Comp Notes

Most colleges and universities are moving into Summer, and many students take a break from their studies at that time.  Comp Notes is doing the same.  This episode outlines where I see the podcast going once I return in two to three months.Transcript here Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode looks at the characteristics of multimodality, as well as some strategies for creating multimodal texts.Transcript available hereAdditional resources: Melanie Gagich's "An Introduction to and Strategies for Multimodal Composing"Crystal VanKooten's "Thinking Across Modes and Media (and Baking Cake): Two Techniques for Writing with Video, Audio, and Image"The New London Group's "A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures"CCCC Poster "Multimodality"Ann Fillmore's "Multi-Modal Communication: Writing in Five Modes" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode looks at some of the choices writers can make that affect our writing style.Transcript available hereAdditional information: (Note: You may also want to check out the links in episode 10: Editing)Purdue OWL's "Diction Introduction" and "Levels of Diction"Grammarly's "What does 'Connotation' Mean? Definition and Examples"Quillbot's "What is Connotation? Definition, Meaning, & Examples"Brian Ray's "Style: An Introduction to History, Theory, Research, and Pedagogy"Silva Rhetoricae's:"Style""Levels of Style""Figures of Speech" (use the links at the top of the page to get to specific examples of tropes and schemes)Write to Done's "28 Figure of Speech Examples" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode focuses on strategies for acting as a good peer reviewer for your classmates when you offer feedback on their writing.Transcript available here.Additional Readings:Ron DePeter's "How to Write Meaningful Peer Response Praise"Erin Kelly's "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Peer Review"Purdue OWL's "Giving Feedback for Peer Review"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Getting Feedback"WAC Clearinghouse's "Writing Guide: Engaging in Peer Review"Jim Beatty's "Peer Review"Emilie Zickel's "Peer Review and Responding to Others' Drafts" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode discuss what instructor feedback is and presents some strategies for working with that feedback to improve your writing ability.Transcript available hereAdditional Materials: Jillian Grauman's "What's That Supposed to Mean? Using Feedback on Your Writing"Proofreaders' Marks (often used by professors to mark grammatical issues)Purdue OWL's "Interpreting Instructor Feedback"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Getting Feedback"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Writers Workshop's "Incorporating Peer and Instructor Feedback" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode describes and shares some strategies for reflecting on your writing.Transcript here.Additional Resources: Hull Uni Library "Reflective Writing" (video)Sandra L. Giles' "Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?"Kati Lewis' "Reflection: We're Always Doing It"Kristen Gay's "Reflection Essay"Skillful Learning's "What is Metacognition and Why Should I Care?" and "Reflecting on Your Thinking" (videos)Helpful Professor's "13 Examples of Metacognitive Strategies" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

The last in our series on research, this episode discusses why and when we should cite, as well as some strategies for making citation easier.Transcript hereAdditional materials: Overview of citation systems (all from Purdue OWL):MLAAPAChicagoIEEEUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Plagiarism" and "Why We Cite" (video)Purdue OWL's "Using Citation Generators Responsibly"Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse's "An Overview of Documentation Systems"Anne Canavan's "Citations: Why, When, How?"Annika Clark's "Finding the Right Spiderman: An Introduction to Reference and Citation Formats"From Choosing & Using Sources:  A Guide to Academic Research"Why Cite Sources?""Challenges in Citing Sources""Steps for Citing""When to Cite" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Fifth in our series on research, this episode focuses on strategies for integrating outside sources into our own writing, including quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.Transcript hereAdditional MaterialsKyle D. Stedman's "Annoying Ways People Use Sources"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Quotations"Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse's "Integrating Sources"From Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research"Helping Others Follow""Synthesis of Your Own Ideas"From A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year WritingMelanie Gagich's "Quoting"Robin Jeffrey's "Paraphrasing and Summarizing" John Lanning, Amanda