What I Expect of Each
Section
DR. WILL KURLINKUS
4/19/24 1
Writing Tips: Straight Forward is Better
1. Remember point, evidence, analysis: Your essay should progress through claims, giving examples
that prove the claims, and then analyzing those examples for how they perpetuate your larger
argument:
• Point: OU administrator’s back to school plan in response to COVID-19 privileged developing student nostalgia and maintaining back-to-school traditions over the safety of faculty, staff, and
students.
• Evidence/example that illustrates your claim (often starting with for instance/for example): For example, despite banning large gatherings on campus and repeatedly claiming that such
gatherings were dangerous, OU president Joe Harroz still excitedly held the traditional freshmen welcome ceremony in Gaylord Stadium. At the event, though the over 5,000 student attendees were
asked to wear masks, none of the administrators did. Harroz said of the ceremony, “It’s important to get back to some sense of normalcy and the Freshman welcome ceremony has been a tradition for
over 50 years. The kids deserve this
• Analyze your claim and how it relates to your larger topic/other scholars research: In essence, Harroz uses the stability of nostalgia (the known completed past as opposed to the uncertain
future) both to calm fears of the pandemic but also to create what John Balmer calls a “heritage brand” “a dimension of a brand’s identity found in its track record, longevity, core values, use of
symbols and particularly in an organizational belief that its history is important” that connects workers and companies across multiple generations (Urde et al. 4).” Then I might go on to describe how
this was a new kind of heritage brand because the ceremony did something other writers hadn’t considered.
2. Your reader should always know why you’re talking about something and how it connects back to
your topic, thesis, or research question. It’s your job to explain (that’s what the point, evidence,
analysis structure does).
3. Connect your paragraphs with transition sentences and words. There is no such thing as too many
therefore, however, thus, then, etc. (If you don’t already use a lot of transition and comparative
words-–in your final read through add them). Similarly, use flashback and flash forward gestures.
• Flash forward: Later in this essay I’ll analyze an example of a person rejecting literacy, but for now we’ll consider literacy rejection as
guided by terrible people.
• Flash back: Earlier I described….however, there are other reasons why people might reject literacy.
4. Your primary source examples (interviews, site observations, etc. that you’ve discovered) are always
going to be the most interesting things. Start from those and develop paragraphs around them. This
means start with evidence/example, then move backwards to the point/claim/topic sentence and then
use your analysis and secondary research to analyze the example. This also means that you should
spend the most time in description of your examples.
1. Introductions
• By the end of your intro I should have a thesis, questions, Common Errors
know your lens (though not have it explained), know your
cases, and know your structure. • Get to your thesis, argument, or research question faster.
• Show me your problem/topic, demonstrate it. • Illustrate your thesis, topic, or research question faster.
• Pose your research question or puzzle in relation to that • TLDR: 1-2 pages.
demonstration • Starting too broad—start with a specific example and
• Clearly signpost. specific claim that makes us wonder about your topic and
shows its impact and importance.
• Introduce me to the things/people you are going to be
looking at. Don’t make we wait for after your lit review.
What does your thesis and
research question commit you to
doing?
What literature does it presume that you’ll engage?
In this article we offer a rhetoric of nostalgia: a route to probing what people are nostalgic for, why,
and to which ends, without being condescending to citizens who feel the emotion or excising
nostalgics from definitions of a critical citizenry. To do so, we first lay out our rhetoric and then
complicate it through studies of (1) nostalgia’s historical role in preparing Appalachia for industrial
paternalism and (2) how the psychology of nostalgic self-sacrifice is rhetorically primed by industry
advocates to keep longing for coal fresh today. We’ve chosen Appalachia, and specifically West
Virginian coal fields, as the site of our study because of how often the rest of the nation has
concurrently longed for the simplicity of the region, dismissed it as backward, and attempted to
capitalize on, distort, and sell back a nostalgic ideal to its citizens. But within our analysis, we also
consider how critical nostalgia can uncover gaps in yearning, seek divergent traditional identities,
and build emancipatory futures. That is, we’ll argue that though theorists like Jenny Rice suggest
“critical regionalism obviously risks confusion or an unfortunate conflation with nostalgia,” critical
regional movements are often powered by the emotion (2).
