PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Project 3 analyzes professional writing in a field to gain insight into the rhetorical process of how knowledge
is produced, shared, and used—all mediated through language. What is being “literate” in a field—writing,
questioning, conceptualizing, theorizing, practicing, researching, using evidence, making conclusions? Your
writing samples for analysis will be disciplinary sources, from which to select quotes and visuals as raw
literacy data and evidence for analysis. From analyzing these writings, as a thesis you’ll attempt to
characterize the unique qualities of that field’s writing, concerns, questions, methods, human dimensions.
[Length: 2000-2200 w; Weight: 40%; Due: Thursday, March 28]
SELECTING A DISCIPLINE AND ITS SOURCES
Select a narrowed discipline and a topic focus to delimit keyword searches using a database like ProQuest
[e.g., neurological effects of alcohol in laboratory mice]. Find for your analysis select:
● Three IMRaD structured research articles with authors in your selected field.
● Three diverse visuals, one from each article.
Download PDF copies for easier analysis, highlighting quotes, and to attach later with your project files.
ORGANIZING THE ANALYSIS
Organize your analysis using the following upper-cased and bolded major headings [see Worksheet]:
I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION
II. INTRODUCTIONS IN JOURNAL ARTICLES
III. METHODS AND MATERIALS IN JOURNAL ARTICLES
IV. RESULTS IN JOURNAL ARTICLES
V. VISUALS IN JOURNAL ARTICLES
VI. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS IN JOURNAL ARTICLES
VII. GENERAL CONCLUSION
VIII. REFERENCES
PROJECT RESOURCES
● Worksheet. For collecting quotes and visuals as literacy examples to analyze.
● Student Sample. Bunte’s worksheet and final paper.
● Disciplinary Writing factsheet: https://www.southwestern.edu/live/files/4558-disciplinary-writingpdf
● Disciplinary Literacy Video [2 min]: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=video+
on+disciplinary+literacy+analysis#id=7&vid=c7a3d2a43d46247616c196f08b4abc3b&action=click
PROJECT REFLECTION
Write a 150-word reflection on the project’s experience for you, its resources, and what you learned.
PROJECT FILES
On the projects due date, please submit the following seven files (which include your three articles):
Lastname.project3.proposal Lastname.project3.worksheet Lastname.project3.fulldraft [commented]
Lastname.project3.finalcopy Lastname.project3.reflection Lastname.project3.article1
Lastname.project3.article2 Lastname.project3.article 3
