Blogging

200 points / 20% (8 posts @ 25 points each)

Over the course of the semester, each of you will compose 8 blog posts on the Blog relating to our work in this course. Posts are due by 8:00 PM the day before the class they are assigned, and should reflect upon and engage the work for the coming class (note that the class is divided into four groups, with some posting Sunday evening ahead of Monday, and some posting Tuesday evening ahead of Wednesday).

There is also a bonus post options: you may post about a campus or community literary to make up for one missed post, or, if you complete all your assigned posts, the literary events post will be considered extra credit. If your post is chosen for revision to post on the English Department’s blog, you will receive additional extra credit. I expect your posts to be polished, free of errors, and properly formatted; also, they should frequently incorporate various forms of media and other imported items (images, videos, links to other sites or posts, and so on).

Blog posts should be a minimum of 250-words. During any given week when there is active blogging, you should plan on commenting by midnight on the day you are not assigned a post (comments should be roughly 100 words and substantially engage, extend, and question the original post)

In your posts, imagine that you’re writing for an outside audience.  This means that you should name the book and the authors you’re discussing rather than assume our familiarity with them.  It also means that you can and should quote from the reading as well (quotes are not included in word count). Here are some specific prompts that you can use if you need something to channel or spark your ideas.

(1)  Go Broad: Take one of the key theoretical concepts of methodologies from this week and offer a distilled definition in your own words.  After you adequately capture the main point, offer a brief response to it.  You can be as enthusiastic or critical as you want.

(2) Go Specific: Zero in on a more specific point, quoting a passage from the reading that you think deserves closer attention.  It could be a point that you found confusing and would like to “think through,” or a point that you thought was particularly well-made that you think the rest of the class would benefit from revisiting. Note that quoted material does not count towards the final word count.

(3) Make Connections: Draw connections between individual concepts from The Theory Toolbox, between different terms in the Bedford Glossary (BG), or between the two (how a certain concept from the Toolbox helps us think about a specific idea presented by BG, or vice versa). You can also relate any concept to outside texts (books, poems, films, ads, memes, etc.).

(4) Keep it Going: Continue any conversation we began in class that you think deserves more attention. You might continue to discuss the literary example that we explored as a class, or return to point that you or one of your peers made during class discussion.

(5) Respond/Comment: Rather than write your own blog post, you might respond to what one of your peers posted.  As long as your post is blog-length (250-300 words), it counts as a post.

 

Good luck!

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