Writing Project #1
Observation Inquiry

As a first step in preparing to write projects for your community partner organization, this assignment asks you to look carefully at the ways that organization communicates, as well as what those methods show about the group. Although this is one of the academic writing projects for the course, it is also crucial background you'll need to help you write as a member of your organization. As we'll talk about in class, one of the first steps in writing for real is learning what persona (what rhetorical perspective) you have to take on to write for or with your community partner organization. One of the underlying questions this assignment can eventually lead you to consider is how your voice as a writer may be similar to and different from the organization you will represent.

Using results from your initial interview as well as fieldnotes you’ve taken and/or follow-up interviews you’ve conducted, write a description of your community partner group and its discourse community. Think back to the criteria that we've generated in class and to Ross and Thomas' discussion of community organizations in WfR: Chapter 7.

You may also want to consider these questions:
Who is considered a part of the organization?
What methods of communication do members of the organization typically use?
What literacy events are common?
How do the ways people there communicate and illustrate the beliefs and/or goals of the group?
What is the most effective format for conveying this information? Do I want to write a traditional essay-based text? Do I want to use a multi-media form of presentation (PowerPoint, web page, etc.)?

The first draft of this essay is due Thursday, January 17. The second draft will be due Thursday, January 24, and the final version will be turned in on Thursday, February 21.

---

Mindy Wright, wright.7@osu.edu, 114F University Hall 688-5557

---

.

Phone 614-292-1882
Fax: 614-292-8666
Email: cohwebhelp@osu.edu

186 University Hall
230 North Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210

This Web site, all content and related materials are ©2003-2006 by the College of Humanities and The Ohio State University. If you have difficulty accessing any portion of this site due to incompatibility with adaptive technology, or if you need the information in an alternative format, please contact the College of Humanities Web manager at .cohwebhelp@osu.edu