A.

Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Syllabus
Writing 50
The efficiency of “locavores”:
An interdisciplinary look into the local food movement
Spring 2009

Instructor: Alison Bright Enrollment Code: 46599

Email: alison@education.ucsb.edu Meeting Times: T, R
11:00a.m.—12:50p.m.
Office: South Hall 5432 H Location: HSSB 2251 (first
day)
Messages: 893-2613 Leadbetter Lab-Phelps Hall
1530
Office Hours: T, R 1:00p.m.—2:00p.m
Mailbox: South Hall 1519

Drop Deadline: Friday April 3rd, 2008

Important Dates:
Tuesday, June 2nd and Thursday, June 4th: Final presentations
Thursday, June 4th: Final draft of research paper due (no final exam)

Required Texts and Materials:

The Craft of Research, by Booth, Colomb, and Williams, 3rd edition (available
at campus bookstore)
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan (available at
Amazon.com)
Current citation guide for your discipline (see me if you have questions)
Document folder and/or notebook (for journal and reading responses)
College Dictionary and mini-stapler (optional but recommended)

Course website: Instead of a course reader, I will be posting many course

readings on our course website. A Gauchospace site has been created for
this course at http://gauchospace.ucsb.edu/. You are already enrolled in this
site. Log onto the site using your UCSB Net ID. Please let me know if you
have any trouble accessing this site.

Course Description and Objective:

“Writing 50 emphasizes the thinking and writing skills involved in
independent research, including developing questions; designing and
planning research; analyzing, contrasting, and synthesizing multiple sources;
and drawing conclusions.” Although we will explore a common theme— The
efficiency of “locavores”: An interdisciplinary look into the local food
movement—each student will choose his/her specific discipline-appropriate
research area within this broad topic.

Prerequisites:
Writing 50 is open to students who have successfully passed Writing 2.
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Guidelines for Paper Submission:

• Use twelve-point type font, in Times New Roman
• Number pages as appropriate and double-space all work
• Use the default margins in Microsoft Word: (top and bottom = 1”; left
and right = 1.25”)
• Do not alter the font size, line spacing or margin widths to change the
length of the paper
• Always staple papers prior to submission.
• Include all rough drafts and peer reviews with each submission
• Always proofread and edit before handing in work
• Students must be present in class to turn in assignments.
• Discipline-specific citation must used appropriately, but please identify
the style and be consistent throughout
• All work must be submitted on time—late papers will not be
accepted.

Assignments and Grades:

Detailed descriptions of your assignments will be distributed in class and
posted on Sakai. Late work will not be accepted. Failure to submit an
assignment may result in failure of the course. Your final grade will be
determined by the following:
• Cover letter/resume 5%
• Style guides 5%
• Research paper proposal 10%
• Research paper
o Preliminary drafts (at least two (2) drafts) 20%
o Final draft 30%
• Group oral presentations 10%
• Class work, participation, journals,
reading reports, etc. 20%
Total = 100%

Classroom Polices:
Attendance and Lateness: This class differs significantly from your other
undergraduate courses. It is largely based on in-class work and cooperative
participation. Therefore, attendance is mandatory. More than one
unexcused absence can reduce your grade by 10%. In-class work for missed
days may not be made up. It is your responsibility to find out what was
missed. More than two unexcused absences may result in a failure of the
course. In addition, please make sure that you arrive to class on time.
Arriving to class more than 15 minutes late will result in an absence
for that day. Please notify me in advance if any circumstances will keep
you from meeting your attendance or other requirements.

Participation: A significant percentage of your grade is based on your

participation in class. This means that you must not only come to class, but
you must come to class prepared, having completed the reading or
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

writing assignment for that day. You will often be called upon to share
your interpretations of topics covered in the course, either through writing
assignments or classroom discussion. Therefore, it is vital that you come to
class prepared and stay engaged throughout the class. Active participation
also includes creating a safe space in the classroom, where students listen
respectfully to others opinions. This includes actively responding to your
classmates’ work in peer reviews. In addition, part of your participation
grade includes visiting me during my office hours at least once during the
quarter.

