Student: Brendan Burk

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/37362

Writing Assignment Used for This Interview

Indigenous Issue Analysis Paper

This analytical paper will focus on your choice of a historical or contemporary issue that affects a particular Indigenous people of the United States, including those of Native America, Alaska, Hawaiʻi, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Federated States of Micronesia, Belau and the Marshall Islands, or Indigenous peoples in general.

Your paper must be typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. Times Roman font, and 4-5 pages (5-6 pages for students in Honors A) with standard 1-inch margins. All versions of the papers must be complete (typed with an introduction, an arguable thesis, supporting paragraphs providing a thorough discussion of evidence/points, and a conclusion, and using either MLA or the Chicago Style Manual citation format).

A peer review session will be scheduled on 12/3 before the final paper due date on 12/5 to help you write the best paper possible. Also, a detailed assignment description and rubric will be handed out after the midterm in class, so you will know the scope of the assignment and the criteria on which your paper will be graded.

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Now showing 1 - 17 of 17

Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 17 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: I took a Political Science 374 class called Law and Society and we met twice a week... We had to come to class with a full page, single-spaced writing assignment of the text that we had to read previously. We did that from the beginning of class to the end of class and that still did not constitute as a Writing Intensive.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 16 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: There's certain types of identification biases that people bring with them. I think for some of the non-indigenous students who are taking the class, they see the instructor is pretty indigenous looking, and I feel that could have contributed to an initial impression where they felt maybe they should censor their speech or monitor what they were saying. But by a couple weeks in, she had proven through her actions that it wasn't an absolute wall to you engaging in this discussion.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 15 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: I don't feel that anybody was being marginalized [in the class]... Any time that these texts were brought up in class or discussed, there was time allotted for student discussion to respond to the text or to respond to the lecture. I feel that really helped to provide a more balanced approach to the topic instead of being spoon-fed this and then leaving it without a chance to address it.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 14 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: Living your daily life in a certain place, in Hawaiʻi, there are certain cultural and social influences that are a part of everyday life here that I think sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously I bring into my assessment of whatever it is that I'm doing. I'd be more curious to see if I were to study this elsewhere, would that follow me there or would I start to think of things more in the local influences - what's important to them? What's important to people here in Hawaiʻi is not necessarily the same priorities elsewhere.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 13 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: From what I've been able to collect, [Hawaiian 107] has less of a writing element [than this American Studies course] and more of a hands on approach to everything.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 12 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: I'm unable to say whether or not [the course material will remain with me] because the interest and the passion for the subject matter were there prior to taking the course or if it's a result of having to dissect and assert my opinions on the matter through this course.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 11 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: I would like to stay in Hawaiʻi, in part for sentimental reasons but also for practical reasons. But, I'd also be interested in taking law school elsewhere mostly because I'm curious to see how that environment might influence the learning of the subject.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 10 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: After graduating, the plan is to go to Law School, and my ultimate career goals are to be nominated for a federal judgeship ... but I have not ruled public life as an elected official of some sort ... my interest has always been in the relationships between laws and institutions ... one of my nerdy indulgences is to read court opinions ... and I T.A. for a Constitutional Law course now ... preparing lesson plans for students ... read case briefs and grade them ...
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 9 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: It made me feel more comfortable talking about this with 'others' ... I did not feel that my classmates were ... out of my reach ... in smaller discussion sessions, students were a little less inhibited to share ... One of the ways that I link this [course] to Political Science is ... I felt like in PS I was studying the methods by which these people were exploited using systematic violence, or something to that effect ... in international relations, and the distinctions between idealism and realism ... it's just theory ... but this course kind of put that theory into practice.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 8 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from the interview: I learned a lot more about Indigenous people and cultures outside of Hawaiʻi [because of the reading/viewing list about Indigenous people somewhere else]
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 7 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: I would use the term 'hyper-aware' of the different ways in which seemingly benign portrayals of culture can have some underlying, and often unintended consequence ... problem of hyper political correctness ... racial majorities and minorities ... as a writer, if you cannot effectively communicate your thoughts through writing, then you don't really have an audience to be receptive to you ... even if you are a biology major, or a math major, or a physics major ... [this course] gave me opportunities to apply my writing in ways that I had not done before ... Political Science, Sociology ... a certain type of writing style ... this course forced me to move outside of my mainstream writing style ... I would apply my knowledge from Sociology or Political Science to this topic ... and I can use the knowledge gained in this course to strengthen my arguments in the others ...
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 6 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: One of the challenges I had in this assignment is that I don't like to write in the first person ... drilled into you in high school ... I have had a difficult time letting go of that ... even in a creative writing course ... it undermines the authority of the piece ... you always have to be careful when you use the collective language ... or absolute language ... there's a responsible way to use them and there's the arbitrary use ... 'we' as Native Hawaiian people, or 'we' as Native Hawaiian culture? ... 'For Native Hawaiians, this is an issue that x,y,z ...' as opposed to writing 'we believe this or I believe this' ...
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 5 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: All throughout high school I was praised for my writing, attended the Maui writers conference ... my first paper in my Russian lit course, my professor gave me a B- ... 'nothing fundamentally wrong with your paper ... 'A' papers are innovative or have some exceptional take ... the lesson I took was, 'whenever you write something, you need to write assertively' ... no wishy-washy words: maybe's, sometimes, it appears that ... the other half of writing is that there is someone who is going to be your reader ... and readers can pick up on the sentiments and the passions of the writer ... writing about the subject matter of this class amplified the level of assertiveness ... because there was a passion that came with the writing ... a professor teaches a certain topic in part because they have an interest in it ... when they see that students write with a level of passion that is on par with their own, that carries a little bit of an 'aha' moment for them ... because you are taking the writing beyond an 'assignment' level ... to another level of critical analysis and thinking
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 4 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: This assignment, and actually all the other writing assignments we received, motivated me to do more. I think in part my relation to the subject as an indigenous person motivated me to want to really express my own views about this topic. It's one thing to always be analyzed from a third-party perspective, and it's another to in essence give your own explanation.... I can see how it would be a demotivating assignment for some individuals. We read a lot of controversial texts by various activists, and as a non-indigenous person, reading some of those can be very disheartening.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 3 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: I am part Native Hawaiian on my father's side and so I have a particular cultural investment in this topic which led to a little bit more passionate writing about it.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 2 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: American Studies at this university, and particularly a class on indigenous studies, can become a sensitive subject, especially when your class is integrated with indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.
Student interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in American Studies, clip 1 of 17
(2015) Place-based WAC/WID Hui; Burk, Brendon; Henry, Jim; Bost, Dawne
Brief excerpt from interview: I was interested in applying my writing techniques and writing skills to subjects outside of writing per se. With a topic like American Studies, you have a range of topics you can discuss... from colonialism to indigenous cultures, and really thinking about how you can critically analyze those topics through writing.

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