Drafting Boyd

Online exercise Look the term up on Wikipedia or Google, make note of how it is referenced, etc.), then search for the same term on google. List the first several websites that pop up and check them out. Is the term identified and properly referenced? Are there ads on the site? Who is the site trying to reach? Share findings with class. What have we discovered? How does it relate to Boyd’s argument? Have you found sources and noted them down?

Warm-up exercise Digital natives vs. digital immigrants Networked publics Techno-idealism Cyberlibertarianism Critical media literacy Digital inequality / divide

Introduction Think of the introduction as an inverted triangle Begin broadly (what is the broader issue or conversation?) – grab the reader’s attention - What is boyd’s project, and who is she? What is her argument in your text (i.e. the chapter of her book), and what are the claims she uses to support this argument? - What is YOUR purpose in this paper? What sources will you use? (there is no need to list their full title; instead you could simply mention “scholarly and popular sources on the topic”)

Body paragraph 1: setting the stage with Boyd State Boyd’s claim or claims Illustrate the claim with a quotation sandwich [3 sentences] Discuss the evidence Boyd is using to make this claim Establish the claim’s relevance to the broader argument Transition to the outside source (“Several scholarly studies illustrate/challenge/extend Boyd’s claim…”)

Body paragraph part 2: bringing in your outside sources * What does the outside source claim? How does the claim relate to Boyd’s claim? What evidence does the claim made by the outside source draw on? (this tells you something important about its strength/weakness) Why is the connection between the two sources significant?

Suggested phrasing for discussing the outside source: Topic sentence that introduces the outside source: “Like Boyd, Henry Smith, a professor at …, is interested in the digital divide. In an article for the academic journal Communication Technology, he argues that…. E.g. “Smith’s insights support/extend/complicate Boyd’s claim by providing additional evidence …” E.g. “While agreeing that a digital divide exists, Smith goes beyond Boyd by looking at the problem from a new angle. His statistical research shows that… Concluding sentence that transitions to the next paragraph: * “Smith is certainly not the only researcher who has found evidence to support the existence of a digital divide.”

Conclusion Your conclusion is your chance to have the last word on the subject. The conclusion allows you to have the final say on the issues you have raised in your paper, to summarize your thoughts, to demonstrate the importance of your ideas, and to propel your reader to a new view of the subject. It is also your opportunity to make a good final impression and to end on a positive note.

Strategies to consider Restate the main claim and what your outside research has shown, then move to the broader significance or conversation. Think of this in terms of a triangle: begin small, get wider.

So what? Play the “So What” Game. If you’re stuck and feel like your conclusion isn’t saying anything new or interesting, ask yourself or a friend: “So what?” or “Why should anybody care?” Here’s how it might go: You: Basically, I’m just saying that there is such a thing as a digital divide. Friend: So what? You: Well, this is significant because Boyd thinks awareness of this divide will make teachers more proactive in teaching critical digital literacy. Friend: Why should anybody care? You: We live in a world saturated by digital technology, and many jobs demand proficiency in critical media literacy. Boyd wants to equip today’s youth with the best possible skills, and she is urging educators and policy makers to take action and to expand on this kind of education.

More strategies Synthesize, don’t summarize: Include a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it all together. Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for your paper. Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper examines the question of digital inequality, you could point out the continued problems African-Americans are facing in obtaining lucrative jobs. If discussing the lack of critical media literacy among today’s youth, you could point to the importance of digital literacy for citizens exercising their right to vote.

Not so effective strategies The “That’s My Story and I’m Sticking to It” Conclusion. This conclusion just restates the thesis and is usually painfully short. It does not push the ideas forward. The “America the Beautiful”/”I Am Woman”/”We Shall Overcome” Conclusion. This kind of conclusion usually draws on emotion to make its appeal, but while this emotion and even sentimentality may be very heartfelt, it is usually out of character with the rest of an analytical paper. The “Grab Bag” Conclusion. This kind of conclusion includes extra information that the writer found or thought of but couldn’t integrate into the main paper. You may find it hard to leave out details that you discovered after hours of research and thought, but adding random facts and bits of evidence at the end of an otherwise-well-organized essay can just create confusion.