Write Brightly

This module, Module 2, works through these key elements of description, analysis, and theorization in order, in a sense, to teach you how to write from the inside out. That is, we don’t need to begin writing projects with neat introductions that lay out the argument in complete detail. We can, instead, begin in the middle, right in the thick of things, and work our way out from the object of study.

I cannot stress the importance of description and analysis enough. There are many aspects to writing, but these two elements are the bulk of the content that you will create. I recommend that you practice moving between description and analysis as much as possible. You can certainly do it with television shows, so turn that binge-watching into a productive epistemological and writing exercise!

Through this module, you will learn how to approach your writing "cinematically." We want to avoid the typical stasis that can come from academic language. By thinking of your sentences as vivid “shots” and by editing your paragraphs to create an exciting "montage," you can maintain dynamism in your writing. Finally, by re-defining the phrase “point of view” to mean a place from which your reader can view different angles of your scene, you can begin to play around with the wider mise en scène of writing.

This module is rather involved, in the sense that it contains multiple exercises and introduces you to many different kind of art. You will need to set aside about three hours to complete all the pieces.

Module 4 provides pragmatic advice for working with secondary sources in your academic writing. Through a series of exercises, you will deploy this advice while also thinking carefully about the work required to weave another person's writing into your own. By citing another’s work, you are rooting your essay into that work thereby forming a connection that will last forever. Once we treat the work of citation as its own art, then we can get creative with it and learn new ways of employing quotations.     

This module approaches style from the perspective of academic sociality. As a scholar of theatre and performance, I am aware of the deep connection between sociality and mimicry. It may seem strange to think of developing your style by mimicking the work of another person, but that strangeness is likely linked to the mistaken belief that your style is somehow unfettered by the work you read. How do we learn how to become people if not by imitation? How do we learn where our ethical beliefs begin and end if not by assessing the mimetic habits and actions we have acquired through our maturity? Through a targeted exercise in mimicry, we’ll adapt these questions to the task of academic writing and think of “style” as a composite of, essentially, syntax and rhythm.

This final module challenges you to think of the essay as a whole, albeit a whole that is constantly shifting and that can take different forms up until the very final revision. To do this, you'll engage in some map-making exercises and learn how to breathe new life into the old activity of "mind mapping."