Matt King



WRIT 101: Introduction to Writing StudiesFall 2015Policy Statement – 2 Schedule – 5Assignments – 7 WRIT 101: Introduction to Writing StudiesFall 2015Professor: Matt KingEmail: mrking@sbu.eduPhone: 716.375.2457Office Hours: MW 3:30-5:00 and by appointmentOffice Location: Plassmann D6Class Website: and Creative Writing Major ObjectivesStudents will:Write effective texts in different genres and in multiple media to respond to a variety of professional and creative needs.Construct their own professional identities as writers, readers, and researchers who can make valuable contributions in a variety of professional settings.Interpret cultural, political, and historical situations using specific theories from rhetorical, literary, and writing studies.Display the ethical commitment of writers to improve society.Course DescriptionThis course serves as an introduction to the basic terms and skills necessary to complete the Professional and Creative Writing Major and thus familiarizes students with basic principles of effective writing in several genres. Students will acquire skills in producing and analyzing professional, literary, and rhetorical texts, in developing an effective writing process, and in giving feedback and editing advice to other writers. (3 credits)Course GoalsStudents successfully completing this course will be able toWrite effective short works in several genres: rhetorical, literary, professional, creative;Accurately employ basic terminology of rhetorical and literary analysis;Develop an effective writing process grounded in insights from composition studies;Give useful and supportive feedback to peers on their writing;Produce structurally sound prose at the sentence level;Attend to concerns of modality through the production and remediation of print and digital texts;Demonstrate an awareness of the broader ethical implications of writing as a social activity.Class Texts- The Norton Field Guide to Writing, 3rd ed., Richard Bullock- Other readings available on Moodle and the webGradingAnalysis Paper20%Professional Writing10%Creative Writing 10%Remediation Project20%Electronic Portfolio30%Participation10%TOTAL 100%Late Work. I tend to be flexible concerning late work if you let me know ahead of time. That being said, excessive or unexcused late work will not be acceptable, and I reserve the right to penalize late work in such circumstances (generally, such penalties will be a letter grade for every day an assignment is late). If circumstances prevent you from being able to submit an assignment on time, you should discuss the situation with me ahead of time.Attendance. You should arrive to class on time with all assigned readings and papers for the day completed. You are allowed six absences throughout the semester without a grade penalty (although missing class can affect your participation grade and your ability to succeed in the class generally). If you have 7-8 absences, you cannot receive higher than a C for your semester average. If you have 9-10 absences, you cannot receive higher than a D for your semester average. If you have 11 or more absences, you will receive an F for the semester. For every 3 instances of tardiness, you will incur 1 absence. If you only have 0-1 absences, you will receive a 1/3 letter grade bonus on your semester average.For athletes, students who provide documentation for absences related to athletic competitions will be excused for all such absences. Student athletes can also miss two more class periods throughout the semester without a grade penalty. If you have three or more unexcused (non-athletic) absences throughout the semester, then all of your absences will be counted toward the attendance policy.+/- Grades. Plus and minus grades will be used in awarding final grades for this course. Paper GradesSemester AverageA+ = 98.5A = 95 A- = 91.5 93-100 = A 90-93 = A- B+ = 88.5 B = 85 B- = 81.5 87-90 = B+83-87 = B 80-83 = B- C+ = 78.5 C = 75 C- = 71.577-80 = C+73-77 = C70-73 = C-D+ = 68.5 D = 65D- = 61.5 67-70 = D+63-67 = D60-63 = D-F = 55Less than 60 = FPlassmann Writing Center Revising and responding to feedback will be an invaluable and necessary part of your development as a writer this semester. Toward this end, you are strongly encouraged to visit me during office hours or by appointment, and you are also strongly encouraged to visit the Writing Center in the basement of Plassmann Hall (6A).Academic IntegrityAcademic dishonesty is inconsistent with the moral character expected of students in a University committed to the spiritual and intellectual growth of the whole person. It also subverts the academic process by distorting all measurements. A list of unacceptable practices and procedures to be followed in prosecuting cases of alleged academic dishonesty may be found in the Student Handbook and here.Students with DisabilitiesStudents with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Disability Support Services Office, Doyle Room 26, at 375-2066 as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. Documentation from this office is required before accommodations can be made. Please see the official SBU Student with Disabilities policy here.EmailEmail will serve as an official means of communication for this class, and you should check the email account you