2/18: Writing on the Internet (Basics)

Okay, so this is what the lessons in this E110 class will look like: articles on this website, with the occasional video or visual aide. We'll start today with some reminders, some grammar discussion, followed by some conceptual discussion, and then finally what you need to do.

Reminders

If you haven't already, introduce yourself on the class Slack--there's a channel for introductions, called #intros. There's no wordcount for that: just say hi to your 66 peers, with maybe something unique or memorable about yourself.

Also, remember to set up your Wix account using the invitation emails I sent out during the Zoom meetings. That'll let you log in to contribute to this blog 3 times this semester (see the syllabus for when those blog posts are).

Don't forget to do the attendance quiz for this lesson post--it's on Canvas.

Also, uh, remember to drink water occasionally. (It's the first week of semester.)

Using Slack and the Blog

Here's a quick video tutorial for navigating and posting on Slack, using Slack DMs, and accessing the separate class blog (which you're not doing this week, but will later). Feel free to skip this part if you're comfortable with both platforms.

Did I deliberately choose the worst thumbnail? Yes.

English Grammar is Weird

So, this class isn't about grammar, or spelling, or reading fine works of ancient literature. This is a class in rhetoric, which is the study of how arguments work. By arguments, we don't mean, like, yelling arguments. An argument is any attempt to communicate that has a point it wants to convey or demonstrate. An instruction manual is an argument for how to do something, for example. We'll spend most of our course dealing with making good written arguments, so we don't spend much time on grammar.

In a normal class, a video would probably be here where I explain grammar, but it'd be too long for YouTube, so instead, here's two easy-to-view guides:

Common Grammar Mistakes

About Apostrophes

Moving On: Key Concepts

So now that you'll never mess up effect/affect, there/their/they're and its/it's again, lets do some real Galaxy Brain stuff.

An argument is any attempt to communicate a particular point. The study of how to argue is called rhetoric. This is kind of like how the study of creative storytelling is called literature. Rhetoric, like literature or biochemistry or accounting, is a discipline. It's actually one of the oldest: so old that it's not even a college major--any more than hygiene is a college major. It's just a thing you do.

The point of this course is to make you examine how you make arguments so you can make better ones. That means sometimes we'll give names to stuff you kind of feel but didn't know was a thing. Here's a few basic ones:

Discourse is a term meaning conversation or discussion. The word is usually used to refer to the discussion around an issue--the "discourse surrounding the election" would be a common use, for example. More broadly, a discourse is a conversation around a topic and the rules that make that conversation work. So it's not just what's discussed, but how it's discussed. A discourse has "norms"--that is, it establishes a "normal" around an issue so we can talk about it.

Discourses create discourse communities--groups of people who agree to basic rules or norms of discussion so they can communicate. There's a great example of one next to your name on my roll sheet: your major. You go to college to learn the basic concepts, procedures, and norms of a field so you can do work in that field without being a total noob.

Try to think of some other examples. Done? Scroll down past the image for a few common ones:

Image courtesy of Twitter user @nocontextbuffy.

Your friend group is a discourse community (you've got in-jokes, rules, norms, and stuff in common). Your sports teams, schools, families, regions (especially if you have a distinctive dialect or accent) are all discourse communities you learned to operate in. Actually, real-life classrooms are discourse communities too--it's a group with a specific interest or objective and communication rules. Think about how weird raising your hand is in situations that aren't a classroom--that gesture is a special discourse rule of that classroom discourse community, for example.

There's also bigger, more abstract discourse communities: a whole culture, or everyone who speaks English worldwide, or a nation-state. These big, abstract groups have norms, jargon, and references in common, letting them be part of a group. The big, abstract discourse communities are called imagined communities, since you can't literally know everybody in the group but can imagine what everyone is like. The group exists because you all participate. A good example of this is the state of Delaware. There are 900,000ish Delawareans. Do you know them all? No. But surely Delaware exists objectively, right? Nope. While there are lines and stuff on a map, if you go to the boundaries of Delaware in person, it's not like somebody's drawn a big line (not yet, anyway) in the dirt. Maybe there's a sign. Yet, Delaware exists because we all collectively imagine it does, and are assisted by norms and concepts like laws, cultural memes, and recordkeeping.

Dude, Chill--What Does This Mean?

Okay, let's get a little more grounded: Academic work written in English is a discourse community, and it has rules and customs--like genres (ways of organizing writing or storytelling) and grammar. But here's something important: discourse communities have rules because they're useful, not because they're 100% immovable, absolute rules. Some rules are only rules for training purposes--you're supposed to realize they're BS when you "grow up."

You can, for instance, break some of the "rules" of a genre you learned and still be fine, if you break them for useful reasons. (Common example: mixed genres in movies, like Romantic Comedy + Vampires, etc.) This also happens to grammar all the time--English grammar is messy to begin with, and we've changed it lots of times when something worked better. What happened to thee and thou? We dumped them because they weren't useful. Shakespeare would be scandalized! (Except he wouldn't be because he totally invented new words when he felt like it and got confused by thee and thou himself.)

Short version: rules for English are only useful when they help you be clear with your audience. They're tools--and you can make decisions about what tools you want to use.

