3 Responses to Class 03: WED SEP 13

1. Robofrog says:

   September 11, 2024 at 9:44 am

   Class notes 9/11/24

   Went over process to set up a conference appointment- Monday-Thursday

   Discussed how all text can be an argument- used class signs and fishhook story as examples.

   Talked about daily notes

   Talked about fox hunts and how they relate to research papers- Go looking for something new, following the trail of the research regardless of if it agrees with initial hypothesis or not.

   Make your hypothesis as ridiculous as you want to be, it is still a success if you prove it wrong.

   Empty bottle of Scotch- Can’t be a bottle of Scotch if there is no Scotch in it.

   My hypothesis- talked about ant hypothesis and concussions in football topic

   Assignments:

   Elevator – write for the perspective of the elevator, due by 9/15

   Reading HW- 9/18

   Hypothesis draft by 9/17 and

   Conference to discuss hypothesis by 9/25

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2. Bruinbird says:

   September 11, 2024 at 2:18 pm

   Strategy for coming up with a research topic: Finding a Pheasant on a Foxhunt

   What it means? Basically, don’t grab at something that’s already been proven, something that others already know about. Instead, look around, investigate, and try to find something new. Successful or not, it’s better than going the same, old, tired, traveled path.

   For a paper, even if it’s proving that something can’t be proved, it’s better than just, cherry picking and excluding things. Dead ends don’t exist. There’s always something along the way that’s worth finding, and sharing. Nobody will know your original hypothesis, just what you shared.

   There’s no such thing as an empty bottle of Scotch. Because, a bottle of scotch is a bottle with scotch. Language precision. Be specific, and be clear about language.

   When giving instructions to a machine, you only need to use language that is relevant. This helps with not bloating writing with unnecessary language and sentences. Keeping a paper relevant and not overfull with flowy words.

   When coming up with a Hypothesis, begin with a really, REALLY broad topic, and begin slowing narrowing it down, bit by bit by bit.

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   • davidbdale says:

     September 14, 2024 at 5:36 pm

     Basically, don’t grab at something that’s already been proven, something that others already know about. Instead, look around, investigate, and try to find something new. Successful or not, it’s better than going the same, old, tired, traveled path.

     —Students resist, but I favor a high-risk Hypothesis because my definition of success is more relaxed than is common. Hypotheses are excuses to research, nothing more. We have zero obligation to prove them correct, only to test them.

     For a paper, even if it’s proving that something can’t be proved, it’s better than just, cherry picking and excluding things. Dead ends don’t exist. There’s always something along the way that’s worth finding, and sharing. Nobody will know your original hypothesis, just what you shared.

     —Proof is for mathematicians, Bruinbird, possible only because the conclusions don’t mean anything in the physical world. Here, where we live, in the meat world, the best we can aspire to is persuasion.

     There’s no such thing as an empty bottle of Scotch. Because, a bottle of scotch is a bottle with scotch. Language precision. Be specific, and be clear about language.

     — . . . and an empty bottle of Scotch is a bottle with no Scotch in it and consequently not a bottle of Scotch at all.

     When giving instructions to a machine, you only need to use language that is relevant. This helps with not bloating writing with unnecessary language and sentences. Keeping a paper relevant and not overfull with flowy words.

     —Absolutely this IS an exercise in reducing rhetorical gaudiness, Bruinbird, but it’s primarily designed to emphasize the value of addressing our Ideal Reader. Floral tones are just right when we write for an emotional teenager.

     You did SO MUCH here, in your first Class Notes, to emphasize the PURPOSE of Notes, which is to practice the writing skill of summarizing a lesson, a lecture, an essay WITH PURPOSE. You’ve done wonderfully well at expressing the heart of the matter.

     Rare that I get a chance to award extra credit on the first set of Notes.

     4/3

     Don’t relax. Fours out of three will become increasingly hard to get.

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