have registered with the university regularly. Feel free to email me with your questions and concerns.Title IXTitle IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender are Civil Rights offenses subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected categories such as race, national origin, etc. If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted, you can find the appropriate resources at the Health and Wellness Center or at the Campus Safety Office. For on-campus reporting, see the Title IX Coordinator (Sharon Burke, Director of Human Resources) and Residence Life Staff (RAs, RDs, and other professional staff). The University's policy and procedures regarding gender-based and sexual misconduct can be found online.In the event of an emergency, call Campus Safety at 716-375-2525 or contact Nichole Gonzalez, Residential Living and Conduct, 716-375-2572, ngonzale@sbu.edu. Be aware that most university employees are mandated reporters.WRIT 101 - ScheduleDateMajor Due Dates; Homework (due day listed); In class?NFG = Norton Field Guide to WritingM 8/31Introduction to CourseW 9/2Read Burke on “Orientation” (Moodle) and selections from?NFG: “Rhetorical Situations” (1-18), “Writing as Inquiry” (251-254), and “Generating Ideas and Text” (259-265)F 9/4WordPress Assignment dueM 9/7Read Wallace, “Ticket to the Fair” (Moodle)W 9/9Read NFG “Analyzing Texts” (52-81)F 9/11Wallace Analysis dueM 9/14Read Harris on “Coming to Terms” and “Taking an Approach” (Moodle); Discuss analysis samplesW 9/16Read NFG “Drafting,” “Assessing Your Own Writing,” “Getting Response and Revising,” and “Editing and Proofreading” (266-286)F 9/18Read Harris on “Revising” (Moodle)M 9/21Rhetorical Analysis due for peer reviewsW 9/23Rhetorical Analysis due with revisions; Paper reflectionsF 9/25Read Haiku handout and NFG “Literary Analyses” (81-86)M 9/28Read Alice Munro’s “Haven” (Moodle); Begin drafting Short Literary Analysis (bring a substantial paragraph or two to class)W 9/30Short Literary Analysis dueF 10/2Find the literary text you want to analyze for the Literary Analysis and begin to take notes on itM 10/5Read Nabokov and Frost (Moodle)W 10/7Literary Analysis due for peer reviewF 10/9Literary Analysis due with revisions; write Paper Reflection, complete surveyM 10/12Midterm BreakW 10/14ConferencesF 10/16ConferencesM 10/19Analysis Paper due; Look at professional sites: HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Self-published, highly HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" successful, and some HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" advice (and some HYPERLINK "" \l "comment-20" \t "_blank" more)W 10/21Read?NFG Ch. 16: Profiles, Ch. 53: Designing Text, and Meanjin profileF 10/23Complete draft of one part of Professional Writing assignmentM 10/26Read profiles HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" here, HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" here, HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" here, and HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" here, and complete draft of other part of Professional Writing assignment; Discuss profilesW 10/28Professional Writing due for peer review; Handout on memosF 10/30ConferencesM 11/2Professional Writing due with revisionsW 11/4Read the November issue of Flash Fiction Online (“The Brownies of Death,” “Rewind,” “Vaquera,” and “Sapience and Maternal Instinct”) and write a workshop-style critique of one of the stories; Flash fiction promptsF 11/6Work on writing your flash fiction; Flash fiction invention activitiesM 11/9Read Guidelines for Workshopping; Writing Workshop: Riley (Brooke), Holly (Luis)W 11/11Writing Workshop: Luis (Holly), Diana (Sarah), Everest (Kelly)F 11/13Writing Workshop: Kelly (Riley), Shannon (Ryan), Brooke (Neena)M 11/16Writing Workshop: Ryan (Diana), Neena (Shannon), Sarah (Everest)W 11/18ConferencesF 11/20Creative Writing due; Discuss remediationM 11/23Prepare storyboard for the A/V component of the Remediation Project (outline/drawing that captures how the audio and video will unfold); A/V workshop (with samples)M 11/30Discuss fair use, accessibilityW 12/2Work dayF 12/4Remediation due for peer reviewsM 12/7ConferencesW 12/9Work dayF 12/11Remediation dueT 12/15Electronic Portfolio dueWordPress AssignmentThis first short assignment will require two steps. One of our main assignments this semester (“Electronic Portfolio”) will involve developing a website that you create and use specifically for this class. I will ask you to use the same platform I use for my website: WordPress. To get started, go ahead and create a WordPress account and think about what you would like to name your site. You don’t necessarily need to share this site beyond our class, so you are welcome to use a name that is mainly functional or fun. You might consider using this as the foundation of a professional site (something you use beyond this class), and in that case, it would help to use your name for the site or something else that captures your professional identity.Once you have decided on a name, go ahead and register your own WordPress site. For our class purposes, there is no need to pay for anything, although you are welcome to do so for your own purposes if you would like to register your domain name or