Data Collection
Your first draft of the process essay is coming up, and I want to make sure everyone is taking an approach to gather some significant personal data about their own writing process. There are two approaches I suggest for gathering data. The first approach calls you to do a think-aloud protocol. This involves recording yourself talk aloud as you write a different paper. You might do a think-aloud protocol by recording yourself for twenty minutes as you compose your contest essay. Of course if you are taking another class and have an essay assigned for that class, you can do your think-aloud protocol for that other assignment. Please review Sondra Perl's article (pages 191-214) for a concrete example of how a think-aloud protocol might work.
After completing your recording, you are expected to transcribe the recording (this means that you listen to the recording and copy everything you say word for word). Your transcription should not be edited at all, so if you accidentally use a curse word in the moment of thinking through your essay, you should include the exact curse word in your transcript.
Your other choice for collecting data for your process essay is to develop and keep a writing log for at least five days. Your task is to log and organize all of the writing you do for a period of five days. From grocery lists to text messages and tweets, you must compile and organize everything you write for the five day period. Additionally, you must develop a method of organization to help you manage this data. One possibility is to use a spread sheet and identify the writing situation according to the rhetorical situations you are writing for. You might create several columns including the following headings to identify purpose, audience, location where writing happened, and so forth.
What's important is that you develop a way to examine your writing practice from a somewhat objective perspective. Obviously, there is no such thing as perfect objectivity, but your protocol or your writing log should give you a different perspective regarding your writing process.
For this posting, you are called to work out the details of how your self-study will work. I want lots of details about how you will undertake this project. If you are doing the think-aloud protocol, you might want to develop a simplified version of Perl's coding system on pages 196-198 of your text. If you are doing a writing log, you should clearly show how your log will be organized.
You grade for this posting is determined by how detailed you are in explaining and showing how your protocol or writing log will work.
For my writing process essay, I will be using a think aloud protocol to explore my thought process. Using the recording capability on my Samsung Galaxy tablet, I plan to capture my thoughts as I vocalize my process writing a first version of an Advertising analysis due in the end of October for my sociology class. Following my recording, I will build my analysis utilizing the process below.
ReplyDeleteStep 1) I will listen to the recording entirely, noting any particularly interesting points or patterns. Part of my analysis when listening back will be forward thinking, paying attention to break-thru or troublesome moments. I will record these interesting moments by their timestamp
ReplyDeleteStep 2) I will transcribe my verbal thoughts/comments into text
Step 3) I will review the text, looking to uncover when and where within my verbalization, good or useful information is spoken. This will help me to separate out the thoughts into codes
Step 4) I will utilize the coding system as described below to breakdown the entire process, analyzing my thought process while writing the essay. I will use this step to highlight and color each sentence based on what it means to my process.
Step 5) I will replay the recording – concurrently re-reading my transcript for accuracy. I will use the time to also confirm that I used the correct code to capture my frame of mind, re-confirming that my coding system (in step 4) was properly applied. This step exists for editing and accuracy
Step 6) I will revisit the developments which were earmarked by timestamp during step 1 to examine the effectiveness if included in the overall final essay; to begin drafting my analysis into an overall finding for my essay.
Method for Coding
ReplyDeleteRED TEXT - BRAINSTORMING, UNDEVELOPED THOUGHTS (SPECIFIC TO WRITING PROCESS)
PURPLE TEXT – UNDEVELOPED THOUGHT PROCESS (NON IMPACTFUL; NONSENSE IDEAS, COMMENTS)
GREEN TEXT – DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLVEMENT OF CONCEPTS & IDEAS
BLUE TEXT - QUESTIONING OF ANY IDEAS, CONTENTS, PROCESSES
YELLOW TEXT – BREAKTHRU IDEAS, POWERFUL OR IMPACTFUL TO THEMES & IDEAS
Joe - I have sent to your Seminole State Inbox the 'Microsoft Word Document' which outlines this in a more reader friendly format (as opposed to a blog). Please review, Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI have chosen to do the think aloud protocol for the process essay. I am in the process of studying for the SAT’s and I am doing some practice exams to prepare. I will use the twenty-five minute essay section to dissect my writing process. I believe this will be a good indicator in how I process while writing because it requires me to write the entire essay in a specific amount of time and allows me to brainstorm, write, and edit all in one sitting. I will record myself for about twenty minutes and begin to analyze my process. I will listen back to my recording and take note of any breakthrough moments or moments unrelated to the assignment. This will help me determine what coding I should use for my think aloud protocol. I will then re-listen to it and begin to transcribe what was said. I will re-listen to the recording once more to assure that what I had transcribed was accurate. Once assured that what I transcribed was correct I will take note of any discrepancies in what was said to what I wrote in the actual essay. This will give me a good indicator if I “read in” my mistakes just as Tony did in Perl’s reading. I will only note time if there is a significant break in sequence. The code below is subject to change as I find different processes while listening to my recording and think of different codes to add in to really narrow down my process to specific aspects. All of these steps will allow me to really discover my process while writing and help me better analyze my style for the process essay.
