What I Expect of Each
Section
DR. WILL KURLINKUS
04/19/2024 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, Common Errors
questions, know your lens (though not have it • Get to your thesis, argument, or research question
explained), know your cases, and know your structure.
faster.
• Show me your problem/topic, demonstrate it.
• Illustrate your thesis, topic, or research question
• Pose your research question or puzzle in relation to that faster.
demonstration
• TLDR: 1-2 pages.
• Clearly signpost.
• Starting too broad—start with a specific example and
• Introduce me to the things/people you are going to be specific claim that makes us wonder about your topic
looking at. Don’t make we wait for after your lit review. and shows its impact and importance.
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
• • You don’t have to review everything! You shouldn’t. There’s plenty of room in the body to add other
A lit review answers: what conversations are you
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 need
• I don’t need 5 surface level theories or a full review of everything on your topic. I just need to know the
to know before we get into my argument lenses you’re going to use to read your topic.
• • I’m talking about YouTube do I need a history of youtube (maybe a sentence—probably not)
Put these lenses in conversation with one another, don’t
• I’m talking about protest, do I need a summary of all that’s been written on the rhetoric of protest
isolate them
(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 approach
understand how this and this matter to my topic. It’s 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 with • Make sure you are giving examples to illustrate your theories and connecting it back to your topic. No theory
one another your argument is popped out. 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 and • Assuming that your claim is so clear it doesn’t need an
quotes from your primary sources. They’re what are example to substantiate it.
unique to you; they’re the most interesting thing; • Assuming your example is so obvious that it doesn’t need
they’re always the clearest way to illustrate your theory. analysis/theory applied to it.
• Make me understand your topic’s nuances as compared • Not differentiating your sections enough.
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 break
research question or prove your thesis. Does this connect
your readers’ guessing machines.
to my topic?
• Use citations that explain your subject in nuanced ways,
• Not engaging your primary sources’ epistemologies but
not the other way around. 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 reading and
quote/tell your even if it’s just listening to an audiobook That it’s real reading.
subjects’ stories— That really made me happy to hear and I’ve really started reading
more even books that aren’t part of The club”
don’t just 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.
2.
Mystery: Pose a mystery and/or problem that your presentation solves
Something New: Focus in on non-common information that breaks
Presentations (& your audience’s guessing machine. You should strive to do this
throughout but also think about your most surprising facts, quotes, and
examples and frame them as a surprise. What do you have that makes
Papers) 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 ?