Conferences: The best way to give you immediate feedback on your writing
is through one-on-one conferencing. All students are required to have at
least two conferences with me during the quarter so we can monitor your
progress in Writing 50 and help you map out your future in the class. An
appointment is recommended any time you wish to see me during
office hours.

Writing Logs and Participation Portfolio: At the end of each class

meeting, please turn in the daily freewriting journal you have completed at
the beginning of the class meeting. These will be returned to you in a timely
fashion. The complied daily freewriting journals are not only how I take roll in
this course, the entries also make up a significant part of your participation
grade, which is why I refer to the complied journal entries as your
“Participation Portfolio” (please see the sample freewrite if you have any
questions). Additionally, you will be asked to complete Writing Logs, which
are responses to the readings, on a regular basis. Each assigned Writing Log
is noted in the schedule of assignments (please see the sample Writing Log if
you have any questions). I will not remind you to complete these
assignments. It is your responsibility to turn in a freewrite for each
class meeting and a Writing Log for each assigned log in the
syllabus. It is your responsibility to retain these journals and logs in
a folder and to turn this folder in on the last day of the course.

Email: Email is my preferred method of communication. You may receive a

reply email from me with the email address: alisonsbrown@yahoo.com.
Please provide me with an email address that you check on a regular basis.
Please check your email on a regular basis, as changes in the schedule and
syllabus will be commutated over email.

Cell phones: Please turn off cell phones before entering the classroom as a
courtesy to your fellow students. Note: This policy includes the use of text
messaging. Any student using cell phones in class will be asked to leave the
class and marked absent for the day.

Late papers: All papers will be collected on the due date at the beginning of
class. Late papers will not be accepted.

Plagiarism: According to the "Academic Dishonesty" pamphlet circulated by

the UC system, "Plagiarism is academic theft. It refers to the use of another's
ideas or words without proper attribution or credit. An author's work is his/her
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

property and should be respected by documentation.” Essentially, plagiarism

is the act of taking another person’s ideas and/or words and passing them off
as one’s own. Any act of plagiarism committed in class will be prosecuted
through the university court system and could result in expulsion. This class
will provide you with workable guidelines for citation in papers. However, if
you are still unsure about how to cite someone else’s words or ideas, please
come to me for help.

Resources: If you are a student with a documented disability and would like
to discuss special accommodations please contact me during office hours or
by email. For more information and support please call Disabled Students
Program (DSP) 893-2668. Additional support can be found at Counseling &
Career Services at 893-4411. More importantly, academic support, including
writing tutors, is available for all UCSB students at Campus Learning
Assistance Service (CLAS) at 893-3269. I strongly recommend making
appointments at CLAS to review drafts of every essay you turn in
during this course.

A final note: Please feel free to contact me at any time during the quarter if
you have questions about the course, the campus, etc. I am a resource for
you, so please just ask me if you have a question or come see me in my
office hours.

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 A. Bright Writing 50
Writing 50: Schedule of Assignments
Date Class topic
T: 3/31 Course introduction;
conference sign-ups;
“The Lure of the 100-Mile
Diet”
R: 4/2 Entering a discipline;
discuss groups; make
group requests; resume
and cover letters
T: 4/7 Resume and cover letter
peer review; group
meetings; discuss
approaches to research
R: 4/9 Resume and cover
letter due; discuss Style
sheets
T: 4/14 Prepare Style sheets;
prepare reading
presentations in group
meetings
R: 4/16 Discuss primary and
secondary research; peer
review Style sheets
T: 4/21 Style sheets due;
discuss Research
proposals; prepare
reading presentations
R: 4/23 Reading presentation #1
T: 4/28 Research proposal
due; reading
presentation #2;
R: 4/30 Reading presentation #3
T: 5/5 Reading presentation #4
R: 5/7 Reading presentation
#5: Peer review
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Spring 2009
Before class
Read and “From the farm to you table” and
“Writing to get an engineering job” both on
Gauchospace; write a Writing Log for either
piece; bring a current resume and cover letter
(if you have either)
Read Part I in Craft; bring drafts (4) of resume
and cover letter
Read bring final draft of resume and cover
letter
Read Prologue to Part II and Chapter 3 in Craft
and “Springtime forward” (on Gauchospace);
write a Writing Log for either piece
Read Chapter 4 in Craft; write a Writing Log for
Chapter 4; bring in a draft of your style sheet
Read Chapter 5 in Craft and “New York Local”
(on Gauchospace); write a Writing Log for
either piece
Read Chapter 6 in Craft and “Stalking the
vegetannual” (on Gauchspace), bring in a draft
of your Research proposal
Read Prologue to Part III, Chapter 7, and
Chapter 8 in Craft; write a Writing Log for
either chapter
Read Chapters 9 and 10 in Craft and “Eating
neighborly” (on Gauchospace); write a Writing
Log for either a chapter or the article
Read Part I of Defense (pages 1-82); write a
Writing Log for one chapter in Part I
Read Chapter 11, Prologue to Part IV, and
Chapter 12 in Craft; write a Writing Log on
either Chapter; bring in a draft of your First
 A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

