essay making conversation(focus group)

Gramling ENG 105 Essay 2 Prompt – Fall 2019

Fall 2019: English 105 Essay 2: Making Conversation (Focus Group) Length: @ 5 pages Focus Group Questions / Rough Draft due: At conference (Week of Sept 30th – Oct 4th) Focus Group Summary due: Monday, October 7th Revision Draft due / Peer Review: Friday, October 11th Final Draft Due: Wednesday, October 16th (Note: This is the day before fall break. If you are absent that day, you are still responsible for turning in your essay on time.) Essay Prompt: One of the oft-stated goals for travel is to encounter difference: different cultures, ways of life, and experiences. While not specifically focused on traveling, Kwame Anthony Appiah’s “Making Conversation” asserts that in contemporary society such encounters with difference are “inevitable” as the world becomes more interconnected both online and off (xxi). For that reason, he encourages his readers to actively engage in conversation with others in order to “develop habits of coexistence” (xix). For Essay 2 you will choose a topic and research question related to travel, cosmopolitanism and/or globalism. This may come directly from Appiah’s essay or from your own interests. To explore this topic & question, you will convene a small focus group (4-8 people) and stimulate/facilitate a discussion with them. During the focus group you should ask thoughtful questions and record the groups’ responses; however, as facilitator you should remain neutral to encourage an open and free discussion. For a more dynamic conversation, try to get a diverse mix of participants (rather than a group from a single club or geographical location, for example). You will also need written, signed permission from each member of your focus group (A possible form is posted on Blackboard under Assignments.) The first part of the process for this essay will be a 1:1 conference with me the week of Sept. 30th. You will need to bring 2 things to the conference: 1) Rough draft – at least 1-1 ½ pages in which you discuss your interest in your chosen topic, your background knowledge of your topic, and the ideas you want to explore in your focus group (this should form the beginning of your essay); and 2) Sample questions – at least 5-8 possible questions for your group (we will discuss how to construct good questions in class). You need to conduct your Focus Group between September 30th and October 6th. On Monday, October 7th, a summary of your focus group responses is due in class. The responses will be the evidence for your final essay in which you present both an overview and an analysis of the results. Rather than simply presenting a transcript, you should highlight specific themes and perspectives from the group. As with Essay 1, your analysis should focus on specific aspects of the conversation that you find intriguing and which would be interesting and/or important for your readers.