4/30/13 WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing - WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing

https://learn.colorado.edu/d2l/le/content/41183/printsyllabus/PrintSyllabus 1/5

Second Workshop: The "I" and Looking at Context and Purpose inTravel Writing

Part 1: Analyzing the Subject/Subjectivity (the problem of the "I") in Travel Writing

WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing

The purpose of this week's workshop assignment is to start pushing you toward thinking MORE about subjectivity inTravel Writing, to help you start investigating some new issues related to subjectivity (like, for example, "objectivity") intravel writing in relation to literary vs. journalistic travel writing genres, and to start making some big connections betweenwhat you've done so far and some thinking about the Rhetorical SItuations you engage as you do travel writing.

It's got TWO partsa piece of critical writing (starting to play a little in the critical areas of the Travel Writing field) and a pieceof collegial rhetorical analysis for publicationsupport.

AND REMEMBER: Our workshops are not about trying 'fix' each other's writing. So don't. Our workshops are practices inCRITICAL THINKING AND ITS WRITTEN APPLICATION. So, they are really CRITICAL WRITING assignments intended togive you new ideas about Travel Writing and being a Travel Writer and to provide others with real critical (meaning,ANALYTICAL, not critiquebased) writing about their work.

Published

Add restrictions...

New Add Activities More Actions

Drag and drop files here to create and update topics

The issue we played with last week was called The Problem of the Subject or The Problem of Subjectivity in TravelWriting.

Now, I want you to write ABOUT that problem IN your classmates' work.

So, for this part of the workshop assignment, you are adopting the authorial position of the Travel Writing Criticthe person who is a (proto)expert in Travel Writing. This is the other side of travel writinga different version of what itmeans to be a travel writernot just a person who travels and writes about travels, but a person who specializes in thatkind of writing and issues related to that kind of writing. A person who writes about the travel writing of other travelwriters.

You, as a person who knows stuff about Travel Writing, are producing a piece of critical writing about the problemof the subject/the problem of subjectivity in the 'published' work of your classmates (given that we are quiteliterally publishing our work each week in the 'journal' of Weekly Posts on Readings and Expeditions, so to speakourweekly discussion forums end up actually working just like any other travel writing market in which travel writersyouallpublish pieces of travel writing for actual readers who actually go to that market to read travel writingagain, youallwe'll talk a little more about this in Part 2 of this workshop.)

REQUIREMENTS:

Your critical essay about the problem of subjectivity/the subject in travel writing, as seen in the works of two of yourclassmates, should be:

8001000 words (or more if fine, if you've got more to say);

HIGHLY analytical, carefully breaking down actual quotes and paraphrases you've taken from texts you read

4/30/13 WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing - WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing

https://learn.colorado.edu/d2l/le/content/41183/printsyllabus/PrintSyllabus 2/5

Part 2: Analyzing the Rhetorical Situation of Travel Writing

and researched to actually SHOW what you're talking about clearly and conclusively;

Neither flattering nor critiquing your classmates' workjust making a single, solid, HIGHLY PERSUASIVEARGUMENT about the problem of the subject/subjectivity in travel writing, as seen in these two travel writers'works.

Very carefully EDITED and PROOFREAD.

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Here's what you do:1) READTWO of your classmates' posts, the two who post AFTER you did. So, if you posted FIRST, you'll read thesecond and third posts. If you posted LAST, you'll read the first and second posts.

You're reading these travel writers' works as a travel writing critic, and you're FOCUSING on the problem of thesubject/the problem of subjectivity in Travel Writingand these two pieces are your primary EXAMPLES. These twotexts are the ones you're pulling out from the vast spectrum of available travel writing out there to analyze and make anARGUMENT about the problem of the subject/the problem of subjectivity in travel writing.

Your job is to make a big claim about this issue in travel writing and to use your two classmates' pieces as EXAMPLESto SHOW readers that you're right. So, as you read, take notes, pull out quotes, and prepare to make an ARGUMENTto people who are interested in the travel writing ABOUT this big issue of subjectivity/the subject in travel writing.

2) REVIEWwhat you read last week in "Unraveling the Traveling Self" in The Traveling and WritingSelf by Marguerite Helmers & Tilar Mazzeo and out of Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Chapter 1, pgs. 119. Pull outQUOTES and PARAPHRASES from this chapter (or any other chapter in there that seems interesting to you) to USEto ANALYZE examples in your classmates' work.

