Comparative Cultures and Communication Blog
Comparative Cultures and Communication Blog
Overview:
For this prewriting assignment, students produce a draft of your final blog. While you do not need to complete a prewriting document as you did in your first two assignments, you should still identify the steps you took for those assignments and make sure that you have completed the steps necessary to produce a high-quality blog.
Steps:
- Select Countries
- Conduct research – in this assignment you are expected to determine what are credible sources (follow the link for a guide to help you with this.)
- Develop a thesis statement (Links to an external site.)
- Write an outline (Links to an external site.) This outline will be similar in format to the previous assignment, review the steps below to identify the different scope of elements required.
- Determine how their argument (Links to an external site.)is situated within the body of existing knowledge and research
- Use credible sources (Links to an external site.) to support their argument (Links to an external site.)
- Organize their thoughts and research into a clear structure
- Develop your blog – for this assignment, you will submit a draft of your blog, you will not use the format of the earlier prewritting assignments.
- Include questions – as with the earlier prewritting assignments you will provide two questions you would like you peer reviewers to address for you.
Step 1: Select Countries: You will select two countries, whose cultures you will examine using the following guidance:
- Your Home Country – the first country you research and write about will be the country in which you have lived the longest, and therefore are most familiar with in terms of culture.
- The second country you research and write about will be one that is geographically distant from your home country and is not considered in the same mega-culture.
- For example, if the United States meets the criteria to be your first country, you may not select Canada or Mexico, due to their geographic proximity, and you may not select European countries, Australia or New Zealand as all these countries have cultures classified as “western,” which is a shared mega-culture. Other mega-cultures include “Eastern” (Asian), The Islamic World, The Middle East, different African mega-cultures, etc.
NOTE: Your primary selections for this comparison must be countries. You cannot use micro-cultures (Ex: sub-cultures within countries, even your own), including those discussed in your course packet.
How this fits into your submission:
As the countries you select are a major focus of your work they should be included in the title and thesis statements.
Step 2: Conduct Research
Review the scope of what must be addressed in this assignment in the assignment overview. Determine what types of evidence you will need your research to provide for your blog. Be sure that you are moving beyond stereotypes and assumptions into currently accurate and credible information. You must also provide information in your blog that goes beyond course material already reviewed.
Research:
You are required to use a minimum of 5 sources for this blog, which will ultimately be listed at the bottom of your blog under the heading “References” (just like last time). Be sure your sources are all professionally credible sources.
The specific sources approved for earlier assignments are not sources that are useful for this assignment. However, it is essential that the sources you use are similar in credibility and authority to the sources indicated in the Approved Sources list from the last assignment. Sources that are not similar in credibility and authority will not be counted toward your required number of sources. For example, where you might have used the CIA World Fact Book, you may want to use US State Department Resources, US Embassy websites in countries you are reviewing and Embassy Websites (Links to an external site.)from the countries you are reviewing. ( (Links to an external site.)The quality of Embassy websites vary, some may be more useful than others.). When looking for journal articles, think about what fields study international cultures and what field need to understand them as major elements of their professions.
Source Examples: Sources for this blog are likely to be from professional associations or organizations, reputable news outlets, and governmental agencies, although scholarly sources may still be referenced. Types of sources that can be used include:
- United States State Department (or other country’s equivalent)
- Embassies website for embassies in each other’s countries
- Published Travel Guides or Websites of reputable Travel Guides, Travel TV shows, or Travel Magazines (for example: look at Frommer’s Language in Bulgaria (Links to an external site.) for a discussion of two gestures that are used in Bulgaria in a way opposite from how we use them in the US.)
How this fits into your submission:
You will have a minimum of one in-text citation for each source you want to be counted toward your required 5 sources. Each source will also be included in the reference list.
Step 3: Thesis Statement
As you research you will begin to develop perspective, understanding, and background that will allow you to develop an informed and authoritative argument. From this foundation of research, you will utilize the thesis resources you have been provided with, and others available through the Communication for Engineers website, to develop your thesis statement. (Links to an external site.)Starting with a strong, well-informed thesis statement (Links to an external site.) will help you with the overall organization and clarity of your professional blog.
Your direction and argument may end up changing as you write your blog (Links to an external site.), which means that you may need to revise your thesis statement after you have finished writing to fit what you have created. This is normal, and even expected. Thus, while developing a strong, clear, concise thesis statement (Links to an external site.)now is essential to helping guide you through the process of organizing your work and getting your ideas onto paper, you are not beholden to your original thesis statement, (Links to an external site.) and should feel confident enough in your autonomy as a writer to allow yourself to make useful, necessary, and justifiable changes.
How this fits into your submission:
For your draft, to make it easier for your peers to review, put your thesis statement in bold font and underline it.
Step 5: Outline
Now that you have focused your ideas, conducted research, and developed a thesis statement, it is time to begin structuring your work in the form of an outline.
How this fits into your submission:
The outline will not be present in your draft, however, it should be clear by the clear, well-organized flow (Links to an external site.) of your document that you have taken the time to organize your document in this way.
Step 6: Develop your blog document
Working from your outline develop a clear, well organized, and easy to follow structural organization. Your blog must include a clear, useful, and easily discernible introduction and conclusion (see the linked resources for information on how to write introductions, and conclusions. Furthermore, the organization of your blog must serve to support your main argument (thesis statement) throughout your work. For example, the introduction should highlight aspects of your research that support whatever your main argument is, and every topic sentence of every body-paragraph must begin with a strong, clear, concise topic sentence that both supports your thesis statement and acts as a thesis statement for its paragraph.
Evaluate how to use visuals and hyperlinks effectively in your blog. Determine the types of visuals that you can use to support or enhance what you are trying to say in your blog. Add these to your blog. One visual that is expected to appear in your blog is the graph or a replica of it (cited appropriately) from the Hofstede Insights website Country Comparison Tool. (Links to an external site.)Evaluate where in your blog people might want additional information and link them to blogs that will provide that information for them. Remember that sources must be publically available for the links to work, sources found in the USF library may not be accessible to the public.
How this fits into your submission:
This is the bulk of your submission, and should include all of the required elements of the blog.
Step 7: Include 2-3 Questions
You have done a good deal of work toward your blog. What questions or concerns do you have about your work so far? What issues are you encountering that you’d like someone to talk through with you? What do you need help with?
How this fits into your submission:
Formulate 2-3 questions that you would like your peer reviewers to respond to, and include them as the first item in your Prewriting assignment. You will title this section “Questions for Peers.”
