Week 4 – Helen De Michiel Mid-Term Notes

Since some of you have been wondering… here are some additional notes on preparing and writing the mid term paper. To be sure, everyone has their own unique style of building out an essay, but because our material is so “thick” I would suggest starting “simply” by using notecards (or some similar tool for shuffling and moving things around) for your big headline ideas and/or examples. Then, move them around, cluster them, see new relationships before you begin writing. This technique gets me going, but as I said, it is just a suggestion.

Start as soon as you can so you have the space and time to revise before the paper is due.

What is your inquiry?

What will be your question or theme that you are thinking about exploring and/or researching? What piques your curiosity about our investigations so far? You could start with a prompt like…”What I hope to write most about is…” or by jotting down an image or experience to get you going.

You might…

• Start by choosing the three focused concepts or frameworks from our variety of readings or ancillary materials (including G-Hangout and supplementary articles) that interest you as worthy for your consideration.  And they can be prioritized.

Review your private and public posts plus comments – what have you/others been saying that you had forgotten about, and now may be valuable to delve into more deeply? Did you have any ah-ha! moments? Find ballast from your own distinctive voice, experience, storytelling and imagery.

• Or start with what interests you specifically from our survey of web-based projects. Choose concrete examples to compare and contrast. Visit them again slowly and methodically to explore more deeply what you want to say about them.

• However you start – with images or ideas — be confident that you have a contribution to make to the dialogues emerging around participatory media and social practice.

Make specific choices

• Pick the three (no more than that, please!) concepts or frameworks from the readings to use as evidence to support your interpretation of the examples you are examining.

• How will you illuminate  projects or questions you have defined through your own particular readings of the material? All through these weeks you have been in dialogue with the central questions of this era in digital communications. What fascinates you, and what is supporting evidence for your approach to these issues and your inquiry or argument?

• How do the projects that you are exploring now — and interpreting or analyzing — connect to the frames that the readings have set up?

• You have options: you can draw from Charlie Gere’s writing (and jump to Week 6 and watch his talk on “Rethinking the Digital”),  Jenkins+, Philips, Zimmermann, Siegel…You can also retrieve and include comments around your posts if you wish.

The paper parameters include…

• Study and write only about project examples from our class.

• Reference our course readings as primary sources. Outside references can be secondary sources only.

• Use academic endnotes to source your quotations and evidence. Here is a good quick reference guide to academic citation, including electronic citations: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Aim to go deep rather than broad. Be focused and particular. Ground yourself in an example when you feel like you are getting too abstract, making generalized statements. Try to discover a context and write from that perspective.

Please build in time to share your work with trusted readers and get feedback — another person or your group. Make time for revision – that’s when you’ll recognize the energy you have been trying to express.

As you’re editing drafts, continually ask if there is anything you could prune away.

Keep the paper to a trim and fit (10) double-spaced pages.  You will email it to me as a Word document.

 

 

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6 comments to Week 4 – Helen De Michiel Mid-Term Notes

  • jschaub@uoregon.edu

    Thanks Helen!

  • kgaboury@uoregon.edu

    Hi Helen,
    I was just wondering: do our three concepts need to be theories — like cybernetics, information theory, etc. — or can we use general concepts, like spreadability or transmedia? Thanks.

  • delyser@uoregon.edu

    Thanks again, Helen!

    It’s been 28 years since I’ve written an academic paper: Double spaced? Is the 10 pages supposed to include the cover page and the citation page or is it actually 12 including those pages. 10 pt. Arial? Sorry … I like parameters.

  • amandae@uoregon.edu

    Helen –thank you for the creative brain organizing tips. I’d like to get better at that process, and it’s always nice to hear how others do it 🙂

  • hdemich2@uoregon.edu

    Hi everyone,
    I’ll make a separate post to address these issues and questions.

  • Daniel Oxtav

    Yashh The outlined paper parameters provide clarity on the scope and sources, ensuring a well-grounded and informed discussion within the class context. The incorporation of academic endnotes and the provided citation guide demonstrate a commitment to scholarly rigor.

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