by on October 26, 2015

Submitting Project 3

This is the post for the Monday, October 26, 2015 class meeting.

Sad cat wearing a witch's hat with the caption, Forgot to spell checkImportant Dates

  • Today: Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source due by 11:59 PM
  • Mon, Nov 2: Project 3 grace period ends at 11:59 PM

PSAs

Canvas Documentation

Submitting Your Project

Follow these instructions to upload your work, add the reflection comments, and submit your work.

  1. Go to our course in Canvas.
  2. Choose Assignments from the left sidebar.
  3. Choose "Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source."
  4. Click the big Submit Assignment button on the upper right. You’ll see this submission form:
    URL submission in Canvas
  5. Paste the URL to the front page of your portfolio in the Website URL box.
  6. Type your reflection comments in the Comments… box (indicated by the orange arrow):
    • Tell me what grade you aimed for (e.g., I aimed for a B+ by including headings and …..).
    • Tell me anything else you want me to know before I grade your project.
  7. Click the Submit Assignment button, and your work will be turned in.

Homework

For today, please do the following:

  • Turn in Project 3 by 11:59PM, if possible. Otherwise, take advantage of the grace period.

Later This Week

Wednesday, we’ll go over more Project 4 examples and other remixes.

Friday, we’ll look at some tools you can use to make your remixes.


 
Last updated on 26th October, 2015, 11:24 AM
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by on October 23, 2015

Web Essay Revision

This is the post for the Friday, October 23, 2015 class meeting.

Kitten sleeping on keyboard with the title, This is revision, right?Important Dates

  • Mon, Oct 26: Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source due by 11:59 PM
  • Mon, Nov 2: Project 3 grace period ends at 11:59 PM

PSAs

Revising Your Project

Spend class time today working on Project 3, by completing these activities:

  1. Review the feedback from your peer reader(s) (Canvas Documentation), and note the things you still need to work on.
  2. Begin by working through the Project 3 Web Essay Checklist. Use the checklist to determine what you have done and what you still need to do.
  3. If you need a second opinion, ask the classmate who is sitting beside you.
  4. Work on whatever you still need to do based on peer review, the checklist, and (if relevant) what the person sitting beside you suggests.
  5. Complete the "What I Need" quiz in Canvas to help me be sure I cover whatever you need next week.

Homework

For today, please do the following:

  • If you didn’t complete your "What I Need" quiz in Canvas, please use the grace period to finish by 5:30 PM Sunday (10/25).

For Monday’s session (10/26), do the following before class:

  • Be ready to turn in your project in class (unless you are taking advantage of the grace period).
  • Monday will be the last day we will discuss the web essay in class.

 
Last updated on 23rd October, 2015, 9:14 AM
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Project 3 Web Essay Checklist

As you finalize your project, make sure that you have taken care of these requirements for the project:

  1. Use a clear and unique title that fits your web essay and only your web essay. If that title can go on the essay of anyone in the class, it’s not specific enough.

  2. Cover all of the following areas of analysis (see the textbook for help on these concepts) in your web essay:

    • Rhetorical situation: Audience, Purpose, Context, Author, and Genre.
    • Design choices: Emphasis, Contrast, Organization, Alignment, and Proximity.
    • Modes of communication: Linguistic, Visual, Spatial, Aural, and Gestural.
    • Affordances and constraints

  3. Include well-integrated evidence (e.g., quotations, images, screenshots, audio clips, video clips) that enhances and reinforces your analysis. Be sure that you refer to the evidence in the linguistic text of your essay and that the images are placed near those references.   

  4. Set up clear navigation between/among the pages of your web essay.

  5. Check your links to make sure everything works. Even though it seems dull and boring and you are certain everything works, check them. Go to each page of your web essay, click on the links on that page, and make sure that they go to where they are supposed to.

  6. Proofread all your page carefully. Use the "Proofread Writing" tool in WordPress (shown below).
    Proofread tool in WordPress
    For an extra check, you can copy the contents out, page-by-page, to your word processor and use the tool’s spelling and grammar checker.


 
Last updated on 23rd October, 2015, 9:12 AM
by on October 21, 2015

Web Essay Peer Review

This is the post for the Wednesday, October 21, 2015 class meeting.

