Drawing upon each other's literature reviews for your final essay

I wanted to follow up with Gabe's idea that you could use this space to converse about your final essays and share resources. Please comment to this post if you'd like to make your previous research available to your classmates or ask others for possible sources.

Here's the email that Gabe sent all of us yesterday:

Hey y'all I don't want be one of those students that emails everyone, but based on todays class I think it could be useful if some of us communicated. I know many of us are pursuing topics that intersect with the original lit review and we could use each others sources. I am doing gender stratification and inequities in homeless public policy if anyone has scholarship related feel free to email me at gabriel_rusk@hotmail.com or 303-905-7893 ( I got rid of my facebook). What could be more practical is opening a discussion on blackboard or a blog entry. Ill do both if I can! - Cheers, Gabe

Reflecting on our service-learning experiences

Before class on Tuesday, I’d like you take a few minutes and reflect on the service project that we completed for The Gathering Place on Thursday. First, describe your role in the open-mic event and tell the rest of us what you did in preparation for the event. Second, if you attended the event on Thursday, please describe it from your point of view. What happened? Who attended? What struck you as meaningful or significant?

Last, step back and reflect on our overall service to The Gathering Place and how it relates to our course. What impact do you think we’ve had on this community? What have you learned from this experience thus far? How would you say the service component has impacted your experience in this course? What have you learned about writing or research from our experiences with The Gathering Place?

Reflecting on writing for The Gathering Place

Now that you’ve completed (or nearly completed) your project for The Gathering Place, I’d like to you reflect on your process researching and writing this piece.

First, explore what it was like for you to interview the women at The Gathering Place. What did you learn about gathering people’s impressions, stories, and/or self-reflections about their experiences at this organization? In your experience, what was challenging, interesting or unique in conducting qualitative research?

Second, describe what it was like to write this piece. How would you describe the differences between producing this text versus writing the first essay? What did you do differently as a writer to accomplish this particular task?

Last, reflect on this assignment as a form of service. What did you learn as an engaged writer or as a member of Denver’s community?