Assignments

Assignments will be posted here as they’re assigned. In the meantime, here’s a summary:

Blog

Writing for blogs is a requirement for the course. For the first half of the course, you’ll write blog posts and comments on the class blog: https://writingforthepublic2013.wordpress.com/ . For the second half of the course, you will be posting on your own issue blog. Blog entries are due on Monday nights, 11:59pm, and you’ll have 6 posts on the course blog, plus at least 6 posts on your own site. You are welcome and encouraged to post more.

On our course blog, you’ll be expected to ask questions pertinent to the research and writing project and you’ll comment on others’ posts and questions. The blog is designed to be a relatively casual discussion space, but you should practice good blog writing on it: compelling titles, clear sentences and vibrant words—all the stuff you’ll learn from Williams’s Style.

On your own site, you are expected to come up with your own topics to post on, but you can ask the class for help with invention or get ideas from other students’ issue blogs. You’ll comment on your peers’ blogs as well, to help them stay lively and conversational.

Twitter

You’re required to launch a Twitter account as part of the course. If you already have a personal Twitter account, you should launch a new account specifically for this course. You’ll follow @profvee and all other students in the course and you can use your Twitter account to communicate with @profvee or other students about the course. In the beginning of the course, you’ll learn to write for Twitter: in concise, 140 character bits, often with links. As the course progresses, you should be tweeting about your chosen public issue. You should have at least 50 tweets by the end of the semester, but you’ll be more successful using Twitter if you don’t think about it in terms of quantity. Integrate it into your research habits on your issue, tweet when you encounter a good web source, when you’re on the bus and think about something related to your issue, etc. There are no due dates for tweets, but you should post at least on at least a weekly basis.

Proposal

In a 500-750 word memo, your proposal will outline the basic history of your public issue, who is affected by it, what is causing it, which aspects of it you would like to address, and why intervention and attention to the issue is important.

Visual Arguments

Juxtapose an image you have found or made with text to make an argument about your issue. You will do this digitally, using the digital image software you prefer. You’ll make two different visual arguments; you must include at least one on your final website.

Audio Essay

This project requires that you find people who are willing to let you interview them about your issue. You can interview several people, but you should find at least one who is willing to let you take an audio recording of their voice and put it into your audio essay and your website. Your 3-6 minute audio essay will include music or some kind of non-verbal sound, plus the voice of your interviewee. You will probably want to narrate some aspect of your audio piece as well. As a whole, the piece should make an argument pertinent to your issue.

Social Media Release

A press release is often sent to media outlets by non-profits and businesses when some event occurs, but nowadays, press releases are written to accommodate social media like Twitter and Facebook. For this assignment, you’ll compose a “social media release” related to your issue, paying particular attention to how the information you provide will be used online. Your one-page press release will be primarily text, but should also include an image or links to relevant websites. It will be included on your full website.

Position Paper

Non-profits and businesses will sometimes issue position papers to convey information to the public about a particular issue. Your 1000-1250 word (3-4 page) white paper will consolidate some of the research you’ve conducted over the semester in order to make a concise argument about your issue.

Fact Sheet

Fact sheets are generally one-page, bulleted lists of information germane to a particular issue. They’re used by non-profits and political advocacy groups to circulate information to political decisionmakers and the public. It’s key (for you, at least) to have these facts well-documented—that is, you need to find them in reputable sources, the less partisan, the better.

 

Infographic

Infographics turn quantitative information into visual design to suggest the relative importance or scale of that information. Charts and graphs are very basic infographics, but you’ll be required to go beyond them. Using good design principles, you’ll create two infographics reflecting some of the research you’ve found on your issue. You must include one of them on your full website, but you may include both.

Website & Reflection letter (Elements due throughout the semester; final due Dec 11)

Your website will be make a general argument on your issue through the collected individual compositions from the class. It must include at least one visual argument, one infographic, your audio essay, your press release, and your position paper and your fact sheet. It will also include at least 6 blog posts, a Twitter feed section, and various elements such as an “About” page. Excellent websites will have a unique design and other elements to promote and educate. You’ll have the last few weeks of the term to get feedback from me and your peers. You’ll link to the website in a formal letter addressed to Prof. Vee, turned in on CourseWeb. This letter is a chance for you to reflect on your trajectory though the semester.