Lloyd, and Emilie Zickel's "Signal Phrases" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Fourth in this series on research, this episode will focus on strategies for evaluating sources, with a particular focus on Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineburg's SIFT model.Transcript hereAdditional MaterialsMike Caulfield and Sam Wineburg's Verified: How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online (advertisement for book)"Evaluating for Relevancy" and "Evaluating for Credibility" from Choosing & Using Sources:  A Guide to Academic ResearchAmanda Lloyd's "Misinformation and Disinformation"Mike Caulfield's "SIFT (The Four Moves)"Mike Caulfield's "SIFTing through the Pandemic"Mike Caulfield's "Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers"This online book presents an older version of SIFT, but it is still effective. CTRL-F's "Verification Skills 2024" (Video playlist)Ellen Carillo and Alice Horning's "Effectively and Efficiently Reading the Credibility of Online Sources" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Third in our research series, this episode will discuss strategies for locating sources, specifically keywords and search strings.Transcript hereAdditional MaterialsFrom Choosing and Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research"Precision Searching: Main Concepts""Precision Searching: Related and Alternative Terms""Precision Searching: Search Statements" McMaster Libraries' "How Library Stuff Works: Boolean Operators (AND OR NOT)" and "How Library Stuff Works: Boolean Modifiers "",*,()" (videos) Robin Jeffrey's "Using Effective Keywords in your Research"Prince George's Community College Learning Common's "Generating Keywords" and "Boolean Operators" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

The second in our research series, this episode discusses systems for classifying sources.Transcript hereAdditional MaterialsFrom Choosing and Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research"Categorizing Sources""Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources""Popular, Substantive Popular, Professional, & Scholarly""Publication Formats and the Information Cycle""Thinking about Roles of Sources," "BEAM: A Solution that Might Shine," and "Using BEAM: An Example"From A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Composition"Types of Sources: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary""Popular Sources""Scholarly Sources" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode begins a series on research.  It talks about what research is and shares strategies for choosing a research focus.Transcript hereAdditional MaterialsCollege Composition and Communication's "Research (poster)"Purdue OWL's "Research: Where to Begin"Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse's "Developing a Research Question"Emilie Zickel's "Developing a Research Question""Narrowing a Topic," "Regular vs. Research Questions," and "Developing Your Research Question"  from Choosing Using Sources:  A Guide to Academic ResearchBonus: Dana Lynn Driscoll's "Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews"This essay discusses other forms of research not discussed in the episode. Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode discusses strategies for arrangement, or organizing your writing.Transcript here.Additional Materials:Patterns of development (a handout I give my students)Guide to Grammar and Writing's "Coherence: Transitions Between Ideas"Silva Rhetoricae's "Arrangement"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Writing Center's "Flow"Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse's "Organizing Documents" Monique Babin et. al's "Transitions: Developing Relationships between Ideas" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode discusses the features of a thesis statement, along with some strategies for creating one.Transcript here.Additional Materials: Yvonne Bruce and Emilie Zickel's "Creating the Thesis" from A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year WritingThe Word on College Reading and Writing's "Finding the Thesis"Purdue OWL's "Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Writing Center's "Thesis Statements"Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse's "Developing a Thesis Statement" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode discusses the rhetorical moves needed to create an effective conclusion.Transcript hereAdditional materials: Purdue OWL's "Conclusions"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Conclusions"Guide to Grammar and Writing's "Concluding Paragraphs"University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writing Center "Make Your Last Words Count""Writing Conclusions" from Carol Burnell et. al's The Word on College Reading and Writing Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode discusses the moves needed to make an effective introduction in a piece of writing.Transcript hereAdditional materials:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's "Introductions"Purdue OWL's "Organization and the CARS Model"University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center's "Invest in Your Introduction"The Word on College Reading and Writing's "Writing Introductions"Quillbot's "How to Write an Introduction: Examples and Tips" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode discusses the rhetorical appeal of ethos, which focuses on the composer's credibility.Transcript here.Additional Materials:Silva Rhetoricae's "Ethos"LitChart's "Ethos:  Definition and Examples"Grammarly's "What is Ethos?  