RESEARCH: A WRITING TOOL
PBDS 690.185
NOTE: This is representative of the syllabi for this course. It
is not necessarily the syllabus being used in any one semester.
In this course, students learn to view research as a uniquely powerful tool in the writer's stockpile of skills. They come to see how, far from a tedious exercise, it can be a 'breed of detective work, exciting in its own right, and a key constituent of the creative process.
The quality of magazine articles, newspaper feature stories, brochures, books, and even some fiction depends not alone on your facility with words but on where you go, what you see and hear,
How you see and hear, whom you talk to, what books you read, what documents you track down. Thorough, imaginative "research," construed in the broadest possible sense, equips you with a stock of impressions, images, and ideas from which to draw in telling your story.
In this class, students learn to brainstorm research strategies; to arrange, prepare for, and conduct interviews; to use libraries and archives to best advantage; to exploit computer data bases; to plan and organize research trips; to place their own eyes, ears, and emotions in the service of their writing; and to organize the often voluminous material that results from the research-gathering phase of a writing project. Assignments aim at improving research skills and showing how they can enrich writing.
Early in the course, the instructor dissects his own work and that of others to show how raw facts and the final writing are inextricably linked, and relates some of his research experiences. The course will also touch on the issues of ethics, etiquette, and plagiarism raised by the gathering and use of information furnished by others.
Required reading: The Modern Researcher, 5th edition, by Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff, chapters 1-9, plus 12. We will devote parts of Weeks 6 and 7 to discussing in class issues it raises.
No final exam, but class will meet on the day normally scheduled for it.
The lengths of writing assignments are given in words. On average, one page double-spaced, with 60 to 65 character margins, is about 250 words. Please leave wide margins (one to one and a half inches) for comments and suggestions. Please do not differ too drastically from the specified length. If the assignment says 1000 words, 500 is unacceptable, and so is 2000. Also, my eyes will thank you if you can use pica (10 characters per inch) rather than the smaller (12 characters per inch).
PLEASE: Double space, no tiny type faces, wide margins.
Please use standard paragraphing format: Indent a few spaces, and no extra lines between paragraphs. I apologize for this seeming trifle, but I find that a common alternate style -- no indent coupled with the skipping of a line between paragraphs -- disrupts the reading process, making each paragraph an island of its own and interfering with the flow of meaning and effect. (The skipped lines here in the syllabus are intentional: these are supposed to be isolated blocks, with no particular continuity between them.)
Grading: For this course, ideally I'd separate out the "research component" of each assignment and grade only that. But I can't do that. So, realistically, your grade will reflect my response to all the writing skills and effort you bring to bear on each assignment. This is, after all, a writing course,
research being seen merely as a tool placed in the service of good writing.
You will be graded on most assignments -- one or two are pass/fail -- including assigned revisions. An F is reserved for those who don't formally satisfy the requirements of the course. C is for work that does satisfy the requirements of the course but only barely. B represents good work; it is not dispensed automatically, nor ever for work judged merely passable. An A goes to those demonstrating both superb work and serious effort. In grading assignments, I use both pluses (+) and minuses (-), but U of B limits your course grades to F, C, C+, B, B+, A.
The final project and its assigned revision both get grades. Together, they count substantially more than other assignments in the reckoning of your final grade.
A late assignment loses half a letter grade; a B+ drops to a B, a B to a B-. This mechanism is absolutely automatic. Absence is no excuse. You can always drop off the assignment at my house. A paper becomes late at 8:00 p.m. only on the day following the class; there's no reason to miss a class because your assignment isn't ready.
Please feel free to call, should you have a question, a gripe, or just something you want to get off your chest. For more extended discussion, we can arrange to meet before or after class or otherwise outside of class hours. I can almost always find a way to fit my schedule to your needs.
In crude outline, think of the course as divided into five segments:
1. INTRODUCTION; Research in the Service of Writing
2. PEOPLE: Interviewing
3. PAPER: Libraries, Archives, Official Sources
4. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE; Using Your Eyes and Ears
5. LOOSE ENDS
TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
(subject to change, of course, depending on how things go°)
Week 1
Introduction to the course: grading, assignments, deadlines, course reading, etc.