Sample Student Intro
Introduction
“I like watching you sleep,” one-hundred-and-seven year old vampire Edward Cullen iconically reveals to seventeen year old Bella Swan in the first Twilight
movie. These characters come from a world where every obstacle is life or death, romance is fated, and supernatural creatures allow a place in their world
for an extremely average junior in high school. Hopelessly, and many times ridiculously, devoted to one another, Edward and Bella’s story made it to
screens across the world in 2008. The film is widely regarded as one of the cringiest of all time, with fans and critics alike quoting its bafflingly
overdramatic lines, citing its blue filter over every shot, and commenting on its notorious although self-indulgent indie-rock soundtrack. The wardrobe as
well was remarkably 2008-esque, with Bella’s bowling shirt on the first day of school and Edward’s impeccably disheveled hair, or the lesser known
snakeskin cowboy boots Jasper dons. Despite the disparagement, Twilight was a global phenomenon, an outstanding pop culture moment of 2008. Although
widely critiqued as unfeminist, the film made it clear to Hollywood that there was a space for films marketed towards women, a genre previously thought to
be nonexistent. Kristin Stewart’s vapid character as well as her own acting abilities were mocked relentlessly for years, and yet without a Bella Swan there
may never have been a Katniss Everdeen, a Wonder Woman, a Hazel Grace Landcaster. Whether one looks at the box office record-breaking movie of
Twilight as just a chick-flick, a quintessential indie melodrama, “abstinence porn,” or the first installment of the budding YA movie genre, Twilight’s
significance in the film industry cannot be contested (Seifert).
Still, 12 years later a resurgence of Twilight has begun. An entire community of now grown-up fans connect on social media platforms that did not exist
when the series first began. This phenomenon labeled “The Twilight Renaissance” has grown so large that author Stephanie Meyer even released a new
book in August 2020, something she said she would never do. The renewed popularity of the series also led to Hulu nabbing the streaming rights to the film.
These instances showcase the power a memory community can have. How is it possible that the creators responsible for bringing this story to life are
making a profit again years after the age of Team Edward and Team Jacob t-shirts? A series that, despite its fan base and box office history, is now outdated
in addition to being cringey? Why now? Although commonly mocked and criticized, the Twilight series has experienced a notable rejuvenated interest
through old fans connecting on social media in the age of COVID-19, filled with uncertainty and nostalgia for simpler times. In order to study this, the
following must be examined: (1) nostalgia’s traditional re-emergence during precarious times, (2) what emotional ties brought this community together, and
(3) how commutative memory can lead to connections on social media.
How are you going to
make me ask the
question or wonder
or get angry or care
before you actually
say these things?
2. Lit Reviews
• A lit review answers: what conversations are you • You don’t have to review everything! You shouldn’t. There’s plenty of room in the body to add other
theories.
entering? What’s already been said about this topic?
It’s goal is to set the stage for your analysis. • I don’t know why I’m reading this lit review—it should always be directly related to your
topic/thesis/argument.
• Here’s the 2 key definitions, theories, or lenses you
• I don’t need 5 surface level theories or a full review of everything on your topic. I just need to know
need to know before we get into my argument the lenses you’re going to use to read your topic.
• Put these lenses in conversation with one another, • I’m talking about YouTube do I need a history of youtube (maybe a sentence—probably not)
don’t isolate them • I’m talking about protest, do I need a summary of all that’s been written on the rhetoric of protest
(probably not—maybe a sentence)
• The lit review is an argument—It’s important to • Theories like identity, performativity, gender, class, race, are too big to do in a lit review. What
understand how this and this matter to my topic. It’s approach are you taking to them.
important to understand my topic through this lens. • Don’t progress by author, progress by idea
• If I put these two two three things into conversation • Make sure you are giving examples to illustrate your theories and connecting it back to your topic. No
with one another your argument is popped out. theory without illustration. Ideally, your examples come from your topic.
• TLDR: 1-2 pages.
Digital Civic
Digital and online spaces, including social media sites, have often been lauded for their democratic potential (see, for example, Lester Faigley, 2003). But, as W.
Lance Bennett (2008) put it, "Democracy is not a sure thing" (para. 1). Karen Mossberger, Caroline J. Tolbert, & Ramona S. McNeal (2008) wrote that the
"Republican vision" foundational to the United States' representative democracy was "based on the development of civic virtue among the citizenry," and thus an
active and engaged citizenry is central to the maintenance of a healthy democracy (p. 47). Further, from this perspective, "it is the duty of citizens to be informed
Engagement
participants in the exercise of democracy" (Mossberger et al., 2008, p. 47). But what does it mean to be an informed participant and engaged citizen within our
current cultural context? What does it mean to be a digital citizen?
