchase specific products. Psychographic research relies on both larger data gathering methods, such as studies, and observational research—ranging from secret shoppers to focus groups. This method also now includes website analytics and web traffic data. Facebook data, Google analytics, and other purveyors of web searching data have allowed psychographic researchers to discover even more information about consumers in addition to demonstrating better ways to market to them. Out-of-the-box research: The business world is constantly growing and changing, and research methods must continue to evolve to keep up with this growth and change. When interviewing for jobs, for example, applicants would be remiss if they did not research the people interviewing them, and there are now many available sources, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google, for doing so. Similarly, when conducting market research on the food truck industry, thorough researchers do not just read articles about the industry; they go to a food truck rodeo. Business research methods employ comprehensive methods, using formal and—when necessary—unorthodox, approaches to gather necessary information.

Who Produces Knowledge in Business?

Business communication encompasses everything from job applications to trade journals, from restaurant ads to financial reports. What follows is a brief—but certainly not exhaustive—list of different fields of study within business. Keep in mind too that these fields o en overlap with one another. Economics Finance Accounting Operations Organizational Behavior Marketing Advertising Human Relations Management Communication Real Estate Consulting Sales Entrepreneurship/Social Entrepreneurship The scholars in these fields not only study and write about business and the theories and research that inform it, but also are o en working in/conducting business as well.

EXERCISE 1-4A: JOB SEARCH

What Does Business Communication Value? Plain language. Whether business communication informs, persuades, or evaluates, it does so through easy to understand language. This plain language allows the audience to get the point and/or access information quickly. When creating business communications, be sure to avoid wordiness, and keep your writing jargon free. Clarity and conciseness. In a world flooded with words, business communicators must compete for readersʼ attention. Just like plain language, clear and concise writing enables readers to access a message efficiently. Accessible format. Business communication uses tools such as formatting emphasis strategies and visual aids to convey its messages. Bulleted or numbered lists, bolded words, and images are all part of the communicatorʼs toolbox, and communicators use these tools when appropriate for the genre. “You”-centered attitude. The U.S. Governmentʼs “Federal Plain Language Guidelines” tell writers that the first thing they should

consider when cra ing a document is their audience: “We start with a discussion of your audience because you should think about them before you start to write your document or your web content.” Effective writing begins and ends with the reader, not the writer. For example, you might think that a cover letter for a job should begin by talking about you, the applicant. But consider the people reading the letter. What would make your letter stand out to them? What might they want to know about you as a candidate?

Positive Language. Readers respond more positively to positive language, even when the message being conveyed is not at all positive itself. For example, how does a company deliver bad news about its quarterly earnings? If the company wants to get ahead of the story, it pre-announces those earnings, putting a positive spin on the negative story by touting its transparency policies. Inclusivity. Business discourse communities should be addressed using language that is appropriate for all races, genders, cultures, religions, ethnicities, and abilities.

EXERCISE 1-4B: PLAIN LANGUAGE ACT

How Is Knowledge Circulated in Business? Business writing reaches its audience through many genres that employ various rhetorical strategies. For example, a CEOʼs report to stockholders will exhibit different strategies than a mid-managerʼs letter to company employees, and that will be different still than a business professorʼs article in an academic journal. The purpose and the intended audience of the message both shape the strategies employed to communicate most effectively. Business communicators use several rhetorical strategies to convey their messages effectively. According to UNCʼs Kenan-Flagler Business School,

these include ”Seven Logically Persuasive Tools”: Statistics. Numbers can have a tremendous impact on readers. If writers quantify their results or demonstrate that their ideas will make money, it is far more powerful than simply stating this to be the case. For example, proving that a new network operating system will result in a 20% increase in operational efficiency will likely make a very persuasive argument for buying the new system. History. The past can be used to predict the future. Therefore, use historical examples whenever possible in order to strengthen arguments. Basically, writers predict future behavior or results based on past similar situations. For example, remind management about the positive benefits of participating in last yearʼs charity event (increased sales and stronger reputation) when encouraging the company to participate in this yearʼs competition. Example. The use of examples in writing helps persuade readers through illustration. For example, to argue that a company produces superior products to those of their competitor, a writer might provide readers with examples demonstrating the key comparable features. Analogy. Writers can persuade their audience by comparing two items that are different, such that one item helps the reader understand the other. For example, writers can argue that their companyʼs deficit is not problematic by pointing out that a deficit is like a credit card: not bad unless the company canʼt pay it off. Comparison or Contrast. A writer can use comparison to persuade as long as the items of comparison are of the same class. In other words, do not compare two items that are too different. Writers can compare or contrast, for example, to persuade management to adopt or reject a “flex-time” policy. Writers who are for the policy

could argue that another company adopted the policy successfully. On the other hand, writers who are against the policy could argue that the policy was unsuccessful at another company. Consequences. When writers persuade from consequences, they demonstrate what will happen if something does or does not occur. For example, if arguing for the purchase of a new photocopier, a writer can show how not making the purchase will actually be even more expensive and reduce efficiency. To argue against the purchase of the equipment, a writer might show that the purchase will eat up the entire annual technology budget and leave no money for toner and paper. Authority. Writers demonstrate the validity of their positions by citing authorities who agree with them. An authority ixs an expert in a specific area—one whose expertise is difficult to counter. To persuade their district manager to invest in employee training, for example, writers could cite the VP of Human Resources. To persuade an investment club to sell a certain stock, a writer could cite the Wall Street Journal or the highly respected Motley Fool website.

EXERCISE 1-4C: CONSTRUCTING KNOWLEDGE IN BUSINESS

Below youʼll find some of the most common genres used in business communication. GENRE

AUDIENCE

ROLE

PURPOSE

RHETORICAL SITUATION

BUSINESS PLAN

Potential

Entrepreneur

Describe a

You are

investors,

number of

opening a new

business

business

restaurant in

partners

objectives and

your town and

how they will be

need to

reached

convince your partners and potential investors how you plan on accomplishing this goal.

BUSINESS

Other

Employee,

Formally

You want your

LETTER

businesses,

business

communicate

business to be

or other

professional

with parties

certified as a

outside the

“Fair Trade”

company

company. You

organizations

need to contact the appropriate accreditation organization to begin steps toward certification. PROSPECTUS

Potential

Investment

Describe in detail

Your clients

investors

manager

a financial

are looking to

investment,

diversify their

including

investments

information about

and have

the company and

asked you for

its finances

information about a potential

investment, specifically its possible risks and benefits. POLICY

Policy

Business

Present research

You work for

REPORT

makers,

professional

and argue for a

the Economic

legislators,

(o en at

course of action

Policy

business

policy

Institute and

executives

institutes or

are asked to

non-profit

develop a

organizations)

policy report on the gender pay gap and how to address it.

SURVEY OR

Company

Employee,

Present,

A er

FOCUS

executives

business

synthesize, and

conducting a

professional

analyze the

focus group

results of a survey

concerned

or focus group

with subjects’

GROUP REPORT

preferences for a new so drink that your company has developed, you are collecting the findings in a report that your company’s executives can examine.

TRADE

Experts

Journalist

Communicate

You are

JOURNAL

within a

with expertise

developments

reporting on

ARTICLE

particular

in the field or

and news within

the

industry

a business

an industry

globalization

(e.g., the

professional

of the flood

flood

with expertise

insurance

insurance

in a field

industry for

industry)

the trade journal Flood Insurance International.

BUSINESS

A business

REPORT

Consultant

Report on

Your

that hired

business activities

environmental

your firm

and make

consulting

recommendations

firm has

based on your

assigned you

report

to assist a client who wants to achieve net zero waste to landfill.

BUSINESS

An existing

Business

Secure a

Your clothing

PROPOSAL

firm or

owner

partnership or

company

investment

wants to

investor

partner with Target to create a limitededition line.

OUTCOME 2: LOCATING AND EVALUATING EVIDENCE IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION Finding Sources As stated above, business draws from a number of different disciplines to find appropriate evidence. Below is a list of useful databases to which the UNC Libraries subscribe. TYPE OF

DATABASE

USEFUL FOR

RESEARCH

NAME

ONE-STOP

Business

Popular materials (Fortune, Businessweek, Wall

SHOPS

Source

Street Journal), academic journal articles, SWOT

Premier

analyses (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), company news, industry profiles

MARKETING

Statista

Good infographics, some analysis of industry

IBISWorld

Focus on industry overviews, including infographics

Mintel

Offers analysis by sector, theme, and demographic

Passport

Global consumer analysis

AND CUSTOMER ANALYSIS

GMID (Global Market

Informational Database) DEMOGRAPHICS

American

Census-based information

Fact Finder Social

Searchable census-based maps

Explorer

Adapted from Josiah Drewry, UNC Library And for more business research resources, check out the UNC Libraryʼs Business Research Guides.

EXERCISE 1-4D: BUSINESS RESEARCH

Evaluating Evidence In this age of “alternative facts” and “fake news,” evaluating evidence has never been more important. In business communication, your research will o. en involve both scholarly and popular sources, ranging from trade journals to financial reports, industry assessments to popular blog sites.

The rules of evaluating evidence for business communication are similar to those in other disciplines. A quick question to ask is how credible the source is. Wikipedia, for example, has some great and accurate information; however, since anyone can contribute to the site, and since the mechanisms in place to oversee content are spotty at best, Wikipedia is not a reliable, credible source. For more information about evaluating sources, see Part 2, Chapter 3.

For business evidence in particular, pay attention to who authored the source and for what purpose, as well as how recent it is. Financial reports produced by companies themselves are designed to present the information in a way that displays the company in the best light. Thus, when considering any source, think about where it is coming from and what it is designed to do.

OUTCOME 3: READING STRATEGICALLY IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION Reading Critically When reading business communication, a good place to start is with the audience. Who is the target audience? What is the purpose? To inform? To persuade? To evaluate? Also, consider the relationship between author and reader. What is their relative status? What authority does the author have in relation to the audience? Once the audience and purpose have been determined, assess what assertions the document is making and what evidence is being used to support that assertion. Pay careful attention to how business communicators organize their documents. Is information being presented visually? If arguing with numbers, how does the writer convey the meaning of those numbers in an impactful way? Does the writer employ emphasis strategies (i.e., bulleted or numbered lists) to highlight key points? Business communication o. en layers its information so that it is accessible in multiple formats. For example, a recommendation report will include an Executive Summary, which gives an overview of the content of the entire report. The body of the report will then

expand on the information in the Executive Summary. Why? Because different audiences use the report for different purposes. A CEO may only want to see the broad strokes of the report, while the Chief Marketing Officer will want a breakdown of the report in more detail.

Reading with Genre Awareness To write well in business, writers need to be aware of best practices for each particular discipline. One of the best ways to keep up with best practices is to read examples of the genres. Moreover, individual companies may have their own procedures for how to write certain documents, from letters to memos. Always try to find specific examples from the assigned genres or, if unavailable, be sure to clarify expectations with the audience for the genre whenever possible. Audience analysis is a key part of genre analysis in business communication. Who is the primary audience for the genre? Is there a secondary audience? How does the writer address both of them? Additionally, many genres in business communication involve presentations and/or oral and visual components, and specific attention should be paid to how these components are structured for each audience. For example, a pitch presentation to venture capitalists includes several key components that work together seamlessly: oral presentation, slide deck language, slide deck visuals,

and question-and-answer period. For more information about presentations, see Part 2, Chapter 5.

EXERCISE 1-4E: BUSINESS GENRES

OUTCOME 4: WRITING IN BUSINESS Strategies for Business Writers Writing Business writing, like writing in other disciplines, relies on the specific conventions of individual genres to produce its knowledge and convey it to the relevant discourse communities. However, there are eight key concepts from PlainLanguage.gov that translate across

business genres: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Know the audience Organize ideas logically Use “you”-centered language Write in active voice Use short sentences Keep prose jargon free Make layout easy-to-read Use evidence (statistics, examples) to prove points

You can see these concepts in action when considering even a typical email, a deceptively simple genre. The efficiency of the email o. en makes it easy to adopt an informal tone, turning a simple genre into a rhetorical disaster.

An effective email: Has a clear subject line (note: ideal if action item is in subject line). Example: instead of “SUBJECT: report,” write “SUBJECT: Recommendation Report due today at 5pm.” Identifies the writer, if the reader does not know who they are. Keeps the message brief (a good rule of thumb is one screen before your reader loses interest). Is well organized, leading with the action items or main subject. Uses emphasis strategies, but sparingly, as different email platforms may display formatting differently. Practices netiquette by being professional and courteous. Is free of grammatical and mechanical errors. Ends with signature lines with the writerʼs title, organizational association, and contact information.

EXERCISE 1-4F: WRITING IN BUSINESS

Presenting All effective stories adhere to the same basic three part structure that Aristotle pointed out ages ago: They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It makes them easy to

digest and retell and it s how audiences have been conditioned for centuries to receive information. Make sure your presentation and any story you tell within it has all three parts, with clear transitions between them. —Nancy Duarte, HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations

Business communicators will o en be asked to present their findings to their audiences in addition to/in place of producing a written document. Thus, business communicators must know how to design and deliver effective presentations. Audience analysis is a key part of this. For business communication, audience analysis means understanding the wants/needs of a multitiered audience of stakeholders, clients, colleagues, customers, investors, etc. For this analysis, consider the following categories: Demographics: Who is the target audience? Age? Occupation? What is the audienceʼs cultural, religious, racial, ethnic, gender, and/or ability background? Occupation? Finally, what is your relative status in relation to your audience (i.e., Hierarchical? Up or down the ladder? Equal?) Knowledge bases: What does the audience know, especially regarding the topic? What is their level of familiarity with the discipline-specific jargon?

Expectations: What does the audience expect to get out of the presentation? What motivates and/or persuades them? What are their interests? What do they think or know about the presenter? What problems might they have that this presentation could solve? Once the presenter has completed an audience analysis, it is time to design a solid presentation. Effective presentations: Tell a story with their slides (evidence/assertion slides). Use specific terms, tones, and stories. Employ relevant evidence (statistics, examples, case studies, analogies, graphics). Are structured, clear, and to the point. You might consider using Universal Design principles. Universal

Design, as defined by the Center for Universal Design at NC State University, is “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.” For presentations, using Universal Design principles makes it possible to reach your entire audience. Washington University has a checklist for making sure your presentation adheres to Universal Design.

EXERCISE 1-4G: EFFECTIVE BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS

Resumes and Cover Letters First, create a template copy of your resume. This is a document for your own personal use that records all your experiences, skills, and accomplishments, no matter how diverse they may be. This template copy of your resume should never be sent to a future employer. Then, create a job-specific, professional resume tailored to the job you are applying for. You will need to pay close attention to the details of the job description and choose relevant experiences, skills, and accomplishments to include in your resume. Your resume should also take into account the companyʼs general culture and values, which will tell you what kind of employees it appreciates. Your resume should: Be an appropriate length (the template copy can be as long as you need, but the job-specific should be no longer than a page). Include your current contact information. Highlight experiences and skills relevant to the job or internship you are applying for; be “outcome” oriented. Follow a clear organization that highlights your strengths. Be free of surface errors (typos get your resume “filed” in the employerʼs trash). Be clear and easy to read: appropriate margins and font size, no distracting fonts or graphics, and no formatting errors.

The cover letter, then, is an opportunity to make a strong first impression. It is a story of you, but itʼs not just any story: it is a story of why youʼre interested in the company and how the company will benefit from employing you. Audience awareness is critical here. Your cover letter must convince the recruiters that you are a fabulous candidate and that it will be worth their time to interview you. Your cover letter should: Be addressed to the appropriate individual (by name, if possible; if not, address by position title). Indicate why youʼre writing in the first place, the position youʼre applying for, and how you found out about it. Demonstrate your awareness of the job requirements and the companyʼs needs by highlighting relevant experiences and qualifications. Follow the “6Cs” of business communication (clear, concise, courteous, correct, consistent, and complete). Be free of surface errors. Spelling and grammar mistakes will immediately eliminate you from consideration. Be kept to 1 page.

RESOURCES FOR WRITING IN BUSINESS Duarte, Nancy. HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations. Harvard Business Review, 2012. The Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN)

“Tip Sheets,” Kenan-Flagler Business School

1-5

WRITING IN LAW

Lawyers and legal scholars analyze how the law shapes and is shaped by individual experiences and social forces. Legal writing places a strong emphasis on demonstrating a conclusionʼs logic, even if the evidence for that conclusion is intangible or emotional. Evidence for legal arguments, for example, includes the applicable legal precedent (previous court decisions), statutes (legislation), and regulations, as well as the topicʼs public policy and/or moral implications. And while many legal writing genres (such as the law review article) seek to

persuade the reader, other genres (such as the case brief) seek merely to gather and evaluate information that could be used in service of a later argument. Legal writing also relies heavily on classical rhetoricʼs forms and techniques and applies these ideas to modern legal contexts. For example, lawyers o en use the Aristotelian appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos to argue their clientʼs case.

Key Terms Ethos: An appeal to the writerʼs ethics or credibility Pathos: An appeal to the readerʼs values or emotions Logos: An appeal to logic and reasoning Reasoning: The process by which a court provides the rationale for its conclusion on a legal question; lawyers also use legal reasoning to present their arguments to the court Interpretation: The act of determining the meaning of a written law or legal document, such as a constitutional provision, court opinion, contract, or will Opinion: A document that explains the courtʼs ruling on a legal issue, including its reasons for the ruling Precedent: Prior case law that courts use to guide their decisionmaking Legislation: Laws enacted by legislative bodies (i.e., Congress or state legislatures) Primary legal authority: Written texts—including court opinions, statutes, rules and regulations, and executive orders—that comprise the “laws” of society

Secondary legal authority: Written texts—including legal treatises and law review articles—that synthesize and interpret primary authorities (or “the law”)

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Explain how legal communication works. 2 Locate and evaluate evidence in legal communication 3. Read legal communication strategically. 4 Write legal communication

OUTCOME 1: EXPLAINING HOW LEGAL COMMUNICATION WORKS How Is Knowledge Produced in Law? Legal practitioners and scholars begin their inquiry process by identifying an issue or set of issues in need of resolution by the courts, legislatures, or society more generally. For lawyers, issue identification (or “issue spotting”) o en involves reviewing the facts of a clientʼs case, determining the area of law implicated by those facts, and developing questions about how the law applies to the facts. The lawyerʼs focus, therefore, is on determining “what the law is.” Scholars, on the other hand, begin with a case, doctrine, theory, practice, or process that raises questions about current legal thought on a topic. Thus, the scholarʼs focus is o en on making an argument about “what the law should be” (Rowe 1212). Once legal professionals or scholars have identified an issue in need of resolution, they conduct research using the following methods: Doctrinal Research: Doctrinal research involves gathering and synthesizing information about a particular area of law. This research encompasses a variety of primary documents, including state and federal statutes, appellate court opinions, and administrative rules and regulations. It also includes secondary materials such as legal

encyclopedias, legal treatises, and law review or journal articles. The purpose of doctrinal research is first to understand and then to inform or persuade regarding the rules, processes, or tests that govern a specific area of law. For example, imagine you are a criminal defense lawyer who has been asked to represent a convicted felon accused of armed robbery. You would begin your research process by identifying the applicable state and federal statutes—in this case, legislation on armed robbery and on firearm possession by convicted felons. You would then research case law to see how the courts have interpreted the legislation; you might also use secondary materials addressing the policy behind, and potential problems with, the legislation. This approach would provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the law that applies to your clientʼs case, including its limitations and exceptions. Quantitative and Qualitative Research: Research that is not entirely focused on legal doctrine o en follows the two methodologies common in the social sciences: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research uses experiments, observation, surveys, and other statistic-driven tools to gather numerical data on a topic, while qualitative research uses investigative techniques such as interviews, observations, case studies, and document analysis to gather nonnumerical data on a subject matter. The data gathered from both research methodologies is used to generate new hypotheses or test existing theories about social phenomena. In the legal field, the researcherʼs objective is to understand how the law influences and is

influenced by individuals, communities, cultures, and large-scale social systems. For more information about how social scientists use quantitative and qualitative research, see Part 1, Chapter 2.

For example, a quantitative researcher interested in studying the impact of felony convictions on an individualʼs job prospects might conduct a survey of employers in different sectors of the U.S. economy. The survey questions would be designed to discover which sectors are more or less likely to hire an ex-felon and what are the key concerns driving these employersʼ decision-making. On the other hand, a qualitative researcher might conduct in-depth interviews wherein ex-felons reflect on their experiences finding, applying for and securing stable, well-paying jobs. Both methods would produce data that, when collated, would allow legal scholars and criminal justice organizations to better understand the challenges faced by exfelons and to develop policy recommendations that address those challenges.

Who Produces Knowledge in Law? Legal knowledge is produced by several professional groups. Legislative bodies and administrative agencies create law through statutes, rules, and regulations. These legal measures are sometimes proposed by special interest groups or government lobbyists. Judges interpret and develop the law—both statutory and common law— through judicial precedent. Lawyers practice the law, advising clients

and persuading courts on the lawʼs application to specific facts. Scholars from a variety of fields, including law, political science, and history, investigate the lawʼs theoretical and practical implications and seek to find answers to complex legal problems.

How Do Lawyers and Legal Scholars Share Knowledge? Legal knowledge is circulated through a multitude of genres. For example, an office memorandum, written by a junior lawyer for a senior lawyer, adopts rhetorical strategies that help the writer communicate an objective prediction about the outcome of a legal issue. Conversely, a trial brief, written by a lawyer for a judge, employs strategies that help the writer to advance a persuasive argument about how the court should rule on a legal issue. Below youʼll find some of the most common genres used in legal communication. GENRE

AUDIENCE

ROLE

PURPOSE

RHETORICAL SITUATION

JOURNAL

Other

Legal

Argue for

You are

ARTICLE

scholars in

scholar or

significance of

arguing for a

the same

law

research

change in the

field

student

findings or for

law governing

an

school

interpretation

assignment

of textual

policies and

evidence

race in North Carolina.

CONFERENCE

Attendees at

Researcher

Demonstrate

You are

PAPER OR

the CUR

(e.g., pre-

significance of

presenting

PRESENTATION

conference

law

research

your research

student)

findings or

on

interpretation

immigration

of evidence

law to attendees at UNC’s Celebration of Undergraduate Research (CUR).

CLIENT LETTER

Client of a

Intern

law firm

Communicate

You are a

recent

summer intern

developments

at a law office,

in a client’s

and your boss

case

wants you to inform a client that his case has been settled out of court.

OFFICE

Supervising

MEMORANDUM

Lawyer

Extensively

You are a

or senior

analyze the

junior attorney

attorney

legal issues that

who has been

who needs

arise in a

asked by a

to make a

client’s case

senior attorney

decision in a

to evaluate the

case

strengths and

weaknesses of a current case the firm is handling. CASE BRIEF

Law

Law

Briefly

You are

professor

student

summarize and

preparing for a

evaluate the

law class by

significance of

summarizing

a court opinion

and evaluating the significance of an important case.

TRIAL OR

Judge

Lawyer

Argue for a

You are

APPELLATE

certain

arguing the

BRIEF

outcome on a

merits of your

legal issue in

client’s case on

front of the

appeal.

court CONTRACT

Client of a

Lawyer

law firm

Record the

You are

terms and

helping your

conditions of

client

an agreement

formalize the

between two

sale of its

parties

manufacturing plant.

DEMAND

Opposing

LETTER

counsel

Lawyer

Openly

You are

negotiate

articulating a

between

client’s desires

lawyers on

for resolving a

behalf of clients

legal claim.

COMMENTARY

Legal

IN A BAR MAGAZINE

Lawyer

Evaluate/assess

You are writing

practitioners

a new law,

an article for

(experts and

research

the N.C. State

non-experts)

finding,

Bar Assn.’s

with an

controversy,

magazine

interest in

etc.

assessing a

the topic

recent NC Supreme Court case.

NEWSPAPER

Non-expert

Legal

Inform readers

You are writing

OR MAGAZINE

public

scholar or

about a new

an article for

ARTICLE/BLOG

audience

lawyer

change in the

The Daily Tar

POST

with an

law and how it

Heel about

interest in

affects them

how copyright

the topic

law affects UNC students.

CONTINUING

Legal

Lawyer or

Inform legal

You are

LEGAL

practitioners

legal

practitioners

presenting on

EDUCATION

(experts and

scholar

about

recent

PRESENTATION

non-experts)

developments

developments

with an

in a particular

in criminal law

interest in

area of law and

at the North

the topic

how it affects

Carolina Bar

their practice

Association’s Annual Review.

ORAL ARGUMENT

Judges

Lawyer

Argue for a

You are

certain

arguing the

outcome on a

merits of your

legal issue in

client’s case on

front of the

appeal.

court

EXERCISE 1-5A: GENRES IN LEGAL WRITING

What Does Legal Communication Value? Logic in Reasoning The strongest legal writing guides readers on a logical path to explain a conclusionʼs merits or significance. This path generally follows two common forms of reasoning: (1) inductive reasoning, where the writer uses a specific observation (or set of observations) to reach a general conclusion and (2) deductive reasoning, where the writer moves from a set of general premises to a specific conclusion. In the law, inductive reasoning involves gathering and synthesizing legal authorities such as legislation and case law to determine a particular legal rule. Deductive reasoning, on the other hand, usually takes the form of a legal syllogism and involves identifying a legal rule (major premise), outlining the facts of a case that implicates the rule (minor premise), and determining the outcome of the case by applying the rule to the facts (specific conclusion). O en, inductive reasoning will provide legal writers with the major premise that guides their deductive reasoning (for more on this, see Edwards 77–79).

Hereʼs a hypothetical example: Imagine that you are a lawyer representing 19-year-old “University Student” charged with illegal possession of alcohol. To advise your client on the likely outcome of the case, you must first determine what constitutes possession by a minor under North Carolina law and then apply the rule for possession to the facts of the studentʼs case. Your research and reasoning process might look something like this: Inductive stage: (1) Identify the North Carolina statute criminalizing possession by a minor; (2) Collect appellate court cases interpreting the statute and, specifically, the term “possession”; and (3) Synthesize the cases and the statute to establish the applicable legal rule. Deductive stage: Major Premise (rule developed during the inductive stage): A minor is in possession of an alcoholic beverage when (a) the beverage is in close proximity to the minor and (b) the minor is in control of the area in which the beverage is located. Minor Premise (facts of your clientʼs case): Police arrested and charged University Student with illegal possession of alcohol a er finding Student intoxicated and stumbling down a busy street. Student was carrying a bag that had an alcoholic beverage in it. The bag was

not Studentʼs; rather, it was a 21-year-old friendʼs bag. The friend was not present at the scene. Likely Outcome (for your clientʼs case): University Student is guilty of possession of an alcoholic beverage by a minor because the beverage was located in an item over which Student had immediate control.

Evidence Legal arguments must be based on compelling evidence. Our legal system privileges existing law and decisions, according to the common law doctrine of stare decisis, or “let the decision stand.” It also considers the history of and policies behind these laws and decisions. So, effective writers o en employ precedent, historical context, and public policy when arguing for a certain interpretation of a law or when arguing to change a law or overturn a decision.

Critical and Creative Thinking Both informative and persuasive legal writing rely on critical and creative analysis of legal issues. One way to approach critical and creative thinking in law is to map out arguments that implicate the three rhetorical appeals—i.e., arguments that draw on your authority or credibility as speaker (ethos), that connect to the audienceʼs values or emotions (pathos), and that demonstrate logical reasoning (logos). For example, when arguing a clientʼs case in a trial brief, lawyers cite multiple primary authorities to establish the breadth and depth of

their knowledge; they use storytelling techniques to connect with the judgeʼs values and emotions; and they use legal syllogisms, analogies to other cases, customs, and policy concerns to convince the court of an argumentʼs logic.

