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WAC 101
WRITING PROJECT #1—PROBLEMATIZING
Writing Project: Type a short 3-4 page paper in which you pose and thoroughly explore
a problematic issue/question that interests you, a question that others would find
compelling, as well.
Selecting a Question: Topic selection is important in making this project a successful,
positive experience. When selecting questions, you need to consider the following
criteria.
1. Select questions that are problematic, questions that are interesting, complex, and
significant, questions that warrant exploration. Stay away from questions you can
answer. There is not much point in exploring these questions, since writing this paper
should be a learning experience. Also, make sure you do not ask questions that have
just yes/no or either/or responses; these kinds of questions will lead you more to an
answer than to an exploration. Avoid issues that have been rehashed over and over—
tired topics—such as the death penalty, abortion, legalizing drugs, cloning, the
drinking age, child abuse, and so forth. It often is difficult, if not impossible, to
discover new and interesting material on these issues. Try to be more original and
creative in your topic selection.
2. Select issues in which you have a personal interest, experience, and so forth. While
exploring the issue, explore the world in which you exist: academic, professional,
personal, civic, and political. You do not want to select an issue thinking you simply
can go to the library, find some research, and then answer the question. You must
explore your personal connection to the issue, but you do not want your question to
be too personal. In other words, you would not want to ask, “What should I major
in?” Rather, you need to ask, “What is the purpose behind the concept of a major?”
The ideal is to explore something you have recently pondered; these types of
questions should be fresh in your mind and significant to your experience.
3. Select a question that will be interesting/significant to an audience. Ask yourself,
who would be interested in this issue besides me? What will engage them? What
will they need/want to know about? What stake do they have in my issue? and so
forth.
4. When exploring possible issues, fully explore several before you commit yourself to
one. Remember, part of the goal of problematizing and posing questions is to avoid
early consensus/closure.
Goals while Drafting the Essay: Consider the following while drafting your essay.
1. Your goal is to explore the issue/question you pose rather than to answer the question.
This is important to remember. Think in terms of explaining the question, clarifying
the question, asking questions of the question, looking at underlying assumptions
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about and implications of the question, examining your knowledge about/interest in
the questions, defining key terms, and so forth. You may want to suggest possible
answers/responses, but only if you use them as strategies for further exploration of the
issue/question. Be sure you do not simply present two sides of an issue—like your
believing/doubting exercises—and leave your exploration at that. Problematic
questions are far more complex than simple two-sided discussions.
2. Your goal is to explain why your chosen issue/question is significant. Make sure it is
clear why this question is worth contemplating, worth writing about, worth spending
time on, and so forth. Part of this will be to explain the complexity of the question.
This assignment requires you to go beyond a surface discussion the question. Stretch
yourself, and remember that you want to be thorough and thoughtful in your writing.
3. Your goal is to present your personal interest/investment in the issue/question. What
connects you to the issue? How does the issue relate to you? Why are you interested
in this question/issue? Be specific and thorough. Keep in mind that the connections
between you and the question should be a significant part of your exploration.
4. Your goal is to think about audience in at least two different ways. First, in your
essay, you need to identify and address at least two different and specific audiences
(stay away from the “general public”) who would be interested/connected to your
question/issue. Make sure you address why your issue would be significant to them,
what they would want/need to know, and so forth. Secondly, when drafting your
essay, think about the second (or first) audience that will be reading your essay: your
peers. Write your essay to interest/engage/excite this audience.
5. Your goal is to present a clear, coherent essay using conventions of standard written
English. Know that there is no set format/organization you have to follow in this
paper, but do keep in mind that this is not a five paragraph essay in which you
provide an introduction with a thesis statement, three body paragraphs, and a
conclusion. You will need some introductory material and concluding material. You
will want to experiment with different formats/organizational patterns so that you can
present your information in a clear/coherent, as well as an interesting/engaging,
manner. One of the problems you may encounter when writing this essay is
coherence and paragraph structure. You may find that your writing seems rather
disjointed. Reading aloud—to yourself and to group members—can help eliminate
this disjointedness.
Process: Since this class emphasizes the writing process, you will be expected to engage
in and to complete all assigned process work, in addition to process work not specifically
assigned. Remember, you will be turning in this process material as a section in your upto-dateWriting Portfolio on the day the paper is due, and part of your grade will be
determined by the process materials that you complete and turn in on time. See below for
process requirements. Bear in mind that the process for individual writers is not the
same. Many of you probably have much more process work that what was assigned.
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Include all your process work—invention work, journal entries if you feel they are
significant, all drafts, all revision work, RRs, and so forth.
Process Material: A complete invention/process section for this writing assignment
must include the following:
Invention Activity: Typed list of at least 5 possible questions, done outside of class.
Invention Activity: Group list of 12-15 questions that interest you, as a group, done in
class.
Invention Activity: Typed one page exploration of one of the questions on your group
list, playing the “believing and doubting” game, done outside of class.
Invention Activity: Group work based on above activity to generate possible topics on
different issues, done in class.
Invention Activity: Typed, finalized topic choice for WP #1, done outside of class.
Invention Activity: Workshop to begin/continue writing WP #1, version #1, done in
class.
WP #1, Version #1: Two typed copies to begin PR of essay, done outside of class and
then brought to class to exchange with two group members.
Reader Responses: Two copies of two RRs, done outside of class and then brought to
class to give to peers and to me.
WP #1, Version #2: Final typed copy of WP #1, as well as your in-class Writing
Reflection and your up-to-date Writing Portfolio for check #1 due on T, 9/25.
WP #1