Planning Your Profile Draft, and a Reminder about Tuesday

Group, this document can help you think about the material you got from your interview in a way that can potentially keep you from merely narrating your interview experience (which you really want to avoid!).

For those of you who want a little more help, here is a handout I've often used--one that is an analysis of an entire class's drafts. So it captures the common problems people tend to have with the piece, and uses student examples to illustrate the struggles and what to do about them. You'll save yourself a lot of time, probably, by working with this document. I will likely do another one once I see your drafts, to show how our class is dealing with the drafting process.

Finally, remember that the draft will be DUE on Tuesday (3/8), 11:59 P.M. We'll be in the lab on Tuesday, and we will likely do some draft shares as well as work on some revision techniques. So: HAVE A DRAFT, obviously, so we can be productive.

What You Should Do for Tuesday, 2/23

There's no survey for next class, but I want you to continue with the work we started today. Given that it would be ideal to interview someone next week or next weekend at the latest, you should consider:

• The time frame for the project (in fact, READ the project now, posted under "Project Requirements" in the menu above, if you haven't already). 
• Your possible interviewee's and your schedule—can you make it work, given the deadlines?
• What focus you'd have with that person. If it's their job or some other activity they do, is there a chance you could interview them at that location? It would be helpful for some of the observable details you'd have for inclusion in the piece.
• How close you are to the interviewee. That is, be forewarned that interviewing a significant other, a parent, a sibling . . . can be a challenge. Sometimes the piece ends up being more about YOU and how much you love/admire them. A profile isn't about you. Sometimes the piece ends up being unfocused, because you're so close to the person you can find a focal point, and so write about everything. If you interview someone close, try to be as objective as you can, and still set up a formal interview time. Also, word of advice: keep yourself out of the essay. 
• Get working on writing questions. In fact, I'd like you to BRING A DOZEN QUESTIONS, TYPED. I'LL BE COLLECTING THEM AND COUNTING THEM AS AN ACTIVITY. If it helps, here are the sample Q's we looked at in class, and here is the slideshow, too.