Agenda

Thursday

• Welcome to the course. Logistics.

• Introductions and check ins. 

• Discussion of the syllabus. See Ian Bogost's article "The Most Disrespected Document in Higher Education" in The Atlantic (Aug 2023); pdf.  

• Reminder to complete the assignments for next week.

• Warm ups: Shake it out, gesture intros, vroom.

Assignments

• Pre-Class Survey: Due Tue, Oct 1. Please fill out this short survey.

• Introductory Video: Due Tue, Oct 1. Please record a 4-5 minute video introducing yourself to the class. Start with your name and share anything else that you would like your colleagues to know about you. Examples: major, favorite food/media/books, hobbies, something about where you grew up. Please make sure your face is visible to help people get to know you. 

  • As an example, here's Prof. Tanedo's introductory video

  • You may record and upload your video any way you want, but it should be viewable by other members of the class. I suggest either uploading to YouTube as an unlisted video or uploading to Google Drive and giving access to the class. You can find everyone's emails on our internal sheet, do not forget to include Professor Tanedo.

  • Submission link

"Reading"

• By Tue, Oct 1:  Listen to part 1 of "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang, read by LeVar Burton. Pandora | Spotify | Apple 

• By Tue, Oct 8: Listen to part 2 of "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang, read by LeVar Burton.

• By Tue, Oct 8: Watch Arrival, a movie adaptation of Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life." (It's better to watch the movie before reading the story.) The movie is available streaming on our Canvas page—this may be the only time we use Canvas! You can access it from the Modules page.

Tuesday

• Logistics: availability for lunch on Thursday, Week 2 (Oct 10). This will be a lunch to talk to Prof. Eve Vavagiakis. 

  • Lunch will be 11-12:30pm, most of the class can make it

  • We will have a separate coffee break at 9:30 - 10am

• Check-Ins

• Brief discussion: Ted Chiang short stories are now posted. The main project in this class is to pick a short story and dissect it to understand the "real world" scientific content behind the story. Over the next 9 weeks, you will write about this, create a graphical representation, use the story to explain the scientific idea, then use the story for rhetoric, and create a presentation. Most of the stories are from the two Ted Chiang collections, Stories of Your LIfe and Others and Exhalation. You may also propose an alternative story. 

• Prof. Tanedo AMA

• Discussion: "Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," Part I

Thursday

• Reminder: I was asked to remind you about the mandatory Ambassador Hangout tomorrow. Please make sure you signed up, see the email from Latoya Ambrose.

• Check Ins

• Re-Introductions: introduce one of your classmates. (See assignments.) 

• We reflected on what makes a successful introduction. Some of the points that came up:

  • Context of the introduction, human connection

  • Recognizing that we do not know much abour our audience (the rest of the class), we pitched our introductions to show respect to the person we're introducing.

  • A subset of the class is into basketball. This came up in consecutive introductions: how does that feed into itself? What if someone had said that they hate basketball?

  • In anticipation of the popular science articles, we compared this experience to introducing ideas in science writing. How is it different? Can mathematics have a human connection? Or is it "black and white"?

  • Context: in about three years, you will be introducing yourself to selection committees for grad/med/law/business school, or angel investors, or recruiters for fancy companies. How do you make that introduction? How do you help your letter of recommendation writers make that introduction?

• Follow ups from our discussion

  • Effective communication accounts for time constraints, e.g. attention span. In a college class, we are constrained by a 10-week quarter. Does this means that we cannot attach a human connection to technical communication? Prof. Tanedo mentioned "Entymology Nerd" on YouTube, check it out for an example of frentic-and-insightful tid bits on the origin of language.

  • You may also enjoy Grant Sanderson's talk, "Math's pedagogical curse" at the 2023 Joint Mathematics Meetings. Sanderson is a gifted math communicator who you may know from the channel 3blue1brown.

