Studies in Rhetoric: Rhetorics, Ecologies, and Networks


Rhetorics, Ecologies, and Networks

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Updated, 8-27-2007

Course Assignments

class blog | presentation | short papers | final paper
participation | percentages

Class Weblog:

Before class starts I will set up a single weblog for the course. Everyone will post to the main blog. The first day of class I'll give a quick tutorial and we'll make initial posts. Students will then be expected to post regularly in response to readings (at least 2 solid paragraphs, 300-400 words). In addition to posting your short reading responses, post a comment on other posts, a comment about a class presentation, questions about the reading or a tech issue, a cool link, site, or online article you found. The responses should be thoughtful and a little more formal, but in general try to keep it informal and conversational. Often times blogs in the classroom devolve into just another way to post information to the web. To avoid this it takes a lot of effort to keep conversations alive when everyone is so busy. Sometimes you'll have lab time in class to post to the blog; sometimes you'll have to find some time outside of class. Just try to get in the habit of making it a part of the class. All blog posts and comments will count toward participation grades.

Presentation:

Everyone will be expected to give one short class presentation on the technology they are investigating over the semester. It should be in the neighborhood of 15 minutes. The presentations can vary widely in terms of form and content. You can read a paper, talk from notes, click around the site you're discussing, give a PowerPoint presentation, whatever makes sense with your technology and topic. In terms of content you can discuss what you've experienced and learned about your site, give a how-to presentation on the site, present on research you've gathered about the site, or lay the theoretical ground work for your final paper about the site. Everything is potentially fair game; I just want you to run your idea by me for approval before your presentation. If you are somewhat tech savvy already or are investigating a technology you've had prior experience with, try to sign up to present earlier in the semester to give others more time with their technologies before they have to present. Presentations will get up to 5 participation points.

Short Papers:

Approximately every 3-4 weeks (week 5, week 9, week 12, week 15) students will write short papers (1.5 to 2 pages single-spaced, 1000-1250 words) that

directly apply concepts under discussion to the technology under investigation,

summarize some of the readings from the previous two weeks,

make connections among the theories discussed from the previous two weeks and the semester as a whole,

introduce new readings or research about the chosen technology, *OR*

summarize your experience with the technology and lay the groundwork for the coming final paper.

These options are meant as conceptual starting places to show the range for what is possible with the papers. However, feel free to pursue other ideas as long as they are related to the readings and technologies under investigation. Contact me if you are unsure whether an ulterior paper idea meets the goals for the class. After writing the paper, everyone will bring them in and deliver them orally to the entire class. We will spend the class period listening to the papers and commenting on them orally. The audience should take notes on the presentations and post some additional comments on the blog. Only respond to one or maybe two presentations and gear the comments toward future revision—note what you liked about the paper/project and suggest another essay to look at, an additional line of support, a counter-argument the author didn't consider, etc. I will also comment on the papers, grade them, and ultimately average the papers for the short paper grade. Students may take the commentary given orally in class, on the blog, and by me and revise the first three papers.

Final Paper:

At the end of the semester students will write a final paper (8-10 pages double-spaced, 2800-3500 words) that shows what they've learned over the semester. The paper should be a basic argument/research paper that combines

some of the class readings over the semester,

your experiences with the technology under investigation,

some additional research on the technology, *and*

reflection on the theories and technologies with regard to your primary personal or professional interests.

For example, some of you may focus on teaching, the workplace, the culture, or being a writer, an academic, or a fan. All of these are fair game and show up in social networking on the web and show up as functions of rhetoric. The paper may lean more toward the theoretical or toward the ethnographic, but a strong essay that makes connections between rhetoric, technology, and your field is vital. The final paper should ultimately build from the blog entries, presentations, and short papers you've given over the semester. For the final short paper assignment you can present your final paper idea to the class for feedback. After class we will set up peer review groups to look over the final papers before you turn them in. Final papers will receive a letter grade and cannot be revised.

Participation:

Participation will consist of class attendance, presentations, weekly blog posts, any attendance at technology workshops or labs, and overall effort in the class. These will be tallied and averaged.

Attendance: roll will be checked each day and numerically factored into the participation grade.

Presentations: on days that you present a paper I will check off those who participate; the one class presentation will get up to five points.

Blog discussions: to encourage more class discussions on the reading and assignments, I will give a participation grade each time you post or comment. The more posts and comments you have, the higher your participation grade will be.

Workshops/labs: if you attend a workshop, bring me verification and I will give you credit toward participation; if you get help in a lab, let me know and I'll give you credit (obviously this is open to fraud, but I trust you).

Individual effort to learn the technologies and participate in the social networks: this is the only non-calculable participation grade; it will be the x-factor when it comes down to giving final grades. If you are on the borderline, my sense of your effort outside of class could mean the difference between an A and a B.

Percentages:

The following is a breakdown of percentages.

Blog/Participation	20 %
Short Papers	40 %
Final Paper	40 %
	-------
	100 %

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