get more functionality. You can start playing around to your heart’s content (this overview might help), and we’ll discuss WP together soon.The second step of this assignment asks you to create a new page or post on your site. This short writing (450-700 words) asks you to reflect on the role that writing, rhetoric, and digital technologies play in your life. Your thinking should address the following prompts and questions. Feel free to take advantage of the functionality offered by WordPress (adding links, embedding images or videos, etc.) however you are inspired to do so.What role does writing play in your life? What does writing mean to you? What makes writing unique as a mode of communication, expression, or connecting with others?Kenneth Burke’s thinking on “orientation” helps us consider how our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, and values shape and constrain our ways of encountering and responding to the world around us. These “bundles of judgments” help us see the world in a particular way, but they also function as “trained incapacities” that limit our perspectives. How would you describe your orientation? What are some of the main influences shaping your thinking about the world, whether familial, educational, social, political, religious, personal (coming from within), or otherwise? What attitudes, values, and beliefs have these influences instilled in you? In what ways does this orientation function as a trained incapacity? What types of people, experiences, or perspectives are you less likely to listen to or seek out or recognize because of your orientation toward the world?What digital technologies and writing platforms do you use? Do you use them for social, personal, professional, creative, political, artistic, academic, etc., reasons? How so? How do they shape your life, your interests, and your ways of interacting with other people and the world around you? How do they shape your orientation toward the world? In what ways do they create trained incapacities?Wallace AnalysisOur first venture into rhetorical analysis asks you to focus on David Foster Wallace’s “Ticket to the Fair.” This assignment builds from our other recent readings on analysis, orientation, and the rhetorical situation as well. You should post your analysis to your class site as a post or a page, and your writing should be about 500-700 words.As we discussed in class, this sort of analysis involves three main moves: 1) situate the text you are analyzing in a larger context or conversation, 2) add your perspective on the text to the conversation, and 3) offer evidence to support this perspective by pointing to specific details and observations from the text and analyzing them. Or, if you prefer, we could follow the Norton Field Guide‘s approach outlined on pages 70-81: read to see what the text says, decide what you want to analyze, think about the larger context, consider what you know about the writer, study how the text works, analyze the argument, and come up with a thesis. Either way, you want to ground your thinking in specific details from the text and to work from these details to a larger insight, perspective, argument, or conclusion.To better understand “how the text works,” it could help to draw on some of our main terms and concepts. You don’t need to answer all or even any of these questions, but focusing on one or more of these questions could be a good way to generate a larger insight and to offer a particular perspective on Wallace’s article.Purpose. What is Wallace’s purpose? What does he hope to achieve here? (There’s probably more than one answer.) Why is this purpose important or relevant or interesting for this particular audience? How successful or persuasive is Wallace in achieving this purpose?Audience. Who is Wallace’s audience? How is his writing oriented toward this particular audience? What aspects of the writing would this audience find appealing or compelling?Genre. What genre does Wallace write in? Are there any ways that he pushes our understanding of this genre? How does his use of generic conventions (or his ability to work against generic conventions) shape our understanding of this text?Stance. What perspective does Wallace offer? How is this perspective important, relevant, and/or persuasive? How does this perspective contribute to our larger understanding of the conversation that it participates in?Media/Design. This might seem less immediately relevant for our purposes, but we could potentially consider why it is important that Wallace communicates these ideas through an essay rather than, for example, a televised news report. So, this does give us an opportunity to focus on his use of language as a medium.Rhetorical Appeals. Writers can appeal to us at the level of logic and reasoning, emotion and value, and character. How does Wallace advance a particular line of reasoning? What attitudes or assumptions would his audience need to have in order to go along with this reasoning? What sort of emotional response are we meant to have to the article, and why would this be appropriate for Wallace’s purpose? What values does it embody? How can we analyze the article through the lens of character, whether Wallace’s character or the character of people he discusses?Kairos. This concept helps