Although non-traditional sites of civic activity, social media sites (like Pinterest and others) demonstrate the ways that everyday rhetorical, composing activities—
& Digital
like posting links to recipes and discussing them—can be situated as forms of civic engagement. These composing activities can be understood as engaging with
issues that matter to the community (or communities) that one inhabits and interacts within. Notions of democracy, citizenship, and civic engagement have all
been affected by (and in turn are affecting) the cultural and political shifts that have occurred with the advent of the digital age (see Warnick & Heineman, 2012).
Mossberger et al. (2008) defined civic engagement as "a multifaceted concept, consisting of political interest, political discussion, and political knowledge" (p. 48).
Citizenship As Bennett (2008) noted, individuals are generally moving away from the more traditional and government-sponsored forms of civic engagement, but "there are
impressive signs of youth civic engagement in ... nongovernmental areas, including increases in community volunteer work, ... consumer activism, and impressive
involvement in social causes" (para. 3). Some have "ascribed civic engagement qualities to many activities in online social networking and entertainment
communities" (para. 3). Bennett wrote that some scholars "argue that many forms of shared activity online (from blogging, to conflict and protest behavior in
gaming, fan, and entertainment sites) represents forms of civic or media engagement" (para. 3).6 Like Bennett and the scholars whom he cites, I situate online
activities, from mundane discussions within fandom communities to political discussions, as forms of civic engagement. Moreover, these forms of civic
engagement are worthy of our attention as teachers and researchers of rhetoric, composition, and digital media studies, as they represent the everyday ways in
which individuals use rhetoric to engage with the world around them and the communities to which they belong.
As social media sites can expand the idea of what counts as civic engagement, so too can these sites provide an understanding of how individuals can be active
and engaged digital citizens. In accordance with this expansive notion of what constitutes digital civic engagement, I also subscribe to a more capacious notion of
who enacts these forms of digital civic engagement: that is, who can call him/herself a digital citizen.7 As Mossberger et al. (2008) defined it, digital citizenship "is
the ability to participate in society online" (p. 1). Furthermore, they defined digital citizens as "those who use the Internet regularly and effectively" (p. 1). For
Mossberger et al., regular and effective use is characterized by daily use, and given the nature of technology access in our current moment, those who use the
Internet daily could easily be labeled digital citizens (p. 1). However, rather than viewing digital citizenship as a definitive category, I think it is more productive to
view the concept on a spectrum. Regular use, if more sporadic than daily use, can still potentially furnish individuals with skills and literacies to make them
conversant digital citizens. Like its offline or non-digital citizenship counterparts, an individual's level of digital citizenship and digital civic engagement can vary by
degree. On social media sites, for instance, users might exhibit varying levels of engagement as citizens, posting and sharing content or commenting upon, re-
sharing, and/or liking others' posted content at different rates as suits their investment in the social media space at any given time.
The concepts of digital civic engagement and digital citizenship create the possibility for a more capacious understanding of what political civic engagement can
be. Furthermore, looking at digital civic engagement and digital citizenship as they are enacted in spaces like social media sites, across the Internet, can
potentially reconceptualize understandings of public rhetorics and what counts as significant rhetorical action. If situated on a spectrum of rhetorical activities and
practices, political, civic engagements can become more fluidly defined in a way that can truly bring value to the personal. In short, what matters to the individual
and his/her community can be viewed as worthy of serious rhetorical engagement. And although traditional notions of citizenship have focused on government-
sponsored modes of civic engagement and interaction, the idea of the digital citizen—who participates in communities and conversations that matter to him/her—
does have democratizing potential for what counts as civic and political engagement.8
What are two or three
key ideas or terms are
you looking at? They can
be someone else’s terms
or you might create a
new one.
What’s your
gap/contribution?
Hint: Usually it’s using a unique
combination of these theories to read
your subject.
Create a Lit Review Based on
Your Annotated Bibliography
1. Usually begins with a transition sentence (or question) like: Before analyzing how literacy
functions as a norming mechanism in local Facebook mom book clubs, we need to know a little
bit about how “mommy groups” have functioned as cultural literacy resources historically.