ReplyDeleteCode:
Purple- Brainstorming/Planning
Green- Uncensored Thoughts
Blue: Breakthrough Moments
Orange: Reading/Editing
I have chosen to use the think aloud protocol for the process essay. Im working on an essay for another class and I will be recording my entire thought process before and during my writing. I will track any breaks or any unrelated things I do during the process. I will then write every thing that I say while writing this paper with the intentions on finding what really gets me going while im writing. My coding will give an idea of how I will organize each moment during this process.
ReplyDeleteCode:
Red=Brainstorming/Planning
Blue=Developing moments
Green=Proofreading
For this project I will be doing the think aloud protocol on my contest essay. I am planning on recording the first 20 minutes of the essay to record the planning, revising, and writing process. I am going to try to have less of uncensored thoughts but more of planning, writing and editing. I will be using different colors for each categories. Red for editing, black for writing, blue for uncensored thoughts, and yellow for planning and brainstorming. After recording the first 20 minutes, I will be listening to my recording and I will be writing everything down that I hear. After writing everything down, I will be highlighting the words with different colors to distinguish their traits. When all the processes are finished, I will re-read the paper to make sure I labeled correctly and to find any misspelled words and errors.
ReplyDeleteI will use the think aloud protocol for gathering data for my process essay. This will entail recording my voice for at least twenty minutes as I compose aloud my “contest essay” assignment, transcribing it, and using a code to define my behaviors as I was composing. A simplified form of the code demonstrated in Sondra Perl's “The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers” will be used. Using the finished transcription, I will analyze my composing process, identify any patterns in my behaviors, and make them apparent through the use of the code as well as through discussion in my actual process essay.
ReplyDeleteMy code's configuration will be the same as Sondra Perl's, except that it will have less composing operations distinguished in its syntax and use a different method for charting time elapsed. Essentially each composing behavior will be represented by various code letters presented chronologically on a continuum and separated by commas. The code letters will be paired with the value of the chronograph (on my iPhone 3gs) when the behavior began. The code letters and their representations are listed below:
1. General Planning [PL] – organizing my thoughts for writing, discussing how I will proceed.
2. Commenting [C] – sighing, making a comment or judgment about the topic.
3. Interpreting [I] – rephrasing the topic to get a “handle” on it.
4. Assessing [A(+);A(-)] - making a judgment about my writing; may be positive (represented by “+” following “A”) or negative (represented by “-” following “A”)
5. Questioning [Q] – Asking a question.
6. Talking leading to writing [ T → W] – voicing ideas on the topic, tentatively finding my way, but not necessarily being committed to or using all I am saying.
7. Talking and writing at the same time [TW] – composing aloud in such a way that what I am saying is actually being written at the same time.
8. Repeating [re] – repeating written or unwritten phrases a number of times.
9. [Ra] – Reading one sentence or a few words.
10. [Ra-b] – Reading a number of sentences together.
11. [Rw1] – Reading the entire draft through.
12. Writing silently [W]
13. Writing aloud [TW]
14. Editing [E]
15. Periods of Silence [s]
An example of the code:
(Elapsed time on chronograph)
↓ “Prewriting” denotes a segment of the composition
Prewriting (1:20-2:00)
┌─────────────┐
s(20),Q(3),PL(15),s(42)
↑
(amount of time behavior lasted with value in seconds)
This example code shows different behaviors and how long they took place in a prewriting phase of the composition. The code relates that I was silent (s) for twenty seconds ((20)), asked a question (Q) for three seconds ((3)), organized my thoughts for writing (PL) for fifteen seconds ((15)), and was silent again (s) for forty two seconds ((42)).
I have decided to use the think aloud protocol for my process essay. I will be recording the majority of my essay on my Mac computer and will later analyze any specific patterns i hear in my writing process. I am going to attempt to not have so many unrelated thoughts as I try to write my essay. I will use color codes such as
ReplyDeleteBlue: Brainstorming/Planning
Red: Developing moments
Green: Reading/Editing
Purple: random not related thoughts
For my process essay, I choose to do a think aloud protocol. This method will be much easier for me because I often vocalize my thoughts when I'm alone anyway. I will cover my webcam with a piece of duct tape so I only capture the audio and will type a continuation of my contest essay. I shall then transcribe my thoughts and actions in a word document using this specific coding:
ReplyDeleteItalics - Thoughts
Bold - Unrelated vocalizations
Red - Action sounds (i.e Typing)
Blue - Reading or editing
Green - Writing vocalization
I am going to use the think out loud protocol for my process essay. I will record my voice on my cell phone while writing my contest essay. I will then transcribe what I recorded and put into a code format that looks something like this
ReplyDeleteBold- Distractions
Red-Reading and correcting
Orange- Planning
Purple- Writing
Blue- Breaks
For my process essay I will be using the think out loud protocol method. I will use my cell phone to record myself for twenty minutes while writing my draft. My transcription will be a code that consists of Writing breaks (red) Reading out loud (purple) Any off topic vocalizations (black) & Distractions (blue) I think by recording myself I can get an idea of how I process and present information and ideas on paper, I can get to know myself as a writer as well by using this exercise like Perl got to know Tony 's writing style & writing process in "The composing processes of unskilled college writers"
ReplyDeleteI will use a think out loud protocol in order to make my process essay. I already recorded myself on my cell phone while writing the rhetorical analysis of the contest essay. I will transcribe this recorded and code it by color using the following key.