us focus on timing. In what ways does Wallace respond to the time of this writing? In what ways is this article appropriate for or indicative of the time it was written? For example, we gestured toward the concept of irony in our class discussion. In some ways, an orientation toward irony fits with East Coast intellectualism, but it also resonates with the cultural attitude of the 1990s in general. So, are there ways that this article embodies the time or responds to or pushes back on the dominant attitude of the time?Context/Conversation. How does Wallace participate in conversations on regional identity, orientation, capitalism and corporate sponsorship, journalism, etc.? How does he contribute to or shape our understanding of these topics?Rhetorical AnalysisThis assignment gives you an opportunity to take up a text or topic of your choosing as an object of rhetorical analysis. Framing this analysis as “rhetorical” opens a range of possible concerns and perspectives for us to address: the purpose of the text, how it affects us, how it participates in social and cultural conversations, etc. In your analysis, your should aim to contribute to our understanding of the text, to offer a particular insight or perspective that adds to our thinking about the text or a conversation in which it participates. Our understanding of “text” can be broad here as well. Possibilities include people (celebrities, musicians, athletes, politicians, etc.), articles, songs, television shows, movies, advertisements, video games, events (state fairs, political debates, award shows), places – anything that we can take up as an object of analysis. The main criterion to consider here will be scale. We will be aiming for about 1200-1600 words, so you will need to focus your analysis on a text that you can effectively address in this range.As with the Wallace analysis, we are aiming for three main moves here: 1) situate the text you are analyzing in a larger context or conversation, 2) add your perspective on the text to the conversation, and 3) offer evidence to support this perspective by pointing to specific details and observations from the text and analyzing them. From our recent readings, we have a few different models that can help us work toward developing a larger perspective, insight, argument, or conclusion:Analyze the text through the lens of key rhetorical terms: purpose, audience, genre, stance, medium, rhetorical appeal, and/or kairos.Follow the Norton Field Guide‘s approach to analysis (70-81): read to see what the text says, decide what you want to analyze, think about the larger context, consider what you know about the writer, study how the text works, analyze the argument, and come up with a thesis.Follow Harris’s “coming to terms” and “taking an approach” model. “Coming to terms” involves defining the project of the text you are analyzing and assessing its uses and limitations. “Taking an approach” involves drawing on a particular perspective or influence to guide your analysis.There is a good amount of overlap between these approaches, but you are welcome to focus on whichever approach you find most helpful. Looking back over the samples we have encountered so far (Wallace’s article and the samples from the Norton Field Guide), we can see these different models in action. For example, Wallace offers an analysis of the state fair that considers its purpose, its audience, and how it appeals to this audience. His argument resonates with notions of purpose, audience, and genre – for Wallace, we can think of state fairs (for Midwesterners) and natural retreats (for East Coasters) as two different options in the larger genre of “escapes from daily life.” We could also say that Wallace “takes an approach” in his analysis of the fair, an approach grounded in the orientation of the East Coast intellectual.Your analysis should be accessible on your course site. You are welcome to draw on the functionality of WordPress by embedding images, videos, or links to enhance your analysis as you see fit.Short Literary AnalysisThis short assignment (600-800 words) asks you to practice close reading by analyzing one of our four haiku (or comparing two of them) or Alice Munro’s “Haven.” We can once again draw on Harris’s notion of “coming to terms,” particularly the first two steps: defining an author’s project and identifying keywords and passages.Close reading tends to begin with a focus on keywords and passages, with closely attending to specific details, word choices, and uses of language. If you are focusing on a haiku, you can think about the poem overall. If you are focusing on “Haven,” you can focus on a specific passage or a series of words and passages that connect together in some way. Either way, your analysis should focus on specific uses of language (for example, word choice, punctuation, perspective, patterns in nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) and how they contribute to our understanding of the text.Ultimately, you should offer a claim, insight, or perspective that emerges out of your analysis. Following Harris, we can frame this as a definition of the author’s project. What sort of perspective does the author offer, and how is this perspective shaped by the specific uses of language that you analyzed? How do these