Attention to Detail Legal professionals must follow any content, formatting, punctuation (e.g., the Oxford comma is required for clarity), and citation rules governing written work. This is especially true for lawyers who file written documents with the court. Failure to follow these rules can lead to a range of issues, including the courtʼs rejection of a timesensitive legal motion or pleading.

Ethics Truth and justice are two pillars of our legal system, and lawyers and judges are bound by ethical codes to maintain these pillars. The ethics of legal writing requires that writers: Accurately describe case facts and applicable law. Adopt a principled and nuanced approach to interpreting laws and legal policies. Address unfavorable arguments. Give credit to the ideas or words of others.

Following these requirements not only ensures the writerʼs compliance with ethical codes, but also helps the writer establish his or her professional ethos.

Clarity and Conciseness Ambiguity in legal writing can lead to confusion and conflict; therefore, a fundamental goal of legal writers is to master the ability to communicate ideas clearly and concisely. Writers achieve this objective by developing a rigorous editing process that includes identifying and (where possible) eliminating “to be” verbs, prepositions, nominalizations, indefinite pronouns, and passive voice. “To be” verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been Example: Original: Californiaʼs medical marijuana law is in conflict with federal law. Revised: Californiaʼs medical marijuana law conflicts with federal law. Common prepositions: in, of, to, at, on, from, about Example: Original: It was the finding of the judge that the addendum to the agreement could not be enforced.

Revised: The judge found the agreementʼs addendum unenforceable. Nominalization: a noun derived from another part of speech, o en a verb Example: Original: The police conducted an investigation of the defendant, and came to the conclusion that he robbed the bank. Revised: The police investigated the defendant and concluded that he robbed the bank. Unclear pronouns: o en occurs when there are multiple nouns to which a pronoun might refer Example: Original: The eyewitness testified that the defendantʼs dog bit the plaintiff, and he cried. Revised: The eyewitness testified that the defendantʼs dog bit the plaintiff, and the plaintiff cried. Passive voice: occurs where the subject of the sentence is not the actor but the object of the action Example:

Original: It was found that the defendant was guilty on all counts. Revised: The jury found the defendant guilty on all counts. Example: Original: Five new criminal justice laws were passed by the legislature. Revised: The legislature passed five new criminal justice laws. Strategies such as The Paramedic Method, described in Part 2,

Chapter 2, will help writers complete these edits more effectively and efficiently.

OUTCOME 2: LOCATING AND EVALUATING EVIDENCE IN LEGAL COMMUNICATION Developing Research Questions and Identifying Keywords Most legal research begins with a set of research questions. As described above, lawyers develop questions specific to a clientʼs case. For example, a lawyer representing the plaintiff in a defamation case might ask the following: What are the forms of defamation and which form did my client experience? What are the legal requirements for proving a defamation case? What are the common defenses to such a case? Why does the law protect against defamation? Legal scholars, on the other hand, develop questions specific to debatable legal topics. For example, a scholar interested in the legalization of marijuana might ask the following: What historical circumstances led to the legal prohibition of marijuana in the United States? Why have some U.S. states passed laws legalizing marijuana and what type of usage do they authorize? What is the federal governmentʼs current position on marijuana legalization and enforcement? Because legal research is o. en conducted through online databases, researchers also need to identify keywords that will help them locate

sources that are germane to their particular legal issue or topic. These keywords will change or become refined as the researcher moves deeper into the research process. For more guidance on choosing keywords and developing research questions, see Part 2, Chapter 3.

Finding Sources Once researchers have developed their research questions, they can begin gathering sources that will help them answer those questions. Legal researchers might first conduct Google searches, looking for primary sources such as statutes or court opinions that relate to an issue or topic; they might also search the Internet for secondary sources—such as law reviews, newspapers, or even law blogs—that summarize or explain the law established by relevant primary sources. At a point, researchers will want to conduct more in-depth research using legal databases, such as LexisNexis and Westlaw. These databases allow legal professionals and scholars to use the Shepardize tool (Lexis) or the KeyCite tool (Westlaw) to trace how courts at all levels and legal scholars have treated a previous decision or legal issue. At UNC, undergraduate students have access to Nexis Uni (a version of LexisNexis) and HeinOnline, both of which include case law, legislation, and law review articles. Legal researchers might also look for materials that accompany case law (such as appellate briefs, amicus curiae briefs, and oral argument transcripts), as well as for historical data, social science studies, or

policy research that can be found through other scholarly databases, such as Articles+ or JSTOR. And for more legal research resources, check out the UNC Libraryʼs

Legal Research Guides.

Evaluating Evidence The criteria for evaluating legal evidence depends on whether the source is primary or secondary. If primary, the researcher must determine where the source falls within the legal authority hierarchy (see Figure 1 5.1). If the source is a case, the researcher must also determine where it falls within the court hierarchy (see Figure 1 5.2) and whether it is still good law. The Shepardize and KeyCite tools mentioned above help the researcher make the latter determination. Further, lawyers conducting research must consider whether the law is binding or persuasive for the courts in the jurisdiction in which they practice. A “binding” law is one that the courts in a jurisdiction must follow, while a “persuasive” law is one that courts in a jurisdiction can choose to follow (see Rowe 1196). For example, a trial court in North Carolina is required to follow a North Carolina Supreme Court decision on a specific issue, while that same trial court may be persuaded (or not) to follow a Maryland Supreme Court decision on that same issue.

Figure 1-5.1. Legal authority hierarchy

Figure 1-5.2. U.S. courts hierarchy

If the source is secondary, legal researchers must consider criteria that will help them determine whether the source is popular or scholarly. Popular sources are written for the general public and include newspaper or magazine articles, blog posts, and non-expert websites, while scholarly sources are written for a specialized audience and include law review articles, legal treatises, and books written by legal scholars. For more on popular and scholarly sources, including criteria for evaluation, see Part 2, Chapter 3.

EXERCISE 1-5B: FINDING SOURCES IN LEGAL WRITING

OUTCOME 3: READING LEGAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGICALLY Reading Critically Reading legal writing can be a difficult process since the framework for communicating legal thought is unique to the field. Nevertheless, there are critical reading strategies that will help you “crack the code.” Most of the primary sources that we will read in ENGL 105i are appellate court opinions (or cases); therefore, weʼll focus on how to identify and evaluate their content. The SQ3R method described in Part 2, Chapter 3 provides a solid foundation for reading legal texts;

however, it is imperative to also supplement the methodʼs “S” (Survey) and “1R” (Read) with the techniques described below.

Survey There are two stages to surveying a court opinion. First, identify the opinionʼs four common parts: (1) case citation (identifies the parties and provides publication information), (2) main opinion (courtʼs decision and rationale), (3) concurring opinion (written by a judge who agrees with the courtʼs decision but not its rationale), and (4) dissenting opinion (written by a judge who disagrees with the courtʼs decision and rationale). Note: not all opinions will have a concurrence or dissent. Second, identify and label the four common elements of a main opinion: (1) statement of facts and procedural history (the pertinent facts of the case and a description of how

the case arrived at the court), (2) issue (the legal question in front of the court), (3) holding (the courtʼs answer to that question), and (4) reasoning (the courtʼs rationale for its holding).

Close Reading The courtʼs reasoning is the most complex part of the opinion. This is where the court presents the reasons for its conclusion on the legal question posed by the case. In her book, A Short Guide to Writing About Law, Katie Rose Guest Pryal provides a useful schematic for understanding and organizing the various pieces of a courtʼs rationale. “Legal topoi,” Pryal writes, “are categories of common arguments employed by judges, legal scholars, and lawyers” (35). These topoi are used to determine both what the law is and what it should be: Precedent: considers how prior case law supports a legal conclusion Legislation: argues for a certain interpretation of legislation based on the lawʼs “plain meaning” or on the “legislative intent” behind the law History: considers the “non-legal history” of a current legal issue International or comparative law: considers how nations (or states) with similar values have addressed a legal issue Morality: considers a communityʼs “shared morals” Public policy: considers the interests of the public Science: considers the results of studies in the natural or social sciences (Pryal 35-41).

You can also use these topoi to understand the reasoning of a concurring or dissenting justice. Once you have categorized the courtʼs rationale, look for connections between the topoi. For example, how does the court use studies on brain chemistry to support its assessment of the nationʼs moral outlook on punishing the mentally ill? Or, how does the court use the the history of crime and punishment to support its conclusion about the boundaries of the double jeopardy clause? Identifying these connections is essential to understanding the logic behind the courtʼs holding. The final step in your close reading is to evaluate the courtʼs reasoning. Ask yourself what parts of the rationale you find more or less persuasive and why (Pryal 32–33). As you complete this step, consult the UNC Writing Centerʼs handout

on logical fallacies, with the goal of identifying the cause of the reasoningʼs weaknesses. The most authoritative secondary source that you will encounter in ENGL 105i is the law review article. As you survey a law review article, pay particular attention to the section headings and references list. The former will help you decipher where to focus your reading, and the latter will offer you additional research possibilities. Then, as you enter into the close reading stage, consider how the text engages with the law: Is the source identifying problems in the law and offering

solutions to those problems? Is the source arguing how a particular case should be decided or a particular law should be interpreted? Is the source offering a historical account of the lawʼs development? Is the source bringing awareness to a legal issue that has yet to be examined by other legal scholars?

Reading with Genre Awareness Writers who read with an awareness of genre and convention are better prepared to compose texts specific to the legal field. The first step toward such awareness is to identify examples of the particular genre. As you read through each example, take notes on formatting, organization, content, source use, tone, and style. Use these notes to determine the textʼs target audience and purpose—i.e., expert or nonexpert, informative or persuasive—and to compose a list of genre conventions. In addition, make note of any departures from your conventions list and assess the rhetorical advantages/disadvantages of those departures. These notes will help you to decipher when it is necessary and appropriate to diverge from convention in your own writing. For more on genre awareness, see Part 2, Chapter 1.

EXERCISE 1-5C: GENRE ANALYSIS IN LEGAL WRITING

OUTCOME 4: WRITING IN LAW Writing Much of the legal writing that you will do in ENGL 105i will follow the general writing process outlined in Part 2, Chapter 2; however, the

following are steps in the writing process that require particular emphasis when writing in or about law:

Generating Ideas Legal writers do not always have the opportunity to choose their topics. For example, a lawyerʼs topic will depend upon the facts of a clientʼs case, while a legal scholarʼs topic choice might be driven by recent or proposed changes in an area of expertise. Nevertheless, both lawyers and legal scholars must work on narrowing their topics to the particular set of issues, rules, policies, or ideas implicated by the clientʼs conduct and/or the lawʼs developments.

Planning

Legal writing, both professional and scholarly, is always concise and audience-focused; yet, it also features complex concepts and uses specialized terms. Therefore, during the planning process, legal writers should identify the audienceʼs experience and knowledge level and ask: What would my audience need to know to understand my argument or main idea and my evidence? Do I need to describe a doctrine, theory, or process, or define a term? Should I include a reference for my readers to consult for further context? In addition, some legal writing genres, such as the case brief or office memorandum, follow specific content and formatting conventions. Keep these conventions in the forefront of your mind as you develop your outlines (and later, as you dra. and revise).

Creating a Dra The lawʼs complexity requires that legal writers remain attentive to its nuances—including its exceptions and limitations—as they prepare their dra s. In addition, because legal writing values the classical modes of persuasion (i.e., ethos, pathos, and logos), writers should use authoritative sources to lend their arguments credibility, employ stories and emotive language to engage the readerʼs sympathies, and use legal topoi to demonstrate a logical conclusion. Finally, it is imperative that the legal writer concentrate on cra ing a clear and fully developed analysis of the issue at hand. As Suzanne Rowe writes, judges and other lawyers “probably will not duplicate your research, but will rely on your thoroughness” (1198).

Reviewing Your Work Many of the documents that legal writers produce are time-sensitive; therefore, writers must have an efficient strategy for making largescale substantive revisions to their work. In addition, because legal writing values clarity and conciseness, writers must reserve time to edit their prose as described in Outcome 1 above. Finally, proofreading errors are unacceptable to legal readers and may therefore undermine the readersʼ confidence in the writerʼs professionalism and/or judgment. Check and re-check your dra s for surface level mistakes.

Presenting Legal practitioners and scholars are sometimes asked to present their arguments or research orally. For lawyers, oral presentations o en occur in the courtroom, at the negotiating table, or in an educational seminar; for scholars, presentations primarily occur in an educational environment, usually at an academic or professional conference. Regardless of the context, these presentations are extemporaneous, meaning the presenters work from notes or an outline rather than read a paper word-for-word. The most common technological aid is a set of PowerPoint slides.

As they do in their writing, legal communicators must present their ideas in a clear and concise manner. Transitions and short, simple sentences will help achieve this objective. Moreover, these presenters should look for compelling ways to persuade the audience about the significance of their chosen topic. Anecdotes, statistics, or rhetorical questions are all effective ways to hook an audience. For additional guidance on how to prepare a successful oral presentation, see Part 2,

Chapter 4 as well as the UNC Writing Center handout on speeches.

1-6

WRITING IN HEALTH & MEDICINE

Health encompasses life-long physical, mental, and social well-being. An individualʼs social context (e.g., family dynamics and customs) and physical environment (e.g., air pollution and urban food deserts) can have a significant impact on health. Due to the complexity of human health, there are several communities of experts dedicated to studying this topic.

In this chapter, you will learn about academic disciplines that address health-related topics—namely, the medical sciences, social health sciences, and medical/health humanities. Along the way, you will discover many of the opportunities for undergraduate research in health and medicine at UNC. Also, you will explore how healthcare professionals, such as physicians, nurses, health policy experts, and bioethicists (among others) strategize about communication.

Key Terms Basic Science or “Bench” Research: Natural science research that investigates the fundamental structures of life Clinical Research: Medical research that involves human subjects or uses materials from humans Social Health Sciences: A field of research that uses social science tools to study the social determinants of health and devise public health initiatives Medical/Health Humanities: A multidisciplinary field that investigates the meaning of illness, suffering, and personhood Narrative Medicine: An approach that uses narratives to teach clinical skills, highlight philosophical ideas in the practice of medicine, and encourage healthcare providers to engage in critical reflection

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Explain how health and medical communication works. 2 Locate and evaluate evidence in the medical sciences, social health sciences, and medical/health humanities. 3 Read health and medical sources strategically 4. Write about health and/or medicine.

OUTCOME 1: EXPLAINING HOW HEALTH AND MEDICAL COMMUNICATION WORKS When you think of health and medical writing, what do you imagine? Perhaps you picture medical scientists taking detailed notes about their experiments and writing lab reports, or maybe you picture physicians scribbling prescriptions. Writing in health and medicine certainly can look like this, but it can also be so much more!

Who Produces Knowledges About Health and Medicine? There are three main types of health/medical research: the medical sciences, social health sciences, and medical/health humanities. Each of these disciplines can be subdivided into smaller fields and specialties as shown in Figure 1 6.1. Keep in mind that health/medical

research is o en multidisciplinary and collaborative, so many projects do not fit neatly into just one of these categories. At UNC, the health sciences include much more than the field of medicine itself. Researchers pursue studies in social work, public health, occupational science and occupational therapy, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, physical therapy, and more. Some of these fields lean more toward the medical sciences in terms of research methods, while others tend to employ more social science methods.

Figure 1-6.1. Health Science disciplines

EXERCISE 1-6A: HEALTH SCIENCE DISCIPLINES

What Do Health and Medical Professionals Value? Health and medical professionals value thorough, accurate, and ethical communication. They also value long-term data trends and work to stay current in their areas of specialization.

Medical science researchers focus on the biological causes and physical symptoms of medical conditions. Like other natural scientists, medical scientists value novelty, fundability, and peer review. Additionally, medical science researchers are especially concerned about avoiding bias in their research. Thus, in this scholarly community, randomized and blinded clinical trials are the gold standard. Randomization prevents investigators from influencing the outcomes of a study by grouping certain participants together. In other words, randomization ensures that the participants are assigned to different study groups in a balanced manner and that possible confounding factors—such as risk factors and genetic variabilities—are distributed by chance between the groups. Blinding indicates that information about the test is kept secret to prevent possible subjective (even subconscious) influences. In a single blind study, the participant does not know if they received the treatment drug or a placebo; in a double blind study, neither the patient nor the investigator knows which treatment is being given. Also, the medical community has high ethical standards for research projects, especially if they involve human subjects. To ensure that projects meet and abide by ethical standards, researchers must submit their project for careful ethical review by research ethics review boards (also called “Institutional Review Boards” or IRBs). When researchers submit their research to the review board, they must show that they are in compliance with regulations involving human research participants. This entails developing appropriate

inclusion and exclusion criteria, recruitment strategies, and procedures for protecting confidentiality. Once a study is approved, the review board monitors projects for compliance, assesses any adverse events, and investigates complaints. Social health scientists place a high value on human experience and well-being in a more holistic sense. These researchers are interested in how an individualʼs physical health is impacted by their social relationships, spiritual practices, and economic status (among other things). Social health scientists are also invested in understanding how shared experiences—such as work, education, religion, or politics—influence the health of communities. These are o en called the social determinants of health (see Figure 1-6.2).

Figure 1-6.2. Social determinants of health

Thus, it is not surprising that social health researchers champion public health initiatives. Rather than treating individual patients, a public health approach is multifaceted and addresses many of social determinants that affect health. For example, public health projects may focus on cleaning up the environment, eliminating health disparities, or supporting healthy aging. Similarly to social health scientists, medical/health humanities scholars advance intersubjective and relational approaches to wellbeing. These scholars think about health as “something that is produced through the relations between bodies rather than as something that a body is or is not” (Atkinson et al. 77). Related to this, medical/health humanities scholars strive to be inclusive and intersectional in their research, and they o en employ feminist, disability studies, or other critical frameworks.

How Do Health and Medical Professionals Share Knowledge? Health practitioners share information through medical records, interpersonal communication (e.g., hospital rounds), and formal presentations. Scholars in health and medical disciplines use many of the same genres as scholars in other fields, including peer-reviewed journal

articles, review articles, and policy briefs/reports. So please see Part 1, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 for more information about these genres.

Additionally, health and medical scholars compose a number of unique genres, which are included below. GENRE

AUDIENCE

ROLE

PURPOSE

RHETORICAL SITUATION

NOTE IN A

Members

PATIENT CHART

Physician

Document

You just

of the

patient

finished

healthcare

information

meeting with a

team

and

patient to

communicate

discuss their

important

current

info to other

symptoms and

healthcare

medical

providers

history You have determined a course of treatment, which you need to share with the patient’s healthcare team

UNIVERSITY

UNC

Research

Promote

Your research

NEWS REPORTS

School of

assistant at

research

team recently

Medicine

UNC’s

within a local

published an

website

Clinical and

context

article about

visitors

Translational

investigational gene editing

Research

therapy for

Center

Hunter Syndrome and prepare a brief summary on the UNC School of Medicine homepage.

WEBCAST

National

Research

Inform other

You are a

PRESENTATIONS

Health

assistant in

scholars

research

Equity

the social

about new

assistant and

Research

health

research,

are working

Webcast

sciences

advocate for

with your

future

research team

research,

to develop a

and/or make

webcast for

a call-to-

the 24th

action

National

attendees

Health Equity Research Webcast, From “Awareness to Action: Leveraging Resiliency in the Context of Toxic Stress and Adverse Childhood Experiences.” BLOG POST

Gillings

Gillings

Share

You are a

School of

School of

research

public health

Public

Public

experiences

student who is

Health

Health

conducting

faculty,

student

research on

staff, and

vaccine

students,

skepticism

as well as

abroad. You

the

write a blog

broader

post to reflect

UNC

on and share

community

your experience with the UNC community.

EXERCISE 1-6B: HEALTH SCIENCE GENRES

OUTCOME 2: LOCATING AND EVALUATING EVIDENCE IN THE MEDICAL SCIENCES, SOCIAL HEALTH SCIENCES, AND MEDICAL/HEALTH HUMANITIES In this section, you will learn about research in the medical sciences, social health sciences, and medical/health humanities. You will discover how researchers develop research questions, the methods they use to investigate topics, and opportunities for research at UNC.

Medical Science Research The human body is a complex organism, and the medical sciences seek to understand and explain how the human body works. Medical science involves research and training in several sub-disciplines. For instance, anatomy is the study of the human bodyʼs component parts such as skin cells, the brain, and the digestive system. Physiology focuses on how body parts normally function—independently and as components of a system. Pathology is the study of diseases. Medical scientists typically focus their research on one particular disease, organ or organ system, or patient population. For example, oncologists research cancer. Cardiologists study and treat hearts. Neonatologists care for prematurely born babies.

There are two main types of medical science research: basic science research and clinical research. Basic science research—o en called fundamental or “bench” research—provides the foundation of knowledge for applied health research. Basic science researchers investigate the fundamental structures of life, and these researchers o en work in disciplines such as biochemistry, microbiology, and pharmacology. Clinical research, on the other hand, involves conducting research with human subjects or using materials from humans. Clinical researchers may apply scientific discoveries from basic science to create new medical treatments, or they may develop research projects based on their observations and experiences working with patients.

Medical Science Research Questions and Methods Basic science researchers ask questions about the fundamental nature of biological phenomena. As in other natural science fields, basic science researchers o en conduct experiments in a laboratory. In their experiments, medical scientists formulate specific hypotheses to investigate. They develop study procedures that are precisely designed, and they try to control or reduce any confounding factors. Basic science research o en uses mice or other non-human organisms as test subjects (see Figure 1 6.3).

Figure 1-6.3. Basic research examples in the medical sciences

Clinical research is patient-oriented research. Some clinical researchers ask questions about the mechanisms of human disease, including diagnosis (how to identify a particular disorder or condition) and prevention (how to stop disorders from developing or recurring). For example, clinical researchers might collect specimen samples from patients in order to identify common infections among a population. Additionally, clinical research is essential for validating scientific discoveries and innovations. Building on basic science research, clinical researchers test the safety and efficacy of new therapeutic interventions and new technologies (see Figure 1-6.4).

Figure 1-6.4. Clinical research examples in the medical sciences

Clinical research involves working with human subjects or human specimens. Some clinical research takes place in a lab. For example, clinical researchers may use a lab to analyze blood and other human specimens. Another important method is clinical trials. Clinical trials are experiments conducted on human participants to answer specific questions about medicine and behavior. The trials are used to evaluate the safety and efficacy of drugs, such as vaccines and dietary supplements, as well as new interventions, such as psychotherapy and medical devices. Clinical researchers also conduct case series, which are studies on a large patient group with a specific disease. For instance, a er the discovery of the AIDS virus, the Centers for Disease

Control (CDC) collected a case series of 1000 patients in order to study frequent complications.

Medical Science Research at UNC Undergraduates are typically introduced to the medical sciences in natural science courses, such as biology, anatomy, and chemistry. The UNC School of Medicine is the overarching program for medical science research and training at higher levels. The School of Medicine is organized into basic science departments (e.g., biomedical engineering and nutrition) and clinical departments (e.g., emergency medicine, pediatrics, and psychiatry). The School of Medicine also encompasses a variety of research centers (such as the Gene Therapy Center and the Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease). Additionally, UNC is part of the The North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute. For instance, UNC researchers

were involved in researching the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in 2020. You can read about that research and its significance here. In some healthcare fields, an undergraduate degree is sufficient for employment. UNC offers several Bachelors of Science degrees in health fields, such as Nursing, Dental Hygiene, and Radiologic Science. Others professions require more education and/or training beyond the undergraduate level.

Social Health Science Research Humans are social creatures. Unlike medical scientists, who investigate health and illness as a biological phenomenon, social health scientists seek to understand and explain how human health is influenced by an individualʼs behavior, cultural customs, public policies, and other social factors. Social health scientists may focus their research on a particular condition, patient population, or public health concern. In this field, scholars from a variety of disciplines use social science tools to study health and medical topics. For example, psychologists study the human mind. Epidemiologists investigate causes and patterns of disorders in groups of people. Medical Anthropologists consider the social, cultural, and linguistic factors that influence human health and healthcare. Health economists research the production and allocation of health resources as well as the value of health-affecting behaviors (such as smoking).

Social Health Science Questions and Methods Social health scientists investigate research problems that are descriptive, comparative, or relational. A descriptive research question asks about the significance of a situation or specific phenomenon. A comparative research question compares two or

more phenomena. A relational research question investigates the relationship between two or more variables to see if specific qualities or characteristics that may be connected (see Figure 1-6.5).

1. “About.” Add Health. Accessed Feb. 28, 2019. https://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/about Figure 1-6.5. Examples of social health research

Social health scientists o en conduct mixed methods research, meaning they combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to research. Quantitative methods include large-scale surveys, advanced statistics, cohort studies, and randomized controlled trials. Common

qualitative methods include interviews, participant observations, focus groups, and ethnographies (see Figure 1-6.6).

Figure 1-6.6. Social health research examples

For more about qualitative and quantitative approaches and other research methods in the Social Sciences, please review Part 1, Chapter 2.

Social Health Science Research at UNC

In addition to the medical sciences, there are UNC School of Medicine programs invested in social health science research. These programs include the Department of Social Medicine, the Center for Health Equality Research, the Beacon Program for Domestic Violence Intervention, and the TEACCH Autism Program. Additionally, the

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has departments in Epidemiology, Maternal and Child Health, and Health Policy and Management. Gillings also has several programs, such as The North Carolina Institute for Public Health, The Water Institute at UNC, and The Minority Health Project.

Medical/Health Humanities Research Humans are also relational, communicative, and self-reflective creatures. The medical/health humanities seek to understand how humans think about health/illness in relation to history, politics, religious traditions, and philosophy. Medical humanities scholars contribute to medical education by helping students develop their capacity for reflection, meaning the process of engaging in critical, exploratory, and iterative interactions with oneʼs thoughts and actions. By encouraging medical students to use narrative or other artistic tools to express their experiences and feelings, medical humanities educators help students develop their ability to listen, interpret, and communicate. They also foster studentsʼ understanding of ethical issues.

The medical/health humanities is a diverse academic arena, encompassing many types of research projects. For the purposes of this chapter, it is useful to divide medical/health humanities research into three categories: Historical, Narrative, and Ethical.

Historical Research Humanities scholars o en do not work directly with healthcare systems or patients; instead, they study ideas, texts, and artifacts. Many of these scholars ask questions about the historical aspects of human health. They may investigate historical accounts of particular illnesses (e.g., the yellow fever epidemic of 1793), medical practices and technologies (e.g., the invention of forceps), or medical treatments (e.g., pharmaceuticals). Medical historians compile evidence from primary sources, such as letters, lab notebooks, and archaeological findings, to construct accounts of past events (see

Figure 1-6.7).

Figure 1-6.7. An example of historical health research

Narrative Research In addition to studying historical figures and events, medical/health humanities scholars o en analyze narrative representations of illness and disability. These scholars ask questions about how patients and healthcare providers use narrative techniques to capture their

personal experiences or those they have witnessed. For example, literary scholars may study language about pain in popular novels, or they might analyze how time is represented in graphic memoirs about dementia (see Figure 1-6.8).

Figure 1-6.8. An example of narrative research

Thinking about stories is essential to a medical approach called narrative medicine. According to physician and literary scholar Rita

Charon, narrative medicine entails “recognizing, absorbing, interpreting, and being moved by the stories of illness”. Narrative medicine uses the method of close reading to teach physicians to focus on details and aesthetics when caring for patients. Narrative medicine scholars argue that “health care professionals can become more attentive to patients, more attuned to patientsʼ experiences, more reflective in their own practice, and more accurate in interpreting the stories patients tell of illness” by developing narrative competencies (Charon 107).

