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EL 110

EL 110 | Writing and Design

Fall 2024

Week 1 – Week 2 – Week 3 – Week 4 – Week 5 – Week 6 – Week 7 – Week 8 – Week 9 – Week 10 – Week 11 – Week 12 – Week 13 – Week 14 – Week 15 & Final

Useful Links: Course OneDrive Wiki, Blackboard
Note Taking Ideas / Help: Some useful links and advice on note-taking.
Writing Help Links: Some useful links for writing, grammar, and punctuation.
Necessary Link: Etiquette for attending a virtual class: here.

EL 110, “Writing and Design,” is an introduction to academic writing and research. The course explores the intersection of visual, verbal, and written communication. Not only will you think about visual communication alongside written communication, you’ll create both visual and text-based compositions, and you’ll compose in some new(ish) kinds of electronic spaces, too.

This isn’t “English class” in the way you may have learned to think about English classes up to this point; the course has a more specific focus. 110 looks at thinking and composing and sending messages—at how you think and how you write and how you communicate, and also at how you understand, interpret, and work with the thinking, writing, and communications of others. The course is designed to help you find strategies for approaching intellectual problems—for asking and answering questions, organizing your thoughts, and turning your organized thoughts into clear messages. In some ways, Writing Program courses like this one are the Swiss Army Knives of college courses, and we hope the tools and strategies you explore here will be useful to you throughout your time at Whitworth and throughout your career.

Major Writing/Composing Assignments to Anticipate

  1. A First-Day Diagnostic Essay
  2. A Brief Photo “Story” (Group) and a Photo Essay (Solo)
  3. An Analysis of One Minute of a Film “Just One Minute” (Group) and a Rhetorical Analysis of a Whole Film (Solo)
  4. A Resume
  5. An Argument-Based Audio Podcast + Visual Slideshow (the Slideware Project)
  6. A Research Based, Persuasive Argument
  7. A Final Reflective Essay

Frequent Small Deadlines, Rather Than Sudden Huge Deadlines

This course breaks composition projects into small pieces and asks you to hit many small, developmental deadlines, rather than just a few big, big, big deadlines. The idea here is to help you think about writing as a process and make small adjustments along the way.

Have the Readings in Front of You in Class

Right in front of you, even if on a screen. We’re here to read together. Let the text take its right place. (Please have it on a screen larger than your phone, if it’s on a screen.)

Reading & Viewing Links May Be Added & Altered as We Go

Send me an email right away if you have trouble getting to any assigned online text or document. (If needed/required links are broken or documents are not available when you try to get to them, it’s your responsibility to let me know that the links aren’t working or the documents have disappeared.)

Week 1 (Sep. 4 and 6)

  • Due Wednesday, 11:45 PM: Day 1 Writing (Blackboard)
  • Due Friday, Class Time: Self Intro on Wiki
  • Notice that “due” items and small notes about any given week are listed right under each week’s heading, as a bulleted list like this one you’re reading right now.
  • In any given class week, “Day 1” will always be the Monday, and “Day 2” will always be the Wednesday, and “Day 3” will always be the Friday.
  • Finally, notice that the work due for a given class meeting is always listed directly below the specific class day in the schedule.

Day 1: No Class Yet

Nothing due! School hasn’t started yet. 🙂

Day 2 (First Day of Class): Course Introduction

Please note: The items listed below each specific class day tell you what you need to do to prepare for the class meeting. Unless otherwise noted, the things listed in these sections (like this one that you’re reading right now) are due at class time. You’ll notice as you keep reading that the “Submit” item for today (Week 1, Day 2, our first actual class meeting day) has a note on it that tells you it’s due AFTER class, so it’s an example of an exception to the “due at class time” rule. But, unless the schedule makes a special note about it, items listed under any given class day are due at class time on the days where they’re listed.

Receive: Today in class, students will receive not only a printed syllabus but also the Photo Essay assignment sheet; this is our first substantial composition project for the semester. You will also receive the “Picking a Subject / Prep for Your Research Work” handout, which will tell you how to prepare for your Friday conference with me.

Submit: “Day 1” Writing (assigned in class), by 11:45 pm, to Blackboard. When you go to the Bb site for our course, you’ll see a link called “Submit Assignments to Bb.” That’s where the submission portal will be found.

