For this first draft of Project 1 I reviewed Swati's QRG and Elliot's QRG. Swati's document focused on the controversy surrounding genetically modified embryos, and whether or not it was ethical. Elliot's QRG covered the usefulness of the scientific method.
Audience
Who. specifically, is going to be reading the document? Who am I trying to reach with my argument?
- This quick reference guide is being written specifically for my English class. While any outsider has the potential to come across my blog and find my QRG, my primary audience is my fellow classmates and teacher. By writing this document, I am aiming to present them the information from both sides of the argument in an unbiased way as to not influence their opinions on the subject.
What are their values and expectations? Am I adequately meeting those expectations?
- Considering most of us have chosen topics that are relatively obscure to the masses, I would suspect that my classmates expect me to have researched adequately. It is my goal to present them with the general background information and enough knowledge to give them a deeper understanding of my topic. I feel like I have presented enough information to understand the topic, but I feel that I might be slacking on the opposing sides.
How much information do I need to give my audience? How much background information or context should I provide for them without insulting their expertise?
- Since geoengineering is still a new phenomena, there was a lot of information that needed to be presented. There are many different approaches to consider, and each approach has its own pros and cons. I feel like I adequately provided my classmates with enough background information without insulting their expertise.
What kind of language is suitable for this audience?
- While I am writing a document for a college class, I can be a bit more lax on my language choices. QRGs are meant to be a bit more informal, and don't require a rigorous vocabulary in order to be understood. The purpose is to present a lot of information quickly, without being too wordy or confusing. I think I've done a decent job at not being too confusing, but I find myself wondering if some of my paragraphs are too wordy and could be rearranged.
What tone should I use with my audience? Do I use this tone consistently throughout my draft?
- Wanting to avoid any bias, I am aiming to write in a neutral tone. I am trying to present both sides of the debate equally to avoid skewing opinions. I believe I've done a good job at remaining neutral throughout, but I never really identified the opposing side. Their presence is there, but they don't have any form of being their own group.
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| TEDxSF. "audience participates in Dr. Ali Binazir's talk - IMG_0076-sc © Adrianne Koteen". November 18,2009 via flickr. Attribution NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License |
Context
What are the formatting requirements of the assignment? Do I meet them?
- As we've discussed in class and through some of our blog posts, there are many different elements of a QRG that should be addressed. There should be an informative title and headings or subheadings throughout the document. Visuals that relate to the topic and aide readers, along with hyperlinking and white space are also important aspects to consider. While all of these are present in my QRG, I think that I could have more visuals and better titled subheadings. At this moment in time I have only found a couple of images that I feel work well with my topic, but I am looking to change that.
What are the content requirements for the assignment? Do I meet them?
- Based on the grading rubric for Project 1, this document should present both sides of an issue and all the required background information without getting too in-depth. There should be many links within the document to add to credibility, relevant images, and it should address why people should care about the issue. My QRG does present both the positives and negatives of geoengineering, although one side of the debate hasn't been effectively established. I could definitely use more images and address more in-depth why people should care about this issue. I kind of glance over it when I talk about the effect it could have on the global food supply, but that's about it.
Does my draft reflect knowledge or skills gained in class in addition to my own ideas and voice?
- Before taking this class, I had no clue about the usage of hyperlinking or accurately citing images. Throughout my draft I provide many external links for the audience, and I have cited the images I used. I still need to format them correctly in Google Docs, something I have yet to figure out. By remaining as unbiased as possible, I feel like I'm lacking in my own voice, but I try to emphasize the negatives more than the positives.
Have I addressed any grammatical issues that my teacher highlighted in class or in my previously-graded assignments?
- Since this is our first assignment for this class, no grammatical issues have been pointed out. Although everyone has a tendency to make grammatical errors here and there, and these will hopefully be pointed out as my peers review my document. I fixed any obvious errors that I noticed, like matching verb tenses with one another, but I may have missed some things.
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