Ethical Research Finally, medical/health humanities scholars are deeply invested in analyzing the moral and ethical dimensions of health and healthcare. These scholars ask questions about the philosophical basis of medical practices and the normative power of disease definitions. Additionally, these scholars may use moral and/or philosophical frameworks to analyze complex situations and offer recommendations to guide medical decision-making (see Figure 1-

6.9).

Figure 1-6.9. An example of ethical research

Medical/Health Humanities Research at UNC Scholars engaged in medical/health humanities research o en work in humanities departments, such as English and Comparative

Literature, Religious Studies, and Philosophy. At UNC, some medical/health humanities scholars are affiliated with the UNC Center for Bioethics or Social Medicine Department. Additionally, many of these scholars are connected to HHIVE (Health and Humanities: An Interdisciplinary Venue for Exploration). Through the HHIVE, undergraduates can volunteer, assist with research projects, or contribute to the Health Humanities Journal.

For more about research approaches and methods in the Humanities, please review Part 1, Chapter 3.

Locating Evidence Health and medical researchers draw from a number of different disciplines to find appropriate evidence. Below is a list of useful databases to which the UNC Libraries subscribe. TYPE OF RESEARCH

DATABASE NAME

USEFUL FOR

ONE-STOP SHOPS

PubMed

Research articles, literature reviews, and commentary across multiple health and medical fields, but especially medical sciences.

CINAHL

Research articles, literature reviews, and commentary across nursing and allied health fields.

Cochrane Library

Authoritative reviews of the best available empirical evidence for a given research question; a great way to

OVERVIEWS, NEWS, AND SUMMARIES

gather background information and get an overview of a topic.

REFERENCE TOOLS

Science Daily

News about recent research studies. O en provides overviews of studies reported in journal articles that can help you interpret the original journal article it cites.

CQ Researcher

Policy-oriented overviews of health topics. Use the works cited as a starting point for your own research.

STAT!Ref

Reference information, such as Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. Keep this handy to look up medical terms you don’t know.

CDC

Federal guidelines, general information about diseases.

As you learned above, health and medical researchers conduct many different types of research projects. Therefore, novice health/medical researchers must learn how to distinguish between the various types of research, and they must learn how to evaluate the quality and impact of different findings. Letʼs start with a relatively simple distinction: Primary versus Secondary Research. Primary research involves collecting new data or analyzing new evidence about a particular subject. Alternatively, secondary research evaluates and synthesizes previously collected data. TYPES OF PRIMARY RESEARCH IN HEALTH AND MEDICINE Basic

Medical scientists study the fundamental structures of life by conducting

Science

laboratory research.

Clinical

Experiments conducted on human participants to answer specific questions

Trials

about medicine and behavior.

Pilot Study

A preliminary study designed to assess feasibility. Researchers conduct a pilot study as a “trial run,” which allows them to ensure the safety of a study, recruitment potential, and logistical feasibility before launching a larger, fullscale study.

TYPES OF PRIMARY RESEARCH IN HEALTH AND MEDICINE Case Study

A case study examines a single subject (i.e., person, place, event, phenomenon, etc.) in order to extrapolate key themes and results that may help predict future trends, illuminate previously hidden issues, or clarify an important research problem.

TYPES OF SECONDARY RESEARCH IN HEALTH AND MEDICINE Meta-

Researchers compile data from published research. Meta-analysis is a formal,

analysis

quantitative method used to systematically derive conclusions from previous studies.

Systematic

Researchers develop a detailed plan and search strategy for identifying,

Review

evaluating, and synthesizing all relevant studies on a particular topic.

Evaluating Sources A er you determine whether a source is presenting primary or secondary research, you should evaluate the study design, results, and generalizability of the study.

Study Design

First, consider whether the method of the study was appropriate for the research question. For instance, a self-report study of the weightloss effects of eliminating gluten might be less appropriate than a clinical study in which a control group and a study group eliminated gluten and a health researcher measured the effects. Also, identify any limitations in the study. For example, you should consider how the researchers controlled the variables in their study (i.e., Did they use a placebo or control group?).

Results Next, look at the outcomes of the study. Are the results “diseaseoriented” or “patient-oriented?” “Disease-oriented evidence” refers to changes in physiology, such as blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. These measures are important, but in some situations it is more relevant to look for outcomes that are “patient-oriented” because they directly affect patientsʼ lives. Such outcomes include morbidity, mortality, and cost.

Generalizability Finally, assess the participant group. Who was being studied? If a particular study only included healthy men ages 25–40, the results might not be applicable to other populations (e.g., women, children, the elderly, etc.). Also, how many people participated in the study? The “power” of a study (i.e., its generalizability) increases when there

are more participants/samples. For more about primary and secondary sources and how to evaluate them, see Part 2, Chapter 2.

OUTCOME 3: READING HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH STRATEGICALLY In order to read health and medical research strategically, you will need to develop your research assessment skills and become familiar with medical vocabulary.

Reading Critically When reading health and medical research, start by considering the audience. Who is the target audience for the document—health researchers? Practitioners? Public audiences? What is its purpose—to inform, to persuade, to evaluate? Who authored the information, and are they an authoritative and credible source? When it comes to health, especially, readers can encounter many different sources of information, ranging from the CDC or the United States Surgeon General to materials that pose as authoritative but are actually trying to sell readers on a product or theory. In other cases, research may seem authoritative but is actually funded by an industry with a vested interest in the results, as in soda company funded studies that assert so. drinks are not bad for you. Sometimes, these materials can even pose as authoritative by borrowing the layout, terminology, and features of medical journal articles. While using

only sources available through UNC databases provides one check on these tendencies, you should still read critically by evaluating the strength of the evidence provided for each claim and considering potential sources of bias.

Reading with Genre Awareness Like researchers in the natural and social sciences, health science researchers value methods and data. The genres used in health and medical fields tend to emphasize how the data were gathered, what the results were, and why they are significant for researchers or practitioners. Here are the types of questions that you should keep in mind when reading any health science texts: Genre What genre is this? Who is the intended audience? How is it organized? Methods What evidence does the author use to support the argument? Does the author use qualitative or quantitative methods?

If the methods are experimental, was it a blind or double-blind, randomized study? Was there a placebo or control group? Why did the researcher decide to use those specific methods? Was the researcher relying on existing scholarly sources when choosing those methods? Did the researcher pay attention to sample size and representation when choosing research subjects? Argument What other rhetorical conventions is the author using to convince readers? What other sources does the author cite? How do these additional sources support the authorʼs argument? Results and Discussion How did the researcher analyze the results? How did the researcher present the results? Did the researcher draw on other scholarly work to discuss the significance of the data? Is that other scholarly work relevant (i.e., related by topic or method, not outdated)? Does the researcher make appropriate claims based on the research method and results? Most scholarly health science genres will include a general introduction, review of literature, description of methods used to acquire data, explanation of the results of the data, discussion of the

significance of the data, and conclusion discussing the larger implications of the findings for researchers or health practitioners.

Dealing with Medical Vocabulary Medical practitioners use a special lexicon. Medical terminology and abbreviations help healthcare providers communicate with each other by standardizing communication and facilitating documentation. Consider the example of a note from a patient chart in Figure 1-6.10:

Figure 1-6.10. Sample chart note

Donʼt worry if this note does not make any sense to you! It takes years for new physicians and nurses to learn this special vocabulary. You can refer to a medical dictionary, such as Stedmanʼs Medical Dictionary (available through STAT!Ref at UNC libraries), for help understanding key terms. The list below provides a key for the abbreviations in the example. ABBREVIATIONS

BG—“Blood Glucose” ED—“Emergency Department” DKA—“Diabetic Ketoacidosis” H/o—“History of” ICU—“Intensive Care Unit” IDDM—“Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus” (or Type 1 Diabetes) U/a—“Urine analysis”

In addition to using abbreviations when writing notes, practitioners learn to use special medical terminology, which was created using prefixes and suffixes from Latin and Ancient Greek. The chart below offers a few examples of commonly used prefixes and suffixes.

PREFIXES

SUFFIXES

Brachi o—Pertaining to the arm

algia—Pain-related terms

e.g., “Brachioradialis”

e.g., “Neuralgia”

Cyto—Pertaining to cells

dypsia—Thirst-related terms

e.g., “Cytopathy”

e.g., “Polydypsia”

Derm o—Pertaining to skin

emia—Blood-related terms

e.g., “Dermatitis”

e.g., “Leukemia”

Encephal o—Pertaining to the brain

itis—Inflammation-related terms

e.g., “Encephalalgia”

e.g., “Tendonitis”

Gastr o—Pertaining to the stomach

lysis—Breakdown or disintegration

e.g., “Gastrolysis”

e.g., “Paralysis”

Poly—Much or many

opathy—Disease or damage

e.g., “Polyuria”

e.g., “Cardiomyopathy”

Tachy—Swi or rapid

pnea—Breathing-related terms

e.g., “Tachycardia”

e.g., “Apnea”

This medical vocabulary is useful for interprofessional communication, such jargon is not effective in other situations. In fact, research shows that patients frequently misunderstand medical terminology. However, it can be difficult for healthcare providers to “translate” medical terms into plain English. So, while it is important to become familiar with medical vocabulary, you should keep in mind that this technical lingo may be gibberish to some audiences. Read more about responding to specific audience needs in Part 2, Chapter

1. To get a better idea of how Health Sciences articles work, examine the annotated sample article below.  

 

EXERCISE 1-6C: HEALTH SCIENCE GENRE ANALYSIS

OUTCOME 4: WRITING ABOUT HEALTH AND/OR MEDICINE Ethics refers to values or principles used to guide action, and it is important to understand key ethical issues when communicating about health and medicine. Ethics are important in research, in patient-provider interactions, and when engaging with the public.

Conflicts of Interest Medical scientific research requires substantial financial support. While there are some funds available through the US government (e.g., The National Institutes of Health) and private philanthropic organizations (e.g., The Gates Foundation), private companies are a major source of funding. Companies fund pharmaceutical and biotechnology research in hopes of developing products they can sell. As a result, there is potential for “conflicts of interest.” In other words, there may be a financial incentive for researchers to arrive at particular conclusions. A conflict of interest may lead to bias, or researchers may feel pressure to fabricate, exaggerate, or otherwise alter research. As a result, researchers are required to disclose any individual and institutional financial relationships that might produce conflicts of interest.

Informed Consent Research studies that involve human participants are subject to a variety of legal and ethical requirements because participants are o en in a vulnerable position. When human subjects are involved, participants must give a declaration of consent or “informed consent.” Patients must also give informed consent before surgical procedures or other interventions. Patients have the right to decide what happens to their bodies, and their decisions cannot be coerced in any way. In order to be considered ethical, the participantsʼ or patientsʼ decisions must be informed, meaning they are sufficiently knowledgeable about potential risks and potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed. Also, patients must clearly and decisively give authorization for the researcher or doctor to act. Thus, medical researchers and practitioners must communicate relevant information accurately and in language that participants/patients can understand in order for them to give informed consent.

Medical Ethics Newly minted physicians take an oath (called the “Hippocratic Oath”) to uphold specific ethical standards, such as preserving patientsʼ privacy. There are four key principles in medical ethics: autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence. Autonomy means that patients should be fully informed about risks and benefits of all procedures and that patients should never be coerced into a decision.

Justice requires that physicians and other healthcare providers not allow bias or prejudice to influence the care they provide to patients. Beneficence means that providers should always have the intent of doing good for the patient. Lastly, non-maleficence is another way of saying “do no harm,” a key tenent of the Hippocratic Oath. There are a number of ways that these principles apply to patientprovider communication. For example, medical ethicists argue that physicians should strive to understand patientsʼ needs and interests as well as their family relationships and resources. Communicating with patients about their lives (not just their bodies) can help physicians respect patientsʼ autonomy and discern the most beneficial course of treatment for each unique patient.

Ethics of Popular Health Journalism The first step in communicating a new health or medical finding to a popular audience is to scrutinize the research. Be particularly weary about promoting underpowered studies. While important and profound insights can be derived from an N=1 (i.e., a one study subject), it is considered unethical to promote small studies to the general public. Two consequences of low statistical power are (1) the likelihood of overestimating effect and (2) the low reproducibility of results. Thus, it is unethical to advertise low-power results to the public because it is impossible to accurately determine if the results

will be replicable. Within the scientific community, low-power research is regarded cautiously until confirmed by more research. Keep the following tips in mind when communicating the research findings and assessing popular health articles: Relate the quality of evidence and the generalizability of results Hypothetical Scenario: A major news outlet publishes a story about a new at-home DNA testing kit. As you read the story, you notice that it references a press release from the company, but does not discuss research about the test. Upon review, you discover that the company has conducted a small pilot study (with 50 participants), but has not published the results in a peerreviewed journal. You determine that the news story does not accurately represent the quality of the evidence. Acknowledge limitations of the study Hypothetical Scenario: You are an editor for a popular health magazine, and you need to review an article titled “Experimental Drug Reduces Tumors in 75% of Participants.” As part of your assessment, you review the original research article and discover that this story is reporting on a Phase I trial of a new drug. However, the news story does not tell readers that the Phase I trial was conducted primarily to assess the safest dose for patients. Also, the story fails to acknowledge that the trial is too small and preliminary to make any big claims about the drugʼs effectiveness.

Identify conflicts of interest Hypothetical Scenario: A study reports that a new brand of highprotein chocolate bars has been found to reduce injuries among high school athletes. As you read this study, you should ask yourself: Who stands to benefit from this study? What is the relationship among the researchers, the lab/university, and the company that manufactures this chocolate bar? If there is a financial incentive for the researchers to find certain results or if the relationship is not discussed, you should be concerned about the potential for conflict of interest. Report the cost of any interventions Hypothetical Scenario: A popular news outlet reports that laser eye treatment can cure migraines. As you analyze this story, you should take note of whether the story adequately discusses the costs of the intervention. Will it be covered by major insurance providers? Are there other expenses that should be considered? In this case, imagine if the procedure costs thousands of dollars out of pocket (i.e., it is not covered by insurance) and patients are required to buy expensive prescription sunglasses a er the procedure. For some patients, the expense may not be a burden; however, the ethics of health journalism promote upfront transparency about costs. Avoid sensational language Hypothetical Scenario: A headline reads, “Hope Restored: Breakthrough Study Finds Miracle Cure for Victims of Cancer.” This is pure sensationalism, meaning it uses strong, emotional language (at the expense of accuracy) to provoke public interest.

This headline plays on readersʼ emotions by talking about “victims” and promising “hope.” Donʼt follow this example! Health journalists should avoid labeling someone with a disease or a health condition a “victim” and allow consumers to decide how much “hope” to assign to a study/finding. Also, this headline is likely distorting the success of the study by calling it a “breakthrough” “miracle cure.” Keep in mind that true medical “breakthroughs” are measured in years: years of study leading up to the innovation and years of research a erward to confirm it. Also, medical science is not supernatural. Highly trained professionals conduct precisely designed studies that lead to medical advances. Finally, “cure” is a loaded and ill-defined term. Does it mean absence of disease? Does it mean no recurrence of symptoms? Does it mean that patient is “cured” for today, a month, 5 years, or “forever”? Be precise when reporting anticipated outcomes.

Diverse Genres for Diverse Audiences Medical researchers and healthcare professionals write o en in many and diverse genres. They write project proposals and IRB applications; they compose informed consent forms and recruitment materials; they share their findings with other specialists and popular audiences. In addition to employing various genres of writing, health and medicine experts work within and across multiple disciplines. For instance, healthcare providers may use medical science research to determine a diagnosis while also drawing on social health science

findings to understand patientsʼ cultural contexts and employing medical/health humanities tools to reflect on morally complex situations. Also, to effectively care for the sick and injured takes a team of researchers and professionals—including medical scientists, physicians, surgeons, pharmacists, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, chaplains, and social workers. Furthermore, supporting the health and well-being of individuals and communities requires cooperation among many groups, such as public health experts, policy makers, and spiritual/religious communities. In practice, healthcare is a multidisciplinary and collaborative project—and writing is one of its essential components.

EXERCISE 1-6D: ETHICS IN HEALTH SCIENCE WRITING

PART 2

FROM PLANNING TO PUBLICATION

2-1

UNDERSTANDING RHETORICAL KNOWLEDGE THROUGH GENRE AWARENESS

In 2018, the City of Raleigh shared a first dra. of the Master Plan for Dorothea Dix Park, a plot of over 300 acres in the heart of the city that was formerly the site of the North Carolina State Insane Asylum, popularly known as Dorothea Dix Hospital. As part of the master

planning process, researchers at UNCʼs Community Histories

Workshop were asked to study the history of the site and propose how the new park development could commemorate that history. Before becoming the site of Dix Hospital, the land in question was a plantation and, before that, hunting grounds for indigenous Clovis, Woodland, and Mississippian peoples. The Community Histories Workshop approached students in ENGL 695: Research Methods and Practices, to get involved in this historical research and consider how they might share their findings with public audiences.

Figure 2-1.1. Dorothea Dix Park, with the Raleigh skyline in the background

In this chapter, we will use this example to examine the rhetorical situations we encounter when we compose, the different genres we may produce based on our research, the different discourse communities (academic and public) that we encounter, and the opportunities and constraints writers face in each unique situation. Here, you will see how students in ENGL 695 responded to a rhetorical situation to produce different genres that addressed the needs of different audiences, or discourse communities, that have a stake in the history and present use of Dix Park.

Key Terms Genre: A typified response to a recurrent rhetorical situation Audience: The group of people a writer seeks to address Rhetorical situation: The complex of factors writers respond to with any composition. Definitions of rhetorical situation usually include the following elements: genre, audience, role, purpose, and situation Discourse community: The specialized groups of individuals who share a specialized topic or area of study Sites of social action: Conventionalized ways of performing certain tasks or accomplishing certain goals Role: The writerʼs standpoint and the set of commitments or values that come with it Purpose: The authorʼs intention in speaking and writing: the main goal the writer seeks to accomplish with a given document

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Identify a work’s rhetorical situation. 2 Locate and analyze examples of specific genres 3. Understand how genres work within discourse communities. 4 Recognize genres as sites of social action 5. Recognize rhetorical options within a rhetorical situation.

OUTCOME 1: IDENTIFYING THE RHETORICAL SITUATION When students in ENGL 695 first learned about the Dix Park project, they listened to a presentation from Dr. Bobby Allen, director of the Community Histories Workshop, who provided some background about the project. The City of Raleigh, he told students, had hired an architectural firm to create a Master Plan for Dix Park with a heavy focus on recreation and community involvement: the vision is for Dix Park to become for citizens of Raleigh what Central Park is to New Yorkers. Yet, planners also wanted to recognize that the land in question has been used in different ways over time. For this class, the task was to focus on its history as a state psychiatric hospital and to consider how to share that history with the public groups who would be visiting Dix Park. Dr. Allen was putting together a website for this project, and he asked students to begin their work by composing blog posts about individual people who had lived as patients at Dix Hospital during the period from 1860–1870. By providing this background information, Dr. Allen was outlining the rhetorical situation that prompted the project. In rhetorical theory, rhetorical situation refers to the complex of factors writers respond to with any composition. Definitions of rhetorical situation usually include the following elements: genre, audience, role, purpose, and situation.

Genre The term genre refers to a typified response to a recurrent rhetorical situation (Miller, 159). From this perspective, genres are not just types of documents or templates, but also forms that are recognizable because they occur and reoccur as regularized ways of addressing certain types of situations. For instance, if you are applying for a job, you will likely submit a cover letter and resume, two genres that are typified responses to the recurrent rhetorical situation of needing to show oneʼs qualifications for a position. We might also understand genres as a mode of recognition (Gitelman, 2). If you see a resume, you can instantly recognize it as an instance of that genre because it shares certain common features, such as bold headings, bulleted lists, and a name at the top (see Part 1, Chapter 4, for more information on

resume conventions). The genre of a blog post emerged as a way for people writing online to share information and ideas more quickly and easily than in traditional websites (which were clunky and more difficult to update). Blogs could be updated on the fly and tended to be organized in reverse chronological order, with the most recent posts appearing first. Unlike a static web page, which generally featured the same content over time, a blog was meant to provide frequent, updated content. While many individual writers host their own personal sites that feature a blog—with content ranging from personal, diary-like entries to more informative pieces—the genre of the blog post also spread to news and magazine sites, recipe sites and sites hosted by

researchers or universities. At UNC, for instance, there are blogs hosted by the Masterʼs of Public Information program, and the Kenan-

Flagler Business School. Among historians, blogs have become a popular way to document history projects for popular audiences.

Audience The term audience refers to whoever may be reading (or listening to or viewing) a composition. Typically, we may have a real audience in mind for most of our writing, whether that audience may be classmates, other students at the university, or researchers in an academic field. Yet, rhetorical theorists show that writers may also imagine or even constitute (i.e., call into play) an audience in their writing by their choice of words, appeals, or arguments. In the case of the Dix project, Dr. Allen described actual people, such as visitors to the site, who might read about the history of the hospital. In addition, though, those creating a history of the hospital could also be said to be constituting an audience of people interested in that history. Consider this website put together by the planners for Dix Park. Through the choice of images, the website helps to constitute an imagined audience people who are diverse, family oriented, and community minded. Viewers of the site are impelled to imagine themselves as part of that group who is forward thinking enough to support a multi million dollar park project aimed at increasing opportunities for arts and recreation in Raleigh.

EXERCISE 2-1A: AUDIENCE EXPECTATIONS

Purpose Purpose can refer to the authorʼs intention in speaking and writing: the main goal the writer seeks to accomplish with a given document. Some purposes are clearly tied to some genres: if you want to evaluate something, for instance, you o en write a review (such as a book review or performance review). If you want to inform people, you might write an article, book, encyclopedia entry, or web page. We may think of purposes as being singular—to inform, to entertain, to persuade, and so on; however, in many situations we may have more than one purpose. For instance, the goal of the Dorothea Dix blog posts may be primarily informative, but writers may also want to entertain readers (or at least not to bore them) by providing intriguing details that will keep them interested.

Role In any writing context, the writer (or speaker) is writing from the standpoint of a particular, socially recognized role. This role could be

student, journalist, researcher, politician, citizen, or parent. O en, the range of genres available to writers depends upon their role. For instance, to publish in a scholarly journal, you must usually be a researcher—such as a professor or graduate student—in a particular field. Only people with specific types of training and knowledge are assumed to be suitable writers for academic journals. Similarly, petitions are typically written from the role of citizens of a country. The role of “citizen” grants its members the right to petition the government, and typically that role is invoked in the text of the petition itself. The role assumed in a writing task carries with it a standpoint, a set of commitments or values that come with that role. Writers of petitions to the US government, for instance, may invoke shared community standards, such as equality or justice. They might use certain kinds of language that are suitable for that role. Meanwhile, a researcher writing in their role as “molecular biologist” might favor precise, quantitative, or descriptive language and avoid offering overt opinions about a topic. That same researcher, though, might offer passionate, rhetorical flourishes when writing in the role of citizen in an op-ed. In the case of the Dorothea Dix project, students would be writing their blog posts from the perspective of student researchers. This meant that, like other researchers, their goal was to place the emphasis on their findings, with examples from source documents, to show what they could find out about patients at Dix Hospital. The goal

was not to offer personal opinions about state asylums or emotional appeals regarding the correctness or incorrectness of institutionalization, even though these might all be valid stances to take while writing from a different role.

Rhetorical Situation As described above, rhetorical situation refers to the contextual factors that prompt a rhetorical response. In the case of the Dix Park project, these factors included the development of the master plan for the park, the desire of the developers to acknowledge the siteʼs history, and the fact that the Community Histories Workshop was given a grant to pursue that research. All of these factors gave the ENGL 695 class a concrete exigence to address with their research. An exigence is, in the words of Lloyd Bitzer, an “imperfection marked by urgency” (6). Here, the “imperfection” is the fact that the proposed park plan did not currently have a concrete way of addressing the history of the Dix Park site, and the urgency lies in the fact that the proposed plan was already under way with a goal of beginning construction on the site within a few years.

Rhetorical Charts As a class, ENGL 695 students began a rhetorical chart (Figure 2-1.2)

to help them think through the rhetorical situation for their project:

who was the audience? What would be the purpose for our projects? And what roles would students be playing as researchers?

Figure 2-1.2. Student-designed rhetorical chart

Once students worked through each aspect of the rhetorical chart, they had a better sense of the goals of our project. The students knew that they would be writing for a public audience of visitors to the website and that these visitors would likely be interested in coming to Dix Park or knowing more about it. The students also knew that their purpose was primarily to inform the website readers about the history of the site, and they knew that their role would be “student historian,” so they would be working primarily with the tools and methods that historians like Dr. Allen use to conduct this type of research. In your ENGL 105/105i courses, you will be given a rhetorical chart for each assignment, and that chart will look much like the one above. The rhetorical chart serves as a “graphic organizer” or “mental

gripper” to help you see, at a glance, what your task is for a given assignment. You can use the rhetorical chart at the beginning of an assignment to help you get a grasp on the task in front of you, but you can also return to the rhetorical chart throughout your writing process: as a check during peer review or revision, for instance. As you are working on a project, you might ask yourself the following questions: What genre am I writing? Does my dra fit the general expectations for that genre? Who is my audience? Is my writing suitable for that audience? What is my purpose? (For example: to inform? To persuade? To entertain?) Is my composition addressing that purpose? (For instance, in a primarily informative genre, you might avoid explicit persuasive appeals, and in a genre that is primarily meant to entertain you might avoid excess information). What is my role? How can I make sure my writing (content, style, and so on) are suitable for what someone in that role would write? What is the rhetorical situation? Is my document going to be effective in addressing that rhetorical situation? Think of the rhetorical chart as a useful planner and heuristic, or guide, to help you stay on track.

OUTCOME 2: LOCATING AND ANALYZING EXAMPLES OF SPECIFIC GENRES Once students in ENGL 695 had figured out the rhetorical chart for their assignment, they began conducting research on individual patients listed on a ledger found in the State Archives in Raleigh. They used UNC Libraries databases to find historical records such as census information, newspaper articles, and military papers for patients who had lived at Dix. Sometimes they reached a dead end, finding little information about a given person. With some tenacity and luck, though, each student found enough information about at least one person on their list to begin composing a blog post about them. With raw materials in hand, they were ready to begin dra ing a post. First, though, students needed to know what kind of blog post they were going to write. Thankfully, Dr. Allen had already posted some examples of blog posts for individuals he had researched. Students examined the blog posts in class and discussed what they generally included and how they were written. Together, they came up with a list of criteria and features for their blog posts, as shown in Figure 2-

1.3.

Figure 2-1.3. Notes on a genre analysis for blog posts about patients at Dix Hospital

Students decided that they would all follow roughly the same guidelines, but recognized that the individual stories they were trying to tell might lead to some different ways of approaching the blog post.

When you get an assignment in ENGL 105/105i (or any course, for that matter), looking up examples of the genre is an important step to help you get started. By looking at examples, you can see whatʼs typically included, how the genre is usually organized, and what type of writing style is used. Each genre assumes a set of common features that are more or less stable across instances of that genre, although variations also happen. Looking at multiple examples will help you to get a sense of which features are most stable and which ones vary. These examples might also help you to imagine the possibilities for your own assignment.

