Instead of using a textbook for your reading
assignments this semester, I am encouraging you to find your own reading
selections based on your interest in current events. This freedom will require you to read newspapers every day in order to find lengthy articles that you can respond to. You will have to be diligent every day to keep
up with the major online newspapers.
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Purpose
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To read and write about various current events that you are interested in following.
- To document (MLA style) and report on various articles that might inspire your research topic.
- To learn rhetorical strategies for producing a public document on the internet.
- To design and manage a blog that is thematically centered on your topic(s) of interest.
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Instructions for setting up your blog
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- There are many options on the web for blogging, but we are going to use Blogger. It has the added
benefit of being part of Google, so signing up for Blogger will give
you access to all the other cool tools offered by Google, such as Google Docs, Google Notebook, Google Reader, and Google Calendar.
- Go to the Blogger website
and follow the instructions for signing up. First you will have to
create a Google account; even if you already have one using a different
email, please start a new one using your GSC email
address as the login ID.
- Follow the instructions for setting up your blog. We will
spend some time in class going through the steps together. The most
important concern at the very beginning is that you create a title and
address for your blog that is professional, informative, and unique. If
the address you choose is already taken, you will have to keep trying.
- Once you have created the blog, you can design it any way you
like. Remember, consider your personality but lean toward professional appearance.
- You may choose to leave your blog off public search engines,
but you MAY NOT make your blog private. As soon as you create it, I
need to be able to access it at any time; in addition, I want your
classmates to be able to see it. Please add your
blog to your Delicious bookmarks (tag it F09.9:00.Blog or F09.11:00.Blog) as soon as you finalize its URL (internet address). I will then show you how to see everyone's blog in a nice convenient list through your Delicious account.
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Instructions for posting to your blog
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- When Blog postings are due as indicated on the calendar,
I will expect to see at least one additional posting since the
previous deadline. I will expect to see at least ONE posting
by the first deadline. If you do two or three, that’s great for you
(there might even be bonus points involved if the extra postings are
done well and done for good reason). By the second deadline, I will
expect to see at least ONE additional posting since the first
deadline. This means that even if you do more than ONE for your first
deadline, you still have to do at least ONE more for the next. In other
words, there are no carry-over postings if you happen to do more than
the minimum requirement for extra credit.
- FIRST POSTING DEADLINE: Post an introduction to your blog by (1) explaining your values and biases and (2) describing some current events that you would like to
follow this semester.
- For the first paragraph, don’t tell your life
story; instead, explain your interests and your
values, whatever will help your audience understand how you think and what you care about. Use examples and tell a couple of stories to help your audience understand.
- For the second
paragraph, you will have to do some thinking about what is going on in the world that you care about. You do not have to stick to politics or misfortune. You are free to research sports, fashion, entertainment, technology, science, business, any topic covered by newspapers, as long as it is controversial and not strictly factual reporting. One of the current events that you choose to follow in
the newspapers will ideally become the topic of your research project later in the semester, so think carefully about issues that you want to spend lots of time reading about. Explain the current events, why they matter to you, and why you are interested
in them.
- EACH SUBSEQUENT DEADLINE: By the start of class on subsequent
deadline days, you need to have written at least ONE additional
posting since the last deadline. This posting (and any addition extra credit posting) will be a
report on an editorial from an online newspaper or a feature story from an online magazine. You should read
the major metropolitan newspapers frequently to make sure you find the articles you need in time. When I
grade the blog, I will be able to see whether you posted on time.
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Instructions for writing an article report
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- Each posting on an article should document the author, title, and
source in MLA format (the same as you would do on a Works Cited page).
The citation should look like this:
Thamel, Pete. “Team USA Sets Aside the Hoops Hype, and China.” The New York Times.
The New York Times, 11 Aug. 2008. Web. 12 Aug. 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com
/2008/08/11/sports/olympics/11hoops.html>.
In addition to the complete citation above, please include a link to
your article so that I can quickly access it with one click.
I will issue specific instructions about this step during class because it requires some HTML knowledge you might not have.
- Underneath the citation and the link, you will write a two-paragraph response to the contents of the article.
- The first paragraph should summarize the main points of the article. What is the author writing about, and what point of view is the author promoting?
- The second paragraph should be your response to the contents
of the article. What does the article challenge you to think about?
What is your position on the issues discussed? What aspects of the
issue need further coverage?
- Don’t forget to give each blog posting an informative title that tells the audience what your posting is about. Avoid using titles like "Post #2" or "Article #4"!
- For each deadline, extra postings for additional articles (either newspaper editorial or magazine feature story) will be considered for extra credit.
- Copy and paste the following code into a post template. This will set up each new posting to have the correct format. Then all you have to do is plug in all the correct information in the correct places. You only have to change the parts in WHITE. (Please note that the example below is for newspapers; the format is slightly different for magazine articles--look it up in your Rules for Writers E-book):
<div style="line-height:2em;margin-left:0.5in;text-indent:-0.5in;"><p style="margin:0">Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” <span style="font-style:italic;">Name of Newspaper</span>. Publisher of Newspaper, Day Month Year (of article). Web. Day Month Year (of your access) <Internet address of the article>.</p></div>
<a href="Internet address of the article" target="article">Read this article</a>
Paste first paragraph here.
Paste second paragraph here.
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Grading
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- The maximum score for a blog assignment is 10 points.
- Points will be rewarded for correct MLA style citation of the articles, working links to the articles you read for the postings, complete and thorough summary paragraph, complete and thorough response paragraph, and clear, logical, and grammatically polished writing.
- No points will be rewarded if the post is not done by the start of class on the deadline day.
- Sloppy proofreading and non-academic grammar will warrant a deduction in credit.
- Incorrect MLA citation format will warrant a deduction in credit.
- Short paragraphs will warrant a deduction in credit. The minimum length for any blog posting is the equivalent of one full typed page in Microsoft Word using 12 pt. Times New Roman (double check your length in Microsoft Word before posting your blog assignment). You should compose your article reports in Microsoft Word first anyway so that you do not accidentally lose your work due to some internet problem. When you get to the top of the second page while typing in Microsoft Word, you have met the length requirement for a blog posting. Be sure that the summary paragraph and response paragraph have equal length.
- Extra credit postings, if complete, thorough, and correct, can earn up to TWO points that will be added to your point total for
required blog postings.
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