2. Then introduces us to a few key concepts and terms: For example, in their book Optimal
Motherhood, professors of women and gender studies Jessica Clements and Kari Nixon describe
what they call “the cult of true motherhood” “definition and example from the book.”
3. The introduces us to another key concept from a different author (with comparative word):
Sociologist Jean-Anne Sutherland similar describes how the concept of “the good mother” has
been used to shame women who fall outside these standards, often, Sutherland points out,
women of color or who have to work.
4. Ends by posing your specific research niche and question amongst this field: Though
motherhood and the mechanisms by which it is taught and powerfully normed in online spaces
has been extensively studied, in the rest of this essay, I’m interested in how local bookclubs
specifically function to teach what good motherhood is. That is, how does the cult of true
motherhood and concept of the good mother studied by Clements, Nixon, and Sutherland operate
in spaces that are ostensibly more about just reading and having fun together than they are
about actually mothering?
3. The Body
• Get to this ASAP • Too easy: Break your audience’s guessing machine
• Let your paper be driven by interesting examples • Assuming that your claim is so clear it doesn’t need
and quotes from your primary sources. They’re what an example to substantiate it.
are unique to you; they’re the most interesting thing;
• Assuming your example is so obvious that it doesn’t
they’re always the clearest way to illustrate your
need analysis/theory applied to it.
theory.
• Not differentiating your sections enough.
• Make me understand your topic’s nuances as
compared to the literature. • Not weaving your sections back together.
• Don’t simply impose order from your lit review—let • Having sections and claims that don’t answer your
your subject and examples break your tools and research question or prove your thesis. Does this
break your readers’ guessing machines. connect to my topic?
• Use citations that explain your subject in nuanced • Not engaging your primary sources’ epistemologies
ways, not the other way around. but pasting them over with your own.
1. Your Body Paragraphs Should Answer Your
Research Question/s: What is your primary
research question as framed in your lit review?
Intro Questions: How do neighborhood mom book clubs
sponsor literacy? What types of literacy values appear?
Why do women go to them?
Specific Lit Review Quesgtions: How does the cult of
true motherhood and concept of the good mother
studied by Clements, Nixon, and Sutherland operate in
spaces that are ostensibly more about just reading and
having fun together than they are about actually
mothering?
2. You Should Have 2-3 Body Sections With Separate
Headings. Each Section Should Reveal a New Idea/Answer to
Your Research Question. What are your 2-3 takes, claims,
ideas revealed by your subjects.
1. How the cult of true womanhood is
perpetuated in local Mommy bookclubs.
2. How bookclubs members resist traditional
gender roles.
3. How gender identity affects literacy and
learning practices In local bookclubs.
3. Each section should
be driven by a key topic
that revealed itself
through your primary
research. My subjects
said/did x, y, z.
Describe to me the
most interesting
example/quotation
or primary source
fact that you plan on
analyzing.
4. Make sure you “I was excited to join the bookclub but your dad said it wasn’t
real reading. Well, Stacy from nextdoor said it is real
quote/tell your reading and even if it’s just listening to an audiobook That it’s
subjects’ real reading. That really made me happy to hear and I’ve
really started reading more even books that aren’t part of
stories—don’t just The club”
talk around them.
Show them to
your reader.
5. What does your
research tell us about
literacy and learning?
Use your secondary
research to help us
understand your
examples.
Point, Evidence, Analysis: Neither
Should Exist On Their Own
• Point/Argument/Fact: While the students I interviewed told many positive and heart-warming stories of literacy sponsorship, as our interviews continued, other stories
emerged as well. In these stories, a threatening side of literacy sponsorship emerged. Literacy, particularly academic literacy, became a dangerous force, one that could
distance students from family members and loved ones.
• Evidence/Example/Quote: When I met Pamela during the first week of class, she was eager to participate in the case study, but she explained to me that she might have
to drop the class due to problems at home. “And at first he was really supportive. In fact, before I went back to school, I actually wrote a paper about this for my first English
class. It was something like, ‘Why are you here?’ And I had said, to my kids and my husband, I had said, ‘Okay, here it is. I’m gonna go back to my school, you’re going to
have to help me pick up the slack with the house,’ and everybody was in agreement. If one of them had said, ‘No, I’m not willing to do that,’ I probably wouldn’t have come.