Finding Examples To find examples of a genre, the easiest strategy is to start with a simple web search. When searching, though, try to find examples that are as close as possible to your rhetorical situation. For instance, if you are writing a grant proposal for an undergraduate research award, try going first to the website for that award to see if examples are provided. If not, you might search for “undergraduate grant proposal example” or even search for the name of the award in question, rather than searching for just “grant proposal.” If you are having trouble, you can always ask your instructor for help. Another pro tip is to ask someone who has recently written the same genre for a similar purpose. For instance, if you were working on a fellowship application you might ask around to see if anyone else you

know applied for the same fellowship last year. The goal is obviously not to copy that personʼs application, but to use the kind of questions shown here to figure out how to write that type of application. Once you find examples of a genre, you can use the following questions as a heuristic: Design: How is the document laid out? Are images included? What kinds? What kinds of headings or subheadings are used? Is it laid out single-spaced or double-spaced? Are there columns? Organization: How is the document organized? Are there standard sections given (as in a resume or scientific research article), or do the sections seem to vary? How are parts or sections organized? (for instance, chronologically? In order of importance?) Content: What goes into each section of the genre? Does the genre tend to draw on specific types of evidence or research? How is that information integrated (through quotations? Paraphrase? Summary?) Citation: Is information cited in the document? What citation style is used? If not, how are the sources of information flagged (or are they provided at all?) Style: What type of writing style is used? Is it very formal? Informal? Or somewhere in between? How technical is the language? What kinds of sentences are used? Variation: How stable or standardized does the genre seem to be? How much variation do you see between examples, or very little?

What does that tell you about the rhetorical choices available to you as the writer? Whenever you are looking at examples for a new assignment, using these questions can help you to get a deeper grasp on the genre you are writing and what its features seem to be. You can also get a sense of where you have room to innovate or where you might have to stick with more standard conventions in order to produce a document that is recognizable as an example of that genre.

EXERCISE 2-1B: SWITCHING GENRES

OUTCOME 3: UNDERSTANDING HOW GENRES WORK WITHIN DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES In academic writing, genres form part of the toolset or repertoire for discourse communities, or the specialized groups of individuals who share a specialized topic or area of study. Linguist John Swales describes discourse communities as possessing: A shared set of common goals. Means of communication among members. Ways to provide information and feedback to members. One or more shared genres used to communicate. Specific language and terminology used in that community. Enough qualified members to make up a stable group (21 32). When you take a course with a professor or graduate student at UNC, you are studying with someone who is a member of one or more academic discourse communities. As participants in the Dorothea Dix project, ENGL 695 students were working with scholars in the discourse community of American Studies. Dr. Allen studies American cultural history. As a researcher in that field, he writes articles and books meant for scholars in that field. Increasingly, though, his research includes digital projects that are meant to engage public audiences in the history of North Carolina. As student researchers, ENGL 695 class members were

engaging in the discourse community that might be called “public history” or “public humanities.” As they learned more about that field, students began to understand that for public historians, the goal is not just to write to other historians using language internal to the discourse community. Instead, researchers in that field produce genres written for public audiences: interested readers who are not themselves researchers or academics. To address those audiences, public historians may create websites, produce blog posts and articles, create interactive timelines, or develop video documentaries. You can see some examples of that type of work at the Community Histories Workshopʼs Rocky Mount

Mills Project website. The blog posts ENGL 695 students worked on formed part of this type of public history. As a class, ENGL 695 students determined that the content of their blog posts would be driven by the kind of research cultural historians do: combing through archival documents, looking for secondary information to supplement an interpretation, and then creating an historical narrative based on available facts. However, because they were not writing to other historians but rather to public audiences, they knew they would have to make those narratives appealing and engaging for non-specialists. Students used this insight to help them develop dra. s that did not read like academic research articles, per se. They considered what terms their audience would know and not know. One example of a less familiar term was “religious excitement,” a term used in the nineteenth century to

describe the idea that religious fervor could lead people to insanity. Rather than using academic citations, they included informal citations or hyperlinks to lead readers directly to a source defining this term. When considering the discourse community you are writing for, then, you can consider the following questions: What discourse community am I representing as a writer in this case? (For instance, am I writing as a student researcher in microbiology? In literary studies?) How can I embody the values, research methods, and principles of that field in my writing? (see Part 1 for more information about writing in specific fields/disciplines). Am I writing to other members of my discourse community (fellow researchers) or to another audience? If it is the former, how can I signal that I too am a member of this community? If it is the latter, how can I make my research accessible to readers who are not experts? What genres are typically used by researchers in my discourse community? What genre best suits my purposes and the typical values of that community?

EXERCISE 2-1C: BLOG POST GENRE ANALYSIS

OUTCOME 4: RECOGNIZING GENRES AS SITES OF SOCIAL ACTION Up until now, it may seem that genres exist “out there,” as empty forms or templates ready to be filled. A richer perspective on genre, though, suggests that genres are sites of social action: conventionalized ways of performing certain tasks or accomplishing certain goals. Consider a resume. A resume can be understood as a form or template—in fact, your word processing program probably includes several templates that you can use to create one. From a deeper perspective, though, a resume is a way of accomplishing the task of getting a job. That is the social action it performs. We have resumes because, over time, the way that you get a job in our society has stabilized so that it involves a ritualized performance of certain genres: the cover letter, the resume, the job interview, the offer letter. As you can see, genres tend to fit together in groups or sets that, together, do the work of organizations or discourse communities. To give a few other examples, consider: How do you get a passport? → Fill out a passport application. How do you get your money back for a faulty Internet purchase? → Write a complaint letter to customer service (or complain orally over the phone).

How do you get an internship? → Fill out an application and write an application essay or personal statement. If you go to work for a new company, you will likely find that it shares its own set of genres used to perform regular activities: memos, emails, reports, proposals, forms, and so on. Part of learning the job is learning which genre to use when and how to write it. A genre is more than a form, then; rather, it is a conventionalized way of getting a job done, part of a ritual or set of activities performed in a given organization. In academic research, genres work in a similar way, offering ritualized ways for researchers to conduct research, share the results, and get funding to do more research. Increasingly, with an emphasis on “engaged research” that addresses public audiences, researchers must blend their traditional academic research (with its unique genres read primarily by other scholars) with projects that address outside audiences. Another way of understanding genres as social action, though, is to think about how you can use genres to do work you think is important. Consider the Dorothea Dix project as a whole. If you go to the website for the Dix organization, you will see a page listing the Master Plan as the primary genre that is currently in the works. But you will also see a range of other genres listed: FAQs, an executive summary, a glossary of terms used, City Council presentations, past meeting minutes and reports. Most of these documents focus on the

future of Dix Park: they offer a shining vision of a vibrant, colorful, and engaging space for people to have fun and enjoy the outdoors. Overall, the history of Dix Park is granted less emphasis. The blog posts students composed may seem like a small part of this slew of genres, but they constitute one way that the Master Planning committee could recognize the history of the Dix site. The explicit goal of the blog posts may have been to narrate the history of one individual who lived at the Hospital, but the larger social action the blog posts could perform would be to shine light on the unsung people who lived and worked on the site, especially people with mental illness who are o. en unrecognized and forgotten. So, when preparing to write in any genre, it can be helpful to answer the following questions: What social actions does the genre I am writing perform? In other words, what does that genre do in the world? How does my genre form part of a genre set? How do the different genres fit together to perform the work of an organization? How can I use genres to do something I feel is important—to make an intervention in the world?

OUTCOME 5: RECOGNIZING RHETORICAL OPTIONS WITHIN A RHETORICAL SITUATION If genres are sites for social actions, then, we can use them as more than just forms to complete. We can use genres to perform social actions we value and, therefore, to take action in the world. This involves recognizing that, while they have some shared features, genres are not monolithic: they provide a set of options or a range of possibilities for addressing a situation. The blog posts students wrote for the Dix project conveyed patientsʼ experiences differently, focusing on different elements of mental health in the period we covered. In her blog post, for instance, Emily Long used the example of Confederate soldier Nathan Rowland to highlight how limited understandings of what we would now recognize as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) meant that veterans did not get the kind of treatment they needed. Sometimes more than one genre can be a good response to a rhetorical situation. A. er they composed their blog posts, students in ENGL 695 thought about how else they could recognize the history of Dix Hospital. During their research and writing, they found a lot of information about some of the patients. In class, they discussed how sometimes, narrating another personʼs history felt strange or even somewhat unethical. As a class, they brainstormed a range of other

projects they could work on to share that history in a different way. Here are some examples: Two students, Tierra and Nicholaus, became interested in the history of Cherry Hospital, a segregated facility that opened up shortly a er the period we studied to care for African American patients. They created a website based on their research, highlighting how conditions at Cherry Hospital differed from those at Dix Hospital. Two other students, Savita and Kat, paired up to create an interactive online game that allows players to imagine what it might have been like to live at Dix Hospital. They drew on archival records and architectural plans to help users navigate through the hospital using text commands. One student, Marissa, choreographed and videotaped a dance inspired by autobiographical accounts of living in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s. Each genre opened up different methods and ways of using genres as social actions to respond to the rhetorical situation. For their project, Tierra and Nicholaus stuck with the discipline of public history. As they did in their blog posts, the pair used historical documents—such as reports and records they found at UNCʼs Wilson Library—to

generate an historical narrative of life at Cherry Hospital. But they used a different genre, a website (see Figure 2-1.4), that allowed them to provide more information organized into multiple pages, rather than a single blog post.

Figure 2-1.4. Student website about Cherry Hill Hospital

For their project (Figure 2-1.5), Kat and Savita not only switched the

genre (from a blog post to an interactive game) but also changed disciplines and research methods. Their project might be considered an example of digital humanities scholarship; however, their goal was not necessarily to provide an accurate historical record but to provide a context for imaginative inquiry. Thus, while they relied on historical documents, they gave themselves some freedom to imagine case

histories for individual patients that were based on real people but allowed for some creative liberty.

Figure 2-1.5. Text-based game designed by UNC students

Marissa also engaged more imaginatively with her sources of information, which included memoirs such as Girl, Interrupted (based on Susanna Kaysenʼs experiences at McLean Hospital in Virginia, which had a similar architectural layout to Dix Hospital). For her

project, Marissa had a unique set of rhetorical choices to make: what song to use, where to shoot the video, what to wear. In class, she discussed several possible song ideas with her group and weighed how each song conveyed a mood or message. She wanted something that portrayed the gravity of mental illness while still providing hope, so she chose settings on campus and around town that similarly balanced seriousness (such as the edge of Jordan Lake) and hope (such as Merrittʼs Pasture). For class assignments, you may be asked to write a specific genre, but you may also be given the opportunity to choose from a range of options. Or, you may wish to revise an assignment that began as one genre and consider how else you might present that information. You might even be interested in sharing your research and writing with others as part of an ePortfolio Part 2, Chapter 6, submission to an

undergraduate journal, or some other type of venue. In any rhetorical situation, then, here are some questions to consider: What genres might I use to respond to this rhetorical situation? What social actions would each genre allow me to perform? Which one(s) best fit my purpose, audience, and/or role? What would each genre allow me to do—and not do? What rhetorical choices do I have within a given genre? What constraints do I have within a given genre? Can I blend, warp, or mix genres to do something new?

2-2

THE WRITING PROCESS

Writing can be a daunting task for anyone. Sitting down to a blank page can make even the most experienced writers anxious. Sylvia Plath claimed that “everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt” (83). Whatever your writing strengths or experiences, try not to let the idea of writing overwhelm you. Even famous writers, from novelists to journalists, donʼt produce perfect first dra s. All writing, and academic writing in particular, is a process. This process involves steps that range from coming up with

ideas to ensuring that every single word fits precisely with your overall goal. This chapter will outline many of those stages as well as provide strategies that will help you maximize each stageʼs potential contribution to the best possible final product.

Key Terms Writing as a Process: University-level writing by nature requires writing in multiple stages. The audiences for your projects will now o en include highly educated or specialized readers. So, engaging this audience will require careful attention to writing choices beyond the first dra . Itʼs also important that your writing process aligns with your learning and writing styles. Topic Selection: There is more to topic selection than choosing a focus that interests you. Working to ensure your chosen or assigned topic is broad enough to understand but narrow enough to fit the required length will help you throughout the writing process. Preliminary Research: Preliminary research on your topic can aid in the prewriting process. Thinking about the data that youʼve seen—even cursory information from an articleʼs abstract, a conference proposal, or a newspaper article—could influence the themes you decide to write about in your project. Research helps writers better understand the key debates about a given topic and the opportunities that exist for further investigation/inquiry. Prewriting: Prewriting is the activity through which you organize your thoughts before writing and imagine the direction(s) your

composition can take. This chapter overviews many prewriting activities that can help you generate valuable foundational ideas for the rest of your writing process. Revision: Revision is a large-scale undertaking that requires looking at your own work through the audienceʼs eyes. The goals of revision include: meeting the audienceʼs (and the assignmentʼs) expectations, avoiding ambiguity, and creating a composition that is cohesive from beginning to end. Editing: Editing involves sentence-level review; careful attention to editing ensures that your audience does not “trip” on your language and lose focus on your argument. Proofreading: Proofreading is usually the final step of the reviewing process, and it involves making sure that your spelling, grammar, mechanics, and citations are correct. Collaborative Writing: Many writers, especially in professional settings, work together on their compositions. Similarly, in your academic career, you will collaborate with instructors and classmates in a variety of ways that will improve your writing and your ability to work effectively in a team. Too o en dreaded, “group work” is highly beneficial, not only because it provides an opportunity to engage with a small sample of your actual audience, but also because additional readers looking over your composition can provide valuable suggestions for improvement.

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Begin the writing process confidently by generating ideas. 2 Plan and outline assignments

3. Create dra s of a project that can be reviewed and strengthened. 4 Review (revise, edit, and proofread) your writing for clarity and brevity 5. Use the writing process while working collaboratively.

OUTCOME 1: GENERATING IDEAS Invention Once youʼve read an assignment, the writing process has started. Anything you do en route to choosing and researching your topic is a form of invention. Invention is the process of discovering available resources for a composition. This may include your own ideas as well as information you gather through research. Invention can include writing down ideas, talking with your peers, conducting preliminary research on your topic, dra. ing an outline, or writing an early dra . Donʼt discount any ideas at this point!

Choosing Your Topic Choosing a topic is the first concrete stage of writing. Some instructors will provide very specific topics, others leave the topic open, and others fall in the middle, letting you choose a topic within specific parameters. If you do have a choice, generate a list of possible topics, then ask yourself the following questions: Is this topic interesting to me? Is it narrow/broad enough to meet the assignmentʼs requirements? Do I have questions that need to be answered through research?

Who is my intended audience, and why would they be interested in the topic?

Narrowing Your Topic Ensuring that your topic is narrow enough is sometimes difficult, and o en itʼs actually impossible to focus your ideas without writing through them a bit. Think about your assignment as a pet horse and your topic as the fence around its pasture: if the perimeter of the fence is too small, the horse will run out of grass to eat and starve; if the perimeter of the fence is too large, it will take forever to find the horse and youʼll never get to ride it. For example, letʼs say your assignment is a five-page conference paper examining sonnets. You will probably struggle to write that much material on the first word of Shakespeareʼs Sonnet 130 because the fence around your topic would be too small. Likewise, you wouldnʼt be able to fit the entire history of the sonnet form into that length paper either, because the fence around your topic is too large. The scope of your topic will depend on the assignment type and requirements, but here are a few questions to ask yourself that will help you begin to narrow your topic before you even start writing: What about this topic interests me, or what could potentially interest me? What do I already know about the topic, and what do I need to learn more about?

How would I explain the topic to someone who had never heard of it at all? What questions do I have about the topic or the assignment that my instructor could answer in class? What information within the topic is common knowledge so I donʼt have to spend time explaining it?

Critical Questions The questions provided above are examples of journalistic questions (who, what, where, why, and how), and you can come up with others that relate to your topic. However, critical questions go a bit farther by allowing you to approach your topic from different points of view, and the way you answer each question can determine what research you still need to do and/or how you might organize your composition. Youʼll have more to say for some questions than others, but answering all of them (even the awkward ones) will help you think about a topic in new ways and make you aware of ideas youʼll need to research and questions youʼll need to answer in your composition. Try answering all of the following questions. Then, a er youʼve answered them, write a quick paragraph about what was easy to answer, what was difficult, and what type of information you would need to make the difficult questions easier to answer. Try:

Describing it. What does it look like? Sound like? Taste like? Feel like? Smell like? Defining it. What is its dictionary definition? What group of things does it belong to? What are some examples of it? What are facts or statistics about it? What is it not? Comparing and/or contrasting it. How is it similar to or different from other topics? Associating it. What else does it make you think of? What have you heard people say about it? Analyzing it. What are the topicʼs components? What are its causes? Effects? Purpose? Applying it. What use does your topic have? What makes it possible or impossible? What are the costs? Who should be concerned? Arguing for and against it. If applicable, try to take a stand for both sides of the topic regardless of your own opinion. Googling it. What comes up first? What type of sources (popular, scientific, opinion, etc.) seem to cover the subject? Are there any surprising results? What showed up that you had expected? What didnʼt show up that you expected? Why do you think that is?

Prewriting You can also continue narrowing your topic and generating ideas with prewriting. Prewriting is exactly what it sounds like: exercises/writing you complete before writing a dra . Prewriting is a way of discovering the thoughts you may have about a subject. It can also help you

condense and combine those thoughts until you have a specific concept or relationship to explore in the rest of the writing process. Prewriting will show you what you do know and—perhaps more importantly—reveal what you still donʼt know about a topic so you can make more informed decisions about how you want to proceed with your topic. Even just having a few ideas down on paper can help you avoid procrastination and gain confidence, which can ultimately lead to a more successful composition. Whether youʼre overwhelmed by new and complicated information, worried that you wonʼt understand or be understood, or just prone to last-minute writing, the following prewriting strategies should take some of the pressure off during this stage of the writing process.

Freewriting Freewriting means putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and— without stopping to revise or proofread—writing whatever words, ideas, phrases, and/or questions come to mind. To begin, find a quiet place and write the first thing that comes into your head, even if itʼs literally, “I donʼt know what Iʼm doing.” Then write the next six or seven thoughts that pop into your head. When freewriting for an academic assignment, you might add parameters, such as only writing the ideas related to your topic. Even visualizing the words that make up your topic will get you started. In the 2010 film Inception, one

character says, “Donʼt think about elephants. What are you thinking about?” and the other responds, “Elephants.” Just having a word or idea in your head is a place to start, and freewriting is a way of developing those ideas in your head and getting them on to the page. Try it out: 1. Set a timer for five minutes. 2. Start writing. It does not matter what you write, only that you 3. 4. 5.

6.

write something. Write everything that comes to your mind—donʼt filter anything. When time is up, take a two-minute break and play a game on your phone or check your social media feeds to clear your mind. Return to what you wrote and look for words, ideas, or connections that might be good places to start researching or writing more. Repeat as many times as you want or need to.

EXERCISE 2-2A: FREEWRITING

Looping Looping is a way of adding depth to your prewriting to help generate even more ideas.

Here are the main steps of looping: 1. A er your original unstructured freewrite, look for a topic or theme that sticks out to you as interesting or in need of clarification. 2. Freewrite about that particular topic for five minutes. This is your first loop. 3. Reread this topic-based freewrite and try to identify the “epicenter” or focal point of your ideas—the question, image, problem, or idea that seems the most interesting or promising (or broad if you just need something to write about next). 4. Write a sentence or two that summarizes your understanding of that thought: this sentence is the starting point for your next loop. 5. Repeat the process, freewriting for five minutes and identifying an epicenter as many times as you want or need. As you make loops, donʼt worry about what the final product will look like. Always keep in mind that looping is prewriting, not dra ing. So, allow yourself the time and space to discover and compare the ideas that show up. You will likely be able to use words, phrases, or even whole sentences from your loops in your dra , but the point at this stage is simply to get you thinking and writing.

Credo Reference Credo Reference is a UNC Libraries resource that creates mind maps of terms and topics related to your keywords. Just click on “mind

map” in the drop-down menu in the search engine bar. This strategy is especially helpful for visual learners, and the mapʼs ideas, words, and phrases are hyperlinks to other information related to your topic. For instance, imagine you are asked to think about “diversity” in different ways for an assignment on inclusivity at UNC. You could go to Credo Reference and search the word “diversity” and the following mind map (Figure 2-2.1) is populated for you:

Figure 2-2.1. Credo Reference mind map

Clustering Clustering (and its variations, which have a variety of names, including webbing and mapping) is a way of locating relationships between ideas. This strategy is especially helpful for visual learners.

Here are the main steps of clustering: 1. Write your main idea in the center of the page. Circle it. 2. Think up as many ideas as you can that relate to your main idea. As you think of them, write them on the page and circle them. 3. Draw a line connecting each one to the main idea. 4. Every time you come up with a new idea or thought that relates to one of those, write it close by the idea that inspired it, circle, and connect with a line. 5. Continue until each idea has as many related ideas connected to it that you can think of. The result should look like a web of clusters on your page. Grab a pen and letʼs work through a quick example of clustering. Imagine you have been assigned to write a film analysis for a course. 1. Write the word “Movies” in the center of the page and circle it. 2. In each of the four corners, write a type of movie (Horror, Action, Comedy, etc.) and circle each one. 3. Draw a line from the center circle to each of the four corner circles separately. Now go to each corner and write the titles of four movies that fit into the movie genre written in the corner. Circle all of them and connect them to the corner circle. When youʼre done, your clustering might look something like Figure

2-2.2:

Figure 2-2.2. Sample completed clustering

You now have the titles of sixteen separate films on the page, all of which fit under the broad category of movies as well as within a specific sub-category (genre). You could then begin your film analysis by considering which genre of film (such as horror or action) most interests you and which of the films in that category seems most interesting for a film analysis. You can apply this clustering model to any topic of your choosing. It will help you narrow down broad concepts into more accessible, manageable topics. And remember, you can always come back and add more or narrow the ideas further as needed.

Preliminary Research ENGL 105/105i writing assignments will ask you to write in real-world genres—such as a film review or a scientific conference paper—that are inherently research-based. In the prewriting stage of the writing process, it can be very beneficial to begin with preliminary research on your topic. Your instructor will likely even encourage this preliminary research. Preliminary research helps you to increase your familiarity with your topic, develop your main research question(s), and navigate toward the dra ing phase of the writing process. A cursory glance at what information already exists and what research has already been done could help to hone in your ideas about your topic during the prewriting stage and thus help alleviate some of the stress that comes with writing about a new topic. As you work though the results of your initial research, begin to narrow your topic by asking opened-ended “how” and “why” questions, such as the critical questions listed above. As you si through information, create a list of your findings and look for the following characteristics: Patterns: Are there patterns in the data? Do researchers use common examples or statistics, such as data from governmental and educational organizations? Is there a common blueprint researchers use when conducting research on topics similar to yours? Does the data contain information from primary or secondary sources or both? Inconsistencies: What inconsistencies do you notice across the information youʼve encountered? What do these inconsistencies

suggest about gaps within the research? What are some issues these inconsistencies raise about your topic? Themes: What are the common themes you see in the data? What keywords or phrases do you see across the research? How are these themes discussed in relation to your topic?

Developing a Research Question Once you have a preliminary topic, your next step is to develop a research question. Using information youʼve collected from your preliminary research, begin to think and write about what information is missing and the questions that come to mind as you consider filling in the gaps or reconciling inconsistencies about your topic. Choose the most engaging and compelling question(s) and conduct your research with an eye toward answering the question(s). The answer(s), then, will likely be your working argument, or at least the start thereof. Your research question drives the project, helping to determine the methods you will choose and, eventually, how you will analyze and interpret the results. Of course, the kinds of questions researchers ask vary depending on the discipline, as explained in Part 1 of this guide. Regardless of the discipline or the method, though, research and writing begins with a question or problem. For instance, two students in one ENGL 105 class noticed that there was abundant research about opioid addiction in general, but very little research addressed opioid

addiction among Native American communities, specifically—and almost nothing addressed the topic with relation to their home community of Robeson County, North Carolina. This gap created an opening for their research question, “What do Native Americans in Robeson County think about opioid addiction and its effects on their community?” The table that follows provides some examples of research questions students have generated for ENGL 105/105i assignments. For more details about research questions, please see Part 2, Chapter 3.

DISCIPLINE

GENRE

RESEARCH QUESTION

METHOD

Natural

Grant

How does pollution run off affect

Field research

sciences

proposal

Jordan Lake’s water quality?

Social

Policy

How much support is there among

Survey

sciences

report

Chapel Hill businesses for a ban on

research

plastic straws? Humanities

Digital

How did the first generations of

Archival

exhibit

women students at UNC experience

research

college life? Business

Proposal

What would make the best new site for

Interviews

a new study abroad program at UNC?

and focus groups

Law

Journal

Should child visitation laws in North

Secondary

article

Carolina be revised for incarcerated

research and

parents?

interpretation

Health

Conference

How do Native Americans in Robeson

Interview

sciences

poster

County perceive opioid addiction and

research

its effects on their community?

For more ideas, check out the UNC Libraryʼs “Developing Your Topic”

Video.

OUTCOME 2: PLANNING A DRAFT The following are a few strategies that will help you as you prepare a dra. :

Outlining Once you have some ideas for your composition, you can make an outline. An outline is a step-by-step plan. It helps with overall organization by grouping ideas together to create a framework, or skeleton, for the logical progression of the composition. While outlines can be formal or informal, the outline you use to cra your composition will ultimately be shaped most by the genre and by readersʼ expectations for what they will encounter in the dra that emerges from that outline. For instance, some genres (such as a grant proposal) have highly structured sections with specific conventions you must follow. Other genres (such as a film review) allow you more flexibility in your organization. In either case, though, readers will expect your writing to be logical and coherent. A good place to start with your outline is your argument or working statement of purpose for your document. First, consult your notes. Settle on your key pieces of evidence that support your argument and how you might synthesize and organize the information youʼve already gathered. Second, consider how your

research (if applicable) will factor into your outline. Cra your ideas around connecting back to your argument or central focus, and donʼt forget to include specific evidence to support your claims and/or illustrate your points. Some writers create bullet point outlines that loosely group ideas together while others construct detailed outlines with topic sentences for each paragraph and preliminary research and data mapped below these topic sentences. In any variation, though, the outline should represent the main sections or ideas for the composition, in order, with corresponding subtopics or content filed under their respective main ideas. You can outline almost anything, so practice by making a quick outline of your favorite book or movie. For your main ideas, give broad plot points like youʼre telling the story to a friend in one minute; for your subtopics, put the more nuanced details you might include if you had five minutes to tell the story. Hereʼs a very basic example: I. There were three little pigs. a. One had gone to Duke and built a house of straw. b. One had gone to N.C. State and built a house of sticks. c. One had gone to UNC and built a house of bricks. II. A wolf wanted to eat them. a. The wolf was both big and bad. b. The wolf had an above-average lung capacity. c. The wolf was rather polite. III. The wolf came to town looking for dinner. a. He blew down the house of straw.

Duke pig ran to the house of sticks. b. He blew down the house of sticks. Duke pig and N.C. State pig ran to the house of bricks. c. He did not blow down the house of bricks. The house was too strong. All three pigs were safe. The wolf was not ready to call it a day. IV. The pigs succeeded in scaring off the wolf. a. The wolf was still hungry, and also overconfident. b. The wolf climbed the house of bricks to go down the chimney. c. The wolf landed in a fire, jumped out, and got on the next train out of town. Hereʼs an example of an outline for a policy brief supporting physical education in schools: I. Introduction a. Physical education in United States schools is imperiled due to policy changes and lack of resources. b. Obesity is rising among US children. c. Provide purpose statement here: this brief will demonstrate how physical education provides multiple benefits for students (learning, memory, executive function, test scores). II. Students who have daily physical education learn math and vocabulary more easily. a. Describe results from 2017 study on vocabulary learning and 2018 study on math learning among elementary school students.