Typing cat (asleep on the keyboard) needs to finish essayImportant Dates

  • Wed, Oct 21: Project 3 Peer Review in class
  • Mon, Oct 26: Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source due by 11:59 PM
  • Mon, Nov 2: Project 3 grace period ends at 11:59 PM

PSAs

Canvas Documentation (in case you get stuck)

Peer Review Activity

Respond to the two drafts you have been assigned for Peer Feedback, following these instructions:

  • Follow the Canvas Documentation to find the drafts you have been assigned. Note that you must have turned in your draft on time to be assigned peer review partners.
  • Write a response to each of the two drafts (Canvas Documentation) that includes the following information:
    1. Check the title of the web essay, and tell your partner if it is unique and appropriate.
    2. Try out the web essay’s navigation, and let the author know if it is clear and useful (and/or how to improve it).
    3. Check the web essay for the required content, and let the author know if anything is missing. You should find the following information:
      • rhetorical situation
      • design choices
      • modes of communication
      • affordances
      • constraints
    4. Add comments on the content of the web essay. Comment on at least three things your classmate does well and at least three things that your classmate could improve on.
    5. If you notice any spelling errors, punctuation errors, or typos, you can mention them in your comments, but please focus more on the content than editing and proofreading.
  • If you finish giving people feedback, you can begin revising your web essay, based on the feedback you have received.

Homework

For today, please do the following:

  • Revise your site based on the peer feedback you received, using the Canvas Documentation to find your peers’ feedback.
  • If you didn’t complete feedback for the classmates assigned to you, please do so immediately. Your classmates are waiting to hear from you.

For Friday’s session (10/23), do the following before class:

  • Continue work on your project and have whatever you need to work on your project in class.
  • Be prepared to show me your work in class. We’ll do mini-conferences.

For Monday’s session (10/26), do the following before class:

  • Be ready to turn in your project in class (unless you are taking advantage of the grace period).
  • Monday will be the last day we will discuss the web essay in class.

 
Last updated on 19th October, 2015, 11:43 PM
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by on October 19, 2015

Web Essay Navigation

This is the post for the Monday, October 19, 2015 class meeting.

Spongebob characters: That face you make when you realize you had homeworkImportant Dates

  • Tue, Oct 20: Post link to your web essay for peer review by 11:59 PM
  • Wed, Oct 21: Project 3 Peer Review in class
  • Mon, Oct 26: Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source due by 11:59 PM

PSAs

Navigation for Your Web Essays

Your assignment is a multi-page web essay. Your challenge is to make sure that readers can find all the pages of your essay. You need to chunk out your essay into pages that make structural sense and that avoid the tl;dr effect by making sure you have the right amount of text for each page.

We will talk about the examples from last week’s post and the Project 3 Navigation Options. The short version of my advice is as follows:

  • Every page should tell readers what it’s about by using titles, introductory summaries, headings, and so forth.
  • The essay’s navigation should be obvious. Readers should not have to look for it.
  • More than one navigation option helps readers who think differently.
  • Think about the affordances and constraints of the system(s) you choose: what does it allow? what does it prevent?
  • Fit your navigation to your essay. Don’t just copy the examples. Make them fit. Make them yours.

Preparing for Peer Review

Post the link to your Project 3 rough drafts for Peer Feedback by 11:59 PM on Tuesday, October 20. Submit whatever you have, and remember that your link won’t change even if you continue working.

Follow these instructions to post your draft:

  • Go to Discussions in Canvas.
  • Choose the "Peer Review for Project 3" discussion.
  • Post a reply to the Discussion (Canvas Documentation) that includes the following information in the body of the message:
    • Provide the link to your draft, which can be on your WordPress site or a share link to a Google Doc.
      • Make sure you set the share permissions properly. If your readers can’t get to your document, they can’t give you feedback.
    • Ask your readers to look at anything you are trying to improve.
    • Let them know the kind of advice you need.
    • Explain anything that you are still working on (so they won’t waste time commenting on something you know is incomplete).

In-Class Writing

Go to Quizzes in Canvas, and choose the "Web Essay Navigation" to tell me the navigation plans you are considering for your web essay. I will respond to them on Wednesday, in class, while you work on peer review.

Homework

By 11:59 PM on Tuesday (10/20), do the following:

  • Post the link to the first page of your web essay to the Peer Review for Project 3 Discussion in Canvas, following the instructions above.
  • If you do not post a link, you cannot be assigned peer review partners and will receive a zero for the activity.
  • If you didn’t complete your "Web Essay Navigation" quiz in Canvas, please use the grace period to finish by 11:59 PM Tuesday (10/20).

