Week 7
This week, there is no writing due. Instead, please use this time to invite one of your mentors to have a conversation with you about how they understand the writing conventions in your (shared) discipline.
In this conversation, please take very careful notes and ask them questions very similar to those you reflected on last week, including:
What are the writing conventions in your discipline(s)?
What do readers want and what do they take for granted?
What tone or tones are most commonly used? Are other tones acceptable?
What writing options are totally unacceptable in your estimation?
What are examples of really good and really bad writing in your discipline? (Here I mean specific works / titles.) What makes these works particularly good or bad?
If you work within or between multiple disciplines, please explicitly compare and contrast the disciplines with each other. Are some writing options acceptable in one but not the other?
Remember that it can be very hard to describe (unmarked) norms, and be sure to express your appreciation to your mentor for their time and energy.
You will use your notes about and reactions to this conversation to write the short answer due next week.