About your textbook: a caveat
Lecture: Research as a Writing Tool, examples from instructor's experience and that of others.
Week 2
Lecture and Class Exercise: Research Brainstorming
"Virtual Assignmnent" today: Close yourself up in a room and write the most interesting essay or article, of 1000 or so words, that you can about a subject of your choice; some preferred subjects are listed below. Close the blinds. Do not talk to anybody. Do not go to the library. Consult no books or newspapers. Write it based only on what you know at the time you write.
Camden Yards: The Orioles New Home
The New Town of Columbia
Laser Surgery
Frankie, Elvis, Michael, and Mick: The Pop Singer as Performer
The Dead Sea Scrolls Mess
The Longshoreman's Changing Work
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
The Bicycle as a Commuter Vehicle
Art, Inc.: What Big Companies Hang on Their Walls
Homeopathic Medicine
The Uses of Awards
(But don't actually do this assignment. Think about what you would do, and be prepared to discuss in class.)
Real assignment due today: A few paragraphs, a page or two in the-form of a brief essay, to give me an idea of what research means to you as we begin this course. Briefly recount whatever experience you've had in equipping yourself to write through interviewing, library research, journal-keeping, travel diaries, scholarly research, computer searches, etc.
Week 3
Lecture: Research Strategies, Getting Organized Overview of the rest of the course
Assignment due today: Brainstorm, in something like the way we discussed in class last week, the article topic you didn't really write about in your first assignment, but which you now write about for Week 4. For the assignment today, the emphasis is on quantity, not quality. Generate lots and lots and lots of ideas. Exhaust yourself.
(Also, please indicate those ideas you wish to pursue for the Week 4 assignment.)
Class discussion: On the brainstorming assignments due today.
Week 4
Lecture and Class Discussion: Interviewing, Part I
Assignment ~ today: Pick one or two of the ideas you developed in your brainstorming assignment last week, pursue them as best you can, and write a 1000-word article based on your research. For example, if you picked "the longshoreman's changing work," you may have included these among the ideas in your brainstorming session:
-- Interview a working longshoreman
-- Spend an afternoon at a new container dock
-- Spend an evening in a waterfront bar frequented by longshoremen
-- Hang out at the local hiring hall
-- Talk to a retired longshoreman about his work 30 or 40 years ago.
-- Interview longshoremen's union official
-- Do a computer search on longshore work and related topics
Now select one or two of these to pursue, depending on what you need to be able to write a rich, fact-filled, and evocative article. In most cases, you will be pursuing research strategies we've not yet discussed in class, but don't let that stop you.
Introduction to assignments due February 20 and March 6.
Week 5
Lecture: Interviewing, Part I I
Assignment today: Do preliminary research for the interview due Week 7. Offer a brief statement about your interview subject, prepare at least 20 written questions. Submit xeroxes of articles or other background materials, or at least a sampling of it, that you gathered in your preliminary research.
Class discussion: Go over assignment due today
Critique of excerpts from your work returned today. A revision of this piece is due next week.
Week 6
Lecture: Getting Things Wrong
Class discussion: The Modern Researcher. Please read and be prepared to discuss.
Assignment due today: Revision of article returned last week.
Lecture: Revisions
Week 7
In the Langsdale Library, with U of B research librarian. Then, back to class...
Class discussion: The Modern Researcher, continued Lecture and Class Discussion: Official Sources
(Congressional hearings, government hearings, trade associations, public relations, etc.)
Assignment due today: Write a 1000-word article based primarily on a single interview (for which you completed a preliminary assignment for Week 5). The piece can be a profile -- that is, primarily about the person you're interviewing -- or it can be about a topic you learn about largely through your interview.
Week 8
Lecture: Using Your Eyes and Ears
Introduction to the big article, due April 24, with a preliminary assignment due April 3.
Assignment ~ today: Pick a subject and write about it, in about 1000 words. Base it solely, or largely, on library research -- computer searches, journal articles, books, etc. A few sample topics:
Bob Dylan's Impact on Popular Music
An Electric Car in Your Future?
The Liverpool of the Beatles
Every Home Its Own Photocopier?