For Wednesday’s session (10/21), do the following before class:

  • If you posted your link on time, you will complete peer review for two classmates (who may be in either the 10:10 or the 11:15 class).
  • If you failed to post your link on time, use the time in class to work on your project.

For Friday’s session (10/23), do the following before class:

  • Continue work on your project and have whatever you need to work on your project in class.
  • Be prepared to show me your work in class.

For Monday’s session (10/26), do the following before class:

  • Be ready to turn in your project in class (unless you are taking advantage of the grace period).
  • Monday will be the last day we will discuss the web essay in class.

 
Last updated on 19th October, 2015, 1:41 AM
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by on October 14, 2015

Web Essay Work Day 2

This is the post for the Wednesday, October 14, 2015 class meeting.

Wow-completely-unnecessary-meme-7781Important Dates

  • October 16: Fall Break (no class meeting, woohoo!)
  • October 21: Project 3 Peer Review
  • October 26: Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source due by 11:59 PM

Choosing Images

The images you include in your web essay should contribute to the analysis you are presenting. If they don’t directly relate to the points you are making, they are "completely unnecessary."

Using what you learned from the Lynda.com video "Stock images are a waste of space" brainstorm about how you can use images in your web essay in the Padlet for your class:

If you can’t think of ideas, consider how images are used in Writer/Designer to illustrate the concepts of the rhetorical situation. design choices, modes of communication, and affordances and constraints.

Integrating Media

As you use media in your analysis, integrate the resources into your essay. The process is similar to the strategy you use when adding quotations to an essay. For a non-literary example, think about how a newscaster talks about a video of an eyewitness account of an event or how a sportscaster talks about a replay of a key play. Here’s one example:

  1. Introduce the media specifically.
    • Tell readers what the media is.
    • Preview why the media is there.
  2. Insert the media, and adjust the alignment so it fits into the surrounding linguistic text.
  3. Explain why the media is there (e.g., how does it contribute to the point you are making).
  4. Be sure that you add documentation for the image if you did not take/make it yourself.

You can refer to these resources from Project 1 as well:

In-Class Writing

You will work on your project in class, but you do not need to complete any quiz or post. If you have any question you don’t have a chance to ask in class, send me an email.

Homework

For Friday (10/16), have a nice day off. Enjoy your break weekend.

For Monday’s session (10/19), do the following before class:

For Wednesday’s session (10/21), do the following before class:

  • Post the link to a draft of your web essay ready for peer review by 11:59 PM on 10/20 (no grace period).
  • If you do not post a link, you cannot be assigned peer review partners.

 
Last updated on 22nd October, 2015, 11:28 PM
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by on October 12, 2015

Web Essay Work Day 1

This is the post for the Monday, October 12, 2015 class meeting.

Panda on a rocking horse, with the caption: Some of us are trying to workImportant Dates

  • October 16: Fall Break (no class meeting)
  • October 21: Project 3 Peer Review
  • October 26: Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source due by 11:59 PM

A Simple Way to Think of P3

The reading for today (pp. 40–45 of Writer/Designer) talks about the what and the how:

  • the what is the content of your text
  • the how is the form your text takes

If you read the text closely, you will see that they also discuss why (the reasons that the text takes the form it does).

Project 3 asks you to look at these same ideas. You will write about how the text is constructed and then consider why the text has been constructed that way. We looked at Web Design for Babies, as an example.

  • For the What
    We discussed that the book was meant for web designer family members to share their work with their children. While the book outlines some facts about web design, we discussed that the baby readers would be unlikely to learn the information from the book.
  • For the How
    We talked about how it was made as a board book with bright colors and simple drawings.
  • For the Why
    We talked about how the book’s audience was babies, who would do less damage to the thick, cardboard pages and would have an easier time turning the pages. Further, we talked about how babies would be attracted to the bright colors and simple cartoon characters.

Your analysis will be more complex, as you need to cover the rhetorical situation, the design choices, the modes of communication, and the affordances and constraints.