Assignments 

• Before class on Thu, Oct 3: please prepare a 2 minute (we won't time you) introduction of one of your classmates. Your assignments are on our internal page. You will introduct your classmate in class. Goal: introduce your classmate to the rest of the class in a way that (1) makes the classmate feel welcomed and (2) will help others get to know your classmate. 

  • If your classmate has not posted their video, please politely contact them to remind them to do so. 

  • If there is anything that you think needs to be added (e.g. if you wanted to make sure the person introducing you is aware of your pronouns), please email your presenter directly ahead of time. 

  • You have freedom to think about how you craft your introduction, what information you present, and how you engage the rest of the course. 

• Reflection. Due Tue, Oct 8. Fill out the brief reflection survey on our exercises with introducing ourselves and introducing each other. Survey here. (It should take less than an hour.)

• Select a recent piece of popular science writing (science topics for a general adult audience) from our pool and prepare a brief (2-5 minute) description of it for class on Tuesday, Oct 8.  The pool includes articles from the last two Scientific American issues and the selections from the Best American Science & Nature Writing 2023.

  • State what the article is about and why you chose it.

  • Highlight anything that you found insightful, informative, enjoyable in the article. 

  • Explain any weaknesses you found in the article.

  • Tell us what you think about the purpose of the article and whether you thought it was effective. What would have made the article better?

Assignments Due (assigned last week)

• Pre-Class Survey: Due Tue, Oct 1. Please fill out this short survey.

• Introductory Video: Due Tue, Oct 1. Please record a 4-5 minute video introducing yourself to the class. Start with your name and share anything else that you would like your colleagues to know about you. Examples: major, favorite food/media/books, hobbies, something about where you grew up. Please make sure your face is visible to help people get to know you. 

  • As an example, here's Prof. Tanedo's introductory video

  • You may record and upload your video any way you want, but it should be viewable by other members of the class. I suggest either uploading to YouTube as an unlisted video or uploading to Google Drive and giving access to the class. You can find everyone's emails on our internal sheet, do not forget to include Professor Tanedo.

  • Submission link

"Reading"

• By Tue, Oct 8: Listen to part 2 of "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang, read by LeVar Burton. Pandora | Spotify | Apple 

• By Tue, Oct 8: Watch Arrival, a movie adaptation of Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life." (It's better to watch the movie before reading the story.) The movie is available streaming on our Canvas page—this may be the only time we use Canvas! You can access it from the Modules page.

Announcements

• We will be discussing Braid in Week 4. If you are able, please obtain a copy of Braid: Anniversary Edition and play through the first world. At the moment the game is part of an autumn sale on Steam. 

Due this week

• Introduction Reflections Survey (due Tue, Oct 8)

• Be prepared to present a short-form popular science article from  our pool (last two issues of Scientific American, 2023 Best American Science & Nature Writing) on Tuesday.

Tuesday

• Check Ins

• Presentation and Discussion: Popular science articles

  • Critiques

• Discussion: "Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," Part II; Arrival

• I'm a Black Hole, discussion of "who is your audience." What makes effective communication? (e.g. some of the examples in the Pre-Survey) Scientific American articles (see assignments). 

• Preparation: What to expect from Prof. Eve Vavagiakis' visit. We handed out copies of the reflection questions due next Tuesday (see assignments below) so that you can have a print out during the talk. 

Thursday: Physics Colloquium

• Lunch with Prof. Eve Vavagiakis: 11-12:30pm at The Stable.  We will make alternate arrangements for those who are unable to make it. 

• During our class period, we will be attending Professor Eve Vavagiakis' (Duke University) colloquium in the Physics Department. Please meet directly Winston Chung Hall, Room 138. Arrive a bit early and please be seated near the front.

  • The colloquium is about 1 hour long and you should expect it to be advanced. You are not required to understand the talk itself, but you should study everything about how the talk is presented. 

  • Think about: how is the speaker introduced? How does the speaker present ideas? How and when do people ask questions? How do you know when something is background information or new information? What is the purpose of the talk? Review the reflection questions; you may want to have them with you during the talk.

