Discovery Essay "Tentative Topic" Blog

Here's what to include in the short blog I assigned in class on Monday:

1.) Tentative topic for your discovery essay

2.) Tentative research question (the "focusing question" that will guide your research)

3.) Rationale: Why does this topic matter (to you? to other people?) What are your reasons for exploring this topic in your essay? (This part only needs to be a couple sentences)

Be sure to read 456-57 in Ballenger--this section will help you to determine if yours is a "researchable" question. It will also help you to think through the "rationale" portion of your blog.

Remember, your topic and research question are tentative at this point--not written in stone. You may very well take a new direction once you get into the thick of doing research.

TO GIVE YOU MORE TIME TO THINK THROUGH POSSIBLE TOPICS, THIS BLOG IS DUE BY 5 pm on FRIDAY (9/26)

Question Prompt for Reading Response #2

Before I give the prompt, I wanted to encourage you all to check out Geoff's blog. It's really cool. He shows how you might take advantage of the online medium by incorporating images into your response. Also, his blog is a good example of how the "look" of your writing (format, etc) can make it more accessible (and appealing) to readers.

As you write your reading response, be sure to cover everything included in the following prompt:

Show and explain how Garrett-Brown and Holmquist are discovery essays rather than traditional research papers. What is the overall controlling idea of each, and how does each author show and support it? The two authors include their own voices but still employ research: how do they do that successfully (or not)? How do these essays—and Ballenger’s suggestions for research papers (p. 429-33)—help you think about how you might approach Essay 2?