History, Definition, and Examples"Quillbot's "What is Ethos?  Definition, Meaning, and Examples"MasterClass's "What is Ethos?  Definition of Ethos with Examples" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode discusses the rhetorical appeal pathos.Transcript here.Additional Resources:Silva Rhetoricae's "Pathos"LitChart's "Pathos"Grammarly's "What is Pathos?  History, Definition, and Examples"Quillbot's "What is Pathos?  Definition, Meaning, and Examples"MasterClass's "What is Pathos?  Definition of Pathos with Examples" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode focuses on the rhetorical appeal of logos.Transcript here.Additional Resources:Silva Rhetoricae's "Logos"Lit Charts' "Logos"Grammarly's "What is Logos?  History, Definition, and Examples"Quillbot's "What is Logos?  Definition, Meaning, and Examples"MasterClass's "What is Logos?  Definition and Examples of Logos in Literature?" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode provides an overview of the three artistic proofs: ethos, logos, and pathos.  We define each one and talk about how they can be used to construct a piece of communication.Transcript here.Additional Resources:  Silva Rhetoricae's "Persuasive Appeals"Purdue OWL's "Aristotle's Rhetorical Situation" (overlaps with rhetorical situation) and "Using Rhetorical Strategies for Persuasion"Melanie Gagich and Emilie Zickel's "Rhetorical Appeals:  Logos, Pathos, and Ethos Defined"The Speaker's Lab's "What are Ethos, Pathos, and Logos?: Rhetorical Appeals" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode looks at the genre of analysis.Transcript available here.Additional Materials:  Laura Bolin Carroll's "Backpacks vs. Briefcases:  Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis"Purdue University Fort Wayne's "How to Write an Analysis"University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center's "Summary vs. Analysis"University of Michigan's Sweetland Center for Writing's "How Can I Create Stronger Analysis"John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Discipline's "Developing Deeper Analysis and Insights" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode focuses on the genre of argument.  It discusses how to use Stephen Toulmin's model to make an argument.Transcript available here.Additional Resources:  Types of argument from Purdue OWL:ClassicalToulminRogerianRebecca Jones' "Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother with Logic?"Mark Sutton's "Warrants in an Argument" (This video discusses different kinds of warrants you can use in an argument)Harvard College Writing Center's "Counterargument"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Argument"Guide to Grammar and Writing's "Developing an Argument"Writing@Colorado State University's "Writing Arguments: An Overview" and "Understanding the Parts of an Argument"Walden University's "Developing Arguments" and "Responding to Counterarguments""Finding the Responses to Counterarguments" from Anna Mills' How Arguments Work: A Guide to Writing and Analyzing Texts in College (online textbook) Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode focuses on the rhetorical concept of genre.Transcript available here.Additional Materials:  "Genre Theory" from The Mere Rhetoric PodcastWAC Clearinghouse's "What Should I Know about Genre and Design"Anis S. Bawarshi and Mary Jo Reiff's Genre:  An Introduction to History, Theory, Research, and PedagogyCCC Poster Page's "Genre"Kerry Dirk's "Navigating Genres"Brad Jacobson, Madelyn Pawlowski, and Christine M. Tardy's "Make Your 'Move': Writing in Genres"Clint Johnson's "On Genre"Lisa Bickmore's "Genre in the Wild:  Understanding Genre Within Rhetorical (Eco)systems" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode discusses strategies for reading critically, an important skill for college students to possess.Transcript available here.Additional Materials: The Kenneth Burke quote I talked about in this episode.  