Common Topics and Places

Common Topics: Set of questions that we can ask and answer in order to begin generating arguments on any topic/in any situation.

Conjecture: What exists? What doesn't?

Degree: goodness, justness, honor, expediency.

Possibility: What is possible/impossible in past. present, future.

Commonplaces: short phrases that capture an idea. "strengthening families"

Freewriting and notes

3 types of Interviews:
Semi-structured interview-purpose: gaining insight into writer's motivations, values, background, approach to the writing process. (What do you do when you don't understand the instructions of an assignment)
Stimulated elicitation- Purpose of both: gaining insight on writer's thinking, problem solving strategies, learning about writer's decision making.
Discourse Based Interview

*Keep emphasis on the positive
*Interview is gathering data. Analysis is afterwords.

Freewrite:
For my project, I am trying to focus on professional writing in a hospital or medical setting. Medical writing interests me very much. I was trying to do my project on one of the doctors, but I was routed to someone who works more in the educational and management part of the hospital. But, I believe this person can actually help me more than studying a doctor.
I mainly want to focus some of my questions on how does working in a professional setting vs working at home help or hinder the writing that is done. When writing for medical educational purposes, what is important to include or explain, especially to those who aren't that familiar with medical language? Hopefully my project will help me understand more about medical writing, but also what it is like to write professionally in a business orientated field that concerns itself with so many people with different backgrounds and cultures.
My contact hasn't yet discussed with me what writing she'll be sharing with me. Hopefully she will be getting back to me soon about it. As for visiting and observing her, while I may only get to observe her in one office, more than likely her home. I'm hoping to go visit her office at work as well. I want to be familiar with each place, even if I can't see her in both settings. But, visiting her office at the hospital might give me a clearer idea of what she sees and hears everyday while she is working. It should give me a view of her associates as well, and perhaps some of the interactions that go on around her.
As I mentioned before, after this project is complete I will hopefully have a better view on medical and business writing and maybe even editing as well. I'll be able to understand the pros and cons of working in a business setting vs working from home to complete projects on time. Depending on what I learn, this may influence my career path after I complete school.
As for larger implications, this project may give whomever reads it a little insight into how a person working in the medical field educates and informs those around the hospital and those who visit it.

The week

The idea of intertextuality really interested me this week. I feel like this idea will be helpful, not only for this classes research project, but for any others that I may come across. Although I had a very general idea of it to begin with, Tuesday's class clarified it even more. I think that the idea of intertexuality, and understanding it, will be useful when incorporating ideas into the ethnographic report.

Class Notes

What kinds of details does she provide in the Setting
Located in Washington DC
GAO is a "midsized" organization
1200 written reports
Professional staff "well educated"
Employs about 5000, 14 regional, 2 overseas
Headquarters-divided into four program and three technical divisions
Basic work unit (assignment team) includes primary writer and 2 levels of supervisors

Location
Size: # of employees, Offices (concentration in one geographical area)
Staff education: Level of education, types of subjects
Structure of working teams: personal and each one's role.
Decisions about staffing/ structure of teams
Number and types of reports produced

Why provide those types of details? Why does she want readers to know about these types of info.
Mentioning the location can provide more insight into the company's involvement with outside affairs. The company is located in Washington DC. To me as a reader, this means that they are a company that is heavily involved with our government in someway. This is backed up by later statements that the company helps Congress.
Mentioning the size of the company helps visualize the company. This company is important enough to have several offices in different locations. This company must be important.
Mentioning the number of reports and the type of reports help characterize the company as hard working and versatile. The author mentions that the topics are "wide-ranging" and were created by people who hold well educated advanced degrees.

Intertextuality-How a text pulls in voices from other texts
The writer the agency; writer controls the intertexual references
Intertexual references do important rhetorical work

Slate:
From Harold and Kumar: They pick a clip that explains the movie in about 15 seconds
Pulled the clip out to point out that there is no plot.
Used "Josh" to play up the dramatics. Choosing to use that makes it seem he was making fun of the serious criticism
Referring to them, 2 great American icons.