3) RESEARCHAs you further prepare to make this argument, do a little research (30 minutes or so) to read NEWthings about Subjectivity, The Subject, and/or Writing/Travel Writing. Use this research to sophisticate your thinkingabout the problem. And then, USE that research to ANALYZE examples in your classmates' work. These could comefrom either any highly respectable travel writing market or from some kind of more scholarly sources inphilosophy, literary criticism, media criticism, mass communications, pyschology, etc. (I recommend hitting GOOGLEBOOKS and GOOGLE SCHOLAR). If your classmates' work is more in the JOURNALISTIC genre, it makes sense tofocus more on sources related to the media, to journalism, to communications. If your classmates' work is more in theLITERARY genre, it makes sense to focus more on sources from literary studies, philosophy, narratology, poetics,linguistics, and so on. I want to see you making sophisticated, wellinformed CHOICES about the sources you use tocreate a credible ethos for yourself as a highlevel travel writing critic. (We're working on what's called your 'informationliteracy' here.)

**Pay attention in these sources to what ELSE comes up in relation to the problem of The Subject/Subjectivity that yourelate to Travel Writing. Are you seeing words like Objectivity? The Self? The Other? Alterity? Postcolonialism? Ethics?Pay attention to these, and draw in the ones you think are most relevant to your classmates' work as PART of yourargument about the problem of The Subject/Subjectivity in Travel Writing.

4) Write your critical essay. It should look like a critical essay about travel writing. Need a MODEL for critical essaysabou travel writing? Look at the FIRST two thirds of Reed's essay in Best American Travel Writing 2012, which youread last week, and look at ANY of the essays in that collection of essays, The Traveling and WritingSelf by Marguerite Helmers & Tilar Mazzeo, which you read the first chapter in last week, all of which are greatmodels for what we're doing here.

TYPE IT ALL UP ON YOUR COMPUTER--YOU'RE NOTPOSTING JUST YET!

New Add Activities

Drag and drop files here to create and update topics

No items found.

4/30/13 WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing - WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing

https://learn.colorado.edu/d2l/le/content/41183/printsyllabus/PrintSyllabus 3/5

Now, we're switching authorial roles againthis time to Fellow Travel Writer, rather than Travel Writing Critic.

As a Fellow Travel Writer, you're job for this second part of the workshop is not to adopt an authorial role as a (proto)expert in Travel Writing but to adopt the authorial role of a working travel writer talking to your COLLEAGUES (othertravel writers whom you respect as travel writers trying to make in the world, just like you are).

Your job is, again, NOT to try to 'fix' your colleagues' work. Chances are, you don't have any better idea reallyhow to do that than they do. And, even if you do, telling a colleague, an equal, that you are certain you know better thanhe or she does about something he or she is doing is a great way to immediately alienate your colleagues and makeyourself look like a knowitall, even when you don't mean towhich often means, despite the very best of intentions,your advice gets totally ignored. In which case, you end up wasting your time and energy giving advice that falls ondeaf ears. Even when it's good advice. So, don't be that guy/girl.

Instead, focus on talking to your colleagues AS COLLEAGUES, as equals, as part of an active community ofdeveloping pros all trying equally to figure out how to make it out there.

So, you could think of your role here as more a SUPPORT roleyou're supporting your colleagues as they try tofigure out how to make it as travel writers.

Now, we've been talking for a few weeks, in different ways, about the relationship between Topic, Story, and Purposein travel writing. What we need to do now is learn how to actually SITUATE that learning about what to do as a travelwriter in a real PLACE, in a real SITUATION. That's how we make all of what we're doing MATTER.

Enter The Rhetorical Situationsort of like 'Enter the Dragon,' but with people like Lloyd Bitzer playing Bruce Lee'spart and Richard Vatz playing the bad guy in the room of mirrors (look it upit's funny, I swear).

******************************************************************************************************************************

Now, Here's What You Do

1) Read, Research, and Analyze the potential RHETORICAL CONTEXT and RHETORICAL PURPOSE, given thatcontext, of your colleagues' work. This is actually a fairly standard thing that travel writers tend to do for each other ascolleagueshelp each other figure out where they might try to publish something they're working on and then how toadjust the piece to make it work really well in that market. But it's a, 'hey, lets analyze and figure this out together' kindof shindignot a, 'sure, send me your draft, and I'll tell you how to fix it, seeing as I'm allknowing and have an emailaddress' kinda thing.