It's also called the Burkean Parlor.A selection of annotation strategies I share with my students.From the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Learning Center (Note:  They have multiple pages on reading strategies, some of which are specialized. I selected the ones I thought might be of the most use to the most people):"Annotating Texts""Reading Comprehension Tips""Taking Notes While Reading"Ellen Carillo's e-book A Writer's Guide to Mindful ReadingMike Bunn's "How to Read Like a Writer"Karen Rosenberg's "Reading Games:  Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources"Phil Sloan's "Reading for College, Part 1" and "Reading for College, Part 2" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Just a quick heads up that I'm changing the release schedule to weekly instead of biweekly. Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode discusses proofreading, the stage of writing process where we check for small errors and grammar mistakes.Episode transcript here.Additional Materials: Purdue OWL's "Finding Common Errors."  I refer to this page in the episode.Purdue OWL's "Beginning Proofreading"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Proofreading" (Note: This link leads to a YouTube video.)WAC Clearinghouse's "Editing and Proofreading Strategies"Butte College's "Tipsheet:  Proofreading"Walden University's "Self-Editing Strategies:  Proofreading" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode focuses on editing, the aspect of writing process in which we refine our sentences for style and clarity.Transcript available here.Additional Materials:  Purdue OWL's "Concision"Purdue OWL's "Avoid Common Pitfalls."  This page covers many elements that can make sentences harder to read, issues you'll want to focus on while editing.University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Writing Concisely""A Demonstration of Richard Lanham's Paramedic Method."  The paramedic method was developed by Richard Lanham.  It provides a systematic way to look for and recast elements that make sentences less concise.  The link leads to a video I created on this model.Guide to Grammar and Writing's "The Passive Voice"University of North Carolina at Charlotte Writing Resources Corner's "Nominalizations: Know Them. Try Not to Use Them"Purdue OWL's "Strategies for Variation." This page focuses on strategies for varying the kind of sentences you write.Walden University OASIS's "Varying Sentence Structure" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode will discuss strategies for revision, the aspect of writing process that focuses on making major changes to a draft.Episode transcriptNote:  While editing this episode, I realized that I misspoke a researcher's name.  I said Alex Horning when I meant Alice Horning.  I apologize for the error.Additional Materials:  Handouts on the revision activities discussed in the episode:Hot-spottingReverse Outlining (from the Duke University Writing Center)Cutting Up a Draft"Revising Drafts" from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Writing CenterRevision:  History, Theory, and Practice, edited by Alice Horning and Anne Becker (Note:  This link leads to an e-book that focuses on research into revision.)"Poster Page: Revision"  from the journal College Composition and Communication.MIT Global Studies' "Revise" and "Instructions for Revising" from The Writing ProcessL. Lennie Irvin's "Changing Your Mindset about Revision" (article in Volume 5 of Writing Spaces) Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode looks at the drafting part of writing process.Transcript available here.Additional Resources:A collection of drafting strategies I've shared with studentsAn example of semidraftingPurdue OWL's "Symptoms and Cures for Writer's Block" and "Other Strategies for Getting Over Writer's Block"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Writing Anxiety"MIT Global Studies and Languages' "Draft"  (Note:  This source is for non-native speakers of English" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

In this episode, we'll talk about prewriting, focusing on three strategies: freewriting, heuristics, and clustering.Transcript available through this link.Additional Resources:MIT's "The Writing Process:  Freewriting"Mere Rhetoric's "Stasis Theory" (New and Improved)MIT's "The Writing Process:  Idea Map/Web" (Note: This is an example of clustering, just with a different name)University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's "Brainstorming"Purdue OWL's "Prewriting Questions" and "More Prewriting Questions"Michelle D. Trim and Megan Lynn Isaac's "Reinventing Invention:  Discovery and Investment in Writing" (Note: The link leads to a pdf file)Silva Rhetoricae's "Topics of Invention."  This page lists several topoi, or categories that represent different connections among ideas.  They can act as heuristics in your prewriting.CCC Poster Series: "Invention" (Note:  The link leads to a pdf file) Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode provides an overview of the concept of writing as a process.  