Direct Question
Indirect Question
Mentioning a person/idea
Comment/evaluation of an idea or text
Referring to general ideas of a subject/person

Activity #3

Throughout my time as an English major, I have had to complete several assignments that tie into what 301 explores in a whole. The first one that comes to mind is a research paper I had to do for my 102 class. It was a standard research paper with a twist. We had to analyze our sources in depth. We had to look into their background, find out why they were writing the article, and comment on their stands. Were they credible? Could we trust them to provide accurate information? Was a piece opinion or fact?
I had to write my paper based on these sources, so if they weren't accurate, my paper could hardly be accurate. That assignment really opened my eyes to analyzing source material. I compare 301 to it, because we are analyzing writers and their processes. Though, in 301 we go about it a different way. Also, 301 is very much more in depth to the topic of analyzing.

Observations Continued

Types of Details
A. Roles, how each performed the roles.
>Body language and spatial relationships.
B. Specific embodied activity-Typing, silently rereading
>Level of comfort: stumbling over words; pace of activity; posture; amount or discussion
C. Speech (Types/Topics; sequence; tone; volume)
D. "Other activities"

3 kinds of notes:
Observational notes- the notes you take during an observation.
Theoretical notes- Forming conclusions to observations
Metheodological-notes to yourself as you're observing. Research to follow up, questions to ask after the fact.

Video notes:
Bringing a diagram
Collaborating with each other. One trying to show the other what he means with his hands. Gesturing to the wall, the paper.
Cold, heavier clothes.
Brought items, like ladder and paper.
Discussing colors, friendly.
The one man is very specific about colors. Gesturing "all around"

10/21 additions
Triangulation: As you analyze data from one source, consider, analyze data you've collecte from another source
-does it confirm, challenge, complete your initial analysis?

Analysis:
A) hierachical relationship
shapes decisions-making

Supporting Data:
A) tak between the two-Seen gets final say
observe body language-nick looks away, Seen pokes the paper, talks over nick.

Collaborative Writing

2. What are you learning in the PWE course you are currently taking? How would you describe your experiences in this course?

In English 301 Writing Theory and Practice, we are currently learning how to analyze the writing of people in the PWE profession. We start by learning their jobs and the different tasks they do, then we observe their work and processes. We're also going to learn interviewing processes and how to observe as well as the ethics of each.
In the class, we read and discussed many texts that discuss different perspectives which will be helpful when we are putting together our final project. We've done activities in class that have helped us learn how to analyze different writer's texts.

Observational writing
*Discussed what the student should know about PWE
-classes-skills
-jobs that you can use the major
Listed off some of the classes and requirements.
Talked out what they were going to say before they wrote and formatted it.
Brainstorming aloud.
Organized their information in a list rather than in paragraph form.
Jesse typed, Mallory provided a lot of good ideas that were added as he wrote.
Formatted as a letter, used their own experiences in the field of PWE to construct it.
Mallory was leaning in to the computer. Both were very focused on what they were writing.
Reread over their work to make sure they had included everything they wanted, added a few more things when they were going over it.

Freewriting
I really observed what the two were saying at the beginning. I focused on the ideas they were coming up with. After a few minutes, I realized I needed to focus on how they were sitting, and how they were formatting their work. It was hard to keep concentration on just observing the two of them when I could hear others around me. I switched my focus several time on their formatting, writing, position to each other, and what exactly they were writing.
I think that if I had been right behind them, I might have observed a little more. I could have saw exactly what was going onto their page and the gestures they were making towards each other. But I think that would have interrupted them if I was that close. I felt that where I was sitting was a fairly good spot and I was not intrusive to their brainstorming.
I tried to make sure that they didn't really notice me staring at them, I just jotted down a few things that really stood out to me.