  • Colloquium title and abstract:
    A new generation of millimeter and submillimeter observations for cosmology and astrophysics

Abstract: Rapid developments in instrumentation and highly sensitive superconducting detectors have provided a wealth of arcminute-scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. These measurements are transforming our understanding of the evolution of our cosmos. I will present recent results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and discuss how our high-resolution CMB maps are at the frontier of Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect science. I will also summarize the design and status of first light instruments and low temperature detectors for the CCAT Observatory and the Simons Observatory. These experiments will provide unparalleled measurements of the millimeter and submillimeter sky, offering rich opportunities for cross-correlation studies with upcoming surveys and paving the way towards CMB-S4. This will enable novel multifrequency science in the coming years, testing cosmological models and opening new windows on galaxy evolution and fundamental physics.

Assignments 

• Reflection. Due Tue, Oct 15. Fill out the brief reflection survey about Prof. Vavagiakis' colloquium.  [Submission here]

• Reflection. Due Tue, Oct 15. Fill out the brief reflection survey comparing the popular science articles,  The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate." and Arrival.   [Submission here]

• By Tue, Oct 15. Select one of the Ted Chiang (or other) short stories to use for your class project. You can change along the way, but I suggest picking a story that appeals to you and going with it. 

  • Please read that story and be prepare a 3 minute synopsis to be presented with slides (at least one) over Zoom on Tuesday. (Make sure you know how to use the screen share option on Zoom.)

"Reading"

• Read your Ted Chiang (or other) short story. 

• [Theory of presentations]

  • SPS: Preparing Effective Presentations

  • David Tong: how to make sure your talk doesn't suck

  • An example of an excellent 4 minute talk: Fredrik Backman on being an author (2024).

  • "How to Give a Killer Presentation: Lessons from TED" by Chris Anderson at Harvard Business Review (2013)

  • "How to Speak," by Patrick Winston, MIT IAP 2018

  • "The 3 Magic Ingredients of Amazing Presentations," Phil Waknell TEDxSaclay 2020 

  • "TED's secret to great public speaking," Chris Anderson

• From our Thursday, Week 1 discussion: please play the video game Braid (or Braid: Anniversary Edition) by Jonathan Blow. The anniversary edition is available on several (but not all) platforms. Get through the first few levels. If you are unable to play this, you can watch gameplay videos.  I encourage you to check out the commentary as well. 

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Announcements

• Tuesday's class will be remote. We will discuss giving presentations. 

• There is no class on Thursday. :-( 

Due this week

• By Tue, Oct 15. Select one of the Ted Chiang (or other) short stories to use for your class project. You can change along the way, but I suggest picking a story that appeals to you and going with it.  Please read that story and be prepared to give a short synopsis (2-5 mins) to the class next week.

• By Tue, Oct 15. Prepare a mini-slide deck (between 1-3 slides) as a promotion for your short story. You will share for our remote class on Tuesday. Goal: give a few minute "trailer" for your short story to convince your colleagues to read your story. 

Tuesday: Remote Discussion

A Zoom link will be sent by email. 

• Check Ins

• Mini-presentations on your short stories

• Discussion: what makes a good slide deck?
  Prof. Tanedo's Slide Deck from today

Thursday: No Class Today

Assignments 

• 1-2 page essay (ugh) about your Ted Chiang (or other) short story.
  
  Prompt: identify one scientific technical idea in your short story and explain how the short story is a fictional way of explaining something about that idea. Convince the reader that the technical idea is kind of neat and that the short story is "actually" about that idea. Explain what the technical idea is at a "Wikipedia-level" (general public). You may assume that the audience has read the short story, but you may need to remind them about it.
  
  Due Thursday, Oct 24. [ submission link ]

"Reading"

• Instead of class on Thursday, please watch the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Darmok." This is available streaming for us through Yuja, you can access it on our Canvas page. 

• Please play the video game Braid (or Braid: Anniversary Edition) by Jonathan Blow. The anniversary edition is available on several (but not all) platforms. Get through the first few levels. If you are unable to play this, you can watch gameplay videos.  I encourage you to check out the commentary as well. 

