Blogs (20%)
Throughout the class you will be composing short writing assignments on your personal blog website. That means you will have to create a website on Weebly or Wix and choose the blog theme. I will not be grading you on your website’s professional quality. I will be grading you based on completing the blog and meeting the blog requirements. With that said I encourage you to put real and meaningful effort into making it representative of you and making it the best it can be.
Your blog will serve as a learning tool for you to interact in a virtual space and consider the audience, tone, and multimodality of your writing. You can find specific deadlines for each below and in the class schedule.
Requirements:
-Minimum 500 words
-Must include 1 visual/multimodal element (picture, art, video etc.), a heading, formatting (spacing, bullet points, indentations where you see fit).
-Must include 1 link relevant to your post (a link from a source that you learned from or a link that supports or elevates your post).
-Reply to one of your peers
**Important: Submit a link to your blog post in the Canvas “Discussions” tab so I can grade it and your peers can see it and reply to your post. Note that when you reply to a peer, you should be directly replying on their website but please provide the name of the student whose blog you commented on. All blogs are due by 9:00am on their respective due date.
Blog #1: Who Am I in My Community?
Tell us about yourself. When you think of yourself, what do you think of? What are your passions? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? What’s important to you? Likes, dislikes. Defining moments. How were all of these things shaped by your community?
Due: Friday, Feb. 16th
Blog #2: The Anti-Essay
The traditional grammar of style that embodies the conventions with which we are most familiar in academic writing is sometimes known as Grammar A and consists of the essentials of what we’ve been taught in school: formal, academic style, particular ways of organization and development, the use of logical transitions, continuity, order, and unity. “Good” grammars of style ostensibly produce “good” writing. And while the rules of Grammar A do allow for options, especially among experienced writers, those options are constrained for novice writers who are supposed to learn “the basics.” We do not often—nor are we encouraged to do so, except in unusual circumstances—write “outside the box.”
In the Anti-Essay assignment, students are challenged to consciously break rules and conventions of the standard academic essay in order to explore alternative ways to make meaning with language. By this I mean all conventions (titles, margins, headings, organization, sentencing, paragraphing, everything). That said, it’s important to emphasize that this is not a free-for-all where anything goes. Good anti-essays make arguments, but in different ways.
The Anti-Essay Prompt
Due: Wednesday, Feb. 21st
Blog #3: Social Media and Community Analysis
Social media exists as a digital simulacra and panopticon. It has become a central part of everyday living and serves many purposes. Pause and think about all of the positive things that come from social media, as well as all the negative things. How much of our lives exist and are validated outside of social media?
People of all ages use social media to compose who they are. Social media is also a way to spread information and build community. You will be finding one public social media account that you follow that engages in topics of ideologies, diversity, social groups etc. and critically analyze how they compose themselves and their platform.
Blog #4: Personal Ideologies collage + reflection
What are your core beliefs and values? Make a picture collage of everything that represents your personal ideologies.
Reflection:
Where did you learn everything you think and know about yourself and the world? How were your beliefs shaped and how do those beliefs impact your community? How do you challenge your pre-existing beliefs in order to grow and gain the perspective of others whose experiences are different from yours?
Due: Monday, March 11th
Blog # 5: Instructions for Something You Love
Think about a hobby, activity, skill, or something you do that brings you happiness/ enjoyment/ fulfillment/ makes you proud. It could be anything (classroom appropriate): crocheting, bird watching, a trick on a skateboard, something you cook or bake, painting, a hack for a video game, collecting, singing, scrapbooking, a martial arts move, best self-care tips, coding, editing, yoga, Photoshop, calligraphy, the perfect golf swing, makeup, woodwork, origami, gardening, building model cars etc. Just think about something that you can do that you are proud of. It can be little or big, specific or big picture. You have a myriad of interests and skills, just choose one!
Once you choose, you will provide step-by-step instructions on how to do said “thing.” Think about your audience (our class)—gauge their understanding of the topic.
How can you best relay the information? You can video record yourself doing the “thing” or write instructions with details, provide images, or audio record instructions.
Reflection:
Blog #6: Multilingual Poetry
Write a poem of any style (blank verse, rhymed poetry, free verse, epic, narrative, haiku, sonnet etc. learn more about types of poetry) about any topic that has resonated with you that we have discussed in class or that you’ve experienced on your own. The focus is to challenge yourself to include at least 1 non-English word in the poem but I encourage you to use more than one. If you speak other languages, you can incorporate as much of the other language(s) as you would like. If you only speak English, choose a language that you are interested in and respectfully use the language as a way to push yourself out of your comfort zone and experience. You can use several different languages (besides English) in the poem or only use one other language.
Write a reflection answering these questions:
Throughout the class you will be composing short writing assignments on your personal blog website. That means you will have to create a website on Weebly or Wix and choose the blog theme. I will not be grading you on your website’s professional quality. I will be grading you based on completing the blog and meeting the blog requirements. With that said I encourage you to put real and meaningful effort into making it representative of you and making it the best it can be.
Your blog will serve as a learning tool for you to interact in a virtual space and consider the audience, tone, and multimodality of your writing. You can find specific deadlines for each below and in the class schedule.
Requirements:
-Minimum 500 words
-Must include 1 visual/multimodal element (picture, art, video etc.), a heading, formatting (spacing, bullet points, indentations where you see fit).