A Possible Process to Follow

  1. Begin by familiarizing yourself with the source, if you haven’t looked at it in while. You might want to reread it or at least skim through the text.
  2. Use the Writer/Designer Analysis Questions worksheet to gather information on how your story source works. Aim for good, strong details about your text.
  3. Review your information and think about why the text has been made the way it has been.
    • Why the particular design choices?
    • Why the particular modes of communication?
    • How do affordances and constraints figure into the reasons why?
  4. Write your web essay based on all the information you have gathered.
  5. Add navigational structures to help a reader move through your essay.
  6. Add documentation to the web essay by citing your story source (and any other resources you quoted from). These tools can help:

Examples

Here are examples of web essays written for a similar assignment. Rather than analyzing how a story source works, students were analyzing how an online tool works:

  1. WhenInTime
  2. TimelineJS
  3. Text 2 Mind Map
  4. Inklewriter
  5. Thinklink
  6. MindMup

As you look at the examples, notice how they created navigation among the pages and how they incorporate examples from the sites they were analyzing. All the web essays are comprised of multiple pages, but you may have to look around to find the additional pages. Think about which are the most effective as you make decisions for your own web essay.

In-Class Writing

You will work on your project in class, but you do not need to complete any quiz or post.

Homework

For Wednesday’s session (10/12), do the following before class:

  • Watch the Lynda.com video "Stock images are a waste of space" (3m 15s). Be ready to brainstorm about how you can use images in your web essay in class. We’ll spend 10 to 15 minutes on discussion.
  • Bring whatever you need with you to work in class. You will have the remaining 35 to 40 minutes to work in class while I check on everyone’s progress.

For Friday, have a nice day off. Enjoy your break weekend.

For Monday’s session (10/19), do the following before class:

  • Review the examples posted above, and be ready to discuss how their navigation works in class.
  • Bring whatever you need with you to work in class.

 
Last updated on 14th October, 2015, 2:14 AM
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by on October 9, 2015

Sources and Assets

This is the post for the Friday, October 9, 2015 class meeting.

Important Dates

  • October 16: Fall Break (no class meeting)
  • October 21: Project 3 Peer Review
  • October 26: Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source due by 11:59 PM

What to Track and How

For Projects 3 and 4, you will need to find sources and assets, like sound clips, video clips, photographs, cartoons, and so forth to include in your project.

  1. sources and assetsTo start, we’ll talk about sources and assets.
  2. Be sure to consult Chapter 4 of Writer/Designer, which has lots of information on gathering resources, permissions and fair use, and tracking what you find.
  3. Make a copy of the Project 4 Source List Template and track your sources there. See the assignment on pp. 62–63 (“A Multimodal Annotated Source List, Part 1”) for the information to include in your annotations.
  4. Alternately, you can use your own system, like the Winnie the Pooh Sources blog entries. You might also clip info to Evernote (tutorials: web, win, mac) or pin resources with Pinterest (tutorial). Whatever works for you, but have a system and start tracking things now. You can use the working comparison notes to help decide if Evernote or Pinterest is right for you.

NOTE: Finding assets is not a requirement for Project 3, but you will find it pays to keep track of possible assets that you find. Nothing is more frustrating than knowing that you saw something you could use and then not being able to find it again.

Choosing and Using Assets

I have posted tips for finding assets for your projects on the FAQ site. Here’s the short version: Unless you take the photo, record the audio, or film an event yourself, you need to be sure that it’s okay to use it in your writing.

If you are using traditional documentation, these tools can help:

Make the documentation system you choose fit the genre that you are using. For instance, videos do not use MLA citations. We’ll talk more about this when we get to Project 4.

Remember that assets you make yourself can be simple. Take advantage of your own creativity. Anything you make, you can use freely. Consider the approaches of The Christmas Snake or Don Quixote and the Giants.

For sources and assets that you have acquired, rather than created. Work through these FAQs for details and resources, including places to find assets that you can use freely (as long as you credit your source):

In-Class Writing

There are two things for you to submit:

  1. Go to Quizzes in Canvas.
  2. Choose the "What’s Your Story?" quiz.
  3. Answer the questions, and submit your quiz.
  4. Go back to the Quizzes page.
  5. Choose "November Class Survey" under the Surveys heading.
  6. Answer the questions and submit your anonymous survey.

Homework

For today’s session (10/09), please do the following:

  • If you didn’t complete your "What’s Your Story?" quiz in Canvas and/or your "November Class Survey" in Canvas, please use the grace period to finish by 5:30 PM Sunday (10/11).