  • If you go with a gameplay video, I suggest looking for one where the player has not played the game before. Here is a good example.

Announcements

Due this week

• This Thursday: 1-2 page essay about how your short story is "actually" about a scientific idea. See prompt and upload link below.

Tuesday

Check-ins, Presentations (make ups), discussion of short story science topics, Darmok, Braid. 

Thursday

Assignments 

• 1-2 page essay (ugh) about your Ted Chiang (or other) short story.
  
  Prompt: identify one scientific technical idea in your short story and explain how the short story is a fictional way of explaining something about that idea. Convince the reader that the technical idea is kind of neat and that the short story is "actually" about that idea. Explain what the technical idea is at a "Wikipedia-level" (general public). You may assume that the audience has read the short story, but you may need to remind them about it.
  
  Due Thursday, Oct 24. [ submission link ]

"Reading"

This week we're shifting gears a bit (to buy me more time to give you feedback on your essay drafts) and we're going to dissect some research statements for grad school and fellowship applications.

For class please bring your laptops/devices so we can look at these files together. 

Given the chance, please skim the documents in our internal folder.

These are actual personal and research statements from recent students (one from UCR). I want us to dissect what works, what doesn't work, and what you should be thinking about when you are applying for things.

I want you to think about what kinds of opportunities you can apply for this summer. For those with STEM interests, consider the summer research with the paid NSF REU and DOE SULI internships. For those with interests in other fields, poke around to see what kinds of paid summer opportunities exist for high-achieving students in your field.

Tuesday

Some guidance on your essays, discussion of writing persuasively about yourself (applications). Link to sample essays.

We also talked about registering for classes. 

Thursday

Today we continue our discussion of how to write effective personal statements. We'll take selections from the attached slides and dissect them in class. If you are able, please bring a laptop or tablet device to follow along with the discussion. We will go around reading selections to discuss them. 

Workshopping graduate school applications.
Link to slide deck of snippits with comments.

Please take a look at some of these possibilities for summer research/internships:

• Cientifico Latino REU database

• NSF REU database

• DOE Research at national labs

• Caltech SURF (+search for other "SURF" programs across the country)

• Google Student Research

• Loma Linda SURF for biomed

• NSF research opportunities (beyond REU)

Assignments 

• Revision of your essay: https://forms.gle/74M4umNyZnCeUAsJ6

  • The goal of your essay is to transform the reader in some way. The reader should do something or feel something or otherwise change after engaging with your work. 

  • The transformation needn't be directly related to your story or your science idea, but both your story and your science idea need to be part of your argument.

  • Distinguish between what’s real (your science) and what’s fiction (Ted Chiang's short story)

  • You can explain key features of the story; but do should not retell the story. Assume the reader has an idea of the story and has access to the story. 

Announcements

Due this week

• This Tuesday: Essay revision. Submission link.

Tuesday

We played Telestrations as a group. This is a game of visual telephone where we take turns making drawings of a prompt, then interpreting each others' drawings into new prompts. 

Link to our results. (Internal downloads only)

Thursday

Visual communication presentaiton. We broke down some ideas in the theory of visual communication. 

Assignments 

• Due Thuresday, 11/14. Draw a comic version of your essay. You should have a clear goal for your comic: a call to action for the reader. You do not have to reference your Ted Chiang story directly, but your comic should at least indirectly invoke both the fiction (Chiang story) and the non-fiction (science idea) towards its goal. Submission link. 

  • pdf with sixteen comic layouts. Please pick one and fill in one page. In class on Tuesday we distributed print outs that contain two pages. If you use the physical print out please only use one page (half of the print out). These are adapted by a zine ("Spaces") by Megan Delyani, a California artist.

  • Your comic is restricted by the pre-drawn comic layout. You are free to engage with or break the boxes as you wish, or you can just have your sequential art fit into each box.