specific details contribute to and shape our understanding of larger themes in the text? Your analysis will likely involve detecting connections, patterns, and/or tensions between different uses of language, so how do these shape the meaning of the text?To submit your short literary analysis, publish it on your class site as a post, page, or file attachment.Literary AnalysisThis paper (1200-1600 words) asks you to practice close reading by analyzing a literary text of your choice. We can once again draw on Harris’s notion of “coming to terms,” particularly the first two steps: defining an author’s project and identifying keywords and passages.Close reading tends to begin with a focus on keywords and passages, with closely attending to specific details, word choices, and uses of language. Your analysis should focus on specific uses of language (for example, word choice, punctuation, perspective, patterns in nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) and how they contribute to our understanding of the text. Ultimately, you should offer a claim, insight, or perspective that emerges out of your analysis. Following Harris, we can frame this as a definition of the author’s project. What sort of perspective does the author offer, and how is this perspective shaped by the specific uses of language that you analyzed? How do these specific details contribute to and shape our understanding of larger themes in the text? Your analysis will likely involve detecting connections, patterns, and/or tensions between different uses of language, so how do these shape the meaning of the text?To submit your short literary analysis, publish it on your class site as a post, page, or file attachment.Analysis PaperThis assignment involves taking either your Rhetorical Analysis or Literary Analysis and revising it further. These revisions should happen over two steps. First, you should revise your work based on my written feedback before we meet for individual conferences. During the individual conference, you will receive further feedback for another set of revisions. The expectations for each assignment remain the same with one difference: the length requirement for the Analysis Paper is 1500-2500 words. You should publish your work on your class site as either a post, a page, or an attachment.Professional WritingThis assignment asks you to pick a publication or publisher to analyze and to write for. This publication/publisher can be large or small, old or new, print or digital, corporate giant or independent, literary or something else (cultural, musical, political, economic, sports-focused, etc.). It could be a newspaper, magazine, website, book publisher, record label, etc. For literary magazines, you might search the list on HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Poets & Writers?(you can search by genre and subgenre, and there are over 1000 magazines listed!). For independent publishers, a few lists might be helpful, including those from HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Flavorwire and HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" New Pages. Once you have selected a publication/publisher, you should produce two texts: a rhetorical analysis of the publication and a profile of it.Rhetorical AnalysisThis component of the assignment should be about 500-700 words, and it draws on similar skills and strategies as our previous analysis papers. Your analysis should focus on 2-4 aspects of how the publication presents itself as a text. This will likely include some combination of attention to content, images, and design. In this sense, you can consider the sort of content that gets published, images and advertisements incorporated into the publication, cover design, font and other stylistic markers, use of color and contrast, layout, etc. Attention to these details and aspects of the publication will allow you to address two further concerns. First, how do these textual features shape our understanding of the publication? How would you describe the orientation of the publication – its style, character, values, and identity – based on these features? What makes this publication unique? Next, consider the audience for the publication. If you have a good sense for what sort of audience this publication has, comment on how these textual features and the publication’s orientation appeal to this audience. If you don’t have a sense for the publication’s audience, comment on what sort of audience would likely be drawn toward the publication based on its textual features and orientation. The rhetorical analysis should be accessible on your site as a post, page, or attachment.ProfileFor this component of the assignment, imagine yourself as an employee of the publication working on promotional material. You are creating this profile in order to capture relevant information about the publication but also to promote it, to highlight the orientation of the publication and what makes this publication unique, and to appeal to potential subscribers. You should aim to do all of this at the level of content and design – that is, you should be mindful of possibilities for using or attending to images, other visuals, fonts, layout, etc. You are welcome to use WordPress, Word, Photoshop, or any other software or platform