For Monday’s session (10/12), do the following before class:

  • Read pp. 40–45 of Writer/Designer (in Chapter 3). We’ll review the techniques for analyzing the what, how, and why of your texts.
  • You will have time to work on you projects in class on Monday. Bring whatever you need with you to work (e.g., the source you are analyzing)

For Wednesday’s session (10/12), do the following before class:

  • I’ll address any questions that come up as you worked on Monday.
  • You will have time to work on you projects in class on Wednesday. Bring whatever you need with you to work (e.g., the source you are analyzing)

For Friday, have a nice day off. Enjoy your break weekend.


 
Last updated on 9th October, 2015, 9:49 AM
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by on October 7, 2015

Writer/Designer Choices

This is the post for the Wednesday, October 7, 2015 class meeting.

Important Dates

  • Woman wearing orange and yellow netting dress: Bad design... is sometimes best left in a Dr. Seuss bookOctober 16: Fall Break (no class meeting)
  • October 21: Project 3 Peer Review
  • October 26: Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source due by 11:59 PM

Moving from How to Why

We have done several activities where you determined how a text works (using the Writer/Designer Analysis Questions). Today we will practice identifying why it works the way it does.

Why is a harder question to answer, because it depends upon the complex interplay of all the ways the text works. You can guess certain things easily about the choices someone has made, but some details will be more nuanced.

Remember too that the text may fail. They author or publisher may have made certain choices to reach a particular audience. You may be able to determine why they made the choices, but it’s legitimate to note when those choices do not achieve the intended goal.

Board Book Example

We’ll take a look at Web Design for Babies (Codebabies Books, 2012), and talk about why it was made the way it has been and whether it’s successful.

Group Analysis Activity

We’ll arrange into groups of two or three. Each group will take a different text from the list and analyze it. You will report back to the whole class. Be ready to tell us why the text has been made the way it has been.

  1. Halloween entry in Wikipedia
  2. History of Halloween (History.com)
  3. The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows
  4. Where Does Halloween Come From?
  5. History of Halloween (5-Minute English)
  6. What the hell is Halloween? (Over 9 mins—don’t watch all of it!)
  7. Halloween
  8. Halloween Report
  9. Where Did Halloween Come From?
  10. Halloween History
  11. Halloween Traditions
  12. 13 Strange Facts On Why We Celebrate Halloween

Warning: I did not review every detail on every site. If you run into something problematic (like cultural misappropriation costumes), you can either just skip that detail OR you can make it part of your analysis by thinking about why it’s there and what it communicates.

Reward

If we have time, you will see something you may not do for Project 3 & 4.

Homework

For Friday’s session (10/9), do the following before class:

  • Read Chapter 4 of Writer/Designer. We’ll talk about sources and assets in class.
  • Be ready to tell me the story you have chosen in the in-class writing. You need the story only, not the way you plan to remix it.
  • If you are considering a project that you need feedback on, ask me on Wednesday (or email me before then).

For Monday’s session (10/12), do the following before class:

  • Read pp. 40–45 of Writer/Designer (in Chapter 3). We’ll review the techniques for analyzing the what, how, and why of your texts.
  • You will have time to work on you projects in class on Monday. Bring whatever you need with you to work (e.g., the source you are analyzing)

For Wednesday’s session (10/12), do the following before class:

  • I’ll address any questions that come up as you worked on Monday.
  • You will have time to work on you projects in class on Wednesday. Bring whatever you need with you to work (e.g., the source you are analyzing)

For Friday, have a nice day off. Enjoy your break weekend.


 
Last updated on 7th October, 2015, 2:03 AM
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by on October 5, 2015

Project 3 and 4 Overviews

This is the post for the Monday, October 5, 2015 class meeting.

Important Dates

  • Cat, reading To Kill a Mockingbird says, WTF...this book has absolutely no information on killing birdsOctober 16: Fall Break (no class meeting)
  • October 21: Project 3 Peer Review
  • October 26: Project 3: Interrogate a Story Source due by 11:59 PM

Analysis Feedback

I’m still working through your quizzes from Friday. You will use the same form as you work on Project 3, so I need to look through them carefully.

Project Assignments

Today we will go over:

Homework

For Wednesday’s session (10/7), do the following before class:

  • Review all the options for Project 3 and 4, and begin thinking about the story that you want to explore for these assignments. I will ask you to tell me the story you have chosen on Friday.
  • Be ready to analyze some example story sources in class.
  • If you are considering a project that you need feedback on, ask me on Wednesday (or email me before then).

 
Last updated on 5th October, 2015, 3:20 AM
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