  • You must invoke visual communication in your comic.

Optional Reading

• Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

Announcements

Due this week

• This Thursday: your comic. Submission link. 

Tuesday

• In-class peer review and consultations about our writing and applications. 

• Our Revised Essays are available in this folder (only accessible to the class)

• General essay comments:

  • Focus on your call to action (thesis): what do you want the reader to do, to think, to act upon after reading your piece? This is the main focus of your essay.

  • Your Ted Chiang short story and your science idea are the ingriedients you have to convince the reader of your call to action. You can use them like parables to support your claim. Alternatively, you can disagree with them and use them as straw men arguments to disprove.

  • To make room for your call to action, you may need to re-balance the amount of space you dedicate to re-telling the Ted Chiang story or explaining the science idea. Do not add pages: streamline your writing. 

    • Use compact sentences

    • Consider which ideas need to be there, which can be removed, and which can be referred to without further discussion.

• Your introductory paragraph is how you grab your reader's attention. Make sure the reader feels invested in reading your essay after the first paragraph.

  • The standard essay format is to include your thesis somewhere in the introduction. 

  • Alternatively, you can start with a provocative question, set up a straw man answer, then hit the reader with a thesis that contradicts the straw man later.  

• Your goal is to make a convincing argument for your call to action using the short story and your science idea within 1-2 pages. Otherwise: there are no strict rules, feel free to play with voice, tone, format, sectioning in ways that support your thesis.

Thursday

• Discussion of comics. Be prepared to present your comic to the class, discussing your motivation, connection to the ideas you want to convey, and stylistic choices.

Assignments 

• Final Essay Version: Due by the end of Week 10.

  • Your final essay should include a graphic. This does not count toward your total page limit.

  • The total text page limit is 1-2 pages. (Closer to 2 if you're double spaced, closer to 1 if you're single spaced. There's a little bit of wiggle room, but do not write 3 full pages.) 

    • Your graphic and any references do not count towards the page limit.

• Draft of a persuasive summer opportunity application: up to one page. Write a short persuasive argument (personal statement) for a summer opportunity that you have identified.  Due Thursday, Nov 21.

  • Write to the specific criteria of the program. Focus on what is it about you that will make them select you over other applicants?

  • Your argument should make it clear how you address the specific criteria. 

  • You can refer to some of the ideas in our grad school application slide deck, but know that your summer opportunity has different selection criteria.

Optional Reading

• Some REU personal statement advice:

  • "Writing Strong Essays and Personal Statements," IBP

  • "How to REU" SPS National

  • "Developing a Personal Statement for Summer Research" UMD

  • "So You Want to Apply for an REU… Here’s How," Ben Montet Astrobites

Announcements

Due this week

See assignments below.

Tuesday

• Improv Exercise: listening to others

Thursday

• Recommendation writing

Assignments 

I. Final Essay Version: Due by the end of Week 10. Submission Link.

• • Your final essay should include a graphic. This does not count toward your total page limit.

  • The total text page limit is 1-2 pages. (Closer to 2 if you're double spaced, closer to 1 if you're single spaced. There's a little bit of wiggle room, but do not write 3 full pages.) 

    • Your graphic and any references do not count towards the page limit.

II. Draft of a persuasive summer opportunity application: up to one page. Write a short persuasive argument (personal statement) for a summer opportunity that you have identified.  Due Thursday, Nov 21. Submission link. 

• • Write to the specific criteria of the program. Focus on what is it about you that will make them select you over other applicants?

  • Your argument should make it clear how you address the specific criteria. 

  • You can refer to some of the ideas in our grad school application slide deck, but know that your summer opportunity has different selection criteria.

