Archive forAssignments

3/13 discussion starter

March 9, 2007 @ 10:05 am · Filed under Assignments, discussion starter

Shannon S’s chosen article is here.

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discussion starter for 3/15/07

March 7, 2007 @ 11:25 am · Filed under Assignments, ENG251, discussion starter

Click here to read Shannon M’s discussion starter article.

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Josh’s discussion starter

February 26, 2007 @ 7:39 pm · Filed under Assignments, ENG251, discussion starter

Read this for Thursday (3/1).

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discussion starter for 2/27/07

February 26, 2007 @ 6:57 pm · Filed under Assignments, ENG251

Here is a link to Aliya’s article for class tomorrow.

And, she would like you to check out this video as well.

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analytical essay assignment

February 21, 2007 @ 9:44 am · Filed under Assignments, ENG251

due: 3/1
3-5 pages

For this essay you should choose a film (any film), a song, a music video, or a musician/group for analysis.

In the packet I gave to you in class is a sample essay that analyzes a film, please use this as a guideline/model.

  • film analysis: find a scholarly article or essay that discusses either the reading of film in general or addresses specifically the film you are looking at. Utilize this source to assist your own reading. You can respond to or against it or use it as a framework to set up your own claims about the film. Or you can use it as additional support for your own argument.
  • music video analysis: guiding questions for this topic are on pg. 219 of the handout from class. Choose a music video–either a current one or one you remember clearly from when you were a bit younger. Address the way(s) in which this video affected you. Did it shape you as a person? Does it have the ability to influence the way people live? How do you see the effects of music video playing out in society? If at all.
  • musician/group myspace profile: Choose a musical artist and check out their myspace profile (or any other similar site). Analyze the way in which they market her/him/themselves on these sites as compared to other forms of marketing they may do (ads in magazines, posters in record stores, interviews on MTv TRL, etc.). How does the medium affect the message being portrayed by the artist(s)?
  • song or album analysis: Choose a particular song or album and write an analysis. What is the meaning of the song or album? How do you read it? Based on what evidence? Remember, one of the things we’ve talked about in class is that analysis is often based on like or similar objects (the platform shoes compared to doc martens example). Consider the song or album in comparison to others by the same artist or by others within the same genre of music.

    • Ultimately, for any essay you choose, you need to have a central argument–a claim that you are making, otherwise known as a thesis statement. Think about the moves you’ve seen other writers making. David Leonard focuses on what is absent, incidental, or left out, yet central and vitally important. Tara Needham also comments on absence or what is obscured in her reading of Starbucks. Use the guidelines from class about creating an argument essay (and we’ll talk more about this on Thursday in class).

    On Tuesday, 2/27 bring to class with you either a twenty-minute focused freewrite on your chosen topic or a page (or so) of your essay (make sure it a portion that contains your central argument).

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    reading for Thurs. 2/22

    February 17, 2007 @ 12:32 pm · Filed under Assignments, ENG251

    Maria’s “discussion starter” reading.

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    Readings for Thursday

    February 12, 2007 @ 11:19 am · Filed under Assignments, ENG251

    Please read this for Thursday’s class.

    Also, the essay on Grand Theft Auto is outside my office door, so don’t forget to pick it up.

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    reading assignment for Thursday

    February 5, 2007 @ 12:16 pm · Filed under Assignments, ENG251

    Christine’s “discussion starter” article is here. Please have it read and be prepared to discuss it on Thursday.

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    Blog assignment #3: creating conversation or a blogosphere narrative

    January 30, 2007 @ 10:29 am · Filed under Assignments, ENG251

    due: Thursday, Feb. 1st (by the time class begins)

    Find a blog entry that engages you, says something that you want to answer back to, respond to, and dis/agree with. Or you can choose a blog entry that says something of interest to you that you want to share with your readers. Or, if you find more than one entry on the same topic, you can provide a summary of what other bloggers have to say on a particular subject.

    In whatever manner you decide to respond, you must either trackback or pingback the entry or entries to which you refer. (Again, remember that a specific entry is different than the weblog as a whole).

    Trackbacks

    Trackbacks allow you to link to another blog while also notifying the author of the fact that you’ve referenced her/him in your own writing.

    In order to trackback the entry you are referencing must find the entry’s trackback link:

    Most trackback links appear just after the blog post content and before the comments.

    Sometimes the link will appear as a plain text link:

    Other times it will be a hyperlink:

    If the trackback URL is hyperlinked, you’ll need to right click on it and select “Copy link location…” (or your browser’s equivalent), otherwise, you can highlight and copy the link.

    Once you’ve found and copied the proper URL, you’ll need to paste it into the trackbacks box found below your text box, following “Send trackbacks to:”.

    Pingback

    Pingbacks notify a blog(ger) that you’ve referenced them/him/her when you simply post the permalink to a specific entry.

    For more information go here or here.

    For an interesting perspective on trackbacks and the difficulties involved in creating and maintaining an online conversation go here.

    **Be sure that your responses/posts are thoughtful and careful. Even when disagreeing with another blogger, don’t seek to offend. Offer more than simple opinion; be sure to support your views with evidence.**

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    blog assignment #2: explore the web…

    January 25, 2007 @ 10:28 am · Filed under Assignments, ENG251

    and report your findings….

    Find one online news source and one blog (NOT a classmate’s blog) that interest you–create a brief (threeto five sentences) description of the site and put a link to it in your blog. This will create a collection of sites for the class to explore.

    To create a link:

    • Type the name of the site and highlight it
    • Click on the icon at the top of your text box that shows a little chain link
    • Enter the web address/URL of the site (For this you might want a second tab open with the site you are linking to; copy and paste the URL out of the address bar)
    • Decide whether you want the link to open in the same window or a new one and click insert. Your highlighted text should now be a hyper-link.

    Sites that might help you with this assignment:

    technorati: tracks blogs on the web and what people are blogging about; check out “Top Blog Posts” for currently popular blogs; and see “What’s the Buzz” for what people are writing about and searching for. This should help you find an interesting blog.

    salon : a news source that also includes links to blogs at the end of their articles.

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