ENG 1131 Assignments
Writing Through Media
Summer A 2006
"Semiotic Domains and Personal Media Narratives"
ENG 1131 Syllabus
ENG1131 Assignments
ENG 1131 Schedule
ENG 1131 Blog
ENG 1131 Wiki
ENG 1131 Gradebook
Grades
Once you have set up your online gradebook account, which we will do in class, you can access your grades through the online gradebook. Please keep a running total of your grades for yourself in case I miscalculate or there is a technical difficulty with the gradebook.
Your final grade will be calculated in the following manner:
Professionalism, Participation & Attendance 10%
Blog 15%
Reflection Journal/Reading Notes 15%
Media Reviews 20%
Semiotic Domain Papers 20%
Semiotic Domain Group Project 20%Grading Scale:
Grading scale for your final course grade:
A: 90-100
B+: 87-89
B: 80-86
C+: 77-79
C: 70-76
D: 60-69
E: 0-59The University of Florida does not use “minus” grades. So you can’t receive a B- as your final grade for this course. However, other class work may receive minuses to allow for a more precise evaluation of the quality of your work. Rounding up for final grades is not an absolute.
Major Assignments
All assignments must be completed and submitted at the beginning of the class period on the due date assigned and in the assigned format. Each assignment will have specific features; however, essay assignments must be typed in Times New Roman and double-spaced on white 8 1/2" x 11" paper with one-inch margins on all sides. Essays that do not fit the required format will automatically be considered late and be deducted one letter grade. You will turn in BOTH a hard copy and an electronic copy. The hard copy will be taken up at the beginning of class and the electronic copy should be emailed to me (cmartin@english.ufl.edu) before the class period the assignment is due.
These assignments are due in class and in my inbox, at the beginning of class, on the dates indicated. Your assignment grade will be dropped by one full letter grade for every day it is late. Also, there will be additional assignments and materials not indicated on this sheet (all changes will be posted on our class schedule on my webpage), and both this schedule and individual assignments are subject to change AND WILL CHANGE.
Some assignments are individual, while others are group based. If the group assignment is late, everyone in the group is penalized. However, it is not an absolute that everyone in the group receives the same grade. I will conduct both self and group peer evaluations as a means of monitoring the work load balance within the groups.
If you are going to be absent on the day that an assignment is due, email the assignment to me BEFORE our class period and it will not be considered late.
Since ENG 1131 is a 6000-word Gordon Rule class (per the Gordon Rule established by the Florida Legislature), you must meet the writing volume minimums in order to pass the course.
HW Assignment: Diagnostic Essay
Your diagnostic essay is due Wednesday. Your completed two-three page essay should use Times New Roman Font (size 12), double-spacing, and 1” margins all around. Be sure to include your name on the finished essay.
You’re free to write informally, reflectively, narratively, imaginatively, analytically, and/or creatively on this assignment, but you should also try to write with “correct” syntax and mechanics. Also, please respond in prose, not poetry.
Subject for Essay –Imagine yourself living in a strictly oral culture. Words in this culture are auditory events. They have no visual presence. Language is valued for the way it sounds; repetitive, rhythmic, musical. Words seem to have an almost magical potency, especially in the way sounds of naming can seem to exert power over the things they name.
In this environment, you know only what you can recall. What you can recall is only what you and others can sing and recite. The music and rhythms of language help you to remember knowledges that are essential to your life… ancestry, history, faith, remedies, and warnings.
Recently a foreign visitor has come into your community and introduced you and your people to a striking new technology known as “writing.” You all required some time to master it, but now this innovative new technology is yours to command. However, as your culture becomes literate and embraces the techniques of writing, you pause to consider the impact of this development.
Will this new technology of literacy entrap you or free you? Will you become so dependent upon it that you lose all the old ways of doing things? Are you eager, expecting the new ways of remembering to open new pathways into knowledge; or do you resist, wary of a technological advance into the unknown? You wonder, in gaining this powerful technology, will you and your people lose something ineffable and irretrievable?