III. Students who have daily physical education show memory improvement. a. Describe 2016 study on memory/retention among 3rd graders IV. Students who have daily physical education show improvements in executive function. a. Describe results of 2015 study on executive function among 5th graders who had physical education daily vs. those who did not. V. Students who have daily physical education have higher test scores. a. Describe results of 2009 and 2012 studies regarding increased test scores. VI. Recommendations. a. Based on this research, recommend that policymakers mandate daily physical education be implemented in all NC elementary schools by 2026. (“Physical Education” 1–3) And hereʼs an example of an outline for a grant proposal (Summer

Undergraduate Research Fellowship from UNCʼs Office for Undergraduate Research): I. Project goals and aims a. Use photography to investigate how human activity impacts streams in Chapel Hill. b. Research question: how can photography provide evidence of human impact on streams?

II. Project background and significance a. Previous research shows art can affect public perception of environmental problems. b. Project will show how art can influence public understanding of scientific issues. III. Methods a. Conduct field research by exploring streams/rivers in the Chapel Hill area. b. Take photographs at stream sites in Chapel Hill. c. Take audio recordings from field sites. d. Glaze fire photographs on ceramic tiles. e. Arrange photographic tiles and sounds in a meaningful order for exhibit. IV. Preliminary work and experience a. Describe my previous work experience with photography and mounting an exhibit. V. Final products and dissemination plan a. Describe final exhibit: how many works, where they will be shown, etc. VI. IRB Statement a. Not applicable. VII. References (Emery & Nam 1–3) Notice that each outline differs based on the genre and discipline. What you choose to include will vary based on factors such as your

preferences, the assignment, the genre, how much research you need to manage, and how much time you have to devote to the activity. Also, outlining can be helpful at any point in the writing process (you can outline individual paragraphs, or even just sentences) when you need to strategize about relationships between ideas and how to most effectively organize those ideas in order to highlight those relationships. For more information on outlines, hereʼs a helpful video from the UNC Writing Center.

Developing a Working Argument An argument is a claim that you advance in your document and support with evidence. In high school, you may have learned to organize essays around a thesis, or a concrete, three-part statement that explicitly states what your whole paper will say. While that model can be a solid foundation on which to build a successful composition, in college writing the term “argument” is preferred because it better

addresses the main goal. That is, college level compositions should usually respond to existing claims that circulate in a discipline. Your goal is to extend current research in that field by providing a new interpretation, adding to existing knowledge, challenging dominant interpretations, and so on. You do so by contributing an argument: a claim that you advance that extends, contradicts, challenges, or confirms existing research in the field. In other words, a thesis is a

summary of points; an argument takes a position in an ongoing conversation within a discourse community. Consider the difference between these two arguments: 1. Frankensteinʼs monster is not human because he was never born; he has a body made of other peopleʼs parts, and he is unable to feel cold. 2. While some scholars have argued that Frankensteinʼs monster is not human because he has no uniform genetic makeup, upon examination of his mental and emotional capacities it is obvious he can speak beautifully and reason both logically and ardently. Frankensteinʼs monster is, therefore, not only human—he is more human than Victor. The first argument is simply a list of observations. The second argument provides a clear overview of what the composition will argue without relying on a “shopping list” of ideas. The second argument also situates itself within a specific scholarly debate, and it showcases the writerʼs creativity and analytical skills by presenting a specific, interpretive (not obvious) reading of the text. The argument is a roadmap for where your composition will take your audience, but it doesnʼt need to list every single stop along the way. Keep in mind that your argument usually comes early in your composition, although location varies by discipline and genre. (A good way to find out where writers usually state their argument, if

they provide one explicitly, is to examine models of your target genre.) Sometimes, the true argument for a composition is implicit; the writer of the grant proposal outlined above, for example, doesnʼt come out and say “you should give me the grant money” but instead provides an implicit argument for the projectʼs importance and the writerʼs qualifications to undertake that research. Developing a working argument also involves understanding the genre and rhetorical situation. As you begin the process of forming your ideas into an argument, think about the following questions as guidelines: Do you need a clear statement of your argument? Not all college writing assignments require you to explicitly state your argument, although many do. For instance, a conference paper assignment that asks you to take a stance about the racial practices within American politics requires an argument. A conference paper in the natural sciences may begin with a statement that describes the purpose of a study and its main findings and may end with a larger argument about the specific contributions of that research to the discipline. Meanwhile, a marketing proposal may have an implicit argument (you should hire your firm to market your project) even though the document itself may be organized around a statement that outlines the contents of the document and its purposes. What kind of argument is required? Refer to your assignmentʼs rhetorical chart or ask your instructor about the assignmentʼs purpose. How and where an assignment signals its argument

depend on its goals, and, more specifically, its genre. For instance, a genre whose purpose is to persuade almost always has an argument (whether it be implicit or explicit). A genre focused on informing an audience may not have an explicit argument but a statement of purpose or simply an outline of the contents. Also, there are no rules about when to cra your argument. In fact, for college-level writing based on research, you should start with a question that your research may answer, and your claim will emerge based on the results of your research. In most fields, researchers are expected to remain open to the idea that their initial assumptions could be wrong. For instance, imagine you conduct a research project on the effects of a straw ban on overall plastic consumption at universities. While you started the project with a belief that a straw ban is a good idea, your research shows the effects of straw bans to be minimal in comparison to the overall plastic waste produced on college campuses. In that case, your argument would have to reflect the results of your research, and you would have to be sure not to be biased by your prior opinion. So, donʼt be afraid to create your argument a er youʼve conducted your preliminary research and/or formed a research question. Never hesitate either to change your argument during the writing process. In fact, most seasoned writers revisit their arguments a er they have a full dra since we o en have more clarity about our ideas a er we have written through them. Until the final version of the assignment is submitted, it helps to think of the argument as a

“working claim” that may change as you continue to research and write about your topic. There are many effective methods for generating an academic argument. Keeping in mind that an argument is o en a work “in progress.” One useful model is the “They Say, I Say” approach championed by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkensteinʼs They Say / I Say. They Say: What have others said about your topic? I Say: The ideas I will add, argue, or prove about this topic. Creating a working argument is your chance to enter the conversation about ideas that you are interested in. In college-level writing, your goal may not necessarily be to argue that a position is “correct” but that it is plausible. Another example is the XYZ model (adapted from Wayne Boothʼs Cra of Research), which provides a basic formula you can follow to make a working argument appropriate to almost any academic situation. The XYZ model has three parts: Current scholarly conversation: “Existing research indicates (x).” Disruption or gap: “However, my research has shown (y)” or “Researchers have not yet explained (y).” Claim: “In this paper I will add/argue/demonstrate (z).”

You will notice these moves in the introduction to many academic articles, conference papers, and other genres because they help writers to establish the scholarly conversation and show how their research extends or challenges existing research. The wording you finally settle on should be your own, but these three moves will help you generate an argument you can use to guide your dra ing. For more information, see the UNC Writing Center handout on argument.

EXERCISE 2-2B: ARGUMENT PREWRITING

OUTCOME 3: CREATING A DRAFT Once youʼve created a working argument and considered your organizational strategy, youʼre ready to write the first dra. of your composition. Itʼs important to remember that the purpose of your initial dra is to give you something to work with. Professional writers do not generate a final product immediately. In academic and professional contexts, almost all published pieces of writing require multiple dra s. An early dra is by nature unfinished, so donʼt worry about anything other than trying to write what you can. Donʼt be too critical of your early dra , and remember that an early dra is not the final dra . The following strategies may be useful to you as you begin a dra :

Gather Your Information All the work youʼve done to this point should be accessible so you can use it. Even assignment sheets and prewriting activities can be resources to help with your first dra . You donʼt need to have researched extensively to write a dra , but if you have researched, have your primary and secondary sources close at hand. If you have conducted empirical research, you should start by analyzing that data, identifying the main patterns that data show, and comparing that data to your research question or hypothesis.

Write Around Your Data Researchers in many fields write by prioritizing the key findings from their research. For instance, a scientist writing a journal article may primarily have charts and graphs that show the quantitative results from a study. Those visualizations form the backbone of the results section, and the scientist may begin writing by describing, analyzing, and interpreting the visuals for the audience. Similarly, a researcher in sociology may begin by pulling out relevant quotations from an interview that illustrate key themes or common findings. This researcher may organize the body of a journal article by the themes, explain each theme, and then provide examples of each one. Similarly, a researcher in the humanities may gather relevant passages from a source text in order to create the basis for the body of a conference paper. The researcher might start by quoting from those source texts and then move on to analyze and interpret each quotation for the audience.

Zero Dra Donʼt worry about opening with a mind-blowing sentence. Just write. Choose a time and a place with minimal distractions to begin writing. Try to write down as many of your ideas as possible without worrying about organization or style. Some writers call this a “brain dump” or “zero dra .” Once you have these ideas down, you can go back later to reorganize them, add detail, and polish the writing.

Use Your Own Voice There will be time during revisions to consider word choice and tone, so during dra ing, write in whatever voice makes you comfortable. In fact, the closer your writing mirrors your thinking the easier it will be to add, subtract, and modify content later. Even first-person pronouns and contractions are perfectly fine early on (and, in some cases, later).

Follow Your Outline, But Be Flexible Your outline is particularly important to your first dra because it reminds you what to say and in what order. And while youʼll certainly want to address your outlineʼs main points, itʼs also fine if certain sections of your outline get more attention than others. Also, donʼt feel constrained to write everything about one point before moving to another; leave gaps and return later.

Write in Sections Choose one section to start with—it doesnʼt have to be the introduction! For example, in a social sciences conference paper you might start with the methods section and then choose another body section to write. Many writers will leave the introduction and conclusion to write last since those can be easier once you have laid

out all of the ideas and evidence in the body of a document. Breaking up a composition into component sections also helps you to set a realistic timeline for dra ing.

Try Different Composing Tools Experiment with different composing tools and find out what works best for you. While most of us are used to writing on a computer, you may find that certain programs are better for helping you to get ideas down. For instance, some students recommend programs such as OmWriter or Scrivener, which allow you to focus on content without worrying about formatting. Some like to go back to pen and paper to compose a first dra . You might also experiment with voice dictation tools (now available with most operating systems); some people find it easier to say what they want to say rather than writing it down.

Start Small One good way to confront procrastination is to choose a very small goal to start with. For instance, your small goal could be to print out a source article or review an outline you already wrote. By starting with a small task, you can make the task seem less daunting. From there, motivation to complete another task will o en follow. If you have a list of small, manageable tasks to check off, you will know what to do

next. A er reviewing an outline, for instance, your next task could be to write one section of the outline.

OUTCOME 4: REVIEWING YOUR WORK Revision vs. Editing vs. Proofreading The final stages of the writing process, revision and editing, are themselves multifaceted processes. To be truly effective, they require substantial time and careful planning. A er the push to finish dra ing, writers may feel tempted to hurry through these last stages of the writing process; however, revision and editing offer writers the opportunity to “re-see” their own work through the audienceʼs eyes and cra a document that fully meets this audienceʼs needs. Novice writers also o en confuse or conflate revision and editing. Revision involves much more than changing a few words or correcting grammatical errors; it involves thinking carefully about how to strengthen your ideas and make the writing more effective. During revision, writers re-examine an entire composition and focus on higher-order concerns—such as genre, audience, purpose, organization, support, and rhetorical situation—that impact a composition on the paragraph or even global level. Editing, on the other hand, focuses on sentence-level concerns. These lower-order concerns include tone, sentence structure, sentence variety, and word choice.

To illustrate the value of revising before editing, consider the following metaphor: you have a new apartment, and the movers just dropped off all your furniture and boxes. You open up a box of room accessories—lamps, vases, collectibles—and set them up all around the room. Then, you try move your furniture to where it belongs. In order to do this, though, you have to remove the accessories you just set up, put the furniture in its place, and replace the accessories. In this metaphor, revision is the furniture, and editing is the accessories. Any time you spend on editing before you revise is likely to be wasted. Proofreading is different than both revision and editing. Proofreading, sometimes referred to as copyediting, is the act of polishing the composition into the best possible final product. Most proofreading is word-level and addresses problems with spelling, grammar, punctuation, and other issues of “correctness,” all of which can affect the audienceʼs impression of your composition. As with other stages of the writing process, revision, editing, and proofreading become stressful when you try to complete the entire process all at once or in too short a time frame. You can minimize this stress not only by building time for these practices into your writing schedule, but also by creating a detailed plan for revision, editing, and proofreading.

Revision Strategies

As you revise, always keep in mind that revision involves reexamining an entire composition in order to focus on higher-order concerns (genre, audience, purpose, organization, evidence/support, and rhetorical situation). Again, revision is much more than editing; it requires careful consideration of the myriad ways a compositionʼs ideas can be strengthened to make the writing more effective. The following strategies can help make your revisions even more efficient and effective:

Avoid Procrastination Revision takes time. You might be able to perform a few basic edits the night before an assignment is due, but attempting to revise without time to examine your writing fully is extremely stressful. Procrastination tends to be the biggest barrier to effective revision; there is little or no time to revise work that is written at the last minute. If you have trouble with procrastination, set a small goal that will be easy to complete. This could involve simply printing out your composition and then using a highlighter to mark every source of evidence (material from primary or secondary research) in it. A er that simple task, you could consider whether there is enough evidence or if more is needed.

Stay Genre Focused As you revise, be mindful of the genre you are writing. For instance, if you are creating a conference poster on the effects of water ecology in

the sub-Artic region of Canada, ask yourself: does this sound like something a scientist would write on a conference poster? Consider adding revision passes in which you check to make sure that you have followed the genreʼs specific conventions, and frequently consult examples, especially any provided by your instructor. For more information about genre, See Part 2, Chapter 1.

Use Feedback Provided by Your Instructor and Peers Even if you have already reviewed and integrated dra workshop or instructor feedback from an earlier dra , review this feedback again for elements you may have missed or misunderstood on first review. If needed, ask your reviewers/instructor for clarification. Keep in mind, your instructor may identify an improvement area in one place, but you should check for other instances in the composition where this suggestion for improvement is also applicable. An issue that needs addressing in one paragraph may need addressing in other paragraphs.

Ask for Help There are many resources for revision assistance at UNC. Your writing group, the Writing Center, and your instructor are all great places to start. Whoever you decide to go to for help, let your reader know where you are in the revision process and ask specific questions

(“How can I make my paper better?” is not a specific question). Here are a few ideas: Does my argument seem persuasive for my intended audience? How can I strengthen it? Does my writing follow the genreʼs conventions and expectations? Does my second paragraph have enough support? Did I integrate source material effectively when discussing my third source? Can you show me a few places where my tone and language do and donʼt match my target audience? Could you point out places that arenʼt clear to you? Instructor office hours, in particular, provide an opportunity to ask your instructor for specific clarification on previous feedback and/or to ask for additional feedback.

See With “New Eyes” Again, give yourself time away from the assignment to help you gain the perspective you need to think “like a reader” and approach your own work as an outsider. Reading your own writing with revision in mind is quite difficult. Allowing your dra s to sit for a day or three (or however long it takes to forget some of what youʼve written) before returning to them can help you see them with “new eyes” and identify big-picture issues. Donʼt sit and stare at your composition for hours on end. The farther you can get from the mind space in which you wrote

the first dra , the more effective your second, third, or tenth dra s will look because you will be able to approach the dra as an outsider would.

Revise in Passes Donʼt try to revise your composition all at once every time you re-read it. Read through your composition numerous times, concentrating each pass through on one specific issue. For example, you may first focus on the quality of your supporting evidence by checking that research is consistently integrated throughout your composition; then, you may read again to ensure each piece of evidence includes an appropriate amount of interpretation for the genre and discipline. Reading for one dimension of your composition at a time will keep you from trying to fix everything at once. Use comments on past assignments and dra s to help you decide what to look for.

Know Yourself Not all of these strategies will work for you every time. Universitylevel writing may be new to you, but you have written before. Maybe you know that you tend to worry about generating a clear argument, maybe you o en receive comments on awkward transitions, or maybe youʼve never written more than five pages on any subject. Yet, maybe you also know that you are a logical thinker who follows an outline well and you are great at understanding your audienceʼs needs. All writers have strengths and improvement areas, and itʼs important to

identify both so you can continue capitalizing on your strengths while addressing those improvement areas.

Editing Strategies Reading Backwards Starting with the last sentence on the last page of your project, go sentence by sentence, looking for ways you can improve each sentence. Moving backwards prevents you from jumping ahead cognitively, and can help you see where sentence-level and word-level editing may be necessary.

Edit in Passes Working in passes is just as important in editing as it was in revision. During the editing phase, try a pass to check for sentence variety or for a specific mechanical issue, such as run-on sentences. Reviewing a resource (such as a UNC Writing Center handout) on the specific

issue before you look for that concern can help make each editing pass more efficient.

Save O en

Revised and edited compositions will look substantially different from original dra s. Develop a strategy to avoid potential data loss. For example: Google Docs will auto save as you write. Dropbox has a feature that retains all previous versions of a file (every time you save it) for several months. A separate document can archive all your deleted work until you are sure you wonʼt need it.

The Paramedic Method This is a multi-pass editing exercise for strengthening verbs and eliminating repetitive language. It employs the following steps, which should be completed independently of each each other (i.e., you should devote at least one pass through the dra to each step and not try to do more than one step at a time). 1. Locate long, convoluted, or “choppy” sentences. 2. Strive for fewer prepositions. a. Circle every preposition (of, in, about, for, onto, into). b. Rework the sentence to cut down on the number of prepositions. 3. Strive for strong verbs. a. Find and replace forms of the verb “to be” (am, are, is, was, were) with stronger verbs. Consider, for example, the stark difference between “this quote is important because” and “this quote demonstrates…”

b. Find and replace unnecessary nominalizations with strong verbs. Nominalizations are noun forms created from verbs or adjectives (e.g., demonstration ← demonstrate). To find nominalizations, search your document for nominalization endings (-tion/-ion, -ment, -ity/-ty, or -ness). c. Eliminate passive voice by moving the agent (doer) into the subject position. 4. Find and replace/remove. a. Redundancies (e.g. “I will propose and suggest,” “He explains to us saying”) b. Clichés (“There is no time like the present”) c. Vague phrases (“The medical professional told a man he was in love”). 5. Eliminate any long wind-ups (e.g. “It is important to note that …,” “One key aspect of this is…”). Hereʼs a video from the UNC Writing Center with more tips for writing concisely.

Proofreading Strategies Hit Spell Check If you do nothing else, hit spell check before you submit your assignment. Technology has given us this magical tool, and thereʼs no faster way to lose an educated readerʼs respect than to misspell a

word. Donʼt mindlessly accept the spellcheckerʼs suggestions, though; carefully consider each suggestion and decide if the correction fits your sentence.

Read Out Loud Hearing the words as they come off the page helps tremendously, and listening to your prose can be an easy way to recognize places your wording is convoluted or confusing. Having someone else read out loud to you (a friend, a classmate, even your computer) will help even more, because you will notice places they “trip” while reading, and you can highlight those areas for editing. Most computers have a built-in function called “text to speech” that will read your paper to you. You can also use Google translate to listen to your paper. Simply search for “Google translate,” in any search engine, and once there, copy and paste a section of your composition in the le hand box. Make sure that English is selected as the language and click the sound icon on the top right hand of either box. Listen and make changes as needed.

Change Devices Simply seeing a composition in a different format will help you visualize it differently. Send your dra to a friendʼs computer, change the font and spacing, or (gasp) print it out and look at it again carefully in this new context. Anything to get you away from the context/location in which you wrote originally will help. Be creative.

Spell Check Again (But Not with the Spellchecker!) Spell check is on this list twice for a reason. Do it early, do it o en. Although spellcheckers are useful tools, they donʼt catch usage errors such as incorrect homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently with different meanings). For instance, you may inadvertently write, “It is hear that I arrive at my conclusion,” when you meant to use the homophone “here.” Even with spellcheckers, you should proofread your work.

Other Helpful Strategies The following methods are also helpful and can be used at various points in the writing process.

Reverse Outline Reverse outlining is simply generating an outline for a composition that has already been written. Creating a reverse outline a er writing a partial or complete dra can be especially helpful as a way to double-check the organization and flow of your ideas and ensure youʼve completed all parts of the assignment included all of an assignmentʼs required elements. Itʼs easiest to reverse outline with a hard copy of your text and a handful of colorful highlighters or markers. Once you have those:

1. Read the text out loud and take notes in the margins every few sentences to remind you what that small section is talking about. 2. Highlight each of these sections in a different color (if you find connected themes or ideas, you can highlight them in the same color as the corresponding section). 3. Write a bullet point or two describing the highlighted sections to identify the main ideas. 4. Fill in the space between these bullet points with the subtopics that arrive. You now have a reverse outline, but youʼre not quite finished. 1. Read your new outline (again, out loud is better), listening to make sure everything flows logically. a. Do the main ideas follow each other sequentially? b. Does each main idea have subtopics that relate to it and each other? 2. If the reverse outline feels jumpy, odds are you either need to add evidence to your claims or youʼre talking about the same point in more than one place. Look for any gaps and add content that would help a reader make sense of your thoughts. 3. Compare your outline to the assignment sheet your instructor gave you to make sure youʼve completed all of the requirements.

EXERCISE 2-2C: REVERSE OUTLINE

Hereʼs a video overview of these steps from the UNC Writing Center.

Summary & Analysis In this strategy, you will summarize your whole composition in one paragraph and analyze the paragraph. 1. Read each paragraph and write a one-sentence summary of the paragraph. 2. Combine all those one-sentence summaries into one paragraph. This paragraph is a very basic representation of how your argument develops as currently constituted. 3. Read the paragraph (out loud) and check it for unity, clarity, and logical progression. If there are any elements of the paragraph that seem out of place, illogical, or vague, revisit the section that sentence was based on and try to diagnose the issue. If there are any paragraphs that were difficult to summarize, pay special attention to what concerns may be causing this difficulty, such as organization, logic, or support.

EXERCISE 2-2D: SUMMARY & ANALYSIS

Chop It Up

Looking at each paragraph out of context can help you see ways to make your paragraphs more logical and cohesive. A er you have a partial or complete dra : 1. Print each paragraph on its own page. 2. Shuffle the pages and give them to a friend or classmate. 3. Ask this reader to put the individual paragraphs in what seems to them the most logical order and return it to you. If the readerʼs order matches yours, youʼre well on your way to a solid composition. If not, troubleshoot: for example, if the reader switches your introduction and your conclusion, your conclusion may be summary heavy. If the reader puts your body paragraphs in the wrong order, you may have to work on topic sentences, paragraph-toparagraph transitions, and/or the overall flow of your argument and evidence.

EXERCISE 2-2E: CHOP IT UP

Color-Coding At any point during the writing process, from freewriting to early editing, consider “color coding” your writing by assigning different colors to individual themes or ideas that are prominent in your writing. The color schemes will then allow you to see how these

themes or ideas are organized throughout the paper and, in turn, help you to see the readerʼs perspective better. For example, you can assign a different color to each bullet point on your first outline. Then, once you have a dra , read your paper and highlight each section or sentence or paragraph with its corresponding color from the outline. Although the paperʼs organization need not follow a rigid pattern, it should still present ideas logically and not veer off topic. For more information on color coding, watch this video from the UNC Writing Center.

OUTCOME 5: WRITING WITH A GROUP Peer Collaboration Collaborating on a composition can be a polarizing experience—most people either love it or hate it. Whatever your current opinion about group work, writing with a group can be an excellent experience because your potential for creating interesting, engaging prose and solid, thoughtful arguments increases with each person you add to the mix. Groups will vary in size and members will vary in ability, but the following principles can help you end up with a strong and seamless final product:

Know (and Offer) Your Strengths When youʼre first organized into groups, take at least a few minutes to get to know each other. Personal connections are a great way to unite a group, and itʼs important to understand the comfort level of each person in the group. You have a decent grasp of what youʼre good at already, so make sure your group knows what talents you bring to the project. Whether you are generally comfortable (you feel confident writing any assignment), specifically trained (you have a specialized skill others may lack), or fairly flexible (you are willing to take on any task needed), let your group know what you can offer.

Take Personal Responsibility Most groups end up with a leader, either officially or unofficially, but in a true collaboration who facilitates doesnʼt matter nearly as much as whether everyone takes personal responsibility for the project. Someone extroverted and confident may offer to get things started, but that shouldnʼt stop the introverts in the group from owning the groupʼs future work. Consider all group members equals and act accordingly because youʼll likely be sharing a grade, and your instructor will inevitably be aware of who is pulling their weight and who is sitting back and letting everyone else do the work for them (donʼt be that group member).

Divide and Conquer and Unite and Conquer Again You can always split a task into parts and finish faster. However, compositions written in separate parts and then hastily stitched together with no attention to consistency are generally difficult to read. Split up the work so everyone has an equal portion, but be sure to also maximize your time together as a group in order to get a sense of what everyone is writing and what the project looks and sounds like as it grows. Go through your revision, editing, and proofreading stages together, reading out loud and taking time to identify and strengthen places that need more work. By the end of the project, if you canʼt give a full summary and basic outline of the project in its entirety, youʼre out of the loop and chances are your group, your project, and perhaps even your grade are going to suffer for it.

For more information about the specific role of collaboration in UNCʼs Writing Program, see the Introduction and Part 2, Chapter 1.

Creating a Group Work Schedule To help you plan your approach to and divide the labor for your groupʼs next task, you may consider creating a group work schedule. This schedule can list all of the important information about the project and include feasible goals for each member of the group. It may also be helpful to share this document with your instructor if more support or advice is needed. Effective collaboration also requires strong time management and goal setting skills. Hereʼs more information about time management and goal setting from the UNC Learning Center.

EXERCISE 2-2F: CREATING A GROUP WORK SCHEDULE

2-3

CONDUCTING PRIMARY & SECONDARY RESEARCH

Throughout your college career and beyond, you will be asked to conduct research and use source material in your writing. Using source material shows readers that you are ready to engage in an ongoing critical or scholarly conversation about your topic. Using that material well and giving credit appropriately demonstrates that you understand the conversation and are capable of adding your own potentially valuable insights. Conducting research and writing a

research-based product may never be an easy task, but with practice the research and writing process can become more efficient and rewarding.

Key Terms Citations: Citations appear in the text of your composition to show where you are using source material. They will follow a specific set of established conventions (CSE, APA, MLA, etc.). Primary vs. Secondary Sources: Primary sources are original sources, and secondary sources interpret primary sources or other information. Both types of sources can support your ideas. Scholarly vs. Popular Sources: Scholarly sources speak to specialized or academic audiences while the audiences for popular sources typically have much less experience with the topic. Intellectual Property: When we acknowledge that producers of original works deserve credit for their creation, we honor their intellectual property. Academic Integrity: Academic integrity stems from honesty, care, and attention to detail— the foundations of ethical research. Plagiarism: Committing plagiarism, which is failing to give credit for work that is not your own, can have embarrassing and/or career-damaging consequences.

OUTCOMES

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Locate sources that take a variety of positions on your research topic. 2. Evaluate sources to determine credibility and audience appropriateness. 3. Read source material closely so you can engage more effectively in the conversation about your topic. 4. Integrate sources in your writing effectively and ethically.

OUTCOME 1: LOCATING SOURCES Getting Started Choosing Keywords Getting started can sometimes be the most intimidating part of the research process. Remember, though, that the writing process starts the moment you receive an assignment or have an idea for a topic (Review Part 2, Chapter 2 for ideas about finding topics). As you start

exploring ideas for your project, write them down as soon as possible since they can easily translate into possible research questions or keywords for your source searches. You might ask yourself: What background information do I need to find to better understand my topic? What are the key terms that writers use when addressing this topic? What central claim(s) might I want to make? What are the issues or controversies inherent in these claims? For more information about the prewriting process, see Part 2, Chapter 2.