Sign Up: Sign up before Thursday, noon, for a research conference time. Use the Onedrive Wiki to do that. (The wiki link is listed on the syllabus, and you can find it at the top of this webpage, too. )

Day 3: Preliminary Research Conferences (Sign Up for a Time; Show Up at the Time)

Please note that all videos assigned on the schedule are meant to be watched before the class period for which they’re assigned (just like other assigned texts).

Watch: “Wikis in Plain English” (4 min.) ( CommonCraft) (Also embedded below.)

Due at Class Time (Though There is No Regular Class Meeting): Introduce Yourself on the Onedrive Wiki (Wiki Link Above)

Read: “Shi**y First Drafts” (Anne Lamott) (at Bb)

Prepare: For your Week 1 Research Conference by following the instructions on the “Picking a Subject / Prep for Your Research Work” handout (received in class Wednesday, also available at Bb). To help with that (especially if you’re unsure what it means to “freewrite”) take a quick look at this and this on freewriting as a concept and this on how to do it.

Show Up: For your Week 1 Research Conference, which you should have signed up for at the Onedrive Wiki before Thursday at noon. Note, on the wiki, where your conference will take place.

Stay Ahead! Notice there’s reading and listening to do for Monday. Can’t hurt to start the reading at this time!

Learn About Note Taking (Optional): This isn’t required. It’s just a really, really good idea: Some links about how to think about note taking and take better notes. Whether you’re just starting college or have been here for a while, this is a worthwhile check-in, and it may just revolutionize your life and learning, especially if you don’t have any particular strategy in your life for note-taking.

Week 2 (Sept. 9, 11, and 13)

  • Due Monday, Class Time: Read and Sign (In That Order!) The Policy Sheet
  • Due Monday, Class Time: Informal chore list for the photo essay.
  • Due Friday at Class Time: Set Up Google Photo Album Site for the Photo Essay; post a link to it at the Wiki
  • Friday (in Class): Forming of Photo Story / Game groups

Day 1: Attention, Analysis, “This is Water”

Due: Read and Sign the Policy Sheet (back page of your Syllabus); Turn It In in Class. You’ll need to read through the whole syllabus to sign the policy sheet honestly.

Read/Listen: “This is Water, ” by David Foster Wallace (First Read the Wallace text, highlighting and noting what you find interesting in the document. THEN play the audio available at the link. And seriously: This is a remarkable talk.) + Watch Selective Attention Test (1.5 min.) (By Daniel Simons/Christopher Chabris; Embedded Below)

Take Another Very Good Look At: The Photo Essay Assignment Sheet. Make yourself a list of the tasks you’ll need to do to finish this project. Print your task list so you can hand me a copy.

Day 2: Selection is Rhetorical

Read: “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire” (Errol Morris) (@Bb)

Examine: NO Refrigerators

View: “In Praise of Chairs” (Tony Zhou/Every Frame a Painting) (5 min.)

Keep digging in on the Photo Essay Assignment Sheet. Start scribbling down some ideas you have about how you’ll approach it and some questions you have about how to approach it.

Day 3: Film Grammar is Rhetorical

Watch Before Class: “Short Films on Editing” (at Bb; ~40 min.). Really keep track of the vocab here! Take time to write down terms and look back at them before class.

Take a Quick Look At (And Maybe Bookmark):  (1) This Page That Contains Useful Illustrations of “Film Grammar” Moves (Daniel Chandler; archived version of page) and (2) This Khan Academy video (also embedded below), which quickly reviews and talks about basic shot types in film, in case you need either “quick reference” resource at any point in the next few weeks. You don’t have to spend a lot of time with either of these. Just get a sense of what they are and what kind of info review they’ll give you.

Set Up a Google Photos album for the Photo Essay. For help with this, try Google’s own page on how to create and edit photo albums. There are also many videos online about how to do make an album in Google Photos. For now, just call your album something like “EL 110 Album,” if you want. You can (and should!) change the name later when you’re more sure what your photo essay will be about.

Post Your Album Link to Our Wiki: From your Google Photos album, click the share button, create a link, and post the link to the “Album Links for Photo Essay Project” page on the wiki. This video explains (with some visuals) how to make the link, and you may find it helpful.

About Google Alternatives: If you really don’t want to use Google Photos, you might choose an alternative photo-hosting solution, so long as it lets you make an album, caption photos, write an intro to a photo album/set, and share the album. Interesting alternatives include Photoblog and Pixelfed and Flickr, but please note that you’ll need to be your own tech support if you choose an alternative platform.