III. Letter of Recommendation for a classmate. Please prepare a letter of recommendation for your assigned classmate by Friday, December 6. The recommendation is for earning an A in this class. The criteria are:

• • Contributions to our seminar through discussions and coursework

• Insight and/or growth in the "science" of technical communication in different forms

• Any other criteria that you feel Prof. Tanedo should also include

Your assignments are on our internal page. The letter should be between 1-2 pages and should include the following components:

1. A sentence stating your goal: I support classmate's proposal to earn an A in HNPG18, Poetry for Physicists.

2. A sentence describing who you are and why you are qualified to make this assessment.

3. A statement about how you are making your evaluation. (e.g. compared to other honors students you know in your year, compared to your experience with the average UCR freshman, or even compared to yourself—there is no right answer, but you should think about how to specify your metric in a way that supports your goal.)

4. A couple of paragraphs that justify your recommendation with evidence. It may help to frame this in terms of anecdotes of specific accomplishments that demonstrate general traits. (e.g. "classmate's comic demonstrates the kind of insight they bring to the seminar.") If appropriate, mention any mitigating factors that Prof. Tanedo should understand when evaluating your classmate. (e.g. "classmate contributed to each class discussion even though the seminar was at the end of a day of back-to-back-to-back classes.")

5. A brief conclusion that summarizes your argument for your goal.

You should feel free to reach out to your classmates (both the one writing your rec and the one whose recommendation you are writing) on how to best strategize!  Feel free to send/ask for a "brag sheet" of accomplishments/mitigating factors/narratives.

Optional Reading

• Improv exercises

  • National Informal STEM Education Network resources for Improv Exercises.

• Writing a letter of recommendation

  • An example recommendation template (UW Bothell)

  • You can download a copy of the UCR Letterhead at brand.ucr.edu (optional)

• Some REU personal statement advice:

  • "Writing Strong Essays and Personal Statements," IBP

  • "How to REU" SPS National

  • "Developing a Personal Statement for Summer Research" UMD

  • "So You Want to Apply for an REU… Here’s How," Ben Montet Astrobites

Announcements

Due this week

See assignments below.

Tuesday

• Panel with former HNPG018 students, Lithikhaa Mageswaran, Shane Levin, and Angie Lopez

  • Bring any and all questions that you'd like to ask senior UCR honors students

  • Unfortunately this will be the last class of the term.

Thursday

• No class, happy Thanksgiving!

Assignments 

I. Final Essay Version: Due by the end of Week 10. Submission Link.

• • Your final essay should include a graphic. This does not count toward your total page limit.

  • The total text page limit is 1-2 pages. (Closer to 2 if you're double spaced, closer to 1 if you're single spaced. There's a little bit of wiggle room, but do not write 3 full pages.) 

    • Your graphic and any references do not count towards the page limit.

II. Draft of a persuasive summer opportunity application: up to one page. Write a short persuasive argument (personal statement) for a summer opportunity that you have identified.  Due Thursday, Nov 21. Submission link. 

• • Write to the specific criteria of the program. Focus on what is it about you that will make them select you over other applicants?

  • Your argument should make it clear how you address the specific criteria. 

  • You can refer to some of the ideas in our grad school application slide deck, but know that your summer opportunity has different selection criteria.

III. Letter of Recommendation for a classmate.  [submission link (or send an email)] Please prepare a letter of recommendation for your assigned classmate by Friday, December 6. The recommendation is for earning an A in this class. The criteria are:

• • Contributions to our seminar through discussions and coursework

• Insight and/or growth in the "science" of technical communication in different forms

• Any other criteria that you feel Prof. Tanedo should also include

Your assignments are on our internal page. The letter should be between 1-2 pages and should include the following components:

1. A sentence stating your goal: I support classmate's proposal to earn an A in HNPG18, Poetry for Physicists.

2. A sentence describing who you are and why you are qualified to make this assessment.

3. A statement about how you are making your evaluation. (e.g. compared to other honors students you know in your year, compared to your experience with the average UCR freshman, or even compared to yourself—there is no right answer, but you should think about how to specify your metric in a way that supports your goal.)