draft

T: 5/12 First draft due (at Bring two (2) copies of first draft; read Chapter
least 4 pages); Reading 13 in Craft
presentation #3
R: 5/14 Work on drafts; Read Part II of Defense (pages 83-136); write a
Writing Log on one chapter of Part II

T: 5/19 Work on drafts; peer Read Chapters 14 and 15 in Craft; write a

review Writing Log for either chapter; bring in a draft
of your Second draft
R: 5/21 Second draft due (at Bring two (2) copies of Second draft
least 8 pages); self
revision

T: 5/26 Prepare for presentations Read Part III in Defense (pages 137-201); write
—use Chapter 15 in Craft a Writing Log for one chapter in Part III
as a resource; prepare
for final draft
R: 5/28 Prepare for presentations Read Chapter 16 and 17 in Craft; write a
—use Chapter 15 in Craft Writing Log for either chapter
as a resource; prepare
for final draft

T: 6/2 Presentations Prepare for presentations; prepare for final

draft
R: 6/4 Presentations, Prepare for presentations; prepare for final
Research papers due, draft
final reflections, and
course evaluations

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

The Lure of the 100-Mile Diet. By: Roosevelt, Margot, Time, 0040781X, 6/12/2006,
Vol. 167, Issue 24
Database: Academic Search Complete

HTML Full Text

The Lure of the 100-Mile Diet
Section: EATING SMART

LOCAL-FOOD MOVEMENT

If you live in the town of Athens in southeastern Ohio, there are politically correct
reasons not to eat a California strawberry. Think of the pollution and the global
warming caused by its transport. Think of the ascendancy of corporate agribusiness
over family farms. Think of the loss of nutrients during a weeklong journey from soil
to supermarket. But to Barbara Fisher, an Athens cooking teacher, there's a more
primal motive for choosing a homegrown variety over the "beautiful, flavorless,
plastic" kind shipped from California: "When people bite into ripe strawberries from a
local farmer and the sweet juice bursts into their mouths, their eyes roll back into
their heads, and they moan."

Fisher is one of more than 1,000 "locavores," self-styled concerned culinary

adventurers, who took the pledge last month to eat nothing--or almost nothing--but
sustenance drawn from within 100 miles of their home. The movement began last
year when four San Francisco-- area foodies designated August 2005 as the first Eat
Local Challenge and launched a website, Locavores.com. They were inspired by the
book Coming Home to Eat, ecologist Gary Paul Nabham's account of his yearlong
effort to restrict himself to native foods near his Arizona home. Soon some 60
bloggers had joined the 100-mile diet, inaugurating their own website,
EatLocalChallenge.com. This year they upped the ante, moving the test to the less
bounteous month of May. "With gas prices spiking, people are concerned about our
dependence on petroleum," says Locavores co-founder Jessica Prentice. "Why import
apples from New Zealand when we can grow them nearby?"

