Inquiry 4: The Final Frontier
I’ve often told you that you “get” the material
we’re studying. You get physical spaces. You get invisible forces. This final
inquiry should do more than simply demonstrating what you “get.” This inquiry
shows how well you’ve synthesized and applied what you already know. This is a
reflection. In 700-800 words, you will need to critically examine your writing
practices this semester. You have a relatively short space to do a few things:
- You
need to show an awareness of spatial rhetorics and space-as-text as we’ve
discussed this semester. This is best demonstrated through nuanced usage
of the terminology we’ve used in class as well as pulling key ideas from
the written texts we explored early in the semester.
- You
need to demonstrate your ability to synthesize your writing with other
work. This is more than a self-analysis; I am looking for you to compare
your work across the semester and see how one assignment informed another.
Or you might look at how a classmate’s project helped inform your thinking
on another project. Or you might apply some of your research from one
project to another project to explain a certain phenomenon.
- And
speaking of certain phenomena… You should be providing me with specific
examples. You should be self-quoting and citing from previous assignments
to ground your synthesis.
This reflective assignment, though short in
length, is crucial. You should treat it as a final exam—especially given its
weight in the syllabus. Also, considering the short length, this should also be
the most polished piece of writing you have written this semester. When done
properly, you will provide meaningful insight into your reading and writing
processes through metacognition. The final result will be an in-depth essay
with a concentrated focus on a few select elements involved in your writing
process. A good place to start is by looking at your past writer’s letters. You
may choose to write about revision, digital composition, group composition,
reading webtext, participatory text—the list goes on.
There are some things that the reflective essay
should avoid at all costs:
- Making
excuses- Do not use the final essay as a platform to explain away your
shortcomings this semester.
- The
salvation story- Do not tell me how you couldn’t write, but now you can.
You could write before this class. That’s part of the admissions process.
Telling me otherwise does very little to flatter me. Which brings me to my
next point…
- Flattery-
This essay is about you. Please do not tell me how great the class was or
how funny I am. Chances are if you liked the class, you showed up and
stayed awake. If you thought I was funny, you laughed. Writing about me leaves
very little room for what’s really important here—you and your writing.
- Summary-
Avoid just recapping the semester. We were all here for it. What I don’t
know is your thought process. I’m interested—just clue me in.
This assignment should be posted to your blogsite
as Inquiry 4 by 11:59 p.m. on May 5th.
Inquiry 3: Creating new spaces
So far it’s been a strange journey. We’ve
performed close readings of paintings, poems, and webtexts, and we’ve done
contexualized readings of places and their populations. Now I want to look into
how we re-write those places. That is, how can we transform spaces by
presenting them in different media?
This inquiry asks you to take one of the
physical places from Inquiry Two and remediate it. This project will require
you to examine both the invisible forces as well as the physical limitations of
a space, then present the space in a media that changes the power dynamics. To
do this you will work in groups of 2-4. First you will choose one of your group
member’s locations from Inquiry 2. Then you will assign a group leader.
Everyone will need to take part in the process:
1. As a group, design a piece of media: You will need to go back to the Inquiry
Two space and explore it from multiple perspectives (thinking about issues of
accessibility and cultural awareness). In your group you must come up with a
media project that re-imagines the space to address the issues you noticed from
the first part of the assignment. What issues do you want to focus on? What
media represents those issues best? You will have to pitch the idea to me
during group conferences, so have an informal proposal ready. Depending on the
nature of the problem, the skills in your group, and the sort of change you
want to enact, you may choose to do one of the following:
a. Make a video- must be
between 2-3 minutes using rhetorical tools covered in our video workshop.
b. Make a Prezi- using a
combination of the allowable media, the prezi must act as more than a moving
powerpoint presentation (i.e You must embed video, text, music, pictures,
etc.).
c. Make a website- using the
skills you gained from Inquiry 1, you may create a website (just create another
blogger page). Like option B, you must do more than import a lot of text. Make
it a dynamic page with links, images, and a logical layout.
d. Draft a new space- several
of you are in engineering, architecture, interior design. Feel free to
draft/design a new space with a breakdown of the materiality involved. Please
consult me early on for this option to ensure your idea meets the criteria for
this project.
2. As a group you will
draft a 2,000-word document that explains the design choices in the media you
created. You should discuss why the media is appropriate for the place being
studied, why you chose the rhetorical tools you used, and, most importantly,
how this media reshapes the space. A good way to make a group document is
through Google docs.
3. Individually you will
need to post a 400-word writer’s letter to your personal blogsite, explaining
your role in the group and in the development of the media/paper. You may not
have been involved with every aspect of the media (members of a team rarely
are), but you should be able to define your role in relation to everyone else.
The letter should be more formal than your average blogpost and should focus on
you. (Note: This is not the appropriate platform for airing grievances about a
fellow group member.)
4. (Group) Lastly,
the projects, being a public form of rhetoric, will be showcased in class. You
must be present in class and be able to explain your media intelligently.