In Class: I’ll hand you assignment sheets for two upcoming projects: Just One Minute and Rhetorical Analysis of a Film. The second of these, I’ll just call the “Film Analysis,” below, for simplicity. We’ll also form Photo Story / Game groups.

Week 2 Bonus Links on Planning Strategies (Not Required Reading)

Think About Planning and Planners: Think about how and why you use the planning and self organization system you use (or, if you have no system, think about a system…). Could you try some new things? Just about all of us could make use of timeboxing, for example, and this is especially you if you would label yourself “distractible” in any sense. Or you could just rethink your ways of using (or not using) a planner. Three more links with potential: here and here and here. With all of these links, your mileage may vary, but the notion of being organized–*that* is worth some time, right? Find your groove.

Week 3 (Sept. 16, 18, and 20)

  • Due Monday before class: Rattle & Hum notes
  • Due Friday before class: Athens, GA, Inside Out notes
  • Due Friday at Class Time: Photo Story / Game (Not the Photo Essay! The Photo Story / Game is different, and much smaller. We’ll talk about it Monday, and you’ll work on it this week with a small team.)
  • Friday by 11:45 pm: Sign Up for “Just One Minute” Groups (Wiki)

Day 1: Rattle, Hum, and Theme are Rhetorical

Take a Good Look At: The Just One Minute Assignment Sheet AND the Film Analysis Assignment Sheet, so that you can anticipate the linked work you’ll be doing with our two films.

Watch: Four Minute Video on Storyboarding (Indy Mogul) (Embedded Below)

Useful Bookmark: A Site Where You Can Make and Download Storyboard Paper

Watch: Rattle and Hum, Dir. Phil Joanou (~100 min.) << Note the length! This is a whole feature-length film. As I’ve said in class, I like this film, but you don’t need to like it or not like it. You need to watch it as a piece of communication. What is it doing? What is it trying to say, and how is it trying to say it? Also: You may discover that the online interface allows you to speed up the film. Please don’t! You simply aren’t really watching the film if you don’t let it have the pace that the filmmakers gave it. (And what are we doing with our lives in this digital world? Taking short cuts in order to more quickly get to the place where we take our next shortcut, never slowing down to listen to others and experience the world? Slow on down. Watch the movie at its real speed.)

Take Notes While You Watch the Film (Assignment!): While watching the film, take notes that show me you paid steady attention all the way through the film. Particularly take note of interesting visual rhetoric / visual communication and of big ideas or themes that the filmmaker seems to be trying to get across. But note down anything at all that seems interesting to you, including (if you want) just your personal responses. You don’t need to elaborate, draw conclusions, or organize. Just notice things, in order, as you watch, in a way that creates a record of your attention from start to finish. Notes are due via Bb before class time. If you’ve written them by hand, you may upload scans of them. Value: 20 Daily/Quiz Points.

For Scanning/Tech Issues: Ask three before me! If you don’t know how to scan your notes, ask a friend; if your friend doesn’t know, brainstorm with your friend about someone you know who might be more tech-savvy. If the tech friend can help, you’re set! If not, ask one more person who you think might know what to do; a good idea here would be to ask at the library front desk about how to use the library scanners. Then ask me, if needed. It’s good professional practice for thinking about how to seek answers and when to “elevate” your question to “the boss.”

If your Photo Story / Game groups have not met yet, you’ll need to plan time between now and Friday to do the project. Don’t leave class without knowing the plan!

Receive in Class: A green Scott McCloud handout describing six common transitions from comics.

Day 2: Today we’ll analyze together, in class, a single scene from Rattle & Hum.

Read: Ten Photography Tips from Kodak AND all sections of Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition. Links to the “Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition” sections are at the bottom of its first page: simplicity, rule of thirds, lines, balance, framing, avoiding mergers. Read through all sections. This reading will make you a better photographer forever.

Examine: The green Scott McCloud handout describing six common transitions from comics.

Notice that: By the end of class today, you’ll be imagining ways to approach the Photo Essay, working on the group Photo Story (which will help you think about what you can DO with a camera), and also anticipating the Just One Minute work you’ll do next week. These projects are all interrelated in their learning goals—teaching you to think about visual storytelling and sharpen your analysis of visual communication. Overlapping them this way helps us reach all our course goals and understand their interrelationship; it also helps you think about how professionals manage multiple projects and work steadily on them over a period of weeks.