Genre of the Week: Academic Emails

So, let's use this week's genre as an example: academic emails. You'll probably have to email a professor or dean or somebody at some point, so here's how to do that without irritating your professor.

What the Titles Mean

Okay, so professors profess as their jobs (along with research and emotional labor and admin and...a lot of stuff), and as they go along, they get promoted, get slightly different jobs, and that sort of thing. Here's some common rules:

After getting your PhD (or a Masters, sometimes), you get a teaching job.

Instructors/Lecturers may or may not have their degree yet, and so might not be "Doctor Lastname," but everyone who teaches is "a professor", so you can always say "Professor Lastname" if you want to be polite.

Adjunct Professors, like me, usually have their MA or PhD and are teaching on a contract basis--meaning we get hired when a school needs somebody this semester but can't afford to commit to hiring somebody for the long term. This is very common, and some profs stay at this tier forever. At this tier, "Professor" is safer than "Doctor" since some don't have a doctorate degree. Some grad students get these jobs to pay for school.

Assistant Professors are permanently hired, usually have an emerging reputation in their field, and do research. They tend to be young-ish. "Doctor" is the default title from here on up.

Associate Professors are permanently hired, often quite reputable in their fields, and tend to be mid-career, with some grants/books/achievements.

Professors (or Full Professors) are well-known experts who've done a lot. Some are even legendary.

The [Something or Other] Professor of [Field] (or Named Professor) is a professor so legendary that somebody/some organization sponsored a position for them.

Department Chairs are professors, often highly respected in their field, who are elected/hired to administrate an academic program. They are very busy.

Above this are Provosts, Deans, Vice Deans and all sorts of other leadership positions.

Notably, Doctor and Professor are genderless titles, which means you don't have to worry about the Mr./Ms./Mrs. stuff. As a result of this (and other forms of social progress), academics tend to include their pronouns in email signatures and stuff, to avoid confusing situations.

Important Hint: if you email a professor, when they write back, the name they close the email with is what they want to be called. For example, some of you have noticed that I sign my emails as "Michael", which means it's 100% okay for you to call me that. If I signed them as Dr. Harris-Peyton, though, that means I want you to call me Dr. Harris-Peyton.

When in doubt, go with the most respectful option or avoid the name altogether.

Email Dos and Don'ts

These are general rules, but make for good academic emails anyway:

Always include a relevant Subject Line. (No Subject) is not encouraging.
Always sign off at the bottom, with a "Thanks!" or a "Best Wishes," or something, and then your name. You don't need to do this in an email chain with multiple replies, though--that'd be dumb, like signing a text message.
Like this blog post, use short paragraphs separated by a blank line. This increases readability, especially if you have multiple points or questions and separate them into paragraphs. (Technical fact: this is called "block style" paragraphing, as opposed to "traditional style" which is the style with indentations you use in books and papers and essays.)
Don't use weird fonts or aggressive colors too much.
Don't overburden emails: try to stay under 300 words unless very necessary.
Don't forget to attach stuff when you talk about an attachment.
Sub-rule: if you're attaching something, mention it by saying something like "I've attached my exam answers to this email."
Always use the Inverted Triangle method of organization: lead with the most important info, and then narrow down into specifics and requests toward the end.
If this is the first time you're emailing a specific professor, mention which class you're in. It's pretty typical for professors to teach 2-5 classes a semester, and some of them can be big lectures.
Don't overuse special punctuation, like exclamation points. It makes! you sound! like a sociopath!
ALL CAPS IS YELLING and all lowercase is low effort. Duh.

Because emails are a genre, and this is a discourse community, these rules aren't absolute but are a good set of guides to make sure the person receiving your email doesn't think you're crazy or lazy or mean. Notice how it's all about clarity, relevance, and respecting your audience's time and attention.

Homework: Email Dr. Fancy Michael

As you might have expected, all this leads up to a small homework assignment. Before Sunday at midnight, write an email to Dr. Harris-Peyton using my email address. Note that for this assignment, I want you to pretend I'm slightly more formal than I am, so use "Dr. Harris-Peyton" to refer to me in the email. As practice.

In this email, deal with the following points:

Who you are, what I should call you, and something interesting to remember you by. Any weird personal facts, hobbies, talents, interests? Basically, give me some basic information/human detail so that you're not just a name. Whatever you're comfortable sharing.
Why you're in this class (if you picked it) and what you're hoping to get out of it specifically. What are you feeling good about, and what English-ey thing do you want to work on?
Anything I should know or pay attention to with your work: Do you struggle with intro paragraphs? Organization? Are you very confident in your grammar but think your writing is boring? Are you good at stories but bad at research essays? Let me know, so I can customize what I look at in your work.

While this is a practice assignment, you can/should use this email as an opportunity to introduce yourself and explain your expectations for our course. I'll read and respond to your message.

Keep it under 300 words, and send it before Sunday 2/21. Use the subject line E110 Intro from [Your Name without these brackets] so I can identify it easily.

Note that, between this and the Slack discussion, your work this week is to introduce yourself to two different audiences. Pretty low-stakes.