Moreover, you should be able to define your role in the group to the class
(much like your writer’s letter). The presentations will happen one week before
the 2,000-word essay is due, making it a good venue for feedback.
*Your grade will be determined from these four components:
the media, the group project, the writer’s letter, and the presentation (that’s
25% apiece). The final due date for everything is April 26 by midnight.
Inquiry 2: Exploring the forces that shape physical space
With Inquiry 1 we made an effort to concentrate on the text itself through close reading. As we discussed, it is nearly impossible to remove context from our reading of text. In order to fully understand a text, we must examine the forces that impact it. This inquiry brings in the context. For Inquiry 2, you will select a physical space as a text much like Abbey uses Moab as his text in “Rocks.” And like Abbey, you will examine the forces that shape the physical space as its context. The assignment is divided into two parts:
Part A
Part A of the assignment begins with a research proposal. In five hundred words (maximum) you must identify the physical space you want to explore and your methods of research. You must also qualify why this is site worth studying and what benefits could be derived from your study. As explained in class, you must use a combination of print sources and field research. After demonstrating that your plan is viable, you will conduct the research. You must annotate and post your research on your blogsite.
Your print-based research will take the form of an annotated bibliography and number at least six entries (three peer-reviewed and three “other” sources). Your field research allows for more creativity. You can post videos, interviews, drawings, maps, annotated photos, etc. You must organize them in such as way so that you can explain your design choices in your writer’s letter. [Note: Because you are maintaining your own blogsite, you are responsible for the content posted therein. You should not be posting anything that does not adhere to university standards and practices. Yes, this rule shapes your digital space.]
Part B
I am doing something new this semester. For part B you can do something other than a research paper. Understand that the other options are just as rigorous and require the same amount of research as a paper. But they might also be more fun and applicable. Your choice.
Option 1:
A 1,500-1,800 word paper that focuses on one or two forces that shape your chosen physical space. The paper should demonstrate that you explored not just the location itself through ethnographic means, but also researched some of the “invisible forces” (like social folkways, laws, customs, etc.) by utilizing the research skills we learned in class. The paper should take your observations from the field research as well as your print research and synthesize the two in an effort to explain why your physical space operates as it does.
Option 2:
A multimedia presentation of your space that uses the technology to effectively draw out the forces that shape it. Depending on the media, the length will need to be negotiated with me. Like Option 1, you will need both types of research and be able to effectively synthesize them.
Option 3:
A professional portfolio piece. If you are an architecture or engineering major, you might like this. You can submit a rendering of the space with annotations and a shortened paper (about 1,000 words) that achieves the same goals as Option 1.
Option 4:
A community activism piece. Maybe you’ve become troubled by the space you’ve been studying (it has inherent sexism; it disadvantages certain groups; its accessibility is limited, etc.). Research the folks who can help bring about some sort of change (legislators, university officials, local experts, media types, etc.). This will add on to your Part A (making for a total of eight sources), but make slightly less work for Part B. For Part B you will find methods to appeal to those groups that you find helpful for bringing about change and pitch to them in the effective medium, using your research of the space.
Some things to consider:
· When choosing your space, make sure it is researchable—that is, select a location that you can find good information on. It cannot be your dorm room or a remote location. You must be able to go there and find information about it.
· You should be able to revisit the location. Often times we begin on Part B and realize we didn’t come up with enough from Part A. Make certain Part A can be revisited. (So a trip to a Cleveland sports arena might not be a good idea.)
· Make the most out of your field research time. You can do ethnographic research and interviews in a single session. Spending the time doing this will actually be faster (and more interesting) than trying to manufacture the results.
Inquiry 1:
Places are cool because we can move through
them. While many texts are linear and have you arrive in a pre-determined
destination, physical spaces are quite different. You can travel through them.
Stop. You can look around, sit down and observe. Talk with others. Places,
while they are texts themselves, are also blank canvases. We aren’t quite at
the level where we can go into a blank space and produce our own rhetoric yet.
Instead, this inquiry asks you to examine how someone has made use of a
particular space through film. Much like the exercises in class, you will be
performing a close reading of one of these film clips:
I should note a couple of things:
First, all of the clips involve extensive use of
a long tracking shot. I made these selections with this in mind. The long
tracking shot is one that forces us to explore the space. While the text is
somewhat linear because we follow the camera, it also provides an idea of
spatial layout and a multitude of details ripe for observation.
Secondly, these clips come from early parts of
the movies from which they were excerpted. The storyline of the movie is far
less important than what is contained on the screen you are watching. Please do
not summarize the movie in your paper. This should be a close reading!
Thirdly—like I just stated, this is a close
reading of the film as a text that explores a place. Use the method of details,
patterns, and analysis to arrive at a theme/conclusion. Whatever your
conclusions are, you should be taking into account that the conclusions are
derived from an exploration of space.
Your final paper should be 750-1000 words. You
will also be handing in a writer’s letter that explains your thought process as
you watched the film, developed your conclusions, and wrote the paper. The
letter is an additional 300 words. Both the close reading and the letter can be
turned in together via Google Docs. The final paper is due February 5th 7th by midnight.
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