Creating a Research Plan

To help make your research more efficient, consider cra. ing a research plan or schedule. For example, a research plan for a lawfocused project that has a one-week research time frame might have the following steps: Day 1: Choose a topic and generate research questions. Day 2: Brainstorm a working list of possible keywords/search terms. Days 3–4: Begin preliminary searches in LexisNexis, HeinOnline, and LegalTrac. Days 5–6: Read through source material and prewrite about how to use it; discover new questions and subtopics that may shi or redefine your research topic. Days 6–7: Additional research in LexisNexis, HeinOnline, and LegalTrac. As you work through your research plan, take notes about your strategies and results. These notes will be helpful for future research tasks and/or if you need to ask for assistance at any point in the process.

Research Questions Research questions are also a productive way to guide your work. A research question is essentially the question you are attempting to answer. Having guiding questions in the back of your mind can help you organize your thoughts and your argument. As you formulate these questions, remember that:

A research question should start with “how,” “why,” or “what.” A research question should be open-ended (i.e., not answerable with a simple “yes” or “no,” or a quick response, such as a statistic). It should instead require you to conduct research in order to answer it. A research question should have a debatable, multifaceted answer that requires you to weigh in (not just to report what is known). A research question should (ideally) expand on what is already known in a field (especially for academic research genres such as journal articles, conference posters, or conference papers). Alternatively, a research question can involve drawing on information produced by scholars in order to make recommendations for how it should be applied to address realworld problems. Examples of ineffective research questions: Is there a correlation between stress and the “freshman fi een”? (answerable with yes/no) Who invented LASIK surgery? (quick response) In what country do the most drug overdose deaths occur? (quick response) Examples of effective research questions: How does weight gain correlate with academic performance for college students?

How common are night vision disturbances a er LASIK surgery, and what can be done to treat them? Why does Iceland have the most drug overdose deaths in the world, and how can they combat this particular problem? Letʼs look at the strengths of this last question. First, it is not a yes/no question; the answer is clearly complicated and will require some research. Second, it starts with “why” (and follows up with a “how”). Finally, the question does not have an obvious answer; it will take time to answer it, and different sources will offer different perspectives on the issue. As noted in Part 2, Chapter 2, a solid research question can also

translate easily into a working argument. In most cases, you can simply remove the interrogative (question) words and question mark and fill in the blanks. If we remove “Why does” from the first half of the Iceland question, weʼre le with “Iceland has the most drug overdose deaths in the world,” and your research will allow you to finish the statement: “Iceland has the most drug overdose deaths in the world because it is easy to ship to and because many citizens have the means to purchase drugs.” (Of course, your next step would be to conduct research to determine whether this working argument is valid.) If you run out of material answering one research question, ask a second, related question and see where it takes you. (For example, you could identify strategies other countries have used to address overdose deaths given similar factors.) For more on how to move

forward in the writing process with this argument, see Part 2, Chapter

2.

Searching for Sources: Databases, Search Engines & Other Resources A er you have a topic and research questions in mind, the next step is to take your keywords and research questions to the library databases or to reputable search engines and generate an initial pool of findings. While starting with a library search may seem intimidating, the depth and quality of the libraryʼs resources will inevitably save you time. The UNC Libraries offer many tutorials and resources to guide your searches. In addition, the library offers discipline-specific research guides and databases that can yield specialized sources such as court cases, medical studies, multimedia sources, and interviews. The Introduction to UNC Libraries Tutorial gives you a quick introduction to the libraries on campus, including what you can find in each of them, the services provided for students, and how to reach out for research help. Even if you do not have formal instruction, you can seek out individual help from UNC librarians at any of the universityʼs libraries or online. When you contact a librarian, be prepared to explain the following: Your compositionʼs goals/purpose (refer to the rhetorical chart) Your topic choice

Your research questions (if applicable) What research you have conducted so far and with what success Once your searches are under way, start looking for more or better keywords for additional searches. When you find a source that interests you and/or meets your needs, examine that source for new terminology. If you are using a library database search, look at related search terms and narrowing criteria that the database suggests, or look at the keywords that are associated with that source in the database (if you started out with a search engine, look up your article in a library database and do the same). For example, you may have searched for “film” and found a helpful source, but the database entry for that source may list “cinema” among the keywords instead. Refining your next search to include “cinema” in the keyword search may, therefore, yield exciting new results. You can also check out the source material that your source mentions or cites, along with the list of references (if available) at the end of the source, to see if this material is also relevant to your discussion. Similarly, book reviews and literature reviews can lead you to additional sources on your topic. Most library databases also allow you to narrow your search by source type so you can limit your results to more popular sources, such as magazines and newspapers, or to peer-reviewed, scholarly sources.

EXERCISE 2-3A: COMPARING & NARROWING SEARCHES

Staying Audience-Focused You should also make sure that, throughout your search, you are thinking like your future reader. Refer to your assignmentʼs provided rhetorical chart or ask your instructor to specify an intended audience for the composition. As you look for sources, you can ask yourself: What would my reader want or need to know about this topic? What position might my reader take on this topic? What would my reader think about the value of this source?

EXERCISE 2-3B: PEER INTERVIEW

This video from the UNC Libraries provides more tips for “Starting

Your Search in the Right Place.”

OUTCOME 2: EVALUATING SOURCES Determining Credibility and Reliability With possible sources in hand, your next task will be to make sure that you move forward only with credible and reliable resources that will not only help you explore your topic and answer your research question, but also demonstrate your authority to your audience. Keep in mind that credible and reliable sources are trustworthy and useful because they: Use citations or attribution to give credit to the sources they used. Are well organized and logical. Support their arguments convincingly and do not rely on fallacies or misrepresentations. Are free from or acknowledge bias and engage alternative viewpoints fairly. Are written by credible and reliable authors, who are authorities in the field and/or experienced writers. Come from credible and reliable publications. If you are unsure about the credibility or reliability of a source you found on the web through a search engine, look for that source in one of the library databases and/or do additional research on the

publication and/or author. You can also ask your instructor or a librarian to help you evaluate the source. Library databases contain only sources from credible and reliable publications. You should still, however, read the source critically to make sure that it meets the other criteria listed above. Examples of sources that are o en fine for preliminary topic exploration but almost always unacceptable in final college-level writing products include (but are not limited to): General encyclopedias (such as Encyclopedia Britannica) General dictionaries (such as Dictionary.com or Websterʼs; this

does not include specialized dictionaries, such as the Oxford English Dictionary) Open-source references (such as Wikipedia) The following questions can help you evaluate sources: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Does the source name an author/authors? Google the author. Is the author qualified to write on this topic? Does the source include a publication date? Are you familiar with the publication in which the source appears? 5. Look at other sources in this publication. Do you notice specific biases? 6. Does the source engage alternative viewpoints or counterarguments fairly?

7. Does the source cite sources and include a reference page and/or does the source use attribution (such as “according to”) to list sources? 8. Are the cited sources qualified to speak to this topic? 9. Does the source have a clear focus or argument? 10. Does the source support this argument well? 11. Is the source well organized? 12. Does the source come from a site that does not allow user edits? If you answered “no” to any of the questions above, consider the effect of that specific element on the credibility/reliability of your source. What will your readers think when they notice this omission? How might the omission affect the strength of your own composition if you choose to use this source?

EXERCISE 2-3C: SOURCE CHECKLIST

Audience Appropriateness But just because a source is credible and reliable does not mean that it is appropriate for your composition or your audience. To determine whether a source is appropriate, youʼll want to consider factors such as:

Publication date: Will your audience be expecting the most current research on the topic? Expected register of discourse: Are you writing to insiders or outsiders? Experts or non experts? Will your audience be expecting your composition to include or steer clear of jargon and technical language? The types of sources valued in the discipline/genre: Should you only use scholarly sources as evidence or can you bring in popular sources as well? Do you need both primary and secondary research?

EXERCISE 2-3D: AUDIENCE WORKSHOP

Types of Sources Primary vs. Secondary Sources In your research, you will find two main source types: primary and secondary. Your assignment may specify what type you should use; or, you may need to rely on your own judgment about what will best meet the audienceʼs expectations for the genre in which you are writing. Primary sources present original material or original research. They are o en “first hand” sources or provide evidence from such sources.

Examples of common primary sources include (but are not limited to): Research study data Interviews Survey data Field observations Letters/diaries Novels, poems, and other literature Court cases Laws/statutes Secondary sources, on the other hand, interpret primary sources. They offer an informed perspective on how to read and apply primary material and/or make arguments about primary sourcesʼ meaning, relevance, or significance. Examples of common secondary sources include (but are not limited to): Scholarly books and journal articles Magazine and newspaper articles Law review articles Not all sources, however, will fit perfectly into these two categories. If you have questions about what type of source you are looking for or working with, be sure to ask your instructor or a librarian for clarification.

Popular vs. Scholarly Sources

The sources you locate will also fall into one of two categories— popular or scholarly— depending on their intended audiences. Popular sources target a broader audience than scholarly sources, which usually speak to academic audiences with significant background knowledge about or experience in a field. It is important to carefully choose the source that fits your audienceʼs expectations; inappropriate sources can alienate an audience. Imagine, for example, that you picked up a brochure about a new fitness program at your gym, but instead of the expected overview of the basics of the plan and how it might help your endurance training, the brochure provided detailed references to current research on anaerobic fitness and its effects on endurance and cardiac strength. This brochure would not meet your needs and, therefore, would not be valuable to you, regardless of the validity of the research. Similarly, if the doctors who wrote that brochure attended an Exercise and Sports Medicine conference, their colleagues would expect to hear about the research findings—not the workout strategies—so they could discuss the potential application of this research to future research in the field. Consult your rhetorical chart and/or ask your instructor for information about the intended audience and rhetorical situation for your composition. Then, ask yourself what type of sources would best fit this audience and situation. If an audience and situation calls for a scholarly source, consider one of the following types of sources:

Academic: books, articles, literature reviews, and other sources written by experts in their fields and published by credible and reliable academic presses Peer reviewed: books and articles written by experts in their fields and published by credible and reliable academic presses a er a vetting process in which other experts determine the source materialʼs value and potential influence on the field Note that the terms academic, scholarly, and peer-reviewed are o en used interchangeably, so make sure you are clear on the specifics of required source requirements. Figure 2-3.1 below compares the key

characteristics of scholarly and popular sources.

Figure 2-3.1. Scholarly vs. popular sources

Source Mapping: Connecting Sources and Questions Now that you have credible and reliable sources, itʼs tempting to jump right in and start reading. Before you do so, however, letʼs think about a few questions: How can you be sure that information you find is relevant to your chosen topic? How can you keep track of information from different sources and easily find it again when it comes time to put together your final project? You can easily address the questions above through the process of source mapping. In this process, researchers begin by breaking down topics into a series of key questions or headings that shape the research process. For instance, here is the source mapping for a scholar who wanted to do a project about cell phone use:

Primary Research Question: (1). How have cell phones changed us socially? Supporting Questions: 1. Which social groups or populations use cell phones most o en? Which groups use cell phones less o en? 2. What evidence is there that cell phones have provided us with greater or lesser freedom? 3. Do cell phones make individuals feel safer?

4. How does cell phone technology impact our social interactions? 5. Has text messaging changed our modes of communication? What are the pitfalls of fewer face-to-face or via phone conversations?

By taking a broad topic about cell phone use and breaking it down into smaller, more manageable chunks, this scholar is better able to tackle the research required for the project. The scholar can use these numbered questions to organize bits of information found in various sources. For instance, letʼs see how this researcher has organized the sources a er going through some library databases: Bibliography Angster, Alexa. “An Exploratory Study of Students’ Use of Cell Phones, Texting, and Social Networking Sites.” Psychological Reports 107.2 (2010): 402-433. Questions 1, 4, and 5. Glaser, Mark. “How Cell Phones are Killing Face-to-Face Interactions.” Media Shi : Your Guide to the Digital Media Revolution. Public Broadcasting Service, 2007. 6 Aug. 2012. Questions 4 and 5. Horst, Heather A. “The Blessings and Burdens of Communication: Cell Phones in Jamaican Transnational Social Fields.” Global Networks 6.2 (2006): 143-159. 6 Aug. 2012. Question 1. Katz, James E., ed. Mobile Communication: Dimensions of Social Policy. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2011. Questions 1 and 2.

Luce, Jim. “The Impact of Cell Phones on Psychology, Community, Culture, Arts and Economics.” Huffington Post. 22 March 2010: B3+. Questions 1, 2, 4 and 5.

Make note of how the researcher lists the questions that each source addresses. This is extremely useful because now the researcher knows which sources to refer to in exploring the different aspects of the topic. For instance, for information about text messaging (Question 5), the researcher knows to look back at the sources by Angster, Glaser, and Luce. The researcher also knows that more sources on the question of cell phones and safety are needed (Question 3) because none of the sources found so far addresses that topic. It is not always necessary to frame the smaller sections of your topic in the form of questions; sometimes short phrases or summaries of subtopics within the main one can be just as effective. No matter how you format this sort of bibliography, the key is to remember how each source can help you. Then, when you are ready to start writing, your work is easier because you know where to look for the most relevant information.

Step-by-Step Source Mapping To complete source mapping for your own project, use the following steps:

Try to reframe your topic in terms of a short phrase or overarching question. Now take that short phrase or question and think about which specific components or research areas might help you address that topic. Come up with three to five supporting questions or themes that can help guide your research. Write or type these below your main question or phrase. Begin research, using your main and supporting questions or phrases to keep track of where sources fit into your overall argument or theme. Feel free to use the example above as a model, or come up with an organization for the source map that makes sense to you. Hereʼs a helpful video tutorial about evaluating sources from the UNC Libraries.

OUTCOME 3: READING SOURCES With credible, reliable, and appropriate sources secured, you can move on to reading your sources carefully, with the goal of understanding them completely so you can maximize each sourceʼs potential usefulness to you and represent each source accurately in your writing. The questions listed in Outcome 3 of Chapter 1-6 are a

great entry point for reading with genre awareness.

Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review (SQ3R) In Effective Study, Francis Pleasant Robinson details another method for effective reading called SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. This method provides entry points for reading any type of source as well as tangible strategies for both comprehension and application.

Prereading Strategies: Survey and Question Before you invest yourself in a close reading of any source, consider employing the following prereading strategies to help make your reading more efficient and to ensure that the source will, in fact, help you meet your goals for your composition:

Survey: Get a quick overview or “scan” of the source by reading the title, subtitle, and abstract, noting any headings or subtopics and even looking at the topic sentence of each paragraph. The goal is to get a sense of the main points the source will cover as well as a sense of the sourceʼs level of discourse (i.e., how challenging it will be to read/understand). Question: As you survey the source, annotate it with questions you have about the claims, the evidence, the research, or any other element, as well as with questions you have about how the sourceʼs ideas relate to your own. These questions help focus your reading and help you see the relationships and connections more clearly.

EXERCISE 2-3E: PEER SURVEY

Close Reading Now that you have a clear idea of what the source has to offer and what you hope to learn from the source, you are ready for a close reading. As you delve into the sourceʼs nuances, make sure that you understand its primary purpose: is the source trying to persuade the intended audience or inform them about some aspect of the topic? Or both? Once you understand the sourceʼs purpose, it will be easier to pinpoint the audience and the sourceʼs goals vis-à-vis this audience:

Persuade whom to do what? Inform whom about what? and to what end? These questions should also lead you to the sourceʼs argument. Regardless of whether the source aims to persuade or to inform, it should have a central argument, although some disciplines and genres signal that argument more obviously than others. Use this argument to determine the sourceʼs subclaims/subpoints and key evidence and further develop the preliminary list of main ideas you generated in “Survey” stage. Then, as you continue to read the source in search of the answers to the questions you generated in your prereading activities, itʼs important to take detailed and accurate notes. Annotate the source by highlighting or underlining key points, writing notes and additional questions in the margins, and circling words or concepts you need to learn more about. In addition, think ahead about how you will use the material you read when you begin dra. ing. For example, if you copy a quote, be sure to put quotation marks around it and immediately add a citation (even if you are not sure what citation style youʼll use; you can always revise the formatting later). Then, along with the quote, write a brief note about how you might use that material in your writing and/or how the ideas in the passage relate to your own ideas. This strategy will help you keep track of what ideas were yours versus the sourceʼs and it will

make sure that you start the dra ing phase of the writing process with ample prewriting to draw from.

Recite and Review When youʼve finished reading the source, be sure to check your understanding of what youʼve just read. First, try to “recite” the sourceʼs main ideas—that is, summarize them in your own words. Also, try to paraphrase the quotes you wrote down in order to begin the process of putting the sourceʼs ideas in your own voice. You will also want to review, or go back though, the source and attempt to find answers for any outstanding questions you have from the prereading stages. Here are more strategies for “Note Taking from Readings” from the

UNC Learning Center.

OUTCOME 4: INTEGRATING SOURCES INTO YOUR WRITING Know Your Own Ideas Sometimes writers can get so focused on research and source information that they lose track of or neglect to develop their own ideas about a topic. So, before you start integrating source material into a dra. , write down as much of your own material as possible. Start with a working argument and subclaims, along with preliminary ideas for evidence and for connections between your claims. Consider putting these points into a detailed outline. For more information about outlines, see Part 2, Chapter 2.

As you start adding source material to your outline and/or dra , always keep in mind that the source material should support or be in dialogue with your ideas. Source material should never stand alone; instead, writers should explain source material in their own words if the ideas are complex and make clear how it relates to the points the writer is making or debating.

Balance Your Sources’ Ideas with Your Own

While the specific ratio of source material to writer analysis can vary by discipline and rhetorical situation, all readers will expect balance. Thinking about this source balance as early as possible in the research and writing process will streamline effective source integration during dra ing. Imagine how difficult it would be to add evidence to a dra if all you have to work with is a list of quotes or page numbers; alternately, imagine how much easier it would be if you were dra ing with detailed notes that included not only the potential source material, but also substantive prewriting on how that potential source material relates to your ideas. Keep referring to and updating your outline as you dra , or consider using a set paragraph development model, such as the PIE—Point, Illustration, and Explanation—method described by Laia Hanau in The Study Game. In this approach: The “point” is most o en the paragraphʼs topic sentence; it should establish the paragraphʼs claim/focus and should itself have a strong link back to the central argument or main purpose of the document. The paragraph introduces an “illustration”—source material, data, quotations, examples, etc.—as evidence that supports the point. The “explanation” that follows this illustration is the writerʼs discussion and application of the evidence. This discussion should show the reader how the illustration supports the claim in that paragraph and, by extension, contributes to the overall claim or purpose for the document.

Regardless of the development model you choose, your focus should be on ensuring that you have clear arguments, on supporting your ideas with strong and relevant evidence, and on following all evidence with clear explanations of how that evidence provides support for your arguments.

Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing There are three main ways in which academic writers integrate source material: A quotation uses the sourceʼs exact words. A paraphrase conveys the sourceʼs ideas in your voice. A summary is a concise overview of a longer passage. How you employ these ways of using sources depend in part on the discipline you are writing for and the genre you are writing. For example, a scientist writing a literature review may rarely use direct quotations and is more likely to use paraphrases and summaries. Meanwhile, a philosopher is likely to quote directly from philosophical texts, as well as to use summary and paraphrase. To cra successful summaries and paraphrases, you will need to read your source material carefully but not necessarily have it in front of you as you write. Many writers need to read the material, step away or talk through that material with a peer, and then come back to the

computer/page to write the passage. You should also then carefully check what you have written against the original to make sure that you have not inadvertently created a passage that is too close to the voice and wording of the original. If there are similarities, repeat the process (read, walk away, dra , check) until the passage is in your voice completely.

Quotation The goal of a quotation is to preserve the original authorʼs words exactly. When quoting from an original source, you must fully integrate the quotation into your own writing by signaling (or attributing) the material, citing the source, and punctuating the quotation appropriately. Signal, or attribute, the use of a quotation by naming the author and using a phrase (“according to”) or a verb (“argues”). Do not just let the quotation stand alone in a sentence! It is important to give the source appropriate credit for the ideas as well as to smoothly transition between your ideas and the sourceʼs. In some citation styles (such as MLA), you should include the authorʼs full name and a brief description of his/her credentials the first time you mention a source; subsequent references can include the last name only. In other citation styles, such as APA and CSE, only last names are used.

If your citation style specifies it (as in MLA and APA), cite the quotation by including the page number on which the quotation appears. If the source does not have page numbers (many websites do not), you should cite the paragraph number or section in which the material appears. Punctuate the quotation by enclosing it in quotation marks or indenting long quotations (each documentation style addresses quotation length differently). Also, punctuate any omissions from the original with square bracketed ellipses and any changes to the original with square brackets. Consider the following examples. Note that MLA prefers the present tense for introducing quotations, while APA and CSE prefer the past tense when referring to research that has already been conducted. Here is how to introduce a direct quotation in each of the three citation styles: Example 1: Direct Quotation, Authorʼs Name Included in Sentence CITATION

IN-TEXT CITATION

STYLE MLA

In Now You See It, professor Cathy Davidson states, “Learning to give and take feedback responsibly should be a key component of our training as networked citizens of the world” (107).*

APA

Davidson (2011) has argued that “Learning to give and take feedback responsibly should be a key component of our training as networked citizens of the world” (p. 107).*

CSE

Davidson (2011) has argued that “Learning to give and take feedback

(Name-

responsibly should be a key component of our training as networked citizens

Year)

of the world” (p. 107).**

*Regardless of style, note that the closed quotation mark is followed by the citation, and that the sentence’s punctuation follows a erward, enclosing the in-text citation within the sentence. **CSE style does not specify guidelines for quotations—probably because writers in the natural sciences rarely quote directly from sources. However, you may indicate a page number using this suggested format.

Example 2: Authorʼs Name Not Included in Sentence CITATION

IN-TEXT CITATION

STYLE MLA

In Now You See It, we note the following argument: “Learning to give and take feedback responsibly should be a key component of our training as networked citizens of the world” (Davidson 107).

APA

Education researchers have argued that “Learning to give and take feedback responsibly should be a key component of our training as networked citizens of the world” (Davidson, 2011, p. 107).+

CSE

Education researchers have argued that “Learning to give and take feedback

(Name-

responsibly should be a key component of our training as networked citizens

Year)

of the world” (Davidson 2011, p.107).+*

+Note that there is one subtle difference between APA and CSE styles. While both use the name-year format, in APA the name and year are separated by a comma. In CSE no comma is used.

*CSE style does not specify guidelines for quotations—probably because writers in the natural sciences rarely quote directly from sources. However, you may indicate a page number using this suggested format.

Example 3: Block Quotations

CITATION

IN-TEXT CITATION

STYLE MLA

In Now You See It, we note the following argument: If we want our schools to work differently and to focus on different priorities, we still have to come up with some kind of metric for assessing students. And it should come as no surprise that the tests we use now are just as outmoded as most of the ways we structure our classrooms. They were designed for an era that valued different things, and in seeking to test for those things, they limited the types of aptitude they measured. (Davidson 111)*

APA

Education researchers have argued that If we want our schools to work differently and to focus on different priorities, we still have to come up with some kind of metric for assessing students. And it should come as no surprise that the tests we use now are just as outmoded as most of the ways we structure our classrooms. They were designed for an era that valued different things, and in seeking to test for those things, they limited the types of aptitude they measured. (Davidson, 2011, p. 111)*+

CSE

Education researchers have argued that

(NameYear)

If we want our schools to work differently and to focus on different priorities, we still have to come up with some kind of metric for assessing students. And it should come as no surprise that the tests we use now are just as outmoded as most of the ways we structure our classrooms. They were designed for an era

that valued different things, and in seeking to test for those things, they limited the types of aptitude they measured. (Davidson 2011, p. 111)+**

*Note that when you include block quotations, you do not need quotation marks, and the citation is not contained within the punctuation. In most citation styles, block quotations are indented from the rest of the text. **CSE style does not specify guidelines for quotations—probably because writers in the natural sciences rarely quote directly from sources. However, you may indicate a page number using this suggested format. +Note that there is one subtle difference between APA and CSE styles. While both use the name-year format, in APA the name and year are separated by a comma. In CSE no comma is used.

Documenting a Borrowed or Embedded Quotation You also may find that you want to borrow a direct quotation that was cited in your source material. Ideally, you should track down the original source and quote from that, using the guidelines above. That way, you are not likely to reproduce an error or take a quote out of context. However, if you cannot find the original source, you can indicate that you are quoting material that has been cited elsewhere. As with direct quotations, these twice-borrowed statements must preserve the original authorʼs words exactly and must be signaled, cited, and punctuated. The integration and citation, however, are a bit different. Consider this example: Paragraph 5 of the University of Alberta Librariesʼ online document titled “Why Students Plagiarize” (last updated on January 2004) includes the following sentence:

A study published in Psychological Reports found that “Students will use writing strategies that result in plagiarism when they face the task of paraphrasing advanced technical text for which they may lack the proper cognitive resources” (Roig 979).

Example 4: Citing a Borrowed Quote

CITATION

IN-TEXT CITATION

STYLE MLA

Miguel Roig concluded that “Students will use writing strategies that result in plagiarism when they face the task of paraphrasing advanced technical text for which they may lack the proper cognitive resources” (qtd. in Univ. of Alberta Libraries, par. 5).

APA

Roig (1995) concluded that “Students will use writing strategies that result in plagiarism when they face the task of paraphrasing advanced technical text for which they may lack the proper cognitive resources” (qtd. in Univ. of Alberta Libraries, par. 5).

CSE

Roig (1995) concluded that “Students will use writing strategies that result in

(Name-

plagiarism when they face the task of paraphrasing advanced technical text for

Year)

which they may lack the proper cognitive resources” (qtd. in Univ. of Alberta Libraries, par. 5).

If you find that you want to integrate both sources (the original as well as the quoted text) into your work, you will need to signal both the author of the article and the speaker of the quotation. This is called a “quote within a quote,” or an “embedded quotation.” To cite a quote within a quote, use double quotation marks (“”) to frame the longer quote, and single quotation marks (ʻʼ) to frame the

quote-within-a-quote. Example 5: Citing an Embedded Quotation

CITATION

IN-TEXT CITATION

STYLE MLA

The University of Alberta Library system acknowledges the difficulty of paraphrasing highly technical writing, referring to a study conducted by Miquel Roig and reported in Psychological Reports: the study “found that ‘students [may turn to…] plagiarism when they face the task of paraphrasing advanced technical text for which they may lack the proper cognitive resources’” (par. 5).

APA

In Roig’s study (1995), participants were asked to paraphrase “two sentences taken from Zenhausern (1978): ‘Since subjective and objective tests of imagery ability have not resulted in predicted performance differences, the only way to determine if a person thinks visually or nonvisually is to ask that question directly… One important finding is that many nonvisual thinkers have rather vivid imagery, but they can state with confidence that they do not think in pictures’” (p. 975).*

CSE

In Roig’s study (1995), participants were asked to paraphrase “two sentences

(Name-

taken from Zenhausern (1978): ‘Since subjective and objective tests of imagery

Year)

ability have not resulted in predicted performance differences, the only way to determine if a person thinks visually or nonvisually is to ask that question directly… One important finding is that many nonvisual thinkers have rather vivid imagery, but they can state with confidence that they do not think in pictures’” (p. 975).*

*Always reproduce any citations included in the source you are citing, in this case, Zenhausern (1978). You would then include both Roig and Zenhausern in your list of references.

Paraphrasing Paraphrases express an authorʼs original ideas in different words and in a different order. Just changing a few words or using a thesaurus to rewrite the passage is not enough; the paraphrase needs to be in your unique voice while still staying true to the passageʼs original meaning. All paraphrases must be cited. You may include an in-text signal if you want to call attention to the original author or source. Example 6: Paraphrase, Author Indicated in In-Text Signal

CITATION

IN-TEXT CITATION

STYLE MLA

In Now You See It, professor Cathy Davidson argues that the ability to give and receive feedback is an essential skill in the digital age (107).

