DWRL Lesson Plans - Visual Representation

Color-coding Revision - Visualizing the Process

Cate Blouke — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 18:46:38 +0000

Author:

Image Credit:

"Big Cup'O Crayons" via haydnseek's Flikr stream

Brief Assignment Overview:

Following a detailed set of instructions, students use crayons (or other multi-colored writing utensils) to visually distinguish between certain elements of their papers. The result is a colorful paper that visually demarcates areas of text that may require revision.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

Single Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Arrangement

Delivery

Style

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Textual Analysis

Word Choice

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimodal

Visualization

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Revision

Organization/Arrangement

Delivery

Media Requirements:

No Classroom Technology Required

Required Materials:

*Having attempted this exercise on computers, I highly recommend a low-tech approach. Using hard copies and forcing students to interact with the material pages themselves both allows for more freedom in marking up the papers and helps the visualization process. Additionally, my students loved playing with crayons.

So, all you will need are:

hard copies of the papers to be revised
crayons, highlighters, or variously colored pens

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Early in the Semester

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Students are asked to peer review each other's papers using crayons (my personal favorite tool) or other colorful writing utensils. Using three differently colored crayons, they look for very specific aspects of the paper to underline, circle, or cross-out. The particular parts of the paper they should attend to are easily adaptable to an instructor's needs and the common issues arising in a given class. The important thing is that students mark up the papers with different colors and different types of annotation.

This workshop is incredibly helpful to students who are more visually-oriented learners. It is also an extremely helpful editing process for students to practice. By giving them extremely detailed instructions and asking them to pay close attention to more minute aspects of their peers' papers, they often leave the workshop feeling more attuned to these issues in their own papers.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Adapt the workshop instructions to your own needs. This is particularly helpful once you've already seen the students' writing and can gauge the issues that need addressing. For example, in my rhetoric/composition class, I find that students often rely too heavily on quotations in their first papers (which involve a lot fo summary), so I have them underline all of the quotations. This makes it immediately clear to most of the students just how much of their paper is quoted and how much is their own writing. On the other hand, in my literature class my students might not be providing enough evidence from the text, so underlining quotations have the inverse effect of highlighting a paucity of quotation.

My own teacherly pet-peeve is vague pronouns and distant referents, so this usually turns up regardless of the course I'm teaching. But as you'll see in the instructions below, it's fairly easy to tweak the worksheet to fit your needs.

Other than that, make sure to tell students to bring a hard copy of their papers. It's also important to provide writing utensils in a variety of colors (at least three per student). I tend to bring a giant box of crayons to class - both because crayons are less expensive than colored pencils or other options, and because my students get a kick out of playing with crayons in a college classroom.

Instructions For Students:

(You will probably want to re-format this before giving it to students, but for accessibility reasons, I am not retaining the original Word document's formatting)

This exercise is designed to help with the revision process by making certain aspects of your papers stand out visually. For those of you that are visual learners this might be really useful in that it literally highlights the way you use language. For others of you this might just be an easy in-class exercise where you get to play with crayons.

1. Select three different colored crayons. This will work best if they are distinctly different colors.

2. Assign each color a function by creating a color key here:

a. PRONOUNS ___________________

b. TOPIC SENTENCES ______________

c. QUOTATIONS __________________

3. As you read through the paper,

a. With the color assigned to pronouns,

i. Circle every: THEY, THEIR, THOSE, THESE, THIS, IT, ITS,

ii. Cross out any: I, YOU, YOUR, WE, OUR, US, (and any contractions you come across ‘cause they shouldn’t be there either)

b. With the color assigned to topic sentences, underline the first sentence of every paragraph

c. With the color assigned to quotations, underline every quote you come across (make a second line if quotes are used in the fist sentence)

4. Once you have worked through the entire paper, go back through it a second time. Do the following exercises with a pen or pencil.

a. For every pronoun you circled, identify the referent (i.e. who is the “they,” what is the “this” or “it”), and write your answers on the line below each pronoun.

b. Read through each paragraph again, and in the margin write a few words identifying the subject of the paragraph. Does the content match the topic sentence? If not, make a single, neat X across the entire paragraph.

c. For each quotation, assess whether the quote is one of the following and label each quote accordingly:

i. Rhetorically effective (i.e. uses powerful/evocative language) [RE]

ii. Highly specific (statistics or technical language) [HS]

iii. Could probably be paraphrased or seems unnecessary [PARA]

Evaluation Suggestions:

As it's purely for the students' benefit, this assignment is not graded. I simply use this as an in-class exercise and send them home with their marked-up papers.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My students generally really enjoy this exercise - in part because I have them playing with crayons in a college classroom. What I have found is that the actual process of doing the workshop is more helpful than the feedback they receive - so, in doing this to someone else's paper, it helps them to notice the trend in their own papers. The exercise can be adapted to any number of common problems, these are just three things that my students tend to consistently have issues with in the first paper (no matter how much we've gone over these things in class).

I do think it's important to use hard copies of their papers. I've tried this in a computer-classroom, and using highlighting in Word just doesn't have the same impact. It also makes it more difficult to visualize all together and doesn't have the same tactile effect.

Course Description:

This exercise will work in any course requiring writing and revision. I've used it in both rhetoric and literature classes, but it was originally designed for an introductory rhetoric class.

Rhetoric 306 is a course designed to introduce students to the principles of rhetoric, responsible civil discourse, and college writing. Students are asked to select a contemporary controversy to explore through research, rhetorical analysis, and ultimately to advocate their own position.

