This week, you have three posts and two comments. Look below for details:
- Free post
- Follow all three of the timeline links below to get an idea of literature through time. Two are specific to British Literature, one is not. In a blog post, analyze the timelines. What trends do you notice? What conclusions can you draw? Try to predict what class could look like this year if we attended to major movements and authors.
Timeline of British Literature
British Literature through Time
Literature Timeline
- View this video on TED.com in which Julian Treasure claims that in this busy world “we are losing our listening” and gives ways to recapture those listening skills. Choose one of his ways, practice it for at least two days, and then write a blog post reflecting on both Mr. Treasure’s ideas and your own experience practicing one of his strategies.
- Two comments
Notice that these assignments require more than one step. While we are not doing much work outside of class, blog posts might be a bit more complex. It is important that you read the assignment carefully and do all of the steps, as this outside work in blogging will be applied in class.
Now that you’ve done one full set of blogs, think about what you need to do to make this go more smoothly. Suggestions would be to set up specific blogging days and to make sure you do these throughout the week. Also, remember to comment. Do blogs on time so that people have something on which to comment; many people did not get started last week until the weekend. Finally, read the assignment instructions carefully. This week:
- Links- Use the dashboard to add new links. Add two of your own choosing and then also add my blog to your links so that it’s easier to get back to my page in order to access other students’ blogs. When choosing links, think again about that concept of digital footprint. How do you want this blog to appear to others. Choose links that represent you or steer people toward something that you really want them to see. Keep it appropriate.
- Free Post
- Canon Article reflection- We’ve done quite a bit with this article in class. Now, deal with it on your own. Summarize and critique the article. The summary should be extremely short (main points or concepts). The critique is your opinion or interpretation of the article. A critique is NOT a criticism. Don’t trash the article- analyze it. As part of your analysis, develop your own notion of what the canon is. What would be included or should be included? How can the concepts in the article guide you in your research?
- 3 comments (at least)
This week you have 3 posts and 2 comments. Remember to write two full paragraphs, to make meaningful comments, and to blog THROUGHOUT the week.
- What do you know about England? Don’t look anything up. Just write what you know about England, British history, or British culture. If you don’t know anything, write about why that might be.
- Go to the editorial/columnist pages of one of the British newspapers linked below. Make sure you are on the opinion page. Read one column (opinion column, not news story) this week, link it on your blog, and write a response. This includes summary and critique. Keep in mind the components of analyzing the logic of an article that we have used in class. Also compare the column to the American angle on similar world or local issues:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/index.html
- Free Post- this is your choice and will probably happen every week. Just write. Keep it appropriate, and remember that people are reading it, but other than that, go for it.
- Two comments
If you haven’t done other things that have been requested, such as setting up your about page or fixing the comment settings, please do so now.
I enjoyed meeting you all today and allowing you to make copious amounts of fun of me. Blogging will become a very important part of our class, allowing a low pressure form of communication and interaction with your classmates, as well as allowing you to practice writing without having to write zillions of formal essays.
The very first thing you should do is establish your own blog; look here to review the blogging guidelines. You can also take a look at my “about” page. This short screencast will walk you through the process of setting up and posting. Email me your password, logon by visiting edublogs, and start playing around with the dashboard.
By tomorrow (Thursday, August 11), you must set up your blog, send me the url, choose your layout, and set up your About page. Consider your online footprint. What do you want to share? Do not include your last name or too many identifying or personal details that you don’t want on the Internet.
You have one blog due for Monday, August 15, whether or not we meet that day. As soon as you set up your blog and do the things mentioned above, your tasks are to:
- BLOG! This week’s topic: Read last year’s student guide blogs and post a blog introducing yourself and covering your expectations and concerns about the class. Include in this post a discussion of blogging, including rules, expectations, and the quality of last year’s student blogs (10 points). These can be found on my page under 2010 Student Blogs.
- Respond: Respond to 2 other students’ blogs in the comment section. You will soon see that for this to work, you MUST post in a timely fashion. So, in other words, post a blog within the next day or two so that people have the weekend to read and respond (20 points). Comments should be significant. The Blogging Instructions page offers more details.
Blogs are due every Monday, and each Monday, you will need to check my blog for your assigned topics. I won’t always post a reminder on the website assignments page, as this should be a habit that you ingrain in yourself. These are not negotiable assignments. Instead of stressing about them, take this opportunity to make them your own, express yourself. Tips- pace yourself, use your own writing voice, and follow the guidelines you found on the blogging instructions page.
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