Teaching Students to Write Through ClioVis
The Back Story
I have three goals when designing writing-focused courses. First, students should learn to write clear and concise paragraphs. Second, students should learn how to connect different sources fluidly—meaning that they can build historical connections that move beyond simple chronology. Third, students should learn concrete revision and editing skills that help them develop a personal voice that is both unique and professional.
To this end, I began developing a scaffolded research and writing assignment. In 2021, I first used ClioVis to help students write. Over the succeeding years, I have refined the process through a combination of student feedback, my perceptions of successes and failures, and by testing my methods while writing professional research articles. The more I refined my writing assignment, the more central ClioVis became to the process.
Assignment Overview
There are four overlapping parts to my assignment.
- ClioVis Assignment: Using ClioVis, students begin to collect and analyze primary source material.
- Students develop a partial draft (4 pages) of their essay, based on primary sources. I provide feedback. While I’m giving feedback, students integrate secondary sources into their timelines.
- Students integrate feedback and secondary sources. They submit a complete draft (10 pages). I provide further feedback.
- Submit final draft (10 pages).
Between each of these assignments, I integrate lectures on writing and writing workshops. The goal of these workshops is provide students with concrete methods for writing sentences and paragraphs, revising their work, and developing a voice as a writer.
Below is my overall assignment, an outline for a semester-based course, and additional materials that I use in conjunction with the assignments.
Research Paper
Overview
In this class, you will write a 10-page research paper, based on archival research and secondary historical literature.
Over the semester, you will use a program called ClioVis to develop an original research project. ClioVis is a unique outlining software. Usually, when we are taught to work through historical sources, we try to think chronologically. The first event leads to the second, the second leads to the third, and the third leads to the fourth. The issue is that historical developments are rarely so linear.
Historical processes can be split into three categories: correlation (events running parallel to each other, but unrelated), causation (events that influence following events), and conjunction (events that had distinct origins but then collide). To this end, different processes can meet and then diverge. Sometimes, two historical stories run parallel to each other, but never actually overlap. As we will discover in some of our readings, sometimes the explanation of a historical event is the fact that two processes never coalesced in the way we might have anticipated.
You will build this timeline over the semester, with small additions due almost every Friday for the first two-thirds of the course. Each individual accounts for a small percentage of your grade, but collectively they will have a significant impact on your end-of-semester grade.
Based on your timelines, you will write your research paper. These assignments are more discrete and will be weighed as midterms and final exams would be in a test-based course. Your writing will be developed from your timeline. You will have three versions of the paper. 1) a four-page draft; 2) a ten-page draft; 3) a final ten-page draft.
There will also be frequent writing workshops. Through these, you will learn concrete skills that you will then be expected to integrate into your writing. These skills will be helpful outside of this classroom.
Through ClioVis, writing, and workshops, you will submit a high-quality and original historical research paper as your final assignment.
Assignment Breakdown
Assignment 1:
Every week for the first two-thirds of the semester, you will add two nodes (events) to your ClioVis timeline. In the first week, you will pull five events from two peer-reviewed secondary sources. In the following weeks, however, you will only be allowed to use primary sources.
Each node will be laid out in a specific way.
- Topic: One sentence on what happened.
- Evidence: A short quote or specific piece of data.
- Analysis: What does the evidence tell us?
- Significance: Why do you think your source is significant?
You will write these out in list form, like above, with the words “Topic,” “Evidence,” etc., before the sentence(s). ***(We will go over this process in class.)
In week four, you will begin to develop two connections a week as well. In these connections, you will write a few sentences about why you think the two nodes tell us something important about your topic.
***(Assignment 1 will continue until you have completed Assignment 3.)
Interlude:
Before the first draft of your paper is due, we will do workshops on passive versus active voice and on how to design a perfect paragraph.
Assignment 2:
You will write a 4-page draft of your paper. You WILL NOT include an introduction, conclusion, or thesis. Instead, you are simply going to write a narrative, and we will see what argument emerges from your thinking about your sources. (Because your nodes are already organized as pseudo-paragraphs, you should be able to build each piece of evidence into a well-structured paragraph by fleshing out the writing in each node.)
Interlude:
After you write your draft, we will do a peer review workshop. Your partner will read your essay quickly. (Yes, it will be timed.) Your partner will then have to tell you what they think your argument is. Additionally, I will read your draft and provide comments. We will then meet to discuss.
This section of the course will also include writing workshops on revising and developing your personal writing voice. In class, we will focus on foundational writing skills, including how to construct a sentence. You will also begin to conduct secondary research in peer-reviewed sources, which you will integrate into your timeline as well as your second draft.
Assignment 3:
You will submit a complete 10-page draft. (***Note: You will not use all of your sources. There will be too many of them. The hardest part of this draft might be figuring out what does not fit.) This draft may be frustrating for some of you. You will write it as clearly and plainly as you can. Some of you may consider yourselves good and creative writers, and even more of you likely are. Do not worry! You will have the opportunity to write creatively soon.
Interlude:
You will receive extensive feedback from me. We will then meet to discuss and figure out the ideal next steps for your paper, including whether or not you need to conduct more primary or secondary research.
Assignment 4
The final paper will be 10 pages and is due on the final day of the course.
Mock Schedule (3 days a week)
Week 1: Course Introduction
Day 1: Intro to course & objectives
Week 2: How to Start Writing
Day 1: NO CLASS
Day 2: Asking Historical Questions & Using ClioVis
Day 3: How to find primary sources.
Week 3:
Day 3: Due: Five Key Dates on ClioVis.
Week 4:
Day 3: The Analytical Implications of Passive v. Active Voice
Week 5:
Day 3: Due: 2 primary sources for ClioVis.
Week 6:
Day 3: Due: 2 primary sources for ClioVis.
Week 7:
Day 3: Thinking in Paragraphs
- Due: 2 primary sources for ClioVis.
Week 8:
Day 2: Due: 4 4-page essay
Day 3: Finding an argument workshop
Week 9:
Day 1: How to Write a Sentence
- Reading: Helen Sword, “Smart Sentencing,” in Stylish Academic Writing (Harvard University Press, 2012).
Day 3: Due: 2 primary sources for ClioVis
Week 10:
Day 3: On Revisions
- Reading: William Germano, “Know What You’ve Got” and “Look for an Argument” in On Revision: The Only Writing That Counts (University of Chicago Press, 2021).
- Due: 2 secondary sources.
Week 11:
Day 1: Revising workshop
- Due: Revision exercises and
Day 3: Stylish Writing
- Reading: Helen Sword, “Voice & Echo” & “The Big Picture” in Stylish Academic Writing (Harvard University Press, 2012).
- Due: 2 more secondary source events.
Week 12:
Day 1: Stylish Writing Workshop
Day 3: DUE: Full Draft
Week 13:
Week 14: Thanksgiving
NO CLASSES
Week 15:
Day 3: Due: Final Draft
Week 16: Closing Out
Day 1: Recap and farewells.
