The Assignment
For this collaborative essay assignment, I would like you to use our readings (Web 2.0 Packet, ecology articles, books, and associated readings), the class’s Web 2.0 research, and your observational research to address the question, What does it mean to be a writer today?
When you come to your conclusion, make suggestions for the practical use of your conclusions. That is, consider possibilities for how understanding what writing is today is important, as one of our classmates wrote in a recent blog post, “not for teachers or graduate students, but for the common person.”
Structure your collaborative essay based on the sections we composed during class on November 7, 2011. Contextualize the study in terms of Dorothy Winsor’s ideas on writing and our readings on Web 2.0. Be sure to discuss the study methodology and the data in detail in the appropriate sections. Use one or more of the theories we discussed in class (ecologies of composition, information ecologies, genre ecologies, and semiotics) to inform how the data is to be understood. Do not cite any text that we have not read in this class; everything you need for this essay you have read.
Include a Works Cited list in APA format and data tables where needed.
How to Compose the Essay
The essay should be composed in GoogleDocs in the document that BW created for your group for our November 7 meeting. The essay should be composed synchronously and asynchronously. That is, your group must schedule 3 online meetings over the next few weeks where you will compose the essay together in one document at the same time (total meetings, not 3 per week, every week). This does not mean you break into three sections and compose. Instead, compose the exact section together. The rest of the writing of the essay may take part on your own time with individuals being assigned parts. Post your synchronous meeting schedule at the top of the GoogleDoc by class time on Monday, November 15, including which sections will be worked on. Meetings should last at least 2 hours.
One of the important parts of composing a collaborative essay is to ensure that the voice you are using is consistent throughout. This is often difficult because different writers bring different strengths and styles to the writing process. It will be important for your group to ensure that there is consistency throughout the piece. When weighing to adjust a portion of text versus someone’s ego, always put the essay first. In a collaborative essay, one’s writing is the groups’ writing; it is no longer your own. The goal is to create the best possible essay.
Final Research Findings
The Assignment Specifics
Citation guide
APA style, which you can find at: http://j.mp/owl-apa (no cover page or running header needed)
Rough Draft
8 – 10 pages, double spaced, Times New Roman, font size 12, 1” margins, not including Works Cited and Tables
due in GoogleDocs, Monday 12/5 by class time
Final Draft
12 – 15 pages, double spaced, Times New Roman, font size 12, 1” margins, not including Works Cited and Tables
due in GoogleDocs, Monday, 12/19, by 11:00pm
Individual Reflection
Each student will also compose a 1 – 2 page single space reflection in which they reflect on what it was like to compose such a collaborative essay in GoogleDocs, what specific parts of the essay they worked on, and what they learned about writing overall through the process of completing the study and essay assignment.
Individual Reflection Due Date
Monday, 12/19, by 11:00pm. Compose in GoogleDocs and share with BW at his gmail address: william.i.wolff [at] gmail [dot] com.