Day 3: Athens, GA is Rhetorical

Turn in Before Class: group Photo Story / Game

Watch: Athens, GA, Inside Out, Dir. Tony Gayton (~85 min.)

Take Notes: Just as you did for the first film (instructions above), take notes for Athens GA, Inside Out. Notes due via Bb before class time. Value: 20 Daily/Quiz Points.

Become REALLY Familiar With: The Just One Minute Assignment Sheet

Sign Up: Sign up for a Just One Minute GROUP at the wiki, by 11:45 pm

Week 4 (Sept. 23, 25, and 27)

  • Heads Up! The Photo Project is due NEXT Friday. Keep planning! I recommend scheduling a final big photo shoot for the weekend.
  • Due Monday, 11:45 pm: You and your Just One Minute group need to have met up (maybe virtually?) to choose your “minute” of film; at that meeting, choose a group member who will create the group’s wiki page and add the “time stamp” of your minute.
  • Due Tuesday, 11:45 pm: Each individual Just One Minute group member will need to have posted his or her individual notes.
  • Due Wednesday, 11:45 pm: Your Just One Minute group will need to have created its “merged” list of observations about its minute.
  • Due Friday, Class Time: Just One Minute paragraphs at wiki and at Bb.

Day 1: Today we’ll analyze together, in class, a single scene from Athens, GA, Inside Out.

In Class Today: I’ll give your Just One Minute group five minutes to coordinate.

Due by 11:45 pm: Your Just One Minute group will need to have identified its “minute” and to have posted that info (the “time stamp” of the minute) to the wiki.

Due Tuesday by 11:45 pm: Individual Just One Minute observation lists to the wiki.

Day 2: Community Building Day. No Class, but DO make sure you’re making progress on your Just One Minute paragraphs.

Due by 11:45 pm: Your Just One Minute group will need to have created its “merged” list of observations about its minute. (Posted to wiki.)

Day 3: Comics-Based Sequence Ideas + Thoughts on Making a Thesis

Due at Class Time: Completed Just One Minute work, posted to wiki (see instructions on assignment page) and posted to Bb as MLA-formatted Word or PDF document.

Absolutely: Be making progress on your Photo Story! There’s time here for you to do some planning and execution. Put the time on your calendar and mark it as necessary work time, not optional. Notice, too, that we’re going to add some new comics-based image sequencing ideas today. You’ll need these.

This is a Very Good Moment To: Go back to the Film Analysis assignment sheet and make sure you have a good sense of what you’ll need to do for that upcoming assignment.

Week 5 (Sep. 30; Oct. 2 and 4)

  • Notice! Class is slowed down this week, partly in order to leave you some extra writing / composition time. Lots of little deadlines, but less to prep for class.
  • Remember! Up at the top for each week, we have this bullet-list overview of major composition deadlines for the week. Down below, Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 show you what you need to do to prepare for each class day (e.g., readings).
  • By Monday, end of the day, sign up for individual check ins with me about the Photo Essay and the upcoming Film Analysis.
  • Due Wednesday at Class Time: Photo Essay photos posted to your Google Photos album.
  • Due Wednesday at 5:00 pm: *Thesis* for Film Analysis (to Eli Review)
  • Due Thursday at Noon: Peer Feedback from Wednesday’s Photo Project Workshops
  • Due Friday at 5:00 pm: Photo Project (posted to Google Photos album. linked at course wiki)
  • Due Friday at 11:45 pm: Peer Feedback for Film Analysis Theses (at Eli Review)

Day 1: We’ll be reading a series of Roger Ebert reviews together and thinking about how he shapes his essays about films. We’ll be thinking together about genre, claims, and evidence.

Read: These four brief movie reviews by the late, great film critic Roger Ebert. As you read, consider what their central claims are and how they express those claims, and how they back up those claims. It isn’t necessarily obvious! Use this as a chance to read for rhetoric; the content isn’t complicated, but its presentation and style and use of evidence is interesting and can teach you something about writing (while also telling you about some movies, of course). (1) Matchstick Men + (2) Hype! + (3) Spirited Away + (4) The Big Lebowski

Make Sure You’ve Thoroughly Read: The Film Analysis assignment sheet.

Sign Up: By the end of the day, for individual check ins with me about the Photo Essay and the upcoming Film Analysis.

Schedule/Coordinate: By the end of the day, your group Photo Essay workshops (details TBA + you’ll likely do these during our regular class meeting time).