Using your newfound technological skill, explore the ways in which your life is about to change.
HW Assignment: Personal Wiki Page
Create a bio page on our main class wiki. I have created a blank page that is listed under your name. You are responsible for the content and design. Feel free to use something like your facebook page as a guide. You may include pictures if you wish, but you do not have to. You must include your gatorlink email address so that students in the class can reach you.Somewhere on your bio page include the answer to the following quesiton: What is your interaction with the following media: computer, ipod, video games, books, newspapers?
Professionalism, Participation & Attendance 10%
You are expected to regularly attend class and vigorously take part in class discussions. You should be prepared with questions and comments for every lesson, engage the materials that we cover, and actively employ critical thinking skills. Thus, while our "feelings" and personal responses to a text or rhetorical suggestion are a useful place to begin a discussion, you will be expected to go beyond these sorts of "gut reactions" and like/dislike responses. In other words, you will not only be expected to converse about the primary and secondary texts, but to test (via class participation) your critical thinking and interpretive skills. You must also take part in peer review workshops, in-class assignments, and various other group activities. Failure to regularly participate in class discussions, as well as missing any workshop or group project day, will negatively affect your participation grade.
Blog 15%
You will practice writing through an online Blog dedicated solely to this class. Each week will feature a choice of “Forum” topics on the Discussion Blog. You must post the equivalent of a 100 word minimum response EACH WEEK. You may earn up to 15 points per week. You can earn up to 10 points for your original response to the Discussion Blog forums and 5 points for “replying” to classmates’ postings. You must post before the deadline each week—Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. ET. (Warning: Don’t wait until the last minute—Late postings DO NOT qualify for points!)
In general, your postings MUST be made within the assigned week, and will earn points based on their coherency, creativity, evidence of thoughtfulness, courteousness, pertinence to the topic, and absence of excessive BS. In other words, you’re encouraged to use Discussion Blog to write creatively, adventurously, experimentally--but you should demonstrate that you’ve given some thought to your response. No points will be given if your posting is woefully inadequate. (Mistakes in grammar or spelling will not be penalized here—unless they’re so intrusive they make your writing unreadable.)
Your “reply” to a classmate’s postings carries no minimum length requirement, but you will gain all 5 points only if your reply demonstrates depth of thought and courteousness.
Directions on how to post to the blog are detailed on the blog site in red. Please read these instructions before you begin posting.Be aware that the blog is on the internet and is not password protected. While it is not a public blog and only linked from my webpage, it is still on the internet. You may include items from your journal in the blog. The blog post will be due each Sunday by midnight.
Reflection Journal/Reading Notes 15%
In a separate notebook designated only for this class, you will keep a journal over the course of the semester, to be turned in twice (around the semester mid-point and near the end of the semester), in which you respond to the class readings, activities and films. You may keep this journal electronically through the main class wiki if you do not want to hand write the journal. You must discuss every class reading assignment. This can include a summary, thought, questions, etc. Relevant comments from class discussion may also be incorporated, and illustrations are also welcome (such as sketches that might help you to think about a visual idea under discussion), if you find these helpful. Entries should begin with the date written and the material covered whether that is a book title with pages covered a film title or a more general heading like class discussion. How regularly you write in this journal is up to you (I’ll only see it twice), although I would encourage you to write in it every day. This will probably help you to keep a handle on it, and such regularity will also help to make it a more useful space for you to work out ideas. The easiest way to use this journal is to keep it with your class texts and write notes as you do the class reading and then bring it to class and take notes either while we are discussing or directly after class. Consider this a workbook of media, a space within which you can think about ideas, argue with the readings, synthesize critical texts and films, and begin processing the material you will work through more formally in your papers.I may call on you to read selections from them to the class from time to time to facilitate discussion. Consequently, you should avoid writing "filler" or "b-s" just to meet the minimum writing requirements, AND you should bring your journal to class every day.
