Next week, you will meet in smaller critique groups of 3 or 4. This group will be an intensive support group with which you can share your work for the rest of the semester.

For the next few weeks, we will meet in small groups. No regular classes on Tuesday or Thursday. See your group’s schedule below.

* Exchange your proposal with your group members by this weekend. Read your group members’ proposals before your meeting. YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO COMMENT ON THESE PROPOSALS DURING OUR MEETING. Give written comments to your group members at the meeting.

Group 1: Gant, Madison, Maggie [Meet on Tuesday in my office–112 Tate–from 11:00-11:35]

Group 2: Jennifer, Danny, Anna, Parker [Meet on Tuesday in my office–112 Tate–from 11:40-12:15]

Group 3: Andrew Lovewell, Jake, Lauren [Meet on Thursday in my office–112 Tate–from 11:00-11:35]

Group 4: Billy, Angie, Eric, Jamie [Meet on Thursday in my office–112 Tate–from 11:40-12:15]

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What are helpful critiques? Helpful critiques are neither opportunities to praise nor criticize someone. Instead, this is an opportunity to talk about how well something is “working.” It’s also an opportunity to describe some additional ideas that you can see for this project. Never, never simply say: “This is great!” Or, “It’s really interesting.” That doesn’t help the writer one bit. Instead, you actually need to tell them how it is working so far.

For example, here are some comments that fall into the “helpful” category:

“I am not following your narrative very well in this section. It seems confusing about who is talking/what you’re talking about.”

“Who is the audience for this writing? It seems like you are writing for a younger audience, but wouldn’t young people already know about the stuff you’re saying?”

“Are you making an argument in this section? It seems like you don’t have much evidence to support what you’re arguing. You are arguing that teens really are smarter than popular culture makes them seem, but I think you need to give us something more than just your opinion. What examples can you give that might convince your readers?”

Ashley Nelson’s documentary, The Combination, is part of the New Orleans Neighborhood Story Project. Use Nelson’s project to think about different ways of telling your own story.

• What are Nelson’s rhetorical goals?
• How does she seem to reach for these goals through her documentary modes?
• What rhetorical strategies does she use in her documentary? (images, interviews, profiles, etc.)
• What do you find particularly strong about her method of storytelling?
• If Nelson was in your critique group, what might you say to her in a response session?

I would like you to think about your own project as a story.

• What modes will you use? Why?
• What kinds of rhetorical strategies will you use?
• For inventional purposes, follow Nelson’s lead and divide your project up into a few major categories. (Just brainstorm on paper for a few minutes.) Then think about what smaller “stories” would fall under these headings. Share these responses with your group members.

From Bill Nichols, Chapter 6

Consider the different kinds of modes your documentary might have. The different modes reflect different rhetorical goals of a documentary.

What are “rhetorical goals” of a text?

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