4. A couple of paragraphs that justify your recommendation with evidence. It may help to frame this in terms of anecdotes of specific accomplishments that demonstrate general traits. (e.g. "classmate's comic demonstrates the kind of insight they bring to the seminar.") If appropriate, mention any mitigating factors that Prof. Tanedo should understand when evaluating your classmate. (e.g. "classmate contributed to each class discussion even though the seminar was at the end of a day of back-to-back-to-back classes.")

5. A brief conclusion that summarizes your argument for your goal.

You should feel free to reach out to your classmates (both the one writing your rec and the one whose recommendation you are writing) on how to best strategize!  Feel free to send/ask for a "brag sheet" of accomplishments/mitigating factors/narratives.

Optional Reading

• Improv exercises

  • National Informal STEM Education Network resources for Improv Exercises.

• Writing a letter of recommendation

  • An example recommendation template (UW Bothell)

  • You can download a copy of the UCR Letterhead at brand.ucr.edu (optional)

• Some REU personal statement advice:

  • "Writing Strong Essays and Personal Statements," IBP

  • "How to REU" SPS National

  • "Developing a Personal Statement for Summer Research" UMD

  • "So You Want to Apply for an REU… Here’s How," Ben Montet Astrobites

Announcements

There will be no in-person meetings this week. Prof. Tanedo sends his regrets that an unanticipated but urgent matter means that he will be unable to be on campus on Tuesday. (We had already planned for Thursday to have no class.) Prof. Tanedo is available for consultations via Zoom for any of your coursework or general questions on Tuesday. Please make arrangements via e-mail.

Assignments 

I. Final Essay Version: Due by the end of Week 10. Submission Link.

• • Your final essay should include a graphic. This does not count toward your total page limit.

  • The total text page limit is 1-2 pages. (Closer to 2 if you're double spaced, closer to 1 if you're single spaced. There's a little bit of wiggle room, but do not write 3 full pages.) 

    • Your graphic and any references do not count towards the page limit.

II. Draft of a persuasive summer opportunity application: up to one page. Write a short persuasive argument (personal statement) for a summer opportunity that you have identified.  Due Thursday, Nov 21. Submission link. 

• • Write to the specific criteria of the program. Focus on what is it about you that will make them select you over other applicants?

  • Your argument should make it clear how you address the specific criteria. 

  • You can refer to some of the ideas in our grad school application slide deck, but know that your summer opportunity has different selection criteria.

III. Letter of Recommendation for a classmate. [submission link, or send an email] Please prepare a letter of recommendation for your assigned classmate by Friday, December 6. The recommendation is for earning an A in this class. The criteria are:

• • Contributions to our seminar through discussions and coursework

• Insight and/or growth in the "science" of technical communication in different forms

• Any other criteria that you feel Prof. Tanedo should also include

Your assignments are on our internal page. The letter should be between 1-2 pages and should include the following components:

1. A sentence stating your goal: I support classmate's proposal to earn an A in HNPG18, Poetry for Physicists.

2. A sentence describing who you are and why you are qualified to make this assessment.

3. A statement about how you are making your evaluation. (e.g. compared to other honors students you know in your year, compared to your experience with the average UCR freshman, or even compared to yourself—there is no right answer, but you should think about how to specify your metric in a way that supports your goal.)

4. A couple of paragraphs that justify your recommendation with evidence. It may help to frame this in terms of anecdotes of specific accomplishments that demonstrate general traits. (e.g. "classmate's comic demonstrates the kind of insight they bring to the seminar.") If appropriate, mention any mitigating factors that Prof. Tanedo should understand when evaluating your classmate. (e.g. "classmate contributed to each class discussion even though the seminar was at the end of a day of back-to-back-to-back classes.")

5. A brief conclusion that summarizes your argument for your goal.

You should feel free to reach out to your classmates (both the one writing your rec and the one whose recommendation you are writing) on how to best strategize!  Feel free to send/ask for a "brag sheet" of accomplishments/mitigating factors/narratives.

Optional Reading

• If we had more time together, I would have loved to have a discussion about the article "How The Ivy League Broke America" by David Brooks in The Atlantic (Dec 2024).