Day 2: Individual Check Ins / Thesis Checks for Film Analysis + Workshop Groups

No regular class meeting, but we do have individual conferences! And you need to meet with your photo essay groups.

Due by 5:00 pm: THESIS to Eli Review for Film Analysis.

Due by the Time THIS DAY (or Yesterday) That Your Group Selects: Your photos for the Photo Essay should be posted to your Google Photo album and arranged into at least a “rough draft” order before the workshop time you and your group select together.

Due by Noon on Thursday: Partner feedback as assigned in the workshopping instructions.

Day 3: Photo Projects are DUE

Due: Photo Project, posted to Google Photos (and linked at wiki) by 5:00 pm. Don’t forget the intro! Doublecheck (using the assignment sheet) that you’ve included in the intro what the assignment calls for you to include.

Due: Peer Feedback for Film Analysis Theses theses by 11:45 pm.

BRING: Bring the Film Analysis and Photo Project assignment packets to class. It may be helpful to have these to reference during class.

Week 6 (Oct. 7, 9, and 11)

  • Look ahead to all the Eli Review submission pages for the week! They contain info about what exactly you need to be writing and submitting for each class day. And notice what’s happening: Instead of producing your Film Analysis paper all at once, we’re producing it in pieces across the whole week, as your featured/central homework. That writing IS your key work for the week. Give it time!
  • Remember! Up at the top for each week, we have this bullet-list overview of major composition deadlines for the week. Down below, Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 show you what you need to do to prepare for each class day (e.g., readings).
  • Due Monday at Class Time: Middle Paragraphs for Film Analysis (Eli Review)
  • Due Tuesday at 11:45 pm: Peer Feedback on Middle Paragraphs (Eli Review)
  • Due Wednesday at Class Time: Opening Paragraph(s) for Film Analysis (Eli Review)
  • Due Thursday at 11:45 pm: Peer Feedback on Opening Paragraphs (Eli Review)
  • Due Friday at Class Time: Closing Paragraph(s) for Film Analysis (Eli Review)
  • Due Saturday at 11:45 pm: Peer Feedback on Closing Paragraphs (Eli Review)

Day 1: Discussion of Middles + Corbett and Eberly, Chapter 1

As above, this week looks a little slow, except that you’re producing a good bit of writing and for each day AND consistently giving one another feedback via Eli.

Carefully note all due-dates for the week, above; these dates are also included on the Film Analysis assignment sheet.

Read: Corbett and Eberly, Chapter 1

Due Monday at Class Time: Film Analysis Middle Paragraphs (Eli Review)

Due Tuesday at 11:45 pm: Peer Feedback on Middle Paragraphs (Eli Review)

Day 2: Discussion of Openings

Due Wednesday at Class Time: Film Analysis Opening Paragraph(s) (Eli Review)

Due Thursday at 11:45 pm: Peer Feedback on Opening Paragraphs (Eli Review)

Day 3: Discussion of Closings + Chore Lists and Evidence Workshop

Bring to Class: A printout that puts together your draft beginning and your draft middle (and whatever else you’ve got drafted at this point).

Due Friday at Class Time: Film Analysis Closing Paragraphs (Eli Review)

Due Sat. at 11:45 pm: Peer Feedback on Closing Paragraphs (Eli Review)

Week 7 (Oct. 14, 16, and 18)

  • Due Monday at Class Time: Full Draft, Film Analysis (to Eli Review)
  • Due Wednesday at Class Time: Peer Feedback on Full Drafts (Eli Review)
  • Due Wednesday at 11:45 pm: Revision Plan for Film Analysis (Eli Review)
  • Due Friday at 5:00: Film Analysis, Revised and Ready for Grading (To Bb.)
  • By Sunday the 22nd: Sign Up for Research Conference Time

Day 1: Visual Design Day 1

Bring to Class / Have with You: Whatever kind of resume you’ve got, good or bad, updated or old. Just have that thing, printed out.

Read: Resume Assignment

Due: Full Draft of Film Analysis to Eli

Day 2: Visual Design Day 2

Bring to Class / Have with You: A new draft of that resume you had with you on Monday, or a brand new resume. Printed.

Due: Eli Review Peer Feedback for Full Drafts, Class Time

Due at Midnight: Revision Plan in Eli, for Film Analysis

Day 3: Visual Design, Day 3 + Intro to Podcasts, Slideware, and the Research Segment of the Course

Bring to Class / Have with You: A NEW new draft of that resume you had with you on WEDNESDAY. Printed.