Food sold in U.S. supermarkets averages some 1,500 miles from farm to plate--a 25%
increase from 1980, according to Worldwatch Institute, a Washington nonprofit.
Increasingly, even certified-organic produce is grown on vast monoculture spreads,
many of them overseas, and shipped long distances. So consumers seeking to eat
ethically and preserve farmland around their cities are embracing locally grown food
as the eco-healthy choice. Farmers' markets are thriving, along with community-
supported agriculture, through which people subscribe to a monthly produce basket.
And on locavore websites, converts swap shopping tips (Goatsbeard Farm feta from a
Missouri cook) and recipes (cheese grits via a Georgia blogger who plugs a stone-
ground variety from a mill powered by a mule named Luke). Some boast of eating
local on a budget-- $8.34 a day in the case of an Oakland, Calif., activist who got by
on sorrel-potato soup and honey-sweetened cookies for dinner. But she confesses,
"Let's face it. I can't go without chocolate forever!" For others, coffee is the biggest
sacrifice.

Pat McGovern, a retired teacher in Lebanon, N.H., took a spartan approach last year,
giving up coffee in favor of mint tea and hot cider and forgoing spices. She says,
"What I missed most was black pepper." This year she and 20 friends went all local
for a week in January--hardly a season of plenty in New England. It wasn't so bad,
what with baked squash, wheat-berry porridge, Vermont-cheese fondue, Indian
pudding, parsnips, maple-apple pie and even elk and emu meat. But now that they
have nothing to prove, they're reverting to August, as are two Vermont groups. Why
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

make the effort at all? McGovern says she feels powerless to fight the globalization of
the food supply, "But locally, I can vote with my food dollar three times a day--
breakfast, lunch and dinner."

Embracing a one-month 100-mile diet inspires many locavores to eat more

seasonally year-round, feasting on vine-ripened tomatoes in summer and crisp
apples in the fall. And they are seeking to expand their movement by relaxing the
rules a bit. "I'd rather seduce with a stalk of asparagus than preach denial," says
Fisher, who refuses to give up rice or tropical fruit. "I don't deny myself anything that
isn't grown in Ohio," she explains. "Humans have traded foodstuffs with each other
since Neolithic times." In her corner of Appalachia, she has found tofu made from
local soybeans, bacon from nearby pigs and aquaculture shrimp. She forages for wild
leeks to make pesto. But sometimes she wonders, "Maybe I have a weird idea of
fun?"

By Margot Roosevelt

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Resource for daily journals:

FREEWRITING
by Peter Elbow

The most effective way I know to improve your writing is to do freewriting

exercises regularly. At least three times a week. They are sometimes called
"automatic writing," "babbling," or “jabbering" exercises. The idea is simply
to write for ten minutes (later on, perhaps fifteen or twenty). Don't stop for
anything. Go quickly without rushing. Never stop to look back, to cross
something out, to wonder how to spell something, to wonder what word or
thought to use, or to think about what you are doing. If you can't think of a
word or a spelling, just use a squiggle or else write "I can't think what to say, I
can't think what to say" as many times as you want; or repeat the last word
you wrote over and over again; or anything else. The only requirement is
that you never stop.

What happens to a freewriting exercise is important. It must be a piece of

writing which, even if someone else reads it, doesn't send any ripples back to
you. It is like writing something and putting it in a bottle in the sea.
Freewritings help you by providing no feedback at all. When I assign one, I
invite the writer to let me read it, but also tell him to keep it if he prefers.

Here is an example of a fairly coherent exercise (sometimes they are very

incoherent, which is fine):
I think I'll write what's on my mind, but the only thing on my mind right
now is what to write for ten minutes. I've never done this before and I'm
not prepared in any way--the sky is cloudy today, how's that? now I'm
afraid I won't be able to think of what to write when I get to the end of
the sentence--well, here I am at the end of the sentence--here I am
again, again, again, again, at least I'm still writing--Now I ask is there
some reason to be happy that I'm still writing--ah yes! Here comes the
question again--What am I getting out of this? What point is there in it?
It's almost obscene to always ask it but I seem to question everything
that way and I was gonna say something else pertaining to that but I got
so busy writing down the first part that I forgot what I was leading into.
This is kind of fun oh don't stop writing--cars and trucks speeding by
somewhere out the window, pens clittering across peoples' papers. The
sky is still cloudy--is it symbolic that I should be mentioning it? Huh? I
dunno. Maybe I should try colors, blue, red, dirty words--wait a minute--
no can't do that, orange, yellow, arm tired, green pink violet magenta
lavender red brown black green--now I can't think of any more colors--
just about done--relief? maybe.