Media Reviews 20%
Movie Review:
Assignment Format
• Standard 81/2”x11” white paper with 1” margins on all sides
• Double spaced
• Typed in black ink, Times New Roman, size 12 font
• MLA style with your name, the course title and section number, my name, date in the top left hand corner. The title of the report (something more interesting than “A Report on Chicken Little”) should be in the center of the page. The heading and title should NOT be repeated on subsequent pages.
• Page numbers with your last name in the upper right-hand corner of all subsequent pages
• Stapled in upper left-hand cornerYou will also turn in an electronic copy via email attachment in either .doc or .rtf. These should be emailed to me at cmartin@english.ufl.edu before the class period that the assignment is due.
Assignment Description and Specifications
• At least 2 FULL pages (which means at least one word on the 3rd page). There is a 4 page maximum limit for this assignment.
• A ticket stub, program, or some other indication that you did indeed see the movie stapled to the front.To expand your media experience, you will be expected to view one theatrical-release films outside of class. This can be in a regular cinema or somewhere like the Reitz, the Hippodrome, a film festival, the Harn, or other "alternative" viewing space such as the CMC. You should submit a report briefly describing the film and your response to it and making connections to class readings. You may also choose to illuminate how your viewing experience was influenced by the space in which you screened the film.
Plot summary should be limited to no more than a short paragraph. Instead of copious amounts of summary, you should attempt to analyze one or two key aspects of the film. Think about issues such as the narrator and the semiotic domain of that particular film. What genre is the film? How do you know it is that genre? How has this helped created the semiotic domain of cimema? How do you know how to "read" cinema? How do you "read" this film?
Of course, you are by no means expected to cover all of these topics in a short 2-page report; just try to incorporate one or two formal and/or critical concepts. You are very much encouraged to express your personal response to the film; nonetheless, your opinion should be thoroughly supported by what you have learned in this class.
Grading Criteria
• Clearly articulates the viewer’s response to the film
• Demonstrates a knowledge of course material and how the film can be illuminated by the concepts, theoretical gestures, and formal issues covered
• Displays familiarity with whole film through an analysis of a few key aspects
• Utilizes concrete examples from the film in order to support the chosen aspects
• Limits plot summary
• Exhibits an engaging and professional voice
• Correct grammar and word usage
Sample student examples: one and two and three
Video Game Review:Assignment Format
• Standard 81/2”x11” white paper with 1” margins on all sides
• Double spaced
• Typed in black ink, Times New Roman, size 12 font
• MLA style with your name, the course title and section number, my name, date in the top left hand corner. The title of the report (something more interesting than “A Report on Chicken Little”) should be in the center of the page. The heading and title should NOT be repeated on subsequent pages.
• Page numbers with your last name in the upper right-hand corner of all subsequent pages
• Stapled in upper left-hand cornerYou will also turn in an electronic copy via email attachment in either .doc or .rtf. These should be emailed to me at cmartin@english.ufl.edu before the class period that the assignment is due.
Assignment Description and Specifications
• At least 2 FULL pages (which means at least one word on the 3rd page). There is a 4 page maximum limit for this assignment.
You will choose the particular game that you would like to review, but it must fist be approved by me. When you decide on which game you would like to review, edit the GameReviewWiki off the class wiki (password: media) page to list your game. This game will provide you with a basis for discussion in class and could also provide a primary sources for your group Wiki project.For the video game review assignment you will make an evaluative or arguable claim about a particular video game – this will help focus your review. You can choose to evaluate anything about the game that you want as long you choose a stance that might provoke some disagreement.
Write your evaluative argument in the form of an editorial for a “popular” medium, such as a magazine or newspaper. (You don't need to choose a particular one.) In other words, assume that you're writing for a general audience, and use an appropriate writing “voice.”
You'll need to establish the criteria on which you base your judgement. Do you base your judgement on aesthetic, practical, or moral criteria? Also, make sure that you make a realistic argument, and confine the scope of your argument. In other words, you'll find it easier to argue that Paper Mario is best in game in the Mario series than that it's best game in the world. If you argue that something is bad or unsuccessful, be sure to suggest something that fulfills your criteria better.