APA

Davidson (2011) has argued that the ability to give and receive feedback is an essential skill in the digital age.*

CSE

Davidson (2011) has argued that the ability to give and receive feedback is an

(Name-

essential skill in the digital age.*

Year)

*Note that page numbers are not needed for paraphrases in APA and CSE styles.

Example 7: Paraphrase, Author Not Indicated in In-Text Signal CITATION STYLE

IN-TEXT CITATION

MLA

The ability to give and receive feedback is an essential skill in the digital age (Davidson 107).

APA

The ability to give and receive feedback is an essential skill in the digital age (Davidson, 2011).*

CSE (Name-

The ability to give and receive feedback is an essential skill in the digital age

Year)

(Davidson 2011).*

*Note that there is one subtle difference between APA and CSE styles. While both use the name-year format, in APA the name and year are separated by a comma. In CSE no comma is used.

Summarizing Summaries concisely convey the main idea of a longer passage from an original source—or even the main idea or finding of an entire article or study. Summaries must be cited and signaled. Note that no citation styles require page numbers for very broad summaries, such as a recap of the main argument for an entire book (as in the examples below). Example 8: Summary, Author Indicated in In-Text CITATION

IN-TEXT CITATION

STYLE MLA

In Now You See It, Davidson argues that our current education system is failing to equip students for the demands of the digital age

APA

Davidson (2011) has argued that our current education system is failing to

equip students for the demands of the digital age. CSE

Davidson (2011) has argued that our current education system is failing to

(Name-

equip students for the demands of the digital age.

Year)

Example 9: Summary, Author Not Indicated in In-Text Signal CITATION

IN-TEXT CITATION

STYLE MLA

Researchers suggest that our current education system is failing to equip students for the demands of the digital age (Davidson).

APA

Researchers have argued that our education system is failing to equip students for the demands of the digital age (Davidson, 2011).

CSE

Researchers have argued that our current education system is failing to equip

(Name-

students for the demands of the digital age (Davidson 2011).

Year)

Also note that, in the natural and social sciences especially, researchers may cite multiple studies that all convey the same main finding or pattern. In the humanities, these kinds of statements are likely to be followed by more detailed descriptions of what each researcher has found (o en using a quotation or paraphrase). In the natural and social sciences, depending on the genre, writers are more likely to let these summaries stand on their own, leaving it to the reader to check out the original sources, if desired.

Example 10: Summary, Multiple Sources Indicating a Finding or Trend CITATION

IN TEXT CITATION

STYLE MLA

Researchers suggest that our current education system is failing to equip students for the demands of the digital age. For example, in Now You See It, Cathy Davidson argues that the ability to give and receive feedback is an essential skill of the digital age (107).

APA

Researchers have argued that our education system is failing to equip students for the demands of the digital age (Davidson, 2011; Rubin, 2012; Bowen, 2011)

CSE

Researchers have argued that our education system is failing to equip students

(Name-

for the demands of the digital age (Davidson 2011; Rubin 2012; Bowen 2011).

Year)

For more information about how to cite quotes, paraphrases, and summaries in MLA, APA, and CSE style, see the UNC Libraries Citing

Information Tutorial, which includes information on CSE, MLA, APA, and Chicago styles. The library also offers a citation builder tool.

EXERCISE 2-3F: SOURCE INTEGRATION WORKSHOP

Hereʼs a helpful video overview of Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summary from the UNC Writing Center

Common Knowledge The term “common knowledge” refers to information that is widely known. What type of information falls under this heading is best assessed on a case-by-case basis in consultation with your instructor or a librarian. What counts as common knowledge o en depends on the discipline. For example, the assertion that “writing is best taught as a process” is common knowledge among composition and rhetoric scholars and would not require a citation for that audience. However, in an article written for science professors, the claim that “writing is best taught as a process” might require a citation. Since common knowledge varies by discipline, the following five rules of thumb are helpful: If you find the same information in multiple sources, it is likely common knowledge. If you find that this information tends to be used without citation in your discipline or genre, it is likely common knowledge. If your audience assumes the information, it is likely common knowledge. If the information would be found in a basic encyclopedia entry or very introductory course, it is likely common knowledge. If several sources offer different answers to the same question, it is very likely that no answer can be considered common knowledge. Compare the following examples:

Plagiarism is discouraged in academic settings. Plagiarism is a punishable act, and the sanctions assigned by a jury-of-peers on UNC-CHʼs Honor Court range from one semester of probation to one year of suspension (Instrument of Student Governance III.B.). In the first case, no citation is needed because it is assumed that the audience already knows that plagiarism is unacceptable in scholarly settings. In the second case, a citation is needed because the writer is citing a specific piece of information about plagiarism, information that the audience is unlikely to know already. It is important to remember the difference between “common knowledge” and “readily available.” Just because a fact or document is readily available online, even on multiple websites, does not mean that the fact or document is common knowledge. Be generous with your attributions, especially when using electronic sources. When in doubt, cite your sources.

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Whenever you use research to support your ideas, you must act responsibly and honorably by giving due credit to the authors of that research. The source material you are engaging with is someone elseʼs intellectual property and, therefore, should be respected for the time, effort, and creativity, the author(s) devoted to producing and publishing it. Documenting your sources not only acknowledges the

value of the cited ideas, but also bolsters your own authority, demonstrates your knowledge of the topic, and provides your readers with the reference information they need to explore the topic further. Plagiarism is an academic integrity issue because plagiarism misrepresents some element(s) of a writerʼs work. This misrepresentation—intentional or unintentional—falls into three main categories: 1. Misrepresenting a sourceʼs ideas as your own, usually by not including citations 2. Misrepresenting a sourceʼs voice or words as your own, usually by forgetting quotation marks or by not putting paraphrased material entirely in your own voice 3. Misrepresenting unoriginal work as original work, usually by submitting previously graded material as a new composition or by over-reliance on source material Consider the following strategies for avoiding each type of plagiarism: How to avoid misrepresenting a sourceʼs ideas as your own: Cite! Cite all paraphrased, quoted, and summarized material that is not common knowledge for your audience and use these citations to differentiate between your ideas and the sourceʼs. When in doubt, ask for help. Be stylish. Carefully follow the required citation and reference formatting conventions.

How to avoid misrepresenting a sourceʼs voice or words as your own: Again, cite! Start citing as early as possible in the research and writing process; cite while you take notes, and cite while you dra so you donʼt lose track of what ideas are yours versus the sourceʼs. Be careful. Find a reference management system that works for you: printing out sources, using notecards, or using a digital reference tool, such as Mendeley or Zotero. Avoid copy/paste. It is much easier to leave out quotation marks, forget to add a citation, or use too much source material when copying and pasting. Even if you unintentionally lose track of the boundaries between your own work and the sourceʼs as you moved through the writing and research process, this sort of appropriation still counts as plagiarism. How to avoid misrepresenting unoriginal work as original work: Be honest. Buying a paper, recycling a friend or family memberʼs work, and copying ideas from sources without credit are all possible types of academic dishonesty. Be analytical. Remember that source material only supports your ideas; your ideas are the most important and should therefore dominate each paragraph. Always lead in to and follow up on all source material with your own ideas in your own voice. For all source evidence, visualize that you are a making a “source sandwich”: start with your ideas to set up whatʼs to come, bring in the source information, wrap up with your ideas that explain the

relevance of this source information to your analysis/argument. Never leave source material “hanging” with no context. For more information about how to avoid plagiarism, check out the UNC Libraries Identifying Plagiarism and Why We Cite Tutorial as

well as this “Why We Cite” video from the UNC Writing Center.

EXERCISE 2-3G: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

How the Libraries Can Help You with Research The UNC Libraries have over 9 million items in their collections, but they also have friendly and welcoming staff who are experts in how to do research. Their job is to help you navigate the large and sometimes overwhelming library system to find the articles, books, films, and data you need. There are many ways to reach out to the Libraries when you need help with research or citation. You can visit any of the library service desks in person and ask any staff member for help. The Libraries and Hours page will help you figure out where the libraries are on campus and

when theyʼre open. You can also visit the Librariesʼ Contact Us page to ask a question via email, phone, or chat. If you would like more in-depth help, please book an ENGL 105/105i

Research Help appointment online. Once you pick the appointment time that works with your schedule, youʼll get an email confirmation. Bring your assignment and your laptop to the Undergraduate Library desk, where youʼll meet with a librarian who can coach you through creating a research plan, finding what you need more efficiently, and moving forward in your research with more confidence and clarity. Dayna Durbin is the Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Librarian who specifically works with first-year and transfer students. She would be happy to meet with you to talk about your research or answer your questions about how to use the libraries. You are encouraged to email her at for help!

2-4

PUBLISHING AND PRESENTING YOUR RESEARCH

The work and ideas you produce in ENGL 105/105i have the potential to live outside the classroom through publication and/or presentation. O en, student work can provide valuable contributions to many academic fields, popular genres, and news formats. Your work might appear in a public-facing course wiki or WordPress site, a campus

publication such as The Daily Tar Heel or Cellar Door, a popular

magazine, or an academic journal. In addition to sharing your ideas with a wider audience, publishing and presenting your work can help you polish and refine those ideas. It can also teach you more about the writing process, particularly about how to revise work for specific audiences and venues. Additionally, publishing and presenting your work can help you develop your professional portfolio and show your contributions to a field. Regardless of why you are publishing or presenting, or where you do so, you want your work to make the best impression. In this chapter, you will learn how to find publications and presentation venues suitable for your work as well as how to prepare your work to be published and/or presented.

Key Terms Formatting: For publication, youʼll also need to make sure that your documentʼs formatting meets your audienceʼs expectations. Formatting refers to how the document is visually arranged. Formatting includes specifications for headers, headings, margins, font face and size, indentation, paper size, spacing, and other visual aspects. Formatting also refers to the conventions used for punctuation, capitalization, numbers, dates, titles, names, mottos, notes, references, citations, and other textual components. Proof: Many publications will send authors “proofs,” or a formatted/typeset version of their work that has been through

the publicationʼs editorial process. Authors can read through the proofs and submit minor revisions before publication. Style: Style refers to how you convey information including diction, sentence structure, voice, tone, purpose, and audience. For example, longer sentences that include field-specific terms ( jargon) might seem more complex and formal in tone, while shorter sentences comprised only of well-known vocabulary might seem more casual. Your style will need to match the style of your chosen publication as closely as possible to increase your chances of acceptance. Academic Conference: Scholars present research at academic conferences in order to share their ideas with others and to receive feedback. Presentations can take a variety of forms, including displaying a poster in a large hall, reading a paper to an auditorium, or discussing ideas with other academics at a round table. Multimedia: Although some presentations consist only of a writer orally delivering a paper, many presentations will also include multimedia, such as handouts or visual aids (i.e., PowerPoint or Prezi). Some publications also have multimedia elements. Performance: During oral presentations, the speakerʼs vocal and visual performance contributes to the persuasiveness of the argument. If the speaker appears well-organized and confident, then the audience may find the presentation more convincing. Oral presentations also allow for more interaction between the writer and audience. In most cases, oral presentations are

followed by Q&A time, so the audience has the opportunity to direct comments or questions to the writer.

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1 Identify and analyze publication options 2. Prepare a dra for publication. 3 Follow formatting guidelines and submit a work for publication 4. Analyze the differences and similarities between written and oral composition. 5 Write for an oral mode of presentation 6. Design multimedia to effectively support an oral presentation. 7 Prepare for a performance

I. Publishing Your Research OUTCOME 1: IDENTIFYING AND ANALYZING PUBLICATION OPTIONS Identify a Publication Finding a target publication that suits your work is the first step of this process. But before you know which publication youʼre going to submit to, you first need to identify your audience. You must ask yourself, “Who wants to read this work?” (It will also help to review the discussion of audience in Part 2, Chapter 1.)

Your answer will vary depending on what kind of composition you have produced. For example, if you have stumbled upon a new work of literature in the archives at UNCʼs Wilson Library and have written about the significance of this text, you might want to publish this finding. But who cares about it? Other scholars working on the authorʼs work will likely want to know about your discovery. Additionally, if the author has particular campus or Chapel Hill connections, local historians might be interested. Students and other town residents might want to know, too. Ultimately, you will have to decide to whom your work is most relevant. For example, if you have spent time discussing the authorʼs

significance as a citizen of Chapel Hill, a North Carolina historical publication may be best. If your work instead has focused on the literature and how the author has influenced other contemporary writers, you might consider an academic literary journal. Finding these publications might take a bit of research. The Office for

Undergraduate Research has a comprehensive list of publications that accept undergraduate work. If youʼre still looking, check out The University of North Carolina Press and Duke University Press for more options. If you find yourself looking elsewhere, one place to start is with a search engine. Conducting a search for “historical publications,” for example, yields the NC Department of Cultural Resources, which has a list of historical publications that might be good venues for your work. Similarly, if an academic journal is something youʼre considering, there are several online resources you might start with including the Elsevier Journal Finder, Springer Journal Selector, or the Journal/Author Name Estimator. Including some brief details about your work in your searches on these tools will help you compile a list of potential academic publications. Other compositions might fit better in more popular publications. For example, if you have composed a well researched think piece on UNCʼs confederate monument controversy, youʼll want to cast a wider

net than specialized historical or literary audiences. Online news outlets and op-ed sections in online and print news sources might be more suitable places. Popular outlets include The Washington Post, The New York Times, Vice, Broadly, Vox, Bustle, Refinery29, BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, Slate, and Huffington Post. Publications such as these o en publish hundreds of op-eds a year, and many of these op-eds attract national attention.

EXERCISE 2-4A: RHETORICAL SITUATIONS

Analyze a Publication Because there are o en many options, the question becomes, “How do I choose?” Spending time with some of the publications you think are most relevant for your work will help you. Before publishing in a particular journal or outlet, you should first spend some time reading it. Understanding a publicationʼs mission and goals is an important first step to determining whether your work is the right fit. A good place to find this information is the “about” or “submissions” section of a publicationʼs website. What are the aims and scope of the publication? For example, the North Carolina Historical Review seeks “to publish articles and annotated documents pertaining to the history of North Carolina. The editors and the

committee consider originality of material and interpretation, sources, clarity of thought, style, and interests of readers” (“Editorial Policy”). By contrast, the South Atlantic Quarterly “provides bold

analyses of the current intellectual scene, both nationally and worldwide. Published exclusively in guest-edited special issues, this award-winning centenarian journal features some of the most prominent contemporary writers and scholars tackling urgent political, cultural, and social questions” (“About the Journal”). Returning to the hypothetical Wilson Library find above, and assuming that the compositionʼs focus is more historical, the North Carolina Historical Review seems like a better fit than the South Atlantic Quarterly because the kind of intellectual work weʼre imagining the piece will accomplish isnʼt focused on emergent political questions. In addition, examining the topics and titles in recent issues can provide important insights into a publicationʼs suitability. For example, some titles from works published in the North Carolina Historical Review include “The North Carolina State Library as a Cultural Resource, 1812 1914,” “In Defense of the Nation: Syphilis, North Carolinaʼs ʻGirl Problem,ʼ and World War I,” and “The Medical Dimension in Cornwallisʼs Army, 1780 1781.” From these titles, we can tell that the content is deeply rooted in particular historical moments date ranges are included in two of the three examples here, and a specific war in another.

If the publicationʼs information and titles seem to be a good fit, the final step is to read some of the works themselves. As you do, ask yourself the following: What is the scope of these pieces? What is the main goal of the pieces? Are they informative, argumentative, or entertaining? What is the tone? Is it academic, humorous, or colloquial? What kind of language is used? Is it professional, full of jargon, or casual? Is my work already in line with this, or could it be reasonably shaped to be so? If the answer to your last question is yes, then itʼs time to consider the guidelines and constraints of your publication.

Guidelines and Constraints When considering a publication, make sure your work aligns with what the publication is looking for. Publications are usually upfront with potential authors about what theyʼre looking for in the content of pieces. Hereʼs an example from the North Carolina Historical Review: The editors of the North Carolina Historical Review and the Advisory Editorial Committee seek to publish articles and annotated documents pertaining to the history of North Carolina. The editors and the committee consider originality of material and

interpretation, sources, clarity of thought, style, and interests of readers. Materials primarily genealogical are not accepted (“Editorial Policy”).

And if itʼs genealogical, it will not work for this journal. Since our perspective on the Wilson Library archive find aligns with these guidelines, this publication sounds suitable.

OUTCOME 2: PREPARING A DRAFT FOR PUBLICATION Plan a Dra When, dra. ing for publication, you will follow the same writing process discussed in Part 2, Chapter 2. There are some additional

factors to consider, though:

Focus Because youʼre writing for a publication, you need to ensure not only that the focus of your piece is clear (as you would for any composition), but also that the focus aligns with the publicationʼs as stated in the submission guidelines. And if it does not fit these guidelines, be sure to add a step to your revisions to remedy this. For example, if you are writing a piece for South Atlantic Quarterly, you need your scope to consider “urgent political, cultural, and social questions.” However, you might find that parts of your piece spend too much time rehashing a debate from further in the past. One option would be to summarize the past debate more quickly in your article and narrow your focus so that your piece remains more attentive to contemporary issues.

Style

When youʼre revising a publication, in addition to larger components like focus, structure, and your argument, youʼll want to keep an eye out for choices in language and sentence structure that may or may not align with the style of your publication and the type of work you are submitting to that publication. Letʼs take a look at a few examples, paying particular attention to diction, sentence structure, voice, tone, purpose, and audience. First, hereʼs an example from a news release in Science Daily: The results show pig bones excavated from these sites were from animals raised as far away as Scotland, North East England and West Wales, as well as numerous other locations across the British Isles. The researchers believe it may have been important for those attending to contribute animals raised locally at their homes. (Cardiff University)

From key phrases like “The results show” and “The researchers believe,” we can tell that this is an informative document—these phrases introduce information to the reader. These phrases also suggest a somewhat formal or professional tone. The sentences begin with subjects like “the results” and “the researchers,” which are followed by verbs. Including sentences in subject, verb, object order— the order of sentences written in active voice—is a stylistic choice o en made for readability and clarity. The diction is accessible—none of the words here are unfamiliar, and even if the place names are new, not knowing exactly where West Wales is doesnʼt detract from

our understanding. Such accessible word choice suggests that the text is for a general audience. The following passage, from a research article in the journal Science Advances though, has a very different style, even though itʼs about a similar topic: Pigs are the prime animal used in feasting but have not previously been subjected to provenancing isotope analysis, as cattle have been favored as an animal more likely to have been moved under human control. In addition, porcine enamel was initially considered susceptible to diagenetic alteration, but research has since demonstrated that pigs retain biogenic strontium ( ), thus releasing the potential of this important class of remains. The data presented here further support this research in showing great diversity in isotope values at single sites, demonstrating that diagenetic strontium from the burial environment has not homogenized the results. (Madgwick, et al.)

This excerpt is likewise informative, as indicated by phrases such as “Pigs are the prime animal used in feasting” and “The data presented here,” which both work to convey information to the reader. There is also an emphasis on clarity, as the sentences follow the same subject, verb, and object order. Some of them are in active voice. One sentence, however, begins with, “In addition, porcine enamel was initially considered….” This sentence is in the passive voice, since the thing being acted upon (“porcine enamel”) is in the subject position, and the sentence doesnʼt have a direct agent of action. Passive voice is o en an indicator of formal scientific writing (as discussed in Part 1,

Chapter 2). Phrases such as “provenancing isotope analysis,” “porcine enamel,” “diagenetic alteration,” “biogenic strontium,” and “diagenetic strontium” also jump out. These words can be called

“jargon”—highly specific words related to a particular field of research. In addition to conveying an academic tone, this word choice limits the audience to people already in the field. Both examples concern the same basic information, and they use very different styles to convey it. As you write and revise, aligning the diction, sentence structure, voice, tone, and purpose of your writing with the publicationʼs expectations will increase the likelihood of your submissionʼs acceptance. Some publications also have “house style” rules that govern if/how writers use headings, treat specific terms, incorporate visuals, and/or cite sources. Be sure to check with the publicationʼs editor to make sure that you understand and follow these rules. Information about following a publicationʼs formatting guidelines will be provided in Outcome 3.

OUTCOME 3: FOLLOWING FORMATTING GUIDELINES AND SUBMITTING FOR PUBLICATION Apply Formatting Editors usually want submissions that are consistently formatted. Formatting guidelines make documents readable, and editors usually have many submissions and manuscripts to read. Making sure your piece follows the formatting guidelines your publication sets out will also help prevent editors from having negative first impressions of your piece. Letʼs take a look at the submission guidelines for the North Carolina Historical Review: Manuscripts should generally not exceed thirty-five double-spaced typed pages, including text and notes. Occasionally, longer manuscripts are accepted. Text and notes must be double-spaced, and the latter should appear on separate sheets at the end of the essay. The authorʼs name should appear only on the title page of the manuscript. The journal follows The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition, in matters of capitalization, punctuation, abbreviation, citation, and the like. The editors will provide an abbreviated style guide upon request. Authors should submit for consideration two print copies of their manuscripts to the managing editor, Historical Research Office, Office of Archives and History, Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, 4610 Mail Service Center, Raleigh,

North Carolina 27699-4622. Please also send an electronic copy to the managing editor at [email protected]. (“Editorial Policy”).

From this, we know how long our piece can be, what formatting style is expected, where the notes should go (if any), the spacing of the document, and how many copies will need to be sent and to where. We also should note what isnʼt listed: elements such as font face and size, margins, and headers. So, you can make some style and design choices—with caution, of course. The document should look neat and polished. Specifically, be sure to choose a readable font. Many editors appreciate a serif font, such as Times New Roman (usually size 12), because itʼs easy to read. When using a sans-serif font, choose one that is readable, such Helvetica, Calibri, or Arial (usually size 11) and not overly stylized. Font sizes between 10 and 12 will keep your piece legible. In general, your document should also follow consistent spacing conventions. Margins should be 1 in. 1.5 in. on all sides. A 1 in. margin on all sides is standard for many types of documents, including many university assignment submissions. If not otherwise specified, make sure your document is double spaced (with no extra spaces between paragraphs).

Submit for Publication Once your document has been dra ed, revised, and formatted, itʼs time to submit. Be sure to follow a publicationʼs submission guidelines. For example, the scholarly interdisciplinary journal south asks for the following: Please direct all submissions to our online submissions manager. Submissions delivered by email or physical mail will no longer be accepted. Manuscripts must be submitted with an abstract (maximum 250 words). Please review our guidelines for submission for our editorial preferences. Due to the heavy volume of submissions, the editors request that essays be limited to a maximum of 7,500 words (including notes and works cited). Please allow four to six months for review and notification. (“Submissions”)

Submitting your piece using the formatting and methods indicated by your publication will make a strong first impression.

The Publication Process So what happens now? If youʼre self-publishing to a public-facing web page, such as a wiki or a WordPress site, congratulations! Youʼre published!

If youʼre publishing to a print or online publication with an editorial board, the first thing youʼll need to do is wait. As the submission guidelines for south suggest, you might be waiting a while.

Rejection Keep in mind that most pieces are rejected, o en more than once; so, donʼt get discouraged! Publications receive many submissions, and their decisions sometimes come down to minutia. Rejection is a normal part of the publication process. In the best rejection scenarios, an editor will tell you why, and this feedback can be useful for either revising with these critiques in mind or looking toward different publications whose scope and aims match those of your work. But sometimes a rejection is basically just a simple “no thank you.”

Revise and Resubmit A revise and resubmit response is excellent! It means editors are interested in publishing your work, and they want you to make some changes so that your work better fits their standards and goals. This process will be much like the revision process discussed In Part 2, Chapter 2. Youʼll want to carefully read through editorsʼ comments,

create a clear list of revisions, work through this list to make those

revisions, and review the comments again to ensure that the changes youʼve made are addressing the comments. Then, youʼll send your piece back to the editor with a letter that briefly but clearly outlines the areas youʼve revised.

Acceptance Once your article is accepted, you can celebrate! Congratulations! However, even with acceptance, the process has just begun, and there is much more to do before final publication.

Proofing Authors will o en receive page proofs from the publication before work is published. By the proof stage, the work will have passed through multiple stages of editing (o en including copyediting) at the publication, and it will be typeset/formatted for printing. The editor will indicate what types of changes are possible at this point in the process, but typically, writers are only allowed to make sentence-level changes. So, you should check sentence structure, word choice, and tone carefully. This is also the time to check the support youʼve included for accuracy, ensuring that youʼve quoted everything as it appears and

paraphrased or summarized information in ways that do justice to the original source. You should check the accuracy of your citations and references in particular. This extra step will help you make sure your piece is as correct and credible as possible.

II. Presenting Your Research OUTCOME 4: ANALYZING WRITTEN VERSUS ORAL COMPOSITION Have you ever tried to listen to an in-class presentation but had trouble paying attention because you were either bored or confused? Even when a presentationʼs topic is interesting and its argument is convincing, audience members can have trouble following the presentation if the author does not recognize that presenting research orally is different from presenting research in a written form. Specifically, the composition and delivery process is different for the author; a speaker can emphasize certain words through vocal tone while a writer can use punctuation for a similar effect. Similarly, the reception of an oral presentation is different for the audience; whereas a reader can go back to re-read a confusing section of text, a listener does not have that same luxury. Writing and speaking are both forms of composition, and, therefore, they have certain elements in common. Written and oral composition both communicate and convey ideas from an author to an audience, and both have rhetorical situations. Sometimes, these rhetorical situations might even be quite similar. For example, an instructor might deliver a lecture orally in class and then, a. er class, might email the lecture notes to the students.

Of course, there are notable differences between written and oral composition as well, and an author needs to understand these differences in order to design an effective oral presentation. Consider, for example, that an audience who listens to a paper cannot see the divisions between paragraphs and, therefore, might have trouble recognizing when a presenter is shi ing from one idea to a new one. Or consider that a listening audience cannot see parenthetical citations or footnotes, so a presenter must rely upon other strategies, such as incorporating the authorʼs name in a signal phrase (i.e, “According to Professor Swi …” or “As indicated in Taylor Swi ʼs analysis…”) to convey that he/she is borrowing ideas from other sources. The main difference between written and oral composition is the relationship among the author, the text, and the audience. In written composition, the audience has greater access to the text. They are able to read at their own pace; to highlight, underline, or annotate significant ideas; or to re-read confusing sections. By contrast, in oral composition, the audience has less access to the text but greater access to the author. They are able to pose questions to the author and ask for clarification that the text alone might not be able to provide. For an author, the prospect of interacting directly with an audience may be intimidating. However, the increased access to the audience can also be beneficial for authors because they can alter texts to better meet their audiencesʼ needs. For example, if an audience

seems confused or disengaged, an author can adapt the presentation with improvised explanations or humor.

EXERCISE 2-4B: READING VS . LISTENING

OUTCOME 5: WRITING FOR THE PRESENTATION The unique relationship among the author, the text, and the audience influences how an oral presentation should be composed. In order to share your research with others, present your ideas in a coherent order, and formulate a persuasive argument, you will probably write down parts (if not all) of your presentation beforehand. Most presenters can cover about eight pages of double-spaced text in 20 minutes, which is a common length for academic conference presentations. While presenters in some fields typically read a printed paper, in many fields, presentations are extemporaneous—not memorized or read directly from notes—and accompanied by presentation slides (such as PowerPoint or Google Slides). If you are unsure what type of presentation style to use, ask someone who has attended the same conference before, or reach out to the conference organizer for information. Although there are many elements that combine to make a presentation successful, here are four specific strategies that can help you write an effective oral presentation.

Keep It Simple When listening to an oral presentation, the audience does not have the time or the ability to look up unfamiliar words, to locate the subject of a complex sentence, or to re-read a confusing section, so it

is vital that you keep your language simple when delivering an oral presentation. To keep your presentation simple, you should: Use very little jargon (unless you are presenting to a very expert audience). Choose your words carefully (avoiding informal, meaningless, imprecise, wordy, and overused language). Use simpler sentences. Make your argument clear and concise (with no more than three to five main points).