Freewriting may seem crazy but actually it makes simple sense. Think of the
difference between speaking and writing. Writing has the advantage of
permitting more editing. But that's its downfall too. Almost everyone
interposes a massive and complicated series of editings between the time the
words start to be born into consciousness and when they finally come of the
end of the pencil or typewriter onto the page. This is partly because
schooling makes us obsessed with the "mistakes" we make in writing. Many
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

people constantly think about spelling and grammar as they try to write. I
am always thinking about the awkwardness, wordiness, and general
mushiness of my natural verbal product as I try to write down words.

But it's not just "mistakes" or "bad writing" we edit as we write. We also edit
unacceptable thoughts and feelings, as we do in speaking. In writing there is
more time to do it so the editing is heavier: when speaking, there's someone
right there waiting for a reply and he'll get bored or think we're crazy if we
don't come out with something. Most of the time in speaking, we settle for
the catch-as-catch-can way in which the words tumble out. In writing,
however, there's a chance to try to get them right. But the opportunity to get
them right is a terrible burden: you can work for two hours trying to get a
paragraph "right" and discover it's not right at all. And then give up. Editing,
in itself, is not the problem.

Editing is usually necessary if we want to end up with something satisfactory.

The problem is that editing goes on at the same time as producing. . . .

The main thing about freewriting is that it is nonediting. It is an exercise in

bringing together the process of producing words and putting them down on
the page. Practiced regularly, it undoes the ingrained habit of editing at the
same time you are trying to produce. It will make writing less blocked
because words will come more easily. . . .

Next time you write, notice how often you stop yourself from writing down
something you were going to write down. Or else cross it out after it's been
written. "Naturally," you say, "it wasn't any good." But think for a moment
about the occasions when you spoke well. Seldom was it because you first
got the beginning right. Usually it was a matter of a halting or even a garbled
beginning, but you kept going and your speech finally became coherent and
even powerful. There is a lesson here for writing: trying to get the beginning
just right is a formula for failure--and probably a secret tactic to make
yourself give up writing. Make some words, whatever they are, and then
grab hold of that line and reel in as hard as you can. Afterwards you can
throw away lousy beginnings and make new ones. This is the quickest way to
get into good writing.

The habit of compulsive, premature editing doesn't just make writing hard. It
also makes writing dead. Your voice is damped out by all the interruptions,
changes, and hesitations between the consciousness and the page. In your
natural way of producing words there is a sound, a texture, a rhythm--a
voice--which is the main source of power in your writing. I don't know how it
works, but this voice is the force that will make a reader listen to you. Maybe
you don't like your voice; maybe people have made fun of it. But it's the only
voice you've got. It's your only source of power. You better get back into it,
no matter what you think of it. If you keep writing in it, it may change into
something you like better. But if you abandon it, you'll likely never have a
voice and never be heard.

Taken from Writing Without Teachers. New York: Oxford UP, 1973, 1-7.
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Resource for Writing Logs:

Writing Logs

Writing Logs are a required long-term part of the learning in this class. You
will be asked to complete a Writing Log for specific readings from WATW, as
outlined in our course schedule. Essentially, Writing Logs are a reflective
response to the readings. These responses should be typed and should be at
least a page. Writing Logs can be complied in the same portfolio folder in
which you write your journal entries. Be sure to bring logs to each class
meeting for larger discussion.

Include:
You may include comments on what is of particular interest to you, how the
article has (or has not) enhanced your understanding of the topic you’ve
read, what the author discusses and whether you agree or disagree, what
you found troubling, confusing or enlightening. The focus of your response is
not as important as showing how you engaged with the reading.

Format:
Each log can either be hand-written or typed and should be at least a page in
length for each night’s assignments. Please include an appropriate heading
and includes the title of the article(s) and the author(s) in a prominent
location (note: please use discipline appropriate formatting for the publishing
information).