What's at stake in your topic? That is, is there any reason why your readers should care? In this regard, you may take into account the oppositional point of view. On what points or basis might people disagree with you? Feel free to address these points in your essay.
You should write no less than 2 pages (approx. 500 words), double-spaced, Times New Roman font (12 pt.), with 1” margins. Use MLA formatting guidelines.
Your work will be evaluated on argumentation (originality, depth of critical thought), organization, evidence, and grammar/mechanics.Sample student game review one
Excellent student example
Semiotic Domain Papers 20%
Assignment Format
• Standard 81/2”x11” white paper with 1” margins on all sides
• Double spaced
• Typed in black ink, Times New Roman, size 12 font
• MLA style with your name, the course title and section number, my name, date in the top left hand corner. The title of the report (something more interesting than “A Report on Chicken Little”) should be in the center of the page. The heading and title should NOT be repeated on subsequent pages.
• Page numbers with your last name in the upper right-hand corner of all subsequent pages
• Stapled in upper left-hand cornerYou will also turn in an electronic copy via email attachment in either .doc or .rtf. These should be emailed to me at cmartin@english.ufl.edu before the class period that the assignment is due.
Assignment Description and Specifications
• At least 4 FULL pages (which means at least one word on the 5th page). There is no maximum limit for this assignment.You will write two semiotic domain papers, one for each of our ficional texts in the class. You will investigate the semiotic domain of both the diary and the blog text.
Example: Use Gee's reading of Pikmin as your written example.
Sample student papers one and two
Semiotic Domain Group Wiki Project and Presentation 20%Project
As a group, which you will select, you are to research and analyze a semiotic domain of a particular media outside of our class texts. This domain will be the choice of the group, but must be approved by me. In this project you will-define the internal and external views of that domain
-define the domain as a whole, then identify specific sub-domains and focus in on a specific example within that sub-domain
-examine identities within that domainYour goal is to achieve learning and thinking at a metalevel about this semiotic domain. You should rely heavily on Gee's text as you are completing this project.
This group project will be constructed on a group wiki page, which I will give you the password for.
http://writingthrumedia061.pbwiki.com/
http://writingthrumedia062.pbwiki.com/
http://writingthrumedia063.pbwiki.com/
http://writingthrumedia064.pbwiki.com/
http://writingthrumedia065.pbwiki.com/
Presentation
Your group should take 30-40 minutes to teach the class, in a creative and engaging way, about what you have learned throughout your research. You should provide an interactive presentation that gets the class interested in the domain you are examining. Each member should participate and NO ONE should read the wiki pages. You are teaching the class about this semiotic domain and the presentation should reflect your knowledge of the subject at hand.
Rubric: Here is the brief, general rubric for grades I assign to your papers (you should use the statements to determine how you might work toward a higher grade):
A
You did what the assignment asked for at a high quality level, and your work shows originality and creativity. Work in this range shows all the qualities listed below for a B, but it also demonstrates that you took extra steps to be original or creative in developing content, solving a problem, or developing a style. Since careful editing and proofreading are essential in writing, papers in the A range must be free of typos and grammatical or mechanical errors (papers with more than one or two errors cannot receive an A).
B
You did what the assignment asked of you at a high quality level. Work in this range needs revision; however it is complete in content, is organized well, and shows special attention to style.
C
You did what the assignment asked of you. Work in this range needs significant revision, but it is complete in content and the organization is logical. The style is straightforward but unremarkable.
D
You did what the assignment asked of you at a poor quality level. Work in this range needs significant revision. The content is often incomplete and the organization is hard to discern. Attention to style is often nonexistent or chaotic.
E
An E is usually reserved for people who don’t do the work or don’t come
to class. However, if your work is shoddy and shows little understanding of the needs of the assignment, you will receive a failing grade.