University of Virginia Banking Sector Advocacy Letter Discussion

#1

In this forum, you will focus on your advocacy letter as you answer the questions below. You may refer to other assignments as you write, but try focusing on how they helped you complete this project. Please include specific examples from your own work.

1. In a sentence or two, describe the key argument(s) and audience(s) of your Advocacy Letter.
2. Describe how your research question changed over time (you may refer to the online activities that directly addressed narrowing the research question). How is the current research question different? Why did it change? How did it change? What decisions did you make as you developed a narrow focus? Be specific and use concrete examples.
3. Briefly describe 2-3 tasks you have completed as you have decided how to organize the sections of your Advocacy Letter. What has worked well? What has been a challenge? How have you addressed this challenge? How did you rely on previous assignments as you worked on the final project?
4. What skills learned as you gathered sources, narrowed the focus of the project, and synthesized sources might be useful in other contexts (other academic courses, non-academic settings)? How do you think the content you gathered during the semester might be useful in the future? What tactics and strategies or what content knowledge might you be able to use in a different setting?

#2

Your mission this week is to evaluate how texts around you incorporate data and whether or not data is used ethically and appropriately.

First, locate two texts (videos, articles, podcasts, etc.) that use data; one should be an example of an effective use of data and one should be an example of an ineffective use of data.

Second, explain exactly what data is included and how in each text.

Third, explain whether or not the data is ethically and appropriately used and why or why not. Refer to this week’s readings and instructional content to help with this explanation.

Fourth, answer this question: why does it matter if data is used ethically and/or appropriately? What are the stakes for you as a writer/speaker using data to communicate with your audience?