Jessie Munoz
May 2, 2009
WRIT 50
Bright

Katz, N. (1999). The end of the road: Technology for

tomorrow.
New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Katz’s essay is his personal story of frustration as an engineer

for a major
automaker. He writes of the difficulty in keeping up with all the new
“gadgets”
in cars, stating “just when we think we’re on top of the latest
navigation system,
we install it only to find that it is obsolete within two years of the car’s
sale.” I
can understand how Katz feels when he describes his frustration. Last
summer,
I worked for a computer repair shop and used my lunch breaks to
rebuild my
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

hard drive. It seemed like just when I had given my computer all the
latest in power, memory and upgrades, I’d find something new to add
within six months. I felt like I had wasted all those lunch breaks.
Another point Katz makes is that technology can never really
be caught up with;
our knowledge is always moving forward. I think….

Figure 1
Sample of student writing log

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Assignments
Cover letter and resume

Context
The purpose of this assignment is to contextualize the professional
opportunities in your discipline. The goal for this assignment is to gain
a deeper understanding of your discipline and to begin to prepare you
to enter this discipline through future employment opportunities.
Identify an actual internship or job offering in your field and act as if
you are applying for the position.

Tasks
Write a cover letter (1 p.) that includes the following:
• Appropriately designed letterhead
• All requirements as outlined in “Cover letter” section of rubric
• A copy of the internship or job “ad” attached

Prepare a resume (1 p.) that accomplished the following:

• Similar design (look/feel) to the letterhead
• Targets the specific application position

Format
Use a standard professional format (refer to “Writing to get an
engineering job” on Gauchospace). Be sure to include the following in
the cover letter: identify the position of application in the introductory
paragraph, summarize why you are qualified—refer to your enclosed
resume—emphasize your strongest skills, explain how you will benefit
the corporation and conclude with a date and/or time you plan to call
and follow up on the position.

Additional requirement
Any mechanical errors will result in an automatic “R” (Revise and
Resubmit) and grade penalty.

Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to begin to gain a better
understanding of your academic discipline and its discourse
community by examining the types of professions that will be available
to you after you graduate.

Please include a copy of the rubric in your final draft of this

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

assignment

Final draft of resume and cover letter due: 4/9

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Grading Rubric* Score

Cover Letter: (Score x 5)
• Contains appropriately designed letterhead
and professional
format /25
• Is attached to a copy of the internship/job ad
• Identifies the position of application in the
introductory paragraph
• Summarizes why you are qualified
• Refers to your enclosed resume
• Emphasizes your strongest skills
• Explains how you will benefit the corporation
• Concludes with a date and/or time you plan
to call and follow up on the position
Resume: (Score x 5)
• Contains similar design and professional
format as the letterhead /25
• Targets the specific application
• Contains all appropriate sections
• Uses white space appropriately
• Describes positions/experiences with active
verbs and/or in quantifiable terms
Thoroughness: (Score x2)
• Includes all relevant personal information
that highlights your qualifications for the /10
internship/job (i.e. GPA, youth group, etc.)
Tone/Audience: (Score x 2)
• Employs a professional and appropriate tone
in both documents /10
Grammar and Punctuation: (Score x 6)
• Uses forms of grammar, punctuation,
spelling, and syntax that are appropriate for
standard written English /30
• Verb tenses are used correctly and
appropriately
• Demonstrates careful attention to
proofreading

Total:
_________/100
Resume and cover letter in context of final grade
_________/5

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

*5 = Advanced: strong control and skill in this area; many strengths

are present; 4 = Proficient: effective control and skill; strengths
outweigh weaknesses; 3 = Developing equal number of strengths
and weaknesses in this area; 2/1 = Needs Improvement: not yet
showing control or skill in this area

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Style guides

Context
Each academic discipline has a different way to represent important
information. In order to prepare for the Research paper, I am asking
you to investigate the style in which your discipline chooses to
represent privileged information in this discourse community.

Task
I would like you to investigate relevant information regarding style in
your discipline.

In about two pages, typed, I would like you to address the following:

• Clearly identify your discipline and the professional field you

would like to enter
• Key journals and/or publications in your discipline
• Canonical or “classic” studies in your discipline
• Accepted documentation style of your discipline
• Typical audience of these journals
• Type of information privileged in these journals
• Examples of how this information is represented
• Summarize a type scholarly article in your field in both style
(format) and content—include a link to this article or a copy of it
• Include an other relevant information to this discussion

You may have to do some informal research to answer these

questions. I recommend looking online or talking with a professor or
graduate student in your discipline.