Due: Your completed Film Analysis is due at 5:00.

Due Sunday, Midnight: Sign up for a Conference Time at Wiki

Week 8 (Oct. 21 and 23)

  • Due Monday at 11:45 pm: Resume to Eli Review
  • Due Wednesday by 5:00 pm: Peer Feedback on Resumes
  • Due Friday at 11:45 pm: Final Resumes and Narratives (See Assignment Sheet Re: Narratives)
  • Pay Attention to this Advice: In the midst of a research project like the one we’re beginning, it’s very, very good to touch the work in some way at least once a day, even if it’s only to make a plan for what you’ll do tomorrow. Don’t let days and days go by without making sure you know where you are in this process!
  • And so: Advance Your Research a Little Bit Each Day from Here on Out

Day 1: Introduction to Research, Library, MLA…

MLA Help Links: Here

Due: Post Resume to Eli for Peer Feedback

Past Due! –> If you didn’t yet sign up for a research conference time at the wiki, get in there and do it right now.

Before Your Conference Time: Do the assigned conference prep work (available via Bb).

In class: We’ll form research support groups.

Day 2: 1×3 Conferences No Regular Class; See Wiki for Meeting Times / Places Sign Up

Due: Eli Peer Feedback for Resumes, by 5:00.

Watch “Plagiarism Explained by CommonCraft.”

Try: Search for ScreenPal and see if you can figure out how it works. This will help you with your research update, very soon.

Between your conference and next Wednesday’s class, you need to meet with your research support group to spend approximately 90 minutes completing four tasks:

(1) Work together to make sure you all know how ScreenPal works. (10 minutes?)

(2) Explain your research subject to your partner(s), along with your ideas about how your research is going to get started.

(3) Spend about 40 minutes researching at the library AT THE SAME TIME, and then spend 15-20 minutes comparing notes and tips about how you found your best material.

4) Email me a snapshot of your group in the library together, holding up some kind of evidence of your time spent working.

Day 3: No Class (Fall Break)

Due by 11:45 pm on Friday: Final Drafts of Resumes, Posted to Bb as PDFs. I would encourage you to turn these in before break begins, but you may wait until Friday night, if you need the extra time.

Week 9 (Oct. 30 and Nov. 1)

  • Due Wednesday @ 11:45 pm: Formal Research Proposal to Eli
  • Due Friday @ 11:45 pm: 2-Track Audio Experiment

Day 1: No Class (Fall Break)

If you want to play with some tech and get ahead of the game over break, you might download and experiment with Audacity (PCs or Macs) OR (Mac Users) open and experiment with Garageband. No requirement to do this now! But we’re playing with audio this coming Friday.

Day 2: Genre, Stasis, Enthymemes, Prepping Research Proposals

Email to Me: Snapshots from your research support group are due by 5:00 pm today. You can choose one group member to send the image.

Read: Corbett and Eberly, Chapter 2 (This one is kind of long and *dense*. Give it some time and especially focus on the discussion of stasis questions and the notion of the enthymeme. We’ll talk more in class about how to make use of these, as a matter of course, in your thinking and writing.)

Make Sure: You’re nudging your research work forward, if only a bit, each day.

Due @ 11:45 pm: Formal Research Proposal to Eli. I’m looking for good thinking here, not super-clean grammar and writing. Please see the assignment sheet (available at Blackboard). 

Day 3: Audio Day

Read Carefully: Slideware Project Assignment Sheet

Download and Experiment With Audacity (PCs or Macs) Before Class OR (Mac Users) Open and Experiment with Garageband Before Class. If you have trouble on a PC with the Audacity download, try getting it from the Microsoft Store: here. If you’re on a Chromebook, you might try the TwistedWave audio editor.

Bring a laptop with Audacity (PC or Macs) or Garageband (Macs) on it.

Listen: “Making the Hippo Dance” (RadioLab, 30 min.)

Due by 11:45 pm: A Two-Track Audio Experiment, Created with Audacity (PCs or Macs) or Garageband (Macs). With your partner(s) record one track that contains an (approximately) one-minute story, and add a second track that is full of sound effects that attempt to “enhance” the story in the way that “Making the Hippo Dance” describes. Export to MP3 and drop it in this folder. For Audacity folks: This video explains how to make Audacity export to MP3.

