Course Projects

• What are you most confused by or nervous about in regards to the four major projects?
• I am most nervous about conducting interviews for The Rhetorical Investigation. It will probably be good for me to be gently pushed outside of my comfort zone, but I have anxiety over the whole situation. What if I ask a dumb question???? Being an Undecided major means I can choose literally anything to focus on, but seeing as I am extremely (obviously) indecisive, choosing a topic to study and finding professionals to interview is very nerve-racking for me.
• What are you most interested in or excited by in regards to the four major projects?
• I am most looking forward to the Public Argument because although it requires a ton of research, I am excited to find something that interests me (and maybe it will help me find a major J).
• Based on your understanding of the major projects, what are the elements of this course that you have to plan ahead for? How will the coursework described in the four project assignment sheets challenge your time management skills this semester?
• I generally manage my time by estimating how long a certain task will take, and then designating a certain amount of my homework time to that task. The Controversy Postmortem and the Public Argument will challenge this habit because these projects require tons of research, which does not have a designated time limit. Transferring my research into the designated genre will take an unknown amount of time as well, as I have never used movie making or auditory programs before.
• How has your past English coursework in high school or college prepared you for the challenges of this course? What skills will you bring into the course with you?
• My past English courses have plenty prepared me for writing essays. My AP Language class prepared me on how to effectively construct an argument and properly back it up with reliable sources. I will be using those skills for the Public Argument. In addition, taking honors English courses in high school made me manage my time effectively due to the extensive amount of assignments, so I will be using those skills throughout this course.
• Do you have any questions about the four major projects that haven't been answered by the assignment sheets? What do you still want to know?
• For Project 2, the Rhetorical Investigation, we conduct primary research with the interviews, and then secondary research afterwards. So then do we just present the information we gathered in our chosen genre? I don’t understand what the sheet means by “rhetorical dimensions.”
• For the public argument, are we trying to persuade our audience to choose a side of the controversy? Or simply presenting both sides of the issue?

Edit: After reading Sarah's and Kelly's posts, I realized that a lot of other people have the same fears and worries over some of the projects in this class. In terms of time management and completing some assignments that are outside of my comfort zone, I realized that we are all in the same boat. On a different note, I also really liked the layout of Sarah's blog; I could get a better sense of her personality.