that helps you achieve the results you want. In terms of content, refer to the chapter on profiles from?The Norton Field Guide to Writing, particularly pages 198-204. You will need to include any necessary or helpful background information about the publication, but it will also hope to offer an interesting angle on what makes this publication unique, what defines its identity and orientation (it will likely help to draw on the thinking from your rhetorical analysis). The HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Meanjin profile could be a helpful point of reference. If you are approaching this is a document, it should be roughly a page – that is, something that a potential reader could hold in their hand to get a quick sense for the publication and why they would want to read it. If you are approaching this as a page on your site, then a comparable length will work. Along these lines, the profile doesn’t need to be long, just substantial and persuasive. The profile should be accessible on your site as a post, page, or attachment.Creative WritingFor our creative writing unit, we will be focusing on flash fiction. This assignment has three components.Classmate ResponseWe will have the opportunity to read and respond to everyone’s work, but you will also be asked to respond to one of your classmates’ stories more thoroughly. For this response, you should write one page of feedback (double-spaced) that addresses the main points of your critique, both what is working well and what could be improved. Bring a hard copy of your response to class the day it is due. You will summarize your critique and then share the hard copy with the author.Flash FictionYour piece should be 300-1000 words. This range is strict – if you are under, you need to add to the story; if you are over, you need to cut it down. You are welcome to take your story in any direction as long as it is appropriate and respectful (but it’s okay to assume we’re all adults; in this sense, profanity and dark subject matter would be okay, but racism and misogyny aren’t). Your story will benefit from attending to a range of concerns, including character, story, theme, structure, dialog, voice, and style. To submit your flash fiction, post your story to your class site as a post, page, or attachment.ReflectionAfter you complete your story, write a short reflection (250-400 words) that addresses what you wanted to achieve in your story, what approach you took to developing and revising your story in order to achieve your purpose, and how effectively you achieved your purpose. Also note which of your classmates’ stories you enjoyed most and why. This should be posted to your class site as a post, page, or attachment as well.Remediation ProjectThis project asks you to use digital technologies and platforms to remediate other texts. The notion of remediation helps us think about how new media forms and technologies draw and extend on older technologies, simultaneously producing something new and allowing us to see previous technologies and texts in a new light. We will practice remediation by drawing on tools and technologies related to audio and video production and then interactive storytelling, giving you the opportunity to transform and rework texts that you produced earlier in the semester or texts from outside of our class.This project has two components, each of which should be accessible on your class site in some way. For the A/V component, you have two main options. First, you can post your video to YouTube or Vimeo and then embed the video or include a link on your website. Otherwise, you can submit your video through a class folder on Dropbox and then include the Dropbox share link on your site. NOTE: In order to upload your video to YouTube, Vimeo, or Dropbox, you will need to produce it as an .mov, .mp4, .avi, or similar file. It will not work if you try to use the iMovie or Final Cut Pro or other program file, as this file opens up your work in the program rather than a stand alone video.To submit your interactive storytelling work from Twine, you will need to “publish to file” from the menu on the lower left corner of the screen in order to generate an html file. You can then upload this file to a site like HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" philome.la so that your work is playable/readable for others, and you can then post that link to your site.A/V ComponentThis aspect of the project involves producing and editing audio and video. The first challenge is choosing a text to remediate. I would recommend working with your flash fiction or another story or poem you have written, although you could also work with one of our other assignments (the rhetorical or professional analysis could work well) or a poem written by someone else. For the audio aspect, you can record yourself reading the text and/or incorporate background music; for the video component, you can have the words of the text on the screen (if this works better than reading and recording the text) and/or images and video footage. In this sense, how can you use images and audio to enhance the original text, to create contrast or tension, to highlight a particular element of the text, or to comment upon it in some way?Helpful technologies for this component include