ReplyDeletePurple-Planning
Red-Editing for Content
Orange-Editing for Syntax
Green-Distractions
Black-Talking while writing
Blue-Talking leading to writing
Yellow-Breaks in talking and writing
I am going to use the think out loud process for my process essay and I used my contest essay as the example of what to record. I recorded myself on my iPhone with the audio recording app. I have recorded myself for twenty minutes already. I will listen to my recording and then write everything down on a piece of paper. I will then highlight everything according to my colors I have listed below. Color coding everything will help me be able to review my writing and planning style and be able to see how my thought process works while I wrote my contest essay.
ReplyDeleteYellow- Planning out loud
Green- Sounds, example: typing
Pink- Unrelated comments/ distractions
Orange- Breaks
Blue- Editing or reading over what I have written
I have chosen to use the think-aloud method for the assignment. Mostly because it will be something I have never tried before as I think in pictures which are hard to vocalize. I think this will be a good opportunity for me to work on turning my thoughts into words. Of course this will likely end up with me labelling half the transcription in italics as being complete nonsense.
ReplyDeleteUnderlined- Ruminations about what I'm going to write
Italics-Nonsense or Gibberish or background noises
Highlighted in black- When I am typing
Bold- Reading what I've written
Italics AND Underlined- Saying what I'm writing
For my essay I have chosen the think aloud procedure. I tend to write the things down as I write anyway so being able to talk aloud should be about the same thing. I do believe this will help a lot with organizing my essay because I already have my thoughts all over the place and cant really decide which paragraph should go where until it is officially on paper and has been read over. Based on how much i know myself, i will tend to get distracted easily and/or might find myself very much off topic so the coding I plan to use within my writing will be : ( PURPLE & ITALICS ) : off topic discussions , ( BOLD ): when I am writing down what I am saying ( BLUE & UNDERLINES ) : occurring distractions
ReplyDeletefor this project i chose to do the think aloud excersice because most of the time when i am alone i tend to vocalize my thoughts anyway. i really do this when i get frustrated and i think this could help me with that. and also i think the other choice would be more difficult for me.
ReplyDeletePurple-Planning
Red-Editing for Content
Orange-Editing for Syntax
Green-Distractions
Black-Talking while writing
Blue-Talking leading to writing
Yellow-Breaks in talking and writing
For this assignment I have decided to do the think aloud protocol for the process essay. I will be verbally recording my writing process for an essay I am doing for my psychology class. Also I will have a written recording for my audio. The written recording will include everything said in my audio recording including non-sense. Everything in my written recording will be color coded as such:
ReplyDeleteRed- Brainstorming
Yellow- Typing
Blue- Editing
Green- Unrelated Vocalizations
Purple- Breaks
For this project I hosen to have chosen to do the think a loud protocol and video. I chose both because I feel like they are both valuable. The video will show my facial expression and the recording of the voice will show my thought process. If I can match up certain expressions, to certain stages I think it will be very interesting.
ReplyDeleteYellow- Brainstorming
Blue-Typing
Yellow-Breaks
Purple- Unrelated vocals
Orange- planning
For this assignment I have decided to use the think aloud protocol. I will analyze my writing by thinking out loud and recording my thoughts using a recording device. I will write down word for word what I say and then separate my thoughts into different sections. There will be four sections:
ReplyDeleteGreen- Planning
Purple- Re reading
Blue- Editing
Yellow- irrelevant words
From my think aloud protocol I noticed that I re read a lot and that is why I made an entire section for this. In planning I will include all brainstorming and think that goes towards planning my essay. Editing will be for when I re read and then go back and change something from my writing. Irrelevant words will be things that have nothing to do with the paper or have no effect on my writing.
For my process essay, I will be thinking aloud my ideas to see how exactly what it is I do before I actually start writing my essays. Thinking out loud allows me to memorize my ideas and sentences for my essay, or in other words, it tells me, myself, what it is I will say in my essay. I will not exactly be using a cell phone for my recording of essay ideas but, I believe that by saying things out loud without recording and telling it to your OWN self, I will be more prompt in writing everything down in order to not forget what you want to write a few seconds after you say it. There's more of a drive to write everything down in the instant you say something, and sometimes recording can have a person go back over and over again scrapping some of thier ideas, instead of keep going with thier ideas.
ReplyDelete