Please be prepared to share this information with the class.

Purpose
The purpose of this assignment in to learn more about the academic
discourse community of which you are now a part. This assignment
will work to prepare you in conceptualizing the Research report by
giving you an idea of the audience you will be writing to and the format
you will be expected to adhere to.

Style sheets due on April 21, 2009

Grading Rubric:
Style sheets will be graded completely on content and not on format.
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

If you address all of the requirements listed above (in a clear and
comprehensive way), you will receive a 5/5 and earn full credit on this
assignment, which is worth 5% of your overall grade.

Any missing information will result in a lowered score. A half a point

will be subtracted from the total (5) for each missing piece of
information.

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Research proposal

Context
Before a writer can begin drafting an interesting research paper, it is
helpful to make a working plan of the research project s/he is about to
embark on. Writing a Research proposal not only beings to hone your
research topic, but it provides you with a working plan for writing your
Research paper. The goal of the proposal is to think in terms of asking
questions, rather than stating facts, because this will allow you to enter
into the research process without any preconceived ideas of what you
will find.

Task
In a 1 and ½ to 2-page document (double-spaced), please outline the
course of research you are proposing for your final Research paper for
this course.

In the proposal, please address the following:

• What research question(s) will you be asking in this report?
• Why is this an interesting question? Why is it problematic? Why
is it significant?
• What is the current state/status of your thinking and research?
What do you expect to discover? Are you ready yet to formulate
a thesis statement? If so, what is it?
• Where will you find sources to answer these questions?
• What type of data will you attempt to locate (both primary and
secondary)?
• Please summarize your research/data collected up to this point.
• Explain your next steps in your research/writing process.

Please bring a draft of your Research proposal to class on Thursday

April 21, 2009.
The Research proposal is due at the beginning of class on
Tuesday, April 28, 2009.
The Research proposal is worth 10% of your final grade.

Purpose
Meaningful and interesting research writing is not an accident.
Thoughtful research is the product of asking interesting and relevant
questions. It is about asking questions about real problems that
you’ve observed in the world and that matter to you. Even though our
common topic may not have been one of your own choosing, it is
importing to find a research topic that is important to you. This is one
of the most significant steps in writing a successful research paper.
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Research proposal

Grading Rubric* Score

Research question(s)/topic (Score x 10)
• Clearly addresses general research topic and
more specific research question(s)
• Provides justification for why topics and /50
questions are interesting and relevant (or
problematic and/or significant)
Current status (Score x 3)
• Addresses the current state/status of your
thinking and research /15
• Articulates what do you expect to discover
• Shares tentative thesis statement (if
applicable)
Research goals (Score x 3)
• Articulates where will you find sources to
answer your research questions /15
• Clearly explains the type of data will you
attempt to locate (both primary and
secondary)
Research plans (Score x 3)
• Summarizes your research/data collected up
to this point /15
• Explains your next steps in your
research/writing process
Grammar and Punctuation: (Score x 1)
• uses forms of grammar, punctuation,
spelling, and syntax that are appropriate for
standard written English /5
• verb tenses are used correctly and
appropriately
• demonstrates careful attention to
proofreading

Total:
_________/100
Research proposal in context of final grade
_________/10

*5 = Advanced: strong control and skill in this area; many strengths

are present; 4 = Proficient: effective control and skill; strengths
outweigh weaknesses; 3 = Developing equal number of strengths
and weaknesses in this area; 2/1 = Needs Improvement: not yet
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

showing control or skill in this area

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Writing 50: The efficacy of “locavores”:

An interdisciplinary look into the local food movement

Research paper

Context: As outlined in our syllabus, the course catalogue describes

our course as a class that “emphasizes the thinking and writing skills
involved in independent research, including developing questions;
designing and planning research; analyzing, contrasting, and
synthesizing multiple sources; and drawing conclusions.” The
Research paper is the culminating work in this course and functions as
your opportunity to answer the question of whether or not the local
food movement is efficient in your discipline/major.

