Arizona State University Crime Within the Community Writers Journal BACKGROUND Considerations of exigency and kairos are critical as you judge which conve

Arizona State University Crime Within the Community Writers Journal BACKGROUND

Considerations of exigency and kairos are critical as you judge which conversations and which discourse communities to engage with in your larger research project. After all, our readers are much more willing to listen to what we have to say if we can show them that doing so is critically important.

PURPOSE

In this Writer’s Journal, you will have the opportunity to reflect on your topic’s exigency and kairos; additionally, you will be able to think about and formulate your central research question (CRQ) in terms of exigency and kairos.

SKILLS AND OUTCOMES
Explain how the context surrounding your topic is exigent (Rhetorical Knowledge)
Interpret the your topic’s inquiry as kairotic (Rhetorical Knowledge)
Produce a new formulation of your CRQ that captures your project’s exigency and/or kairos (Rhetorical Knowledge; Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing; Processes)
HABITS OF MIND PRACTICED
Openness
Creativity
Responsibility
Flexibility
Metacognition
TASKS
In your journal entry, you should explain how your topic is exigent. Why is it critical to explore your topic right now and/or dangerous not to do so?
Next, you should explain how your topic is kairotic. This is moving beyond describing why it is important/critical to explore your topic now (exigency) and is instead an interpretation of how current events make it likely that exploring your project could result in some positive impact. In short, why is now the “perfect” or “opportune” time to explore your project?
Finally, you should reformulate your CRQ in terms of the exigency and kairos you explore in this journal entry. Does your CRQ substantially change? Do considerations of exigency and kairos directly affect your CRQ’s formulation, or would it be more effective to address these concerns with your audience in a different place, like an introduction to your project or other textual frame? Why?

*NOTE: There are many different ways to approach these tasks, but you should aim to be as thorough as possible in your response (approximately 500 words is a good target length).

CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS

In each Writer’s Journal, you should:

clearly address each question or task;
employ many details, examples, and explanations in answering each question or task; and,
create an internally organized text, employing sentences (or notes where applicable) that clearly relate to one another.