Week 10 (Nov. 4, 6, and 8)

  • This week, we’re talking about slide design, and you need to be focused on continuing to research and develop your case. These projects (the slides and the research) are very much linked; the first leads to the second.
  • Due Monday @ Class Time: Peer Feedback for Research Proposals (Eli)
  • Due Wednesday @ Class Time: Final Drafts of Research Proposals to Bb
  • Between Wednesday’s Class and Friday’s Class: Meet with Research/Slideware Support Group
  • Due Friday in Class: Five “Bad Draft” Slides (See Below)

Day 1: Lies and Aliens: Evaluating Sources

Read: “Aliens Cause Global Warming” (Michael Creighton) + Excerpt from Damned Lies and Statistics (Joel Best, @Bb). This reading will take some time; it’s not heavy, but you’ll need to set aside an hour or two. Creighton is the guy who wrote Jurassic Park. Best just loves stats and has the heart of a teacher. Both will help you think about how we think about information and science and reporting. Fun fact: Both writers deal with aliens a bit…

Also Read: This 2021 Twitter thread about women voting in Afghanistan.

Due @ Class Time: Peer Feedback for Research Proposals (Eli)

Day 2 Slide Design 1

Read: “Presentation Preparation Tips,” “Presentation Design Tips,” “Before/After: Makeovers” (All these links are from Garr Reynolds) + “Ten Basic Guidelines” from this page (Johnson). These links, especially the Garr Reynolds ones, will take you some time to read through, but they will also give you a roadmap for becoming a dazzling presenter. Seriously: Lifelong value here, folks.

Also: I’ve embedded the classic kid’s book Goodnight Moon, below. Skim it, either to remind yourself of it or to experience it for the first time. (It’s not a super high quality scan, unfortunately, but it will do, for our purposes. Truly skim! It’s not quiz material.)

Due Wednesday @ Class Time: Final Drafts of Research Proposals (to Bb)

Look Out: You and your Research/Slideware Support Group need to meet between today’s class and Friday’s class.

Day 3: Slide Design 2 + Let’s Talk About Podcast/Audio Scripts

Meet: With your support group between Wednesday’s class and today’s class. Here’s what you need to do: (1) Report in to each other on what your project is and how it’s going. (2) Share (each of you) something that’s going really well and something that you’re struggling with (on the project). (3) Help each other chart out the work between now and the due date: How are you pacing yourselves, staying on task, and landing this thing on time? (4) Individually, create chore lists for yourselves, charting the next several specific things you need to do. (5) Give me a photo of the group at the start of the convo and at the end, along with photos or scans of your chore lists; choose one group member to actually send all those things.

View: An Exemplary Slide-Backed Presentation: Scott McCloud’s “The Visual Magic of Comics” << The content is interesting, but pay attention especially to the style here–McCloud’s use of simple images to elevate and enhance his complicated talk. That’s your goal!

Due: “Bad” drafts of at least five potential slides for your slideware project. Have a copy of your “bad” slides with you, either on a screen or as a printout for yourself. You will also need to turn in a copy of your draft slides to Bb before class. Advice: Draft these a bit after you watch the McCloud talk above, or maybe even pause McCloud now and then, so you can work out a slide design for yourself as you think about what he’s doing with visuals.

Week 11 (Nov. 11, 13, and 15)

  • Due Monday @ 11:45 pm: 10 Sources + Research Update Screencast
  • Due Wednesday @ Class Time: Slide Drafts to Eli
  • Due Thursday @11:45 PM: Peer Feedback on Slides

Day 1: Rhetorical Strategies Workshop

UPDATE: Screencast portion of this assignment below (due @Midnight Monday) is cancelled.

Due @Midnight: Research Update (Screencast) (Wiki) + List of Ten Promising Sources (Bb) in MLA Format, with Brief Explanations. Sources: All you need is a citation for each and a sentence or two saying why it’s a good and valuable source, for your resarch. (Do your best on MLA style, based on the handbook and on my handout. See also, for help, the Purdue OWL’s MLA section, which has a citation generator that you’re allowed to use. Just *check its work*. Don’t trust computer brains too much.) Note that in a list like this sources should be alphabetized by last name of author OR first word of artlcle (for anonymous sources). For the screencast: Further instructions and examples are available at the wiki.

MLA Help Links: Here

Day 2: It’s All Coming Together: Persuasion, Advertisements, Cohesion and Coherence, Moving from Slideware to Persuasive, Research Based Argument.