Audacity and Wavepad (available on Bonaventure computers), GarageBand, Movie Maker or Videopad (available on Bonaventure computers), iMovie, or YouTube Editor. Even something like PowerPoint could work here. These examples could help you develop ideas for this component: “ HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Re-presentation: Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour,” “ HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Ever After,” and “ HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Hot Air Balloons.”Interactive StorytellingThis component involves working with HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Twine to produce a text with hyperlinks so that the story unfolds over multiple screens and in different ways depending on the reader’s selections. Again, I would recommend working with your flash fiction or another story of poem you have written, although you could potentially work with one of our other assignments or a work written by someone else. For example, you could use Twine to annotate or comment upon another text as a means of performing rhetorical or literary analysis. Your use of Twine will likely take one of two approaches: you will either have one main text that appears on one screen with other pieces branching off (for example, “ HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Not So Once Upon a Time“) or a series of screens that take the reader in different directions, like a choose-your-own-adventure story (for example, “ HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Beautiful Dreamer“). The main question here becomes, how can you create opportunities for the reader to interact with the text and shape its development in meaningful ways?Extra CreditOne of challenges we face when writing in digital environments and drawing on the work of others is addressing concerns of HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" fair use and accessibility. You will get a 1/2 letter grade bonus on your project if you include a written component that addresses these concerns. To address HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" accessibility, you should provide a transcript of your video. You can find an overview of best practices for transcription HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" here. Note that transcriptions go beyond just transcribing words to include descriptions of music, images, or other textual elements. Here’s an HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" example. To address fair use, you should write a paragraph or two commenting on your use of outside materials. Where did you incorporate the work of others into your project? How would you defend your use of these materials with reference to the principles of fair use?Electronic PortfolioThe electronic portfolio includes two components. First, your class website itself will be considered in its totality: your completion and inclusion of all assignments on the site and then any efforts you make toward exploring and developing the site’s functionality and visual appeal. In terms of functionality and visual appeal, you can attend to concerns like theme, layout, site organization, use of embedded content (links, videos, images, etc.), widgets, and additional pages or components that further develop your online persona and/or professional identity. While there is not a set requirement in terms of what all you include on your page, your portfolio grade will benefit from evidence that you have put time and effort into developing your site.Next, your portfolio submission should include one last post, page, or attachment that reflects on the site and your work throughout the semester. Your reflection should be at least 800 words, and it should address the following prompts and questions (not necessarily every last question, but every bullet point in some way). We have taken some time in class throughout the semester to reflect on our work, and you are welcome to draw on these notes for this reflection.How have you developed as a writer this semester, particularly with reference to the following: confidence and independence, skills and strategies, knowledge and understanding, use of prior and emerging experience, creativity, and reflection?Where has your work been most effective this semester? Least effective? How so? How has it most improved?How would you describe the similarities and differences between the different types of writing we have done this semester – literary analysis, rhetorical analysis, professional writing, creative writing, and digital writing? How do they open up different possibilities for critical thinking, persuasion, expression, and creativity? How has your understanding of writing changed this semester? What are the main points or insights you will take away from the class?Comment on your site itself. What have you tried to accomplish through developing its functionality and visual appeal? What sort of effect are you going for? How do you hope readers will engage with and respond to your site? Is there any way you would like to develop your site further if you had more time and/or technical expertise? What about your site are you most happy with, most proud of? ................
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