This week in group discussions, you should be talking about the readings and the television episode, but you will also be doing a bit of peer response on your Rhetorical Context Analysis papers. Similar to last time, while it’s up to each individual group how you want to proceed, I have included a process below that should help everyone receive/offer productive and useful written feedback.
As a friendly reminder, group discussions should last around an hour (give or take).
This week’s group tasks
Talk about the Material
Per usual, I’ve included some guiding questions below to help spark some thoughts and conversation. I again want to emphasize, though, that these are optional. You can definitely talk about these in group (or in the dialectical journal), but you can also talk about other things as well.
Possible Topics for Reading Discussion
- Ong brings up the conversation we had about Plato earlier in the quarter with regard to the value and significance of the written word. What connections do you see between Ong’s discussion and other concepts we’ve discussed previously? How do you think your own experiences with writing have shaped the way you think about and remember the world?
- “Darmok” is an extremely rich text that touches on a number of concepts we’ve explored throughout this quarter. What connections do you see happening? How do you think the episode works overall? What reaction did you have as the audience at the end of the episode (when Picard comes back to the ship and takes over the console)? How do the concepts of narrative, emotion, rhetoric, writing, consciousness, and technology all come into focus here? (What do you think about Bogost’s discussion of “Darmok?”)
- Fredal’s text offers a discussion of the relationship between narrative and rhetoric–especially with regard to Aristotle and ancient Greece. What do you think about his points? How do you view “Darmok” as either a representation or refutation of his points? How does narrative function rhetorically in other contexts?
Workshop Rhetorical Context Analysis
As I explain above, this week, you’ll be working with one another to workshop your Rhetorical Context Analysis. At this point, most everyone has a draft and should have enough material to receive feedback on. The group discussions are an ideal place to make this happen. And written feedback is extremely helpful, so folks can refer directly to it while revising. So, again, as I mention above, I’m providing you with a suggested approach for the workshop/peer response session, but your group can adapt it as you see appropriate and helpful.
- In Google Drive, everyone should have a copy of their draft accessible to others for feedback:
- You can create a new document and label it accordingly in your own individual folder and have others access it there OR
- You can create a group folder where everyone puts a copy of their draft
- At the top of this draft, in a comment or in the document itself, write down at least 3 concerns or questions that you want your peers to focus on. While this is not the only thing your peers will be paying attention to, it will help you to ensure that you are receiving feedback that is helpful for you.
- Read a peer’s essay and comment in the margins.
- Ideally, everyone should be reading the same paper at the same time.
- Feel free to stop and ask questions or make comments… the process should be dynamic and should really emphasize getting feedback on one another’s writing
- Focus on content, structure, development, and clarity
- Write questions and comments as a reader
- “What do you mean here?”
- “Have you considered… ?”
- “So, what I get from this is… but…”
- “I think I get what you mean here, but do you have a specific example to help demonstrate….”
- Point out what is successful and why
- Comment on one another’s comments
- Offer suggestions for improvement at the end
- Discuss
- Talk about it – offer help, ask questions, clarify – Be the immediate audience for your peers!
- Wash, rinse, and repeat for everyone’s essay
