To receive extra credit for the following readings, you must a) attend the reading, b) stay for the entire reading, c) take notes during the reading, & d) write a 500 word response to 1 of the pieces the author read no later than 1 week after the date of the event.
2) Tuesday, 03.27.07: Copper Nickelwill host contributors Joshua Poteat and Allison Titus in the King Center for the Performing Arts. The reading will begin at 7pm in the King Center's Recital Hall.
3) Monday, 04.02.07: Danielle Dutton and Stephanie Young in the Turnhalle of the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria Campus.
4) Wednesday, 04.04.07: Novelist and short-story writer Daniel Alarcon in the Recital Hall of the King Center for the Performing Arts, for a reading at 7pm.
1) Select a video from Youtube that you find interesting, humorous, unique, or important. What is the focal point of the video? How does the context effect the way you, as a member of a broader on-line community, understand the video? Hint: Think about a) the content of the video, b) any aspects of the video that may have been altered by the person who posted the video, & c) the fact that you are watching this particular clip, not on television or in the movie theater, but on a computer at home/school. These questions should initiate the process of inquiry for you, but do not feel limited by them. If you can think of any other relevant questions concerning context that (sh/c)ould be asked, please feel free answer them. (500 words & at least 1 hyperlink.)
For this post, you will need to embed a Youtube video clip into your blog. To do so, follow these simple steps: 1) Go to Youtube & find a video clip; 2) to the right of the video, copy the code within the "Embed" dialogue box; 3) compose a new post in Blogger; 4) click the "Edit Html" tab at the top of the composition box; & 5) wherever you want the clip to appear, paste the copied material into the body of your post . If you follow these steps, you should be able to incorporate a video clip as such:
2) Choose a person, place, or activity for your Observational Essay--this should be some(one/thing) you are NOT related to or overly-intimate with. (You should also have a backup subject in case you are unable to perform the actual observation & interview in a timely fashion.) For your second post of the week, find 3 sites that relate to your subject matter. Using information from these three sites, compose a post that engages information that will be pertinent to the writing of your essay. You may want to ask yourself questions about your audiences expectations: Who is my audience? What are they likely to think about the subject? What would they want to know about it? You might also find it imporant to ask yourself some questions as well: Why do I want to research this subject? What can I expect to find out about it? What aspects do I expect to be interesting or entertaining? These questions should direct you when searching for appropriate background material. Ulimately, the background material you gather should guide your observations & interviews, as well as provide you with a context in which to set your writing. (500 words & at least 3 hyperlinks.)
3) Write 4 100 word comments on 4 other students' blog posts.
IMPORTANT: Appropriately insert hyperlinks to all three sites into your second post.
For specific guidelines regarding the Observational Essay, please download & read Reading Critically Writing Well 2. You can access this document on Blackboard.
Section 01: Read Reading Critically Writing Well 2b for class on Tuesday, 01.30.07. Section 10: Read Reading Critically Writing Well 2b for class on Wenesday, 01.31.07.
IMPORTANT: Please, bring copies of these to class so we can provide close analysis of the texts. Also, Section 10, bring copies of Reading Critically Writing Well 3 to class on Monday, 01.29.07. Thank you.
Sections 01 & 10: Provide an intersting/unique title for your blog with the intention of capturing your audience's attention. Also, remember that in addition to your 2 500 word blogs each containing a minimum of 1 hyperlink (Altough it is optional, it might be helpful to include images), you are to write 4 100 word comments on other students' blog posts. You can post comments for either Section 01 or Section 10. IMPORTANT: Be respectful of others' opinions & do not write multiple posts for any one given student.
Section 01: Read Reading Critically Writing Well 3 for Thursday, 01.24.07. Section 10: Read Reading Critically Writing Well 3 for Monday, 01.29.07.
The readings can be found on Blackboard. Remember to read the selection twice: once as a reader for content & once as a writer for structure/organization.
Section 01: In addition to creating your blog, photobucket account, & sending me an email with the URL, please read Reading Critically Writing Well 1 & Beyond Words 1. Due: 01.23.07.
Section 10: If you feel comfrotable creating your blog & photobucket account without instruction, please do so. Additionally, read Reading Critically Writing Well 1. Due: 01.22.07. Read Beyond Words 1 & have all accounts set up. Due: 01.24.07.
Section 01 & 10: Complete the two following posts (each are to be 500 words & contain atleast 1 hyperlink):
1) Consider a website that you visit often, or one you visited once that made a strong impression upon you. What is the focal point of the site? What are some conventions of websites as a genre & how does the site adhere to them? Does the site alter these conventions in anyway? How so? Furthermore, how does the medium of blogging & other forms of web-based writing differ from that of traditional print/paper-based writing? Provide specific examples in your post. Hint: It might be helpful to insert a hyperlink to the site you write about.
2) Consider the same website you chose in question 1. List all the cultural contexts (who, what, when where, & why) of the site you need to recognize in order to understand the content fully. Does the fact that one may not comprehend all the references effect the overall message?
This blog will be your primary source for information, announcements, & assignments during spring semester. Please check this URL regularly. You can access all data files (i.e. syllabus & readings) on Blackboard.
Your first assignment will be to create a blog. Every writing assignment you complete for this class will be posted here. To create a blog, go to the Blogspot home page & follow the directions. If possible, use your first & last name as your URL. Your address should end up looking something like this: http://johndoe.blogspot.com.
Once you create your account, your second assignment will be to send me an email at joshua.ware@cudenver.edu that contains the URL to your account. The subject of your email should read: "Blog URL: ENGL 1020, Section 01 (0r 10, depending on which class you are in)." The body of your email should contain nothing more than your full name & the URL of your blog.
Finally, you will need to create an account to store image files. I recommend using Photobucket, since this is the service I will being utilizing (in case you need help trouble-shooting); but, you are certainly able to use any hosting service you feel comfortable navigating. After you create your account, upload a picture of yourself & post it in your blog's profile.
If you need to contact me regarding these assignments, or any other matter, I hold office hours on Mondays from 1PM-3PM & Tuesdays from 10AM-12PM in 1015 9th Street Park, Rm. 201. My phone number is 303-556-6716.
