Composing Utopia

Dear class,

My apologies. I forgot to assign people to be our “discussion starters” for our blog posts due Wednesday. If four to six of you could start new threads (by writing a “New Post”) today (Monday), then the rest of you can read and respond to them tomorrow.

Remember- all of you (initiators and respondents) should aim for a few concise and clear paragraphs, and refer to the texts directly. You may choose to focus on just one of the readings, or you may write about some combination of the readings for Wednesday.

I am going to add you all as authors using your PSU email addresses- if you signed up with wordpress using a different email, or if you don’t see the “New Post” button on the blue bar at the top of our site once you’re signed in with wordpress, please send me an email and let me know (mcs288@psu.edu).

Yours,

 Michelle

Hello all. I received a question as to what format I want your written work to follow.

I use MLA and would appreciate that you all use it for numbering, headings, citations, etc– in your final papers. All page length requirements are for double-spaced pages.

For informal assignments, like your proposals, I am more flexible. You may single- or double-space–whichever you prefer. I don’t want to hamper your style during these initial brainstorming–or, inventional–moments.

 –Michelle

You have reading and writing due Friday.

Reading: Ch 2 of ER. You also need to read an article, by Carole Blair, that I’m placing on electronic reserve. The article is called “Contemporary US Memorial Sites as Exemplars of Rhetoric’s Materiality.” (The article is a little bit long, but there are pictures! Read carefully through page 30, and then skim from there on, trying to get the main ideas of each section.)

To get the article, go to the library website, click on course reserves, and search by my name (“Smith, Michelle”). The article IS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE! Hooray! Please bring a copy to class Friday so that I can play my “gloss this sentence” game.

Writing: Your proposal for your first paper is due Friday. (This should be one page, single-space, tops- I’m not interested in length here, just do what I ask.) READ the assignment sheet carefully–posted here under the tab “Assignment Sheets,” and POST as comments here any initial questions so that I can respond where the whole class can see.

 In your proposal for Friday, include:

1. the “text” you plan to study (be creative- article, picture, ad, commercial–if you can show me a copy, website, floorplan, menu, or any other text–defined very broadly, that is rhetorical, that you think makes an argument or attempts to have an effect on an audience). tell me when and where this text was created/published/etc. tell me a little about the history of the text. PLEASE include a COPY of your text with your proposal.

2. describe the ideal audience of the text under study (who’s reading- seeing- walking through- the text you chose). what is that audience like (passions, interests, age, gender, values, etc.) what do they have in common? what is challenging about addressing this audience?

3. what is the purpose or aim of the text- what argument is it trying to make- what is its desired effect

4. what are some of the rhetorical strategies you see at work here? what concepts from the readings might play into your analysis?

5. what might be a potential thesis for this analysis?

 –Michelle

Hello class,

 I see there was a little initial confusion on the posts. Let me clarify.

Step One: Four people (Molly, Nicholas, Eric, and Elizabeth) will post four threads with their responses (raising issues, questions, etc- in several well-developed paragraphs) to the reading by midnight tonight. (They will start new threads by clicking “New Post”–located on the blue bar that appears at the top of this page once you’ve logged in with wordpress–and then composing in the box that appears.)

Step Two: AFTER those initial four posts are up, the rest of the class will choose one of those threads to respond to, by clicking “Comment”–located under the appropriate post. You will read the comments other people have made and then write your own response- try to keep a sort of “conversation” going, as much as possible. Aim for a few paragraphs. Even though you are responding to someone else’s ideas, I expect you to refer to the text under discussion directly.

(Because of the confusion, why don’t people respond to Emily’s-eat151’s- post, which is placed as a “comment” under my “Welcome” msg, as a 5th thread for this week.)

A few mechanics- for clarity’s sake, please “sign” your posts, as I have here. First names are fine, unless you are one of our two Steves (sorry guys). Also, you can “edit” your posts after you “publish” them–just FYI.

 –Michelle

This site will serve as the online home of our utopia-themed English 30 class for the Fall of 2007. Please familiarize yourself with what the site has to offer and prepare yourself to contribute early and often.