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2.8: Implementation

  • Page ID
    7269
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    Overview

    The purpose of this section is to show what steps the reader (and/or the writer) must take to accept or carry out your proposal. These steps must be specific, feasible, and outlined explicitly and completely. This section is more or less an expansion of the practical statements from your Introduction, along with questions about your proposal/claim. However, the point is to provide an explicit plan for carrying out your proposal. For someone writing about a way to teach, a detailed unit and lesson plan might be appropriate. If you are making a claim about something in literature, you might outline the steps I must take to see your perspective (or perhaps the steps you took). Otherwise, use the checklist and prompts below.

    checklist

    1. Draft Checklist:

    ___List each step from the Introduction

    ___Expand and explain each step in detail

    ___Declare a starting point

    ___List outcomes

    Prompts

    checklist

    2. Prompts from Draft Checklist:

    1. How may I outline each step, in great detail, of my practical statements from my Introduction?
    2. What has to happen to initiate changes?
    3. What is the process if this proposal (or claim) is accepted?

    Template/Draft

    Template/Draft from Prompts:

    Implementation

    The first step in teaching "composing" is to understand an essay as an arrangement of elements, as mentioned above. Understanding composing in this way means teachers will have to quit focusing on sentences and paragraphs. It will mean not focusing on grammar. It does not mean that teachers will quit focusing on these as "conventions," because, as conventions, they are important, indeed critical. Composing in this way means assuming writing is made up first as individual elements arranged in some way, then as conventions. So, as a teacher, one will teach students how to write a narrative, rather than a paragraph. A teacher should identify the parts of a short narrative, like an anecdote, and ask students to write one with these parts. These parts include such things as "beginning" (who, what, where), "middle" (what happened, sequence of events), and "end" (an explicit ending versus an implicit one).

    The teacher should then focus on polishing that anecdote using narrative principles, such as "showing not telling," "focusing on an insignificant object, place, or person," and "allowing the reader to draw his own conclusions," and so on. Next is to focus on conventions, such as spelling, grammar, and other rules, such as MLA style. If teachers follow this procedure with each element, each student will be able to write in that element and get a chance to practice conventions with each element, and with every rewrite of that element.

    A second step in teaching composing is …

    [Remember to elaborate on each step in your practical statements in your Introduction – I only elaborated on two for this example]

    In order to start putting more emphasis on elements of composition teachers will have to begin with how English teachers are taught to teach composition. Teachers will have to teach others that teaching composing is a way of teaching elements rather than teaching about elements. At the same time, writers will have to think of their works as compositions of elements rather than compositions of sentences and paragraphs. To accomplish this, an expert should write a manual or text that outlines how to master each element, then how to master smaller elements, then how to arrange these elements into a "composition" according to principles of composing.

    This will require a shift in basic assumptions about writing for many people. However, if it is laid out in a text or guide so that a writer may master elements, along with arrangement and style principles, and practice conventions when editing (or being edited) and revising, then some of these assumptions about what is basic about writing may change.

    Some results of thinking about writing more as composing and less as building sentences and paragraphs will include writers arranging their elements for maximum effect on a reader rather than imparting information, writers experimenting with the relationship between conventions and their effects on readers, readers understanding literary works better because they have learned about it by "doing" it rather than "interpreting" or "analyzing" it, and writers understanding better how some other works of art or music are "composed."

    Tutorial

    How to answer the prompts

    Prompt 1

    How may I outline each step, in great detail, of my practical statements from my Introduction?

    Here is the first sentence from the practical statements in my Introduction:

    The first step in teaching "composing" is to understand an essay as an arrangement of elements, as I mentioned above.

    Now I state what it will take, in practical, specific terms, for me (or a reader) to carry out this step:

    Example \(\PageIndex{1}\):

    The first step in teaching "composing" is to understand an essay as an arrangement of elements, as mentioned above. Understanding composing in this way means teachers will have to quit focusing on sentences and paragraphs. It will mean not focusing on grammar. It does not mean that teachers will quit focusing on these as "conventions," because, as conventions, they are important, indeed critical. Composing in this way means assuming writing is made up first as individual elements arranged in some way, then as conventions.

    When you are finished, combine the sentence from the Introduction with the explanation above. Then go to the next sentence (or step) in your practical statements from your Introduction and go into similar detail.

    Note

    Repeat this process for each sentence of the practical statements.

    Prompt 2

    What has to happen to initiate changes?

    Here you tell how your claim will fit into existing programs, conditions, or contexts. It asks essentially how your claim or change will get started, or how you will start the change. First, restate (or summarize) your claim. Then explain how your claim will be implemented (how it will be put into action within the context of existing conditions).

    Here is my claim:

    Teachers should teach essays by putting more emphasis on elements of composition and how to arrange those elements in an essay.

    Here is how it may be implemented:

    Example \(\PageIndex{2}\):

    In order to start putting more emphasis on elements of composition teachers will have to begin with how English teachers are taught to teach composition. Teachers will have to teach others that teaching composing is a way of teaching elements rather than teaching about elements. At the same time, writers will have to think of their works as compositions of elements rather than compositions of sentences and paragraphs. To accomplish this, an expert should write a manual or text that outlines how to master each element, then how to master smaller elements, then how to arrange these elements into a "composition" according to principles of composing.

    Now combine these answers into a single paragraph. Explain how conditions have to change, or what will have to change about people or things, in order for your claim or change to get started:

    Example \(\PageIndex{3}\):

    This will require a shift in basic assumptions about writing for many people. But if it is laid out in a text or guide so that a writer may master elements, along with arrangement and style principles, and practice conventions when editing (or being edited) and revising, then some of these assumptions about what is basic about writing may change.

    Prompt 3

    What is the process if this proposal (or claim) is accepted?

    Something that many of us never consider, or articulate, is what will actually happen if our proposals or claims really are accepted and implemented. For this question, imagine what will result from people actually doing what you propose or accepting what you claim. Be as specific as you can. You may outline changes that will take place or suggest what might be the result of thinking about or seeing your issue in a new or different way. You might suggest that these will be "results" or "effects":

    Example \(\PageIndex{4}\):

    Some results of thinking about writing more as composing and less as building sentences and paragraphs will include writers arranging their elements for maximum effect on a reader rather than imparting information, writers experimenting with the relationship between conventions and their effects on readers, readers understanding literary works better because they have learned about it by "doing" it rather than "interpreting" or "analyzing" it, and writers understanding better how some other works of art or music are "composed."

    Most Common Question: “Do I really have to DO what I am asking to be implemented?”

    Why not? You have spent a great deal of time and thought on this essay so far. Why not make your procedure so specific that you can actually go out and do it today?


    This page titled 2.8: Implementation is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Stephen V. Poulter.

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