But it was a family decision. And now his insecurities . . . [trailing off]. He thinks, he wants to blame me going to school for his problems, which it is not. It has nothing to do
with me going back to school.”
• Analysis/What does this quote tell us?/How does it connect to other scholars ideas?: As this last anecdote suggests, gender roles can play a large part in
circumscribing the opportunities available to men and women within the Central Appalachian region. More women go to college because they are deemed to “need” it. For
couples steeped in the region’s traditional gender roles (Bush and Lash 170), this break from tradition could have significant consequences. In her book Whistlin’ and
Crowin’ Women of Appalachia: Literacy Practices Since College, Katherine Kelleher Sohn introduces us to Sarah, a former student of Sohn’s and a woman whose marriage
had been affected by her education, much like Pamela’s. Sarah said of her husband, “He was a traditional man who wanted me to be more passive. He felt that he should be
the breadwinner and felt that my being in college was a threat to his manhood in providing for his family” (131). Drawing on the old Appalachian maxim that “whistlin’ and
crowin’ hens always come to no good ends,” Sohn writes that in parts of Central Appalachia, “Women are not supposed to whistle or crow; those who objected [to women’s
changing roles] were threatened by these women’s growth and change” (77). As we see from Sohn’s study of Sarah and the example of Pamela in this study, some husbands
may be intimidated by their wives’ educations.
What does a Exp. Tarabochia
conclusion
do? 1. A conclusion is short
2. A conclusion quickly summarizes key takeaways
3. A conclusion tells me why what I read was important
4. A conclusion suggests room for future research
5. A conclusion sometimes suggests a plan of action (what do you want
me to do with this information? Change teaching? Think carefully as
do what?)
Next Week’s Office Hours & Presentation Days
• Monday: Boggs (10:30), Campbell (10:40), Hankins (10:50), Harris(11:00)
• Wednesday: Hulsey (10:30), Izaguirre Hernandez (10:40), Jones (10:50),
Kim (11:00)
• Friday: Long (10:30), Painter(10:40), Paisiou (10:50), Rodriguez (11:00)
1. Tell me about your topic and why it’s interesting
2. Tell me about the primary sources you’re using and the argument
your are making: bring interesting examples
3. Tell me about the theory you’re engaging: bring me a quote from
academic research and a key term
Things I Expect
• 5-8 Minutes Long (it can be presented, read, or a video style click and play).
• You will answer 1-2 questions (there will be a forum open where everyone needs to
write one question per presenter)
in Your Final • You must have slides: these slides should be image and example driven/have one idea
per page (not giant paragraphs of text, giant bulleted lists, etc.).
Presentations • Movements of your presentation should generally be:
1. A provocation: illustrate a problem, trend, or exigence that your project is
addressing (& why it’s important)
2. A research question & signposting statement
3. Tracing your trend to answer what and why something is happening across
several examples. Analyze an example for us.
4. Some quoting of scholarship/key terms that help us understand your topic. Use
your key term to solve your mystery.
5. A conclusion: why does this matter? where do we go from here? What do we do
with this info?
Some Slide Design Requirements/Suggestions
• You must have your name and email on your title slide (you need a title) and your last
slide
• Keep me engaged with images
• Put the most important textual ideas: Key terms/concepts, key quotes, key questions on
visually engaging slides on their own.
• Think of ways to visualize textual information
Tips for Good 1. Mystery: Pose a mystery and/or problem that your presentation
solves
Presentations 2. Something New: Focus in on non-common information that
breaks your audience’s guessing machine. You should strive to
do this throughout but also think about your most surprising
(& Papers) facts, quotes, and examples and frame them as a surprise. What
do you have that makes your audience say, “wait, what?!”
3. Show don’t tell: give me visual examples, quotes from the
people you are studying, images and visualizations showing your
problems, video clips. Whenever you can visualize something,
visualize something.
4. Give me a soundbite: Put your most remarkable ideas in
remarkable language (language that people can tweet, quote,
etc.) This is to be spoken slowly, clearly, and straightforwardly.
Bonus Tips: Not • Narratability: how might you get someone
talking about your presentation?
Required but • Craft: How might you get someone actively
Good Practice contributing to your presentation? Putting
themselves into the presentation?
• Connoisseurship: how can you get
someone to feel like they are in a group of
skilled insiders ?