Future episodes will unpack the different stages of that process.Transcript available through this link.Additional Resources:  Purdue OWL's "The Writing Process"Sarah M. Lacy and Melanie Gagich's "The Writing Process" (Note: This is a chapter from an online textbook).Wilmer Writing Center Online Writing Lab's "The Writing Process"The University of Kansas' "The Writing Process"Comparative Media Studies at MIT's "Resources for Writers: The Writing Process"Joshua Sampson's "Writing Craft:  Writing as a Recursive Process" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode focuses on context, the element of rhetorical situation that includes the factors going on in the world that can impact our text.  In particular, we'll focus on time, place, community, and culture.Transcript available through this link.Additional Resources:Purdue OWL's "Setting." "Discourse Community" from College Composition and Communication (Note: The link leads to a pdf file.)Dan Melzer's "Understanding Discourse Communities" from Writing Spaces (Note: The link leads to a pdf copy of the essay.) Wikipedia "High-context and low-context cultures."   Silva Rhetoricae's "Kairos" (Note:  Kairos is a rhetorical term meaning the appropriateness of a piece of communication.  Context affects appropriateness.) Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode focuses on the audience component of rhetorical situation.Transcript available through this link.Additional Resources:"Audience" on Silva RhetoricaeE. Shelley Reid's "Ten Ways to Think about Writing: Metaphoric Musing for College Students" in Writing Spaces, Volume 2.  (Pay particular attention to section 4)Mere Rhetoric's "Audience Invoked-Audience Addressed (New and Improved)" This podcast summarizes Andrea Lunsford and Lisa Ede's article "Audience Addressed/Audience Invoked," which I also refer to."Audience" poster from College Composition and Communication (Note: the link leads to a pdf copy of the poster)."Audience" from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.WriteCast Podcast's "All About Audience."  This podcast is from Walden University; this episode focuses on audience. Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode focuses on purpose, the element of rhetorical situation that defines our goals.Transcript available through this link.Additional Resources: Purdue OWL "Purposes"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center's "Understanding the Assignment."  I refer to this page in the episode, and I assign it to my students as an introduction to how to interpret an assignment sheet and determine the purpose of your text.Swathmore College's "Understanding Your Assignment" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode provides an overview of the concept rhetorical situation.  We'll cover the individual elements of the situation in future episodes.Transcript available through this link.Additional Resources:Note: Some of these resources may use different terms than I used in the episode.Purdue OWL's "Elements of Rhetorical Situations"Illinois Writers Workshop "Understanding the Rhetorical Situation"WAC Clearinghouse's "What Should I Know about Rhetorical Situation?"College Composition and Communication's "Poster: Rhetorical Situation" (Note: This link leads to a pdf document).Silva Rhetoricae's "Rhetorical Situation"Mere Rhetoric podcast episode "Rhetorical Situation (New and Improved)" Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This episode describes the purpose and goals of this podcast, along with my plans for how the episodes will generally run.Transcript available through this link.Additional ResourcesPurdue OWL:  This is one of the best known and respected online resources for learning about writing and research.Writing Spaces: Writing Spaces is a series of online textbooks containing essays on different aspects of writing and research.  I'm expecting in future episodes to link to specific essays that cover the same topics as an episode, but I wanted to go ahead and share it now.Bad Ideas about Writing:  This online book contains essays that challenge commonly hold stereotypes about writing, all written for students and non-specialists.   I'm expecting in future episodes to link to specific essays that cover the same topics as an episode, but I wanted to go ahead and share it now. Framework for Success in Post-Secondary Writing: This statement was developed by the Council of Writing Program Administrators, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the National Writing Project.  All three organizations are well-respected for supporting good writing practice.  The framework describes habits of mind and rhetorical skills linked to success in college.  The link leads to a summary of the framework; you can download a copy of the full report on the same page. Comp Notes © 2024 by  Mark Sutton  is licensed under  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0