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat… Again, because the audience does not have the luxury of going back and re-reading content in an oral presentation, it is important to reiterate key ideas and information. When practicing for an oral presentation, you should be in the habit of telling the audience what you are going to tell them, telling them, and then telling them what you already told them. Finding the balance between effective repetition and unnecessary redundancy can be difficult (a. er all, you donʼt want the audience to feel like you are beating them over the head with an idea). One strategy for effective repetition is to repeat key terms and buzzwords over the course of your presentation. For example, if your presentation analyzed the evolution of democracy from ancient Athens to the present, then “democracy” might be a

keyword that you could repeat. In a written medium, repetition can be superfluous and add little to your argument, but in an oral format, repetition can help remind your audience of your main points and keep them on track.

Use Verbal Cues Phrases such as “in this presentation, I will argue that…” are not always necessary in written communication because organizational and contextual factors may highlight your argument for your reader. However, because these factors may not be as obvious in oral communication, including verbal cues in an oral presentation can be useful for leading your audience through your argument and directing their attention to especially important ideas. Other types of verbal cues draw attention to different parts of an argument (first, second, etc.) or show the relationship between ideas (on the one hand…on the other hand…). It is helpful to give listeners an overview of your presentation upfront. When using presentation slides, you can include this overview as a bulleted list on a slide.

Dra ing a “Script” Finally, you will want to consider how closely your presentation will stick to a “script” that you have written out beforehand. At academic conferences, as mentioned above, some scholars read a fully written

dra , others work from a few notecards with important points, and still others rely upon presentation slides for content cues. The context, discipline, and rhetorical situation of the presentation can help you decide which approach would be most appropriate, but you can also take into account your own level of comfort with public speaking. If the thought of presenting research to a live audience unnerves you, then you might prefer a complete “script” to bullet points. Regardless of which approach you choose, you will not want to read directly from the page the entire time, as this will bore the audience. If you were to read the paper verbatim, why wouldnʼt they just skip the presentation and ask you for a copy a erwards? Ad-libbing intermittently or speaking extemporaneously can help keep the audience engaged and help you look more confident. If you are concerned about speaking extemporaneously, you can plan for some “improvised” comments while dra ing your presentation. In addition to composing your presentation, you will also want to consider the logistics of reading your text aloud. For example, your script will need to be legible and accessible if you are planning to read from it at the presentation. Therefore, you should: Type your presentation notes if you have messy handwriting. Write or print the text in a large size so you donʼt have to squint to read it.

Number your pages or notecards so you donʼt skip any and can rearrange them if they get out of order. Double space your “script” so you can more easily keep track of where you are in your presentation. If you plan to read from an electronic device (laptop, tablet, etc.), find a steady surface for it. You should also position the device so that you can see the text clearly without obstructing the audienceʼs view of you. While dra ing your presentation, you can also prepare for the question-and-answer time by brainstorming three potential questions that the audience might ask you based on your presentation. Then, write down your answers to those questions.

OUTCOME 6: DESIGNING MULTIMEDIA Multimedia in oral presentations can range from PowerPoint or Prezi slides, to video or sound clips, to physical handouts distributed to audience members. Not every presentation includes multimedia, but multimedia tools can help keep your audience engaged and help them follow your content. When deciding what material to include on handouts or presentation slides, be sure to choose information that will complement, rather than distract from, your presentation. Too much text can be overwhelming for the audience, and bullet points can likewise be distracting because the audience reads the bullets instead of listening to what the speaker has to say. Instead of text, visual representations of data (in the form of graphs, charts, illustrations, or photographs) can be more beneficial because they inform without distracting the audience. You can also use stock images to make your presentation more visually appealing, but the connection between your presentation and the images should always be clear. Finally, your multimedia can imitate common practices in your discipline; for example, natural science presentations o. en have slides with graphs that depict the results of an experiment, while humanities presentations o en have handouts that include direct quotations that the speaker plans to analyze.

When designing multimedia, you want the final product to be as accessible to your audience as possible. If audience members are struggling to see your multimedia, then they will not be concentrating on the content of your presentation. Specifically, you should consider the physical space in which you will be presenting and the needs of your audience. For example, if you are presenting in a large lecture hall, your text size should be large enough so that people in the back row can still read your slides. Similarly, higher-contrast color choices and consistent text alignment can help make your content easier to see. The UNC Undergraduate Library Design Lab guide also offers a

guide on presentation slides design. When you plan to use multimedia or other forms of technology (such as a microphone) during a presentation, it is always a good idea to check that the technology is working ahead of time and to be prepared in case there is a malfunction. By smoothly recovering from failed technology, you can demonstrate that you are well-prepared, and this level of preparation can increase your credibility with the audience. In particular, printed handouts can be an excellent backup option in case a projector experiences technical difficulties. For more help with digital and media projects, see Part 2, Chapter 5.

EXERCISE 2-4C: REVISING SLIDES

OUTCOME 7: PREPARING FOR THE PERFORMANCE An oral presentation is a performance; how you look and how you speak will influence how your audience reacts to your research. If you appear confident in your argument, then the audience might be inspired by your demeanor and might be more likely to find your argument convincing. However, if you appear unsure about your argument, then your audience might be more likely to question you and the persuasiveness of your presentation. Also, a performance consists of both vocal and visual components, so you will want to take both into account as you prepare for your presentation.

Vocal Performance When presenting, it is important that you speak clearly, loudly, and slowly so that the audience will be able to hear and understand you. Effective speakers enunciate, focusing especially on consonants at the ends of words and phrases, and adjust their volume depending on the space so that everyone, even those in the back row, can hear their presentation. (Remember that more bodies in a room will absorb sound more easily, so you will need to speak more loudly in a full auditorium than in an empty one.) Also, effective presenters speak

slowly enough that the audience catches every word, rather than every third word, because people o en need more time to process what they hear (versus what they read or see). Additionally, because nervous speakers tend to speed up their rate of talking, you should speak at a speed that seems almost awkwardly slow to you. If you feel yourself getting nervous, try taking a deep, well-timed breath (a er a paragraph, not in the middle of a sentence) to help calm you. Usually, the tone of an oral presentation is conversational yet professional, but above all, it should not be robotic. Because a dull monotone will bore listeners, effective speakers modulate and inflect their voices to keep the audience alert and interested. Furthermore, in a paper, you can use different fonts, underlining, highlighting, and italicizing to draw emphasis (although this is not always recommended, depending on the genre). In speech, though, you must rely on your voice to emphasize your arguments with pauses, with increased volume or pitch, and, of course, with vocal stress. Finally, effective speakers avoid verbal fillers, such as “um,” “like,” or “yaʼknow.” Most people use these words and phrases in colloquial speech when searching for a word or idea, but when speakers use them in formal presentations, they sound inexperienced, uninformed, and unconvincing. Instead of using verbal fillers, you can simply pause, which will make you seem thoughtful. Because verbal fillers occur naturally in your day-to-day speech, you will need to actively avoid using them in your presentations. You can do this by

recording yourself practicing so you can note where you use fillers and/or by asking a friend to listen to your presentation and keep a tally of how many filler words you use so you can measure your improvement over practice sessions. In summary, to make your vocal performance effective, you should: Enunciate. Speak loudly and slowly. Breathe. Inflect and modulate your voice. Avoid verbal fillers.

Visual Performance The visual element of presentations also has multiple aspects that you should consider. For example, to encourage the audience to take you seriously, be sure to wear appropriate clothing, which can range from business casual to formal depending upon the discipline and occasion. Other visual aspects include conveying energy through your body language, using the presentation space effectively, and maintaining confident posture. One common challenge for actors or presenters is figuring out what to do with their hands during a performance. You should feel free to use hand gestures because they can positively contribute to your presentation by helping you emphasize a point or suggest a

progression of ideas. However, pacing or rocking backwards and forwards can make you seem nervous, less confident, and thus, less persuasive. The final, and most important, element of visual performance is your face. It is imperative that you seem visually engaged with the presentation and the audience. Smiling, when appropriate, is one method of keeping them engaged. If it appears as though you are not enjoying your own presentation, your audience will likely mirror your disinterest. Maintaining eye contact is another key way of connecting with the audience. However, in order to look up from your notes and speak clearly to the audience, you need to know the material very well; so, again, you will need to prepare effectively in order to deliver a presentation that is successful on all levels. In sum, to make your visual performance effective, you should: Dress professionally. Maintain confident posture. Use effective gestures and movements. Try to make eye contact. Have fun.

EXERCISE 2-4D: VOCAL & VISUAL PERFORMANCE

Practice Presenting You might assume that you are adequately prepared for an oral presentation just based on your class conversations about the topic. However, a formal oral presentation differs significantly from everyday speech, so you must practice ahead of time if you want to do well. As you prepare for your performance, you can follow these strategies: Practice the presentation in full in order to perfect your timing, to look up more during the presentation, and to be aware of any tricky areas (so you donʼt mispronounce anything or struggle reading your own words). Speak exactly as you would during the actual presentation. Miming can be fine for practice, but if you speak under your breath or rush through sections during rehearsal, chances are you will do the same thing during the real presentation. Practice in front of friends and family, so you have an audience that will be able to give you feedback. A er you have finalized your presentation, record yourself delivering it aloud. Watch your recording, and create a list describing what techniques you employed well and what techniques you could improve. Then, practice delivering your presentation a few more times and actively try to maintain your good aspects while improving your ineffective ones.

EXERCISE 2-4E: COMPARING APPROACHES

EXERCISE 2-4F: RECORD YOURSELF

2-5

DIGITAL LITERACY

The medium of your composition can dictate much of its content. With the increasing use of digital multimedia composition, it is important to learn how each medium shapes the way we write and argue. Effective communicators must master a wide variety of writing not only across different genres, but also across different media. These media can include videos, websites, emails, algorithms, blogs, wikis, podcasts, infographics, and many other types of digital writing. Determining what medium will be most effective to communicate a message is as essential as determining what to write about.

Key Terms Mode: A method of communication, or resource for making meaning, including linguistic (written or spoken), visual (static or dynamic), audio, gesture, gaze, posture Medium: The material form that carries the message; a medium can contain multiple modes (for example, an infographic has written language and visuals) Digital Literacy: The effective use of technology to communicate using a variety of modes and mediums

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Analyze multimedia genres. 2 Identify which medium will be most effective for a rhetorical situation 3. Understand digital copyright and use sources legally and ethically.

OUTCOME 1: ANALYZING MULTIMEDIA GENRES Multimedia in Composition Multimedia projects change static texts to dynamic compositions. Composing in different media requires writers to consider additional rhetorical factors that might influence how to best communicate to your intended audience. The advantage of multimedia composition is that it helps writers reach a “real” audience more easily—that is, itʼs o en easier to post a video or blog online than it is to publish a written composition.

Know the Rhetorical Situation Considering the audience, writerʼs role, purpose, and rhetorical situation will clarify how to approach an unfamiliar multimedia genre, just as it does when approaching written genres. Multimedia projects ask writers to demonstrate their ability to notice what happens to writing when it moves across different modes. Specifically, writers should explore how words, images, sounds, data, computer code, and markup languages (HTML, XML) interact with one another to produce different modes of writing. The first step is to use the rhetorical chart to identify the genre of the composition.

In the chart below, for example, the genre is a popular science blog. This specific genre shapes the writing by adjusting its language and its modes. GENRE

AUDIENCE

ROLE

PURPOSE

RHETORICAL SITUATION

Popular

Non-

Science

To ethically and

You are asked to write a

science

expert

journalist

honestly report

blog post for National

blog

public

on a recent

Geographic that

audience

health or

examines and explains a

with an

scientific study in

recent health or

interest in

an engaging

scientific study.

science

format

If you are writing for a blog, you can use embedded hyperlinks to allow people to find further detail or context about a topic. You can also use full-color images without worry about printing costs. Finally, since web users can easily navigate away from a page, you can anticipate that the first paragraph of the blog posts needs to contain the most important information and hopefully enough interesting details to keep people reading.

Know the Medium Once you have identified a compositionʼs genre, you should analyze its medium. The popular science blog mentioned above, for instance, uses images and headers to convey many of its complex ideas in a

more straightforward way. Other genres may use different types of modes to convey their arguments and ideas. The genre shapes the writing by adjusting its language and modes to suit its audience and medium. So, in addition to the rhetorical chart, consider the following points when analyzing a multimedia genre: What modes does the genre use? What do you notice about the visual design of the genre (if applicable)? Pay attention to design elements such as fonts, color, sizing, proximity, alignment, contrast, repetition, and balance. How is the genre organized? How is the content broken into chunks that is suitable for web or mobile consumption? What are the affordances of this multimedia genre? What are the limitations of this multimedia genre? Once you have identified the modes at play in the genre, you need to understand what information is presented in each mode (What is it saying? What is the message?) as well as how the choice to present content in that particular mode contributes to the overall meaning (What is it doing? What is the effect?). Separating out each mode will help you understand how these elements work to further an argument. The following modes will help you parse out the genre and think about the message and the effect: Linguistic: written or spoken words Visual: color, layout, style, size Spatial: structure, proximity between text and objects

Audio: music, silence, tone, volume For example, imagine you are looking at an image on a popular science blog:

MODE

MESSAGE

EFFECT

Visual: cell

Communicating the process of

Making it easier for the reader to

pathway

insulin production in a cell

understand this complex process

image

When you encounter any new medium, it is helpful to break it down into its different modes. Knowing what each mode is communicating to the audience and how the modes work together will help you better understand how to compose in the medium.

EXERCISE 2-5A: IDENTIFYING MODES

OUTCOME 2: IDENTIFYING THE RIGHT MEDIUM As a writer, you will o. en need to decide which medium is best suited to your message. In other words, how will you will tell your story or how will you inform or persuade your audience? When choosing a medium, you should carefully consider how well each option will allow you to meet your audienceʼs needs, fulfill your purpose, and communicate rhetorically. Each medium comes with its own affordances and limitations. Here are some features to consider for common modes you might use in your writing projects: MEDIUM

FEATURES

Text

Contextual Analytical Literary Conversational

Image

Fixated Translatable Spatial

Audio

Personal Multilayered Musical Narrative-driven

Data

Interactive Verifies Relational Reference

Graphic

Visualize Digestable Comparisons Parses information

Of course, many genres can be considered mixed-media. For example, a popular science blog post will likely include a combination of texts, images, and even graphics or data visualizations to help readers understand the content. Once you have identified a genre (or genres) that best fits your and your audienceʼs needs, check the “Make a Project” resources and

tutorials from the UNC Libriaries Media Resources Center.

EXERCISE 2-5B: EVALUATING MEDIUMS

EXERCISE 2-5C: WEBSITE GENRE ANALYSIS

OUTCOME 3: UNDERSTANDING DIGITAL COPYRIGHT What Is Copyright? A copyright grants its owner or creator the rights to control their intellectual or artistic product. This control includes the right to profit from the sale or performance of their work and to seek legal recourse if others use their work without permission. To use anotherʼs artistic or intellectual product, you must obtain permission, and this usually involves paying the copyright holder for usage rights. In our digital age, copyright protection extends not only to copies of the written word and recordings of sound, but also to visual images such as photographs, videos, and websites. Copyright usually protects a product for 70 years a er the death of the creator.

What Is “Fair Use”? “Fair use” standards provide certain limitations on copyrighted materials. The specifics around what is considered fair use are highly contested. Fair use will only provide limited protections for the following uses: Work produced for an in-class activity that will not be shown on a public facing site

Work that uses a limited amount (no more than 10% of the material) of verbatim (identical) material from the source without the copyright ownerʼs express permission—for such purposes as criticism, comment, reporting, or teaching This is not an exhaustive list, but the items on it do apply to many of the activities you will encounter in your classes. The trouble is, many of the laws and rules that address fair use and education were written well before the internetʼs creation. So you must be careful with what you use, how much you use, and how you use it. The final way that fair use applies is if a new derivative work is transformative; in other words, if a work uses in-copyright source material in completely new, unexpected ways, using that material would fall within fair use standard. Think about a remix of a song, for example. If the beat and chorus are completed changed, then it becomes a new song. However, when a song blatantly reuses the main beat of a song (such as Pharrell and Robin Thickeʼs “Blurred Lines” using Marvin Gayeʼs “Got to Give It Up” ) then the beat is not transformed enough, and fair use may not apply. Remixing your medium enough can create a new work, but the standards for what makes a work transformative are constantly being challenged in court. You do not always need to use copyrighted material, but if you do, you must be very careful and ask your instructor if you are unclear. The UNC Libraries also offer helpful fair use and copyright

resources.

Use the following flowchart to determine if your use of an incopyright song or image falls within fair use:

As you can see, if you use something such as an in-copyright song or an image in its entirety for a class video or a blog, then you are not covered by fair use standards. However, if you are criticizing or commenting on the image or song, then you are covered. If you remix the image or song to make it a completely new entity, then you are also covered.

EXERCISE 2-5D: DIGITAL COPYRIGHT

What Are Creative Common Licenses?

Creative Commons (CC) licenses are free, easy-to-use copyright licenses that provide a standardized way to give permission to share and use creative work. CC licenses let you easily change your copyright terms from all rights reserved to some rights. CC licenses are not an alternative to copyright. They work alongside copyright and are used by many creators of content to relax copyright restrictions on their work. Materials with CC licenses are easy to use in your own work because the permission you need is right on the material. There is a wide variety of different licenses, from attribution (you need to credit the original work) to non-attribution (you do not need to credit the original work). For more information, visit creativecommons.org.

Why Is This Important? You canʼt just use any image you want to in a class multimedia project. The law automatically grants full copyright over any creative work to its creator, and creators retain those rights unless they actively decide to forgo them in part or totally. Fair use can usually be invoked for educational purposes, so if you are creating work just for a class and it is posted to Sakai or a website that is protected by an Onyen login, you may have more flexible copyright rules. However, any other use of copyrighted material leaves you open to copyright infringement issues. If you want to publish your work online or use it for a journal, you will need to seek permission to use copyrighted work. Therefore,

make sure that you are using images, audio, and video from a source that allows you to reuse it, or explore options to gain usage rights from the content creator.

How Do I Find Appropriate Content? Using an advanced search for content that is labeled for reuse or has a Creative Commons license is the easiest way to find images for your projects. If you use a Google Image Search, find the Tools button and the usage rights drop-down menu and select “Labeled for Reuse.” This will ensure you get images with the appropriate usage rights. As with any resource, be sure to cite where you found the image.

Helpful Resources for Locating Content and Fair Use information: UNC SkillfUL UNC Libraries fair use copyright.gov

2-6

PREPARING AN ePORTFOLIO

An ePortfolio is an individual website where you, as a student, can select, collect, reflect on, and publish the best projects youʼve completed at UNC. It can include all types of projects, from traditional print genres such as essays, proposals, or reports, to multimedia genres such as videos, oral presentations, and interactive websites. Think of an ePortfolio as the next generation document beyond a traditional resume. A resume is a one-page, onedimensional snapshot representation of who you are. In comparison,

an ePortfolio is a multidimensional, archive or album of your work that allows viewers to experience your abilities first-hand. In your ENGL 105/105i class, you may be asked to produce what is called a showcase portfolio, or a portfolio you design for a variety of audiences, including instructors but also prospective employers or other audiences. ePortfolios provide useful evidence when you are applying for fellowships, internships, jobs, or other professional opportunities within and outside the university. Therefore, while you might start your ePortfolio in ENGL 105, you will be encouraged to continue to expand, maintain, and curate your ePortfolio for different audiences, drawing from all the classes you take throughout your college career. Any UNC student may create an ePortfolio (regardless of whether your 105/105i instructor includes it in the course). This chapter will provide the basic information to get you started.

Key Terms ePortfolio: a collection of curated work that students can place online to demonstrate the products of their learning Documentation portfolio: a portfolio that shows growth toward specific learning goals Process portfolio: a portfolio that demonstrates the phases of the learning process Showcase portfolio: a portfolio that highlights a studentʼs accomplishments and competencies

WordPress: a customizable, user-friendly platform that allows users to create their own personal websites

OUTCOMES By the end of this chapter, you will be able to: 1. Understand showcase ePortfolios and their usefulness for UNC students. 2. Understand how WordPress can be used to create and manage ePortfolios. 3 Seek support in designing an ePortfolio

OUTCOME 1: UNDERSTANDING SHOWCASE ePORTFOLIOS AND THEIR USEFULNESS FOR UNC STUDENTS An ePortfolio is an online collection of curated work that demonstrates the products of a studentʼs learning. Several different types of ePortfolios exist and are designed to feature different aspects of the learning process: a documentation portfolio is meant to show growth toward specific learning goals; a process portfolio is meant to emphasize the different phases that a student engaged in throughout the learning process; and a showcase portfolio is meant to highlight a studentʼs accomplishments and areas of competence. At UNC, you may be encouraged to create a showcase portfolio of the best work you produce throughout your academic career. Figure 2 6.1

is an example of a portfolio created during a studentʼs first year in ENGL 105i: Writing in the Social Sciences. As shown in this screenshot, your web portfolio will likely consist of these parts: an “About Me” page, two or three major projects, and a “Reflection” page.

Figure 2-6.1. Sample student showcase portfolio

Since an ePortfolio is composed of your best work, i.e., projects that are selected, edited, and revised, your English 105/105i instructor may ask you to include a “Reflection” component. Because English 105/105i focuses on helping you develop your writing process (see Part 2, Chapter 2), your class showcase ePortfolio will likely include a

reflective element that may not be present in your overall undergraduate showcase ePortfolio. You will be asked to write about how you selected and revised the work you included in the ePortfolio. These reflections are designed to help you to think consciously about your personal learning goals and course learning outcomes. They also provide a chance for you to develop your voice and identity as a writer, thinker, and creator by critically reflecting upon the choices you made with your projects.

ePortfolios Are WebSensible One big advantage of ePortfolios is that they are “web-sensible,” and can accommodate digital and non-digital genre formats. Depending on your course and instructor, you will be producing a variety of different genres, ranging from articles, reports, and presentations, to podcasts, webpages, and posters. Some genres, such as a literature review article, can be produced in either print or a digital format. But others, such as a podcast, can only be captured and accessed through a digital platform. You can organize and arrange your ePortfolio as you progress through your college career. Your ongoing collection may consist of “multimedia-rich, interlinked, hypertextual documents” that you can “compose, own, maintain, and archive on the Internet” (“Principles and Practices in Electronic Portfolios”). Therefore, no matter what genres, media, or formats you compose, they can all be included in your showcase ePortfolio.

ePortfolios Are Highly Creative and Flexible EPortfolios are highly creative and flexible in content, design, function, purposes, and audiences. How you design your ePortfolio can contribute to the overall impression of the type of content, skills, and finished products you include. Consider elements of design such

as images and their arrangement, color combinations, type font, and the relationships among these elements to make a strong first impression. Also, the success of your ePortfolio will depend on effective organization. You want your readers to be able to understand what content is available and to make it easy for them to navigate easily around the ePortfolio.

ePortfolios Target a Specific Audience An effective ePortfolio has a rhetorical function—to reach a particular, target audience. As you create and revise your portfolio, think about who your intended audience might be. It may include faculty, staff, potential employers, as well as family members, friends, and the general public. Who needs to know about your skills, abilities, competencies, and accomplishments? To determine your intended audience, consider your professional goals and purposes in creating the ePortfolio. Do you plan to apply for a job that requires design and writing skills? Are you seeking an internship with a company as a videographer or web designer? Do you wish to apply to the business school or another professional major? Because you are in control of the content and design of your ePortfolio, you can adjust it at any given time to reach a particular audience. Doing so will allow you to have a repository of work to share with potential fellowships, internships, and employers who are likely interested in seeing documentation of the skills you have developed during your time as an undergraduate student.

When considering the types of content to include in your ePortfolio, you should think about displaying a wide range of competencies that could apply to the types of positions you seek. You could include creative work (i.e., performances, fiction writing, game design), document-based analysis projects (i.e., analysis of original archival research, literary analysis, literature reviews), or data-driven work (i.e., conclusions drawn from survey data, results from laboratory experiments, interpretations of field research). Highlighting your various competencies will allow outside viewers an opportunity to determine how you might fulfill their organizationʼs needs.

ePortfolios Develop Throughout Your Undergraduate Career Because your ePortfolio is something that will evolve with you over time, think of it as a living document. With your ePortfolio, you can create an online persona. The “About Me” page can focus on your background, competencies, and other dimensions of your experiences and training. Something you wish to highlight early in your academic career might not be the best representation of your skill set once you are a junior or a senior. In the example below, Figure 2-6.2, the student has created an

ePortfolio that showcases different types of writing, including tabs for “Creative Writing” and for “Journalism”. Your ePortfolio should ideally

highlight the areas and skill sets in which you are most competent and that will help you to get the fellowship, internship, or job you are seeking. Therefore, when curating your ePortfolio, you should think about your audience and the types of skills they are seeking.

Figure 2-6.2. ePortfolio to highlight specific writing situations

OUTCOME 2: UNDERSTANDING HOW WORDPRESS CAN BE USED TO CREATE AND MANAGE ePORTFOLIOS Carolina students can construct their ePortfolios using the web.unc.edu platform, which runs on WordPress. WordPress is an extensively customizable, user-friendly platform that allows students to create their own personal websites. Furthermore, WordPress is a platform that is widely used in the professional world, meaning that your familiarity with how to design a WordPress site is itself a competency that you can display to potential employers! Because you have access to WordPress through UNCʼs web.unc.edu site, you have control over how your portfolio materials can be accessed by outside parties. Users can opt to make web.unc.edu ONYEN protected, meaning that no one outside of the UNC community can find or access your showcase portfolio. Alternatively, you can opt to allow any member of the public to access your materials and for your materials to show up in results of popular search engines such as Google. When deciding which platform option to use and what materials to include in your ePortfolio, you might consider the following questions:

What constitutes my best work? Have I revised and edited the work, eliminating errors, to reach a professional standard? Do I need a writing sample or evidence of other skills for an application to a fellowship, internship, or job? Who is my audience? Would this audience (whoever has access to your ePortfolio) consider any part of my materials controversial? Am I comfortable with all the materials included in my ePortfolio? Do any materials need to be removed or new ones added, given a specific audience? What kinds of competencies am I showing to the public?

OUTCOME 3: LOCATING RESOURCES TO DESIGN AN ePORTFOLIO If your ENGL 105/105i instructor asks you to create an ePortfolio in class, you will be given the instruction needed to design your personal site. Your instructor will also provide you with instructions about what types of documents to include and how to reflect critically on your writing process. If your ENGL 105/105i section does not use an ePortfolio but you are interested in creating one for your own personal development, you can use the following campus resources:

Undergraduate Library Design Guides In the House Undergraduate Library, you can visit the Design Lab or

the Media Resources Center (MRC). The Design Lab at the UNC House Undergraduate Library has created extensive guides to help students navigate creating multimedia projects. When creating an ePortfolio, the quick guide on making WordPress websites is particularly helpful. This guide includes a planning worksheet, a video tutorial, and a quick guide to using WordPress on the web.unc.edu platform. To get individualized help setting up your ePortfolio, you can also set up an appointment with a

librarian who specializes in digital design. To do so, visit the Design

Lab home page and then click on the red “Make an appointment” box.

Digital Literacy and Communications (DLC) Lab In addition, you may visit or consult with the Digital Literacy and Communications (DLC) Lab housed in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. It is staffed by faculty and students who specialize in digital humanities work. Students seeking support to create an ePortfolio outside of class are encouraged to contact Courtney Rivard, director of the DLC Lab, to set up a consultation with a DLC staff member.

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