Due @Class Time: Slide Drafts to Eli

Due Thursday @11:45 PM: Peer Feedback on Slides

Day 3: It’s Still All Coming Together.

Make Progress: On your Slideware Projects. Schedule time to really dig in.

For Getting to Done on Your Slideware Projects:

Here’s Keynote Help: Adding Audio in Keynote (go to “Add a Soundtrack” section) + to Record Timings go to Play –> Record Slideshow. Mute the mic if you don’t want it to catch your room noises!

Here’s PowerPoint Help: Adding External Audio and Playing Across Slides in PowerPoint (start at “Adding Externaal Audio…) and Rehearsing Slide Timings in PowerPoint.

Movie It: To be doubly sure, you can do an export to Movie and upload THAT to Bb. We can talk tech in class.

Week 12 (Nov. 18)

  • Due Monday @ Class Time: Podcasts w/Slides + Explanatory Essays to Bb.

Day 1: Let’s Land Some Slideware Projects

Due @ Class Time: Completed Slideware Projects and Explanatory Essays

In Class: Some Screenings of Your Podcasts and Slides(?) + Let’s Talk About Justificatory Argument and Stephen Toulmin + Let’s Talk About Quote Sandwiches

Read Carefully Before Break: The Researched Persuasive Essay Assignment and the Final Paper Assignment.

And Note Just As Carefully: The Eli Review assignments for drafts due next week! I’m asking for some specific things.

And WRITE Before Break: I recommend trying to draft 3-4 paragraphs of your Researched Persuasive Essay before break, even if your drafts are very rough/messy at this point.

Day 2: “The Inner Ring” + We’ll Talk About the “Final” Essay

Read: “The Inner Ring” (CS Lewis)

Expect: Expect quizzes on reading. It’s wise to do so.

Day 3: About Pseudoevents

Read: A long excerpt from Daniel Boorstin’s The Image: “From News Gathering to News Making” (Skip that First Page…).

Expect:Expect quizzes on reading. It’s still wise to do so.

Week 13 (Nov. 25)

  • Due Monday @ Class Time: Two “Middle” Paragraphs (Researched Persuasive Essay)
  • Due Tuesday @11:45 PM: Peer Feedback on Middle Paragraphs
  • Due NEXT Monday @Class Time: Intro Paragraphs to Eli (Researched Persuasive Essay)

Day 1: Middle Paragraph Day! In class: Talking More About Source Integration

Due @ Class Time: Two “Middle” Paragraphs from your Researched Persuasive Essay, to Eli.

Due Tuesday @ 11:45 PM: Peer feed on middle paragraphs.

Look Ahead: You may want to finish and post your opening paagraph to Eli before break, so it’s all set. Not due until Monday, though!

Days 2 and 3: Thanksgiving Break

Week 14 (Dec. 2, 4, and 6)

  • Due Monday @Class Time: Intro Paragraphs to Eli (Researched Persuasive Essay)
  • Due Tuesday @5:00 PM: Peer Feedback on Intros
  • Due Wednesday @Class Time: Full Rough Drafts to Eli (Researched Persuasive Essay)
  • Due Thursday @5:00 PM: Peer Feedback on Full Rough Drafts
  • Due Friday @5:00: Researched Persuasive Essay

Day 1: Intro Day! In class: Talking Rhetorical Strategies Again. Getting to the Page Length Without Adding Nonsense.

Due @ Class Time: An intro paragraph for your Researched Persuasive Essay, to Eli.

Due Tuesday @ 5:00: Peer feedback on opening paragraphs. (By 5:00 to give your peers a chance to make adjustments before the next round.)

Day 2: Full Draft Day!

Due @ Class Time: Full rough drafts of your Researched Persausive Essay, to Eli.

Due Thursday at 5:00: Feedback on full drafts.

Day 3: Research Project Due at Midnight

Due: Researched Persuasive Essay

Read: Take a few minutes to read the Final Reflective Paper assignment.

Other Things: TBA

Week 15 (Dec. 9 + Final)

Day 1: Things You’ve Learned, Things to Come; Why Read? / EL 110 + Shared Curriculum + …

Read: TBA

FINAL: Final Reflective Papers: EL 110-1: Due Tuesday at 10:30 AM. EL 110-3: Due Wednesday at 1:00. If you turn it in early, you may skip this final exam meeting time; if it’s not “in” yet, you’ll need to come at your “due” time, write it at that time, and finish by the end of the official exam period (2 hours).