ENGL 131A
Good writing and research questions
Agenda
“Good writing”
When you hear the words “good writing,” what comes to mind? A novel, literary essay, business memo, or all of the above? Is it even possible to define good writing? Additionally, discuss w/ a partner about what piece of writing you found as an example of “good writing,” and why you think that is.
“Good writing”
Ex:
Hi my name is Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way and I have long ebony black hair (that’s how I got my name) with purple streaks and red tips that reaches my mid-back and icy blue eyes like limpid tears and a lot of people tell me I look like Amy Lee (AN: if u don’t know who she is get da hell out of here!). I’m not related to Gerard Way but I wish I was because he’s a major fucking hottie. I’m a vampire but my teeth are straight and white. I have pale white skin. I’m also a witch, and I go to a magic school called Hogwarts in England where I’m in the seventh year (I’m seventeen). I’m a goth (in case you couldn’t tell) and I wear mostly black. I love Hot Topic and I buy all my clothes from there. For example today I was wearing a black corset with matching lace around it and a black leather miniskirt, pink fishnets and black combat boots. I was wearing black lipstick, white foundation, black eyeliner and red eye shadow. I was walking outside Hogwarts. It was snowing and raining so there was no sun, which I was very happy about. A lot of preps stared at me. I put up my middle finger at them.
“Good Writing”
Context for the example above:
Sure, it’s pretty bad. It’s funny, but also makes you question the author’s choice and if it’s good or not.
But what if you look at it as a satire? Does this “bad” piece of writing suddenly become “good”?
“Good Writing”
Ex:
Broadly speaking, cultural studies is not one arm of the humanities so much as an attempt to use all of those
arms at once. It emerged in England, in the nineteen-fifties and sixties, when scholars from
working-class backgrounds, such as Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams, began thinking about the
distance between canonical cultural touchstones—the music or books that were supposed to teach you
how to be civil and well-mannered—and their own upbringings. These scholars believed that the rise of
mass communications and popular forms were permanently changing our relationship to power and
authority, and to one another. There was no longer consensus. Hall was interested in the experience
of being alive during such disruptive times. What is culture, he proposed, but an attempt to grasp at these
changes, to wrap one’s head around what is newly possible?
“Good Writing”
Context for the example above:
It’s journalistic in presentation, and very much meant to be take seriously and meant to be easily understood.
Compare this to the previous example, what would you then classify as “good” vs. “bad?” And more importantly, how much does context have to do with what we view as good or bad?
Does “good” or “bad” writing even exist?
Break
Crafting a claim
Crafting a research question
Before crafting a research question, it’s important to to identify issues/topics first:
Not only should the topic be interesting, but it should also matter to you!
Draw on your personal experience
This is exactly what it sounds like; start with a sense of:
Then build your inquiry by moving into other sources of information
Ex: The negotiations between UAW 4121 and UW Administration for a fair ASE contract
Identify what is open to dispute
You can think of an issue as a fundamental tension between two or more points of view (individuals, organizations, nations, cultures)
This clarifies the issue and stance for yourself, but also opens up lines of inquiry into other points of view.
Ex: UAW 4121 wants a better contract for ASE’s, while UW Admin is unwilling to budge on certain positions
Resist binary thinking
As you begin thinking about your issue, try to negotiate the complexities that might be present in the issue–resist binary thinking.
Oftentimes, there may be other underlying, complex factors that play into issues at hand.
Ex: UAW 4121 wants better contract/UW Admin won’t give better contract
Build on and extend the ideas of others
Start in a familiar place, but branch out to extend your ideas through research
Ex: UW’s base rate for ASE’s is $2,664
How does this rate compare to other schools’ contracts?
University of California - $3,777
WSU Vancouver - $3,124
This is an issue at UW; but how have other institutions handled bargaining, and what were the outcomes?
Trace the issue from a personal perspective to a broader, field perspective
Putting it all together…
Crafting research questions exercise
To practice the process of crafting research questions, you’ll be working through the process through these prompts as a group:
Crafting research questions exercise