Task: The goal of this assignment is to develop the questions and ideas
you outlined in your research proposal in a more complex manner.
This paper will require great breadth in your research, your sources,
and will require multiple methodologies. As a result, the research
paper will be a longer paper (10 to 12 pages) than you may be used
to writing. Research is a dynamic process, and there is not just one
way to make use of what you learn from the research process and to
communicate the insight you gain. Even in academic writing, you will
find a variety of forms and functions of research, often depending on
the discipline, the purpose, and the audience. For this paper, you will
write in the academic genre for your discipline/major in order to best
convey what you discover from your research to your discourse
community. When you are interested in what you write and how you
write it, you are more likely to produce a paper that is interesting to
read. All of these options will be driven by your research
questions and the research problem you are trying to solve. All of
them will require a point or thesis that gives purpose to what you
include and the insights you offer. All of these options require more
than just a report. All of them require analysis and original
thought.

Genre: A Research Paper in Your Field. If you know the field you
will be going into—as a major or as a career—and you want practice in
writing a research paper that is common to that field, you may adapt
this paper to those conventions. For instance if you are in the social
sciences, you would write a paper with subheadings and use APA
formatting and documentation. If you are a communications major,
you might want to consider a traditional research paper for that field or
perhaps a lengthy feature article or expose. You have been
investigating the typical style of your discipline through your Style
sheets and Reading proposal and will be asked to articulate these
features when your turn in your drafts.
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Basic Requirements:
• Ten to twelve pages;
• At least ten reliable, credible sources (at least one two books
from the library and at least one primary source (interview or
survey);
• An appendix containing your primary data collecting instrument
and results
• Accurate and ethical use and documentation of your sources;
you should quote as well as paraphrase in your paper, and
introduce them effectively (see your discipline specific
handbook). You must accurately write and format a Works Cited
or Reference page and in-text citations.

Major Due Dates

First draft (at least 4 pages) 10% of grade Tuesday,
May 12
Second draft (at least 8 pages) 10% of grade
Thursday, May 21
Final draft 30% of grade Thursday, June 4
Final presentations 10% of grade Tuesday,
June 2 and
Thursday June 4

Purpose: The ultimate goal of this assignment is to demonstrate the

research capabilities you have developed in this course, as well as a
space to articulate your answer to the efficacy of the local food
movement. Think of this assignment as an opportunity for you to
display the critical thinking and analytical skills we’ve been developing
throughout the session, through your expanding research skills.

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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

Research paper-Final draft

Grading Rubric* Score

Research question(s)/topic (Score x 4)
• Clearly addresses general research topic and
more specific research question(s)
• Provides justification for why topics and /20
questions are interesting and relevant (or
problematic and/or significant)
Claims and analysis (Score x 6)
• Draft develops research questions and ideas
in a relevant and complex claims
• Claims are clearly articulated in each section /30
of the draft and supported with reasons,
evidence, and warrants and opposition (as
appropriate)
Genre (Score x 4)
• Attempts to emulate the format and
argumentation style of an academic paper in /20
your discipline
• Includes two peer review
• Includes at least two drafts (with my
comments)
In-text citations and reference page (Score x 2)
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A. Bright Writing 50 Spring 2009

•Draft contains sufficient and relevant in-text

citations from at least 10 sources /10
• Draft contains discipline-specific references
page of 10 sources
• Includes instrument to gather primary
research
Paper length (Score x 3)
• Draft is at least ten-twelve pages long
/15
Grammar and Punctuation: (Score x 1)
• Uses forms of grammar, punctuation,
spelling, and syntax that are appropriate for
standard written English /5
• Verb tenses are used correctly and
appropriately
• Demonstrates careful attention to
proofreading

Total:
_________/100
First draft in context of final grade
_________/30

*5 = Advanced: strong control and skill in this area; many strengths

are present; 4 = Proficient: effective control and skill; strengths
outweigh weaknesses; 3 = Developing equal number of strengths
and weaknesses in this area; 2/1 = Needs Improvement: not yet
showing control or skill in this area

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