-Must include 1 link relevant to your post (a link from a source that you learned from or a link that supports or elevates your post).
-Reply to one of your peers
**Important: Submit a link to your blog post in the Canvas “Discussions” tab so I can grade it and your peers can see it and reply to your post. Note that when you reply to a peer, you should be directly replying on their website but please provide the name of the student whose blog you commented on. All blogs are due by 9:00am on their respective due date.
Blog #1: Who Am I in My Community?
Tell us about yourself. When you think of yourself, what do you think of? What are your passions? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? What’s important to you? Likes, dislikes. Defining moments. How were all of these things shaped by your community?
Due: Friday, Feb. 16th
Blog #2: The Anti-Essay
The traditional grammar of style that embodies the conventions with which we are most familiar in academic writing is sometimes known as Grammar A and consists of the essentials of what we’ve been taught in school: formal, academic style, particular ways of organization and development, the use of logical transitions, continuity, order, and unity. “Good” grammars of style ostensibly produce “good” writing. And while the rules of Grammar A do allow for options, especially among experienced writers, those options are constrained for novice writers who are supposed to learn “the basics.” We do not often—nor are we encouraged to do so, except in unusual circumstances—write “outside the box.”
In the Anti-Essay assignment, students are challenged to consciously break rules and conventions of the standard academic essay in order to explore alternative ways to make meaning with language. By this I mean all conventions (titles, margins, headings, organization, sentencing, paragraphing, everything). That said, it’s important to emphasize that this is not a free-for-all where anything goes. Good anti-essays make arguments, but in different ways.
The Anti-Essay Prompt
Due: Wednesday, Feb. 21st
Blog #3: Social Media and Community Analysis
Social media exists as a digital simulacra and panopticon. It has become a central part of everyday living and serves many purposes. Pause and think about all of the positive things that come from social media, as well as all the negative things. How much of our lives exist and are validated outside of social media?
People of all ages use social media to compose who they are. Social media is also a way to spread information and build community. You will be finding one public social media account that you follow that engages in topics of ideologies, diversity, social groups etc. and critically analyze how they compose themselves and their platform.
- What kind of content do they post?
- What’s their purpose? What kinds of ideology/ messages are they sending?
- What rhetorical and multimodal choices do they make? What kind of tone do they use?
- Are their posts credible? Are they biased?
- What communities surround their account? How does their account affect their community? How does it affect you? How does it fit into the larger societal environment?
Blog #4: Personal Ideologies collage + reflection
What are your core beliefs and values? Make a picture collage of everything that represents your personal ideologies.
Reflection:
Where did you learn everything you think and know about yourself and the world? How were your beliefs shaped and how do those beliefs impact your community? How do you challenge your pre-existing beliefs in order to grow and gain the perspective of others whose experiences are different from yours?
Due: Monday, March 11th
Blog # 5: Instructions for Something You Love
Think about a hobby, activity, skill, or something you do that brings you happiness/ enjoyment/ fulfillment/ makes you proud. It could be anything (classroom appropriate): crocheting, bird watching, a trick on a skateboard, something you cook or bake, painting, a hack for a video game, collecting, singing, scrapbooking, a martial arts move, best self-care tips, coding, editing, yoga, Photoshop, calligraphy, the perfect golf swing, makeup, woodwork, origami, gardening, building model cars etc. Just think about something that you can do that you are proud of. It can be little or big, specific or big picture. You have a myriad of interests and skills, just choose one!
Once you choose, you will provide step-by-step instructions on how to do said “thing.” Think about your audience (our class)—gauge their understanding of the topic.
How can you best relay the information? You can video record yourself doing the “thing” or write instructions with details, provide images, or audio record instructions.
Reflection:
- How does this activity make you feel? Is it relaxing? Is it a creative outlet? An emotional or physical one?
- Is this something that’s just for you or can people around you also benefit from it in some way?
- How does this affect your well being and mental health?
- How can we use our skills to cultivate, enrich, and grow our communities?
Blog #6: Multilingual Poetry
Write a poem of any style (blank verse, rhymed poetry, free verse, epic, narrative, haiku, sonnet etc. learn more about types of poetry) about any topic that has resonated with you that we have discussed in class or that you’ve experienced on your own. The focus is to challenge yourself to include at least 1 non-English word in the poem but I encourage you to use more than one. If you speak other languages, you can incorporate as much of the other language(s) as you would like. If you only speak English, choose a language that you are interested in and respectfully use the language as a way to push yourself out of your comfort zone and experience. You can use several different languages (besides English) in the poem or only use one other language.
Write a reflection answering these questions:
- How and why did you choose the language(s) to include in your poem? Why is this language meaningful to you?
- How does the addition of another language change/enhance the meaning of your poem?
- What was your writing process? Did you do research?
- How does language shape culture and communities?
- What’s your experience being monolingual or multilingual?
- Is it harmful to strip people of their native language?
Previous Student Sample Blogs:
Cams: tsunamisblog.weebly.com/
Susan: shardswriting.weebly.com/
Ellery: elleryintheroom.weebly.com/
Johnny: jwilliamchapman.weebly.com/
Justin: jufin.weebly.com/
Weebly tutorials to create your own website:
Weebly Tutorials for Beginners
How to Create a Blog on Weebly
How to Add a Comments Section in Weebly
How to Change Fonts