So, what that means you're doing is actually helping your two colleagues (the two writers whose work you just wrote acritical essay about) to analyze and work successfully in a RHETORICAL SITUATION of travel writing.

This should be ringing some bells from your Intro Rhetoric and Writing class earlier in your college careerand itshould, seeing as all WRTG 3020 courses (like this one) are constructed to BUILD on what you started learning there.

Rhetorical Situation. There are LOTS of version of what that phrase means, but the most common one used in Writingcircles is this: A rhetorical situation is any situation that includes a Writer, a Reader, a Text, a Purpose, and a Context.So, what we're focusing on here is the last two of those five very basic elements of any rhetorical situation. You're justmaking more specific. Your asking, "What is the CONTEXT of travel writing?" and "What is the PURPOSE of travelwriting in that context?"

So, read your two colleagues' pieces, and help them research and analyze the potential:

A) CONTEXT of Their Work

What would be the actual, physical context in which this piece would appear? A blog? A newspaper? Amagazine? Would it be a literary magazine? A journalistic publication? A guidebook? Which ones? LITERALLYGO FIND AN ACTUAL PUBLICATION where your colleagues' pieces might fit in welland EXPLAINexactly WHY it would fit in there. Be specific. Use quotes/paraphrases that you ANALYZE to SHOW themwhat you're seeing here.

Just heading off a point of possible confusion here: "So, am I supposed find one market for BOTH of thesewriters' works, or am I supposed to find one for the first one and a different market for thesecond?" ANSWER: Either way is fineuse your best judgement. So, if you find one that fits for bothpieces, great. If not, you need two. Just make sure you can ACCURATELY place the piece in that journal.So, if you just grabbed one for BOTH because you didn't feel like grabbing one for EACH, make darn sureit's a really, really good fit and not just something convenientyour colleagues are going to have to DOsomething with what you sayso, be accurate, be conscientious, be thorough.

Write this up, and give the links. It's not hypotheticalyou're really looking for a place to actually publish someversion of your colleague's pieces. So, do it for real, yo. (300500 words).

4/30/13 WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing - WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing

https://learn.colorado.edu/d2l/le/content/41183/printsyllabus/PrintSyllabus 4/5

Edit, Proofread, and Post!

Second Workshop

B) PURPOSE of Works in This Market

BECAUSE you're suggesting an actual MARKET (a specific publication) where this piece might fit it, you shouldbe able to say (WITH EVIDENCE) what the general purpose of this kind of writing seems to be. So, say whatthe purpose of the kind of travel writing in that market seems to be. Say what those writers seem to betrying to actually accomplish, what their actual goals for their work seems to be. (Keep in mind, I'mtalking about the work that's already been published in this marketnot your colleagues' workwe'll get back tothem in a minute.) So, does the kind of writing in this publication seem mostly to try to INFORM? to raise andargue social, economic, or cultural ISSUES? to ENTERTAIN? some combination these? And HOW DO THEYDO IT? What is IN the writing that seems to be in there specifically to achieve that goal? Pick 'em outand pointthem out to your colleagues. That way you can actually say this:

Based on my analysis of the writing in this market, which I've already explained that I think would be agreat potential market for your piece (and why), here are 35 things you might consider doing if you wantto publish it here. _____________________________________________

Write this up. It's not hypotheticalyou're really looking for a way to actually help your colleagues publish their work inthis market by providing your expert analysis of the Rhetorical Purpose of published writing in that market. So, do it forreal, yo. (300500 words).

TYPE IT ALL UP ON YOUR COMPUTER--YOU'RE NOT POSTING JUSTYET!

New Add Activities

Drag and drop files here to create and update topics

No items found.

Put your Critical Essay (Part 1) and your Rhetorical Analysis (Part 2) into one document. Then, CAREFULLY edit andproofread your work.

Then, COMPARE your work to the Grading Rubric for Workshops (in the tab to the left under Weekly Workshops), andmake any last revisions/additions/substractions you still need to do, based on the rubric.

Then, POST your workshop assignment HERE.Make sure you put the FULL NAME of the TWO CLASSMATES YOUR WROTE ABOUT/FOR in theMessage Title Line so they'll know where to look for your writing about them.

COPYANDPASTE your work into the message box so we don't all have to download the file every time wewant to read it.

New Add Activities

Drag and drop files here to create and update topics

4/30/13 WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing - WRTG:3020588 Topics In Writing

https://learn.colorado.edu/d2l/le/content/41183/printsyllabus/PrintSyllabus 5/5

lj

bkh

Draft