- note: detailed instructions will appear on separate pages for Projects and Exercises
Project 1: Digital Narrative of Belief—multimodal video
25 points; due 20-Sept
Objective: Convey through creative nonfiction narrative a belief recognized, in video form online for public audience.
- Content: rather than description, present a nonfiction narrative that conveys belief of someone other than yourself. The story will communicate this content for public (non-academic) audience imagined, posted to Web platform(s) for wider viewing and circulation.
- Format: a multimodal video, in genre of “digital storytelling,” applying conventions of narrative (studied & discussed).
“Once a story is launched directly into the Web, determining its beginning and end is not always an easy matter.” (Alexander 42)
- Warm-up: Exercise 1 (due Sept 9)—identify conventions of Story & Belief examined
Project 2: Analytic Webtext — Information & Argument in Discipline
30 points total; due 25-Oct
Objective: Analyze and synthesize ideas from critical observations: disciplinary conventions, of information and argument, communicated to academic readers (imagined audience).
Webtext: (20 points, text + media)
— first created individually, expanding rhetorical analysis; then compiled and published as class collection for online readers.
- Content: Present insights in critical discussion using analytic perspective & key terms; examples drawn from sources selected (familiar and researched) for annotated bibliography, relevant and current for field considering academic readers (imagined audience).
Offers insights about forms of information and arguments in disciplinary discourse & communication in networked media ecology. - Format: Formal academic style; support with both specific examples and multimedia (g. screencap images & screencast videos)
Webtexts: “screen-based scholarly articles that use digital media to enact the authors’ argument.” (Ball)
Digital Rhetoric —c ritical prose with advanced content knowledge & perspective (separate components from webtext)
- Summary (300−400 words, 5 points): describe your Webtext design and rationale considering audience, purpose, and publication
- Reflection (400−500 words, 5 points): experiential insights from overall project, about discipline/field and Web writing
- Preparatory Work:
- Annotated Bibliography (Exercise 2)—5 sources, academic research & Web publications
- Rhetorical Analysis (Exercise 3): critically read and discuss one selected
Project 3 Screen-Self-Portrait (multimodal webpages)
25 points; due 07-Dec
Objective: Use aesthetic forms & technology that mediate experience to express your digital identity (personal & public)
Part I Expressive webpages: apply lessons and insights about aesthetic mode and culture forms. Compose multimedia expression (“screen self–
portrait”) of your experienced identity, public/private & quantified/qualitative, strictly for personal reflection. Omitting description in favor of creative logic, discuss in Poetics the design attempts and rationale.
- This “self expression” will include elements in multiple modes, beyond simply illustrating; aesthetic logic and network rhetoric; and materials from your “personal databases”: stories and details from autobiography, school, community, and entertainment (no research/sources). The multimedia used—audio, video, images of all sorts—will be combination of found & original/created, digitally manipulated (sample, remix, mash-up). We will test and practice using various software during and outside class; no prior experience with digital authoring is necessary!
- Warm-up: Exercise 4 (due 14-Nov): Sensory Experience Quantified & Unclassifiable (10 points)
Part II
- Poetics (300−500 words, 5 points): discuss how addressing key aims and using media forms purposefully (digital rhetoric)
- Reflection (400−500 words, 5 points): insights from composing, including aesthetic mode and self-knowledge (most important)
Exercises (short compositions)
500 words unless noted
Posted to personal blog (or D2L), these informal compositions illustrate attentive reading of assigned materials, progress toward project, and engagement with class topics relative to schedule. Credit is assigned for (1) submitting on-time; (2) demonstrating attention to class topics, content knowledge, and critical thinking, particularly by describing insights and connections; (3) providing thoughtful and relevant responses to prompts, through specialized discourse; (4) with specific examples from personal knowledge and/or respective readings, (5) while extending rhetorical knowledge and mastery of writing conventions, practicing efficient prose (i.e. minimizing /avoiding summary, repetition, digression, and unnecessary discussion).
Prompts and tentative due dates:
Exercise 1 (due 09-Sep): Story & Belief Conventions —project 1 warm-up (10 points)
Instructions Page
Exercise 2 (due 03-Oct): Annotated Bibliography — project 2 warm-up (3 sources, 5 points)
Exercise 3 (due 10-Oct): Rhetorical Analysis — for webtext project 2 (10 points)
Optional Exercise Transformation: Belief-Story into Info –or– Info/Argument into Story
Instructions page
Exercise 4 (due 14-Nov): Sensory Experience Quantified & Unclassifiable (10 points)
Optional Exercise (bonus points)
Paradigm Rhetoric — Another Worldview
Exercise 5 (due 12-Dec): “Worldview Screen” (portfolio + reflection; 5 points)
Extra Credit Opportunities
1) Discussion participation: post (additional) comments reply to classmates with multimedia (audio/video)
* Note: all comments must be productive, relevant, perceptive, and above all respectful in order to receive credit.
2) Blog credit: compose an additional entry; e.g. about readings/culture, or Project self-evaluation & reflection
3) Assignment credit: compose an additional/optional exercise (see prompts); revise/resubmit Project 1 or Project 2
Blog Writing
- 6 informal entries (minimum) throughout term
- 200 words + classmate comment
- Credit/no credit assigned
Throughout the semester, due when specified, you will write informal entries to engage content, apply concepts, and practice acquired discourse (key terms) as progress in units toward projects. These entries are longer and more thoughtful than “discussion comments,” but not formal academic essay style; they are ungraded, receiving full/partial/no credit. Consider as low-stakes opportunity to discuss and test new ideas relating to our readings and culture studied: note relevant observations, post associative links & media, pose questions, describe insights—particularly connections between texts/issues and information or examples external to class. Occasionally, specific prompts, suggestions, or further instructions will be provided. The simplest approach is combining one specific point from class with observed/personal example. An enjoyable and productive effort toward our study, blogging offers opportunity for several objectives: practice engaging issues critically; articulating ideas, developing scholarly voice in writing; discussing material with classmates.
* For each assigned due date, one brief comment responding to a classmate’s entry is also required.
- Blogging serves a key function in our learning process, particularly for reflexive knowledge: generating & sharing notes on assigned materials, for later application; recognizing relevant content/examples for project; using specialized terms, testing new types of writing, and using media forms.