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| Mad Hatter, reciting lines (line-drawing c. 1865 by Sir John Tenniel, from Alice in Wonderland) |
This semester, you'll document your work with your own public weblog. As preparation for the major projects, you will complete a handful of short assignments ranging from exploration to analysis, and post them to your blog. For at least one assignment, you'll locate and edit a published text, walking us through your editing process. In addition to short assignments, you'll initiate and respond to discussion about our critical texts, moving some of our in-class discussions outside of the classroom space. By the end of the semester, your blog should provide your own intellectual roadmap through the course.
Blogging Schedule
On the dates you are not initiating discussion, you are responding to it. Both initiated posts and responses to posts are, to some degree, formal writing. Both should be educating and engaging, well-articulated and thoughtful.
Initiated posts should be written on your own blog, and your responses can be written either as long comments on other students' blogs or as posts on your own blog that make explicit references and hyperlinks to posts on other students' blogs. (All students' blogs will be linked at right, under "Member Blogs.")
Responses are due by 12:00 noon on the dates listed, which means initiated posts should be finished the night before.
9/16/14 Discussion Initiators: Allyn, Cheyanne, Christina, Daniella, Donald, Emily, Katherine C., Katherine R., Kaylah, Melissa, Summer
9/30/14 Discussion Initiators: Allyn, Ashley, Cheyanne, Christina, Daniella, Elana, Emily, Jordy, Katherine C., Kaylah, Summer
10/9/14 Discussion Initiators: Allyn, Aubrey B., Ashley, Caitlin, Christina, Donald, Elana, Emily, Gabby R., Jana, Jordy, Katherine R., Lindsey, Melissa
10/30/14 Discussion Initiators: Alexander, Ashley, Cheyanne, Despie, Elana, Jana, Jordy, Kaylah, Lindsey, MaryAlice, Osmar, Samantha, Sawyer
11/6/14 Discussion Initiators: Alexander, Aubrey B., Caitlin, Daniella, Despie, Gabby R., Jana, Katherine R., Lindsey, MaryAlice, Melissa, Osmar, Samantha, Sawyer
Blogging Guidelines (for Initiated Posts and Responses)
1. Write with purpose and keep your readers engaged. Think of this as a discussion blog to help each other work out critical concepts, and also to teach each other the concepts that you know. The blog is publicly visible to more than just our class. Think of it as a space where you will facilitate discussion on interesting topics, and not just a space for filling up with words. Feel free to embed links or illustrations into your posts if you feel like those would help you explain certain concepts.
2. Don't just editorialize or summarize: synthesize! It doesn’t take much skill or expertise to regurgitate information or state your opinions, so your posts should do more than that. Start a thoughtful conversation about what you read; don't just summarize it or react to it. You could exchange informed opinions about the assigned readings, you could ask and answer questions or expand on issues we didn't cover in class, you could apply what we read to other texts you read or other situations you encounter, you could deconstruct a discourse situation as a way of demonstrating one of our theories, or you might do other things. Whatever you do, you should put put questions raised by one text in conversation with other texts, and help us to understand how one text extends or complicates another. This means synthesizing texts together.
3. Write enough. Setting word limits in electronic mediums can be pointless and problematic (since it isn't like setting word limits on a printed page), but you should plan to write a couple of screens' worth, since you are aiming for a fairly expert level of discussion. This often comes to ~750-800 words, but I urge you to write enough, which may mean writing a bit less or a bit more. Above all, write to communicate.
4. Write for quality. Your challenge is in genuinely communicating your thoughts, ideas, values, and arguments to unfamiliar readers. You are writing for a public audience and this isn't Facebook. Paragraphing, spelling, and polish all matter in this context.
5. Write with clarity and accuracy. Consider stating your main claim early in your post or response as a way of helping your readers to follow your thought process. Remind us of the critical texts you are writing about. Be specific and accurate about names, dates, locations, authors, and titles. If you are responding to part of someone else's post, please copy/paste that part for others to see, or embed a link to their post.
6. Title your posts. Make them interesting! Titles should reflect what you have thought or written or are trying to argue. They should not simply restate the name of the article or assignment.
7. Be a civic/civil blogger. We will spend some time discovering what this means, but for now, remember that the aim of our discussions is to exchange ideas and help others understand why we think the way we do. In one sense, what we do is like diplomacy. Flaming, aggression, hate speech, inside jokes, or tactics that cause others to feel marginalized or excluded will not only not be tolerated by me, they will also shut down conversation and undermine your discussions.
8. Attribute all your sources. You don't need a formal Works Cited list, but you should mention the full names of authors you discuss, and you should mention titles of articles in the context of your discussion. Include page numbers when you quote or paraphrase. If you refer to something we haven’t read, provide us with the citation so we can find it ourselves, or embed a hyperlink allowing us to access the document. This means you will need to have the critical texts close at hand so that you can quote specifically (if needed) and cite page numbers. (Don't just try to blog from memory.) You should also sign your name (or your pseudonym) to every post and comment so that other readers and writers know who left it.
