Collaborative Advice and Signing Off the Blog!

Hi, everyone.

Here is some of the advice we have collaboratively generated this week while working on the "real" forms of the Public Awareness Project. As you can see, it is multivocal, so there is a some switching between "you" and "I/we" and an abstract third person:

RHETORICAL REVISION
--Make sure that the format of the open letter is suitable for the specific venue where it will be published or seen.

--Spelling and syntax are incredibly important in public documents, i.e., a single typo can loom very large. Beware of the homonyms (sound-alike words), such as "affect" and "effect".

--How can you avoid logical or affective fallacies in your text? Which ones do you think your reader will be looking out for? How would they read your text “defensively”?

--Clarify my aim/purpose for writing; this might be done by making it clear to the audience what would be gained by their reading it.

--Visual clarity--I need to make my visual aims as clear and focused as if they were stated with words.

--Think of incorporating sources as voices, or “acknowledging influences” (Harris, Rewriting 80). How can you acknowledge the influence of one writer’s whole claim on your own?

--How will you implicitly establish and maintain your credibility with this particular group of readers (your audience)?

LOGISTICS OF THE PROJECT
--Be sure to cite sources of images (give credit and/or include “courtesy of” statements).

--Tables, charts, or grids and other illustrations need to be cited in your document.

--How will you make it authentic and believable (i.e., you’re not just pretending)?

REMINDERS/IMPORTANT ASPECTS
--If I am creating a PowerPoint that I intend to use as part of a class discussion, lecture, or speech, I shoudl probably provide a written-out script or notes or accompanying lesson plan.

--If you are creating a visual or multimedia presentation to stand alone, then make sure it is long and in-depth enough for the reader to understand its full context (i.e., more than just 5 or 6 slides).

--Winterowd says that to fully understand a message, we should be aware of how a structure is being used to deliver it. The structure needs to be able to “speak for itself.”

Thanks for your hard work and enthusiasm this semester. I look forward to seeing your final projects next week. Signing off the blog,

Dr. Graban
12/11/08