What Divorce Does to Children
Homosexual Monogamy
The Light of Every Season: The Sun's Influence On
Architectural Design
Does America Make Anything Anymore?
The Changing Picture Postcard
Japan Before Pearl Harbor
Clear your own choice with me.
Excerpts critique for assignment returned today
Week 9-- Spring Break
Week 10
Lecture: On Assignment
Assignment due today: Go someplace. Interview no one, collect no written-materials, simply record everything you see, hear, feel, or otherwise experience. Submit raw notes and "enhanced" typed notes, as discussed in class.
We will discuss guidelines in class, but here are a few possibilities:
A rock concert
The milking barn of a dairy farm
Baltimore Museum of Art
A "Gucci" supermarket A downtown street
Dundalk Marine Terminal
An athletic club
Class discussion: Your field experiences
Excerpts critique of the library research assignment due for Week 8 and returned today.
Week 11
Lecture: Almost Being There -- Photos, Videotapes, Film, Artifacts, etc.
Comments on your field notes submitted Week 10 and returned today
Assignment due today: (First, please see the description of the big project due April 24.) For today, describe your article idea, brainstorm it for research ideas as you have for past assignments, outline a research strategy for expanding it into something much more ambitious, and recount those research avenues you have already pursued. Get this all down on paper and submit. In your research strategy, make allowance for things going wrong. '" Assume that some of your pet ideas won't work out -- that, for example, you won't be able to secure a key interview after all. Therefore, plan on pursuing more approaches than you think you really need. Be prepared to briefly discuss your project today in class.
Week 12
Class discussion of your brainstorming/expansion strategies returned today
Progress reports on projects due in two weeks: Come in prepared to briefly (5-10 minutes) present to the rest of the class your projects, describe what you're doing, discuss any problems you may be experiencing, and open the floor to suggestions.
Assignment due today: Fashion your field experience notes into a 1000-word article or essay, filling in with material drawn from other research methods as necessary.
Week 13
Lecture: Knowing When to Stop
Last chance for questions, advice, and discussion on your final project.
No written assignment due.
Critique of excerpts from field experience article returned today.
Week 14
Assignment due today: Take the topic of anyone of your first four assignments (first shot, interview, library research, and field experience assignments) and expand into a 4000-word article that has elements, in varying proportions, of the three basic research approaches -- interviews, library research, eyes- and-ears -- that we've discussed in class. You have your choice of four topics. And it's your article to research as you think best. But you should now make a conscious effort to employ all
three basic approaches, and to wind up with as rich and research- dense a piece as possible. (A revision is due May 10.)
Class discussion of final projects: Be prepared to discuss writing problems you may have had in, for example, integrating the various forms of research, or in dealing with the longer - length of your paper.
Today is catch-up day -- to cover any topics I've neglected, to make up ground where we may have fallen behind on the syllabus, to discuss anything you'd like to particularly talk about.
Week 15
Large projects returned.
No special assignment due for this week, but you'll undoubtedly want to get a head start on research you weren't able to do for the first go-round, and that you'll need to do for the final revision.
Critique of excerpts from assignments returned today.
Workshop: You may select a one-to-three page excerpt from your final project to discuss in class, one bearing on themes raised in this course -- for example, a section where you suspect
something substantive is missing, but are not sure how to get at it. Or really anything where you think you can profit from the input of the class. (Bring in 16 copies, or else we'll xerox it on the spot, then distribute it, and discuss.) This is a student-initiated version of the excerpts critique, where you are
encouraged to solicit opinions of, voice doubts about, and
respond to questions on, a work-in-progress. Use this to help you through the revision process.
Excerpts critique, continued
U of B course evaluations.
Week 16
This is the final exam period, but there's no final exam.
Assignment due today: Revision of your final project. I will have marked up your original article with questions, suggestions for other areas to dig into, etc. You will research and revise in response to them. In a few cases, this may mean virtually starting over. But in many instances, it will mean merely enriching discrete sections, or answering specific queries.
Please submit marked-up original along with the revised version.
If you wish, you may also distribute copies to your classmates.
Wrapping up. Brainstorm course improvements. Endings.