Tags:

Revision

Peer Review

Editing

Visual Representation

Translating an Essay Into an Infographic

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:52:55 +0000

Author:

Catherine Coleman

Image Credit:

"Dentro de la cabeza de Bob Dylan" via the Flikr stream of Sergio M. Mahugo

Brief Assignment Overview:

For this assignment students use Photoshop to create a visual depiction or information graphic (infographic) of an essay. This infographic will focus on the interrelation and visual communication of ideas rather than statistics (as in traditional/popular infographics).

Type of Assignment:

Homework Assignment

Major Course Project

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Research

Invention

Organization/Arrangement

Delivery

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Adobe Photoshop or similar image-production/alteration software as well as computers for each student (in order to introduce them to the technology in class).

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Late in the Semester

Full Assignment Description:

For this assignment students will use Photoshop to create a visual depiction or information graphic (infographic) of their second essay. This infographic will focus on the interrelation and visual communication of ideas rather than statistics.

The infographic should represent the argument and basic content of the essay, depict visual linkages between different types of ideas: their argument and use of the major approaches covered in E 314L (formal, historical, and cultural), and include at least four related images and an accompanying works cited page in a Word document. The works cited need not be a part of the infographic.

Students will essentially be developing the content for this infographic as they are working on their Essay #2 assignment. More time has been allotted for the production of this essay to allow students to create this accompanying visual representation. Teaching photoshop will take 1-2 class periods and will likely require further assistance in the form of troubleshooting and pointers. Students must also be allotted time to do a peer review, which can be performed online outside of class time.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

When introducing the assignment review the guidelines for infographic creation on Spyre studios website as a class. You might also review some infographics online, but this can be more intimidating to students than the Spyre guide because many of them (a) deal with complex statistics rather than ideas and (b) are professionally produced by Photoshop experts. The Spyre guide is efficient, concise, and clear without being intimidating.

First class period

Discuss the components of an infographic. Spyre Studios breaks down infographics as follows:

Visual:

color coding
graphics
reference icons.

Content:

time frames
statistics
references

Knowledge:

facts (information)
deductions (your argument)

Go over how their infographics will address these three areas. Remind them that their infographic is essentially "1 level deep" in the sense that they don't have to concern themselves with the work of compiling statistics, etc -- just making decisions on how to efficiently present their argument and background knowledge of the text and author visually. I do so in the following way:

Visual: Your infographic should incorporate all of the aspects in the first category. I recommend using no more than 4-5 colors – one for your argument, and one each for the approaches we’ve focused on this semester: formal, cultural and historical.

Content: Your content will be the aspects of your essay content that you wish to include in this visual "summary" of your argument and approach(es) to the text. The most important aspects to focus on representing visually in your infographic will be: the basic elements of your main claim (the work, the author, your argument), your incorporation of the three approaches we’ve focused on this semester: formal, historical and cultural, and your main claims (topic sentences) and conclusion. As far as images go, you can scan in sketches or original artwork, use Creative Commons images or attributed images, use your own photographs, etc.

Knowledge: Your knowledge of the text (informed by formal, historical and cultural approaches) will shape the infographic. You might consider information pertaining to the text itself, the definition of the genre of the text, or a emphasis on key words used by the author that reflect the topic or the tone of the work (with their OED definitions) to be formal. The history of the work itself and the context of its composition, pertinent information about the author’s life, etc would be historical knowledge. Information about its intended audience, the history of its reception or information on its current reception (inclusion in anthologies, etc) is cultural. REMINDER: Be sure to create a works cited page in Word listing all of your sources – it does not have to be a part of your infographic.

Because you will not be presenting complex statistics, your infographic will be what Spyre calls a “One-Level Deep Infographic” or a “simple infographic” that includes these “3 core parts.” You will not be working with multiple visual themes, just one that will be “common throughout the design.” Don’t try to mimic more complex, statistics-based infographics – just focus on communicating your ideas visually in a “very basic” representation

Introduce students to photoshop - focus on how to color and shade backgrounds, how to incorporate images, how to use line/shape tools and to change the color of these connectors. I recommend making several sample images and ideas available online (on a course website, Blackboard, etc) where all students can access them and then practice manipulating them.

Second class period:

Have students brainstorm ideas to represent, create a basic outline or mind-map and then sketch on paper. Remind them that they won’t be able to include all of the ideas they address in their essay and that they should focus on basic concepts of their argument and approach to the text(s) to include. Ask them to consider which background information a viewer would need to know in order to comprehend their argument? How can they express their argument in the most efficient way?

In their sketch, ask them to consider how they will link ideas? How will they orient their infographic? Look at some of the suggestions on the Spyre page – they might do a Mind-Map type orientation that is “concentric” or centered around their argument or they might consider a vertical presentation that reflects the organization of your essay and spreads out explanatory captions and boxes as viewers scroll down the image. They might even do a horizontal, timeline-like orientation that will allow you to focus on the author’s life, the process of textual creation, and the reception of the text over time.

Offer feedback and assistance with this part of the process (and Photoshop). It is better to clear up any confusions early in this process.

Remainder of second class period, homework:

Have students work on creating their infographics. You might consider allotting class time to work on the essay or infographic or recommend that students work in the Open Lab on their own time. When they are working away from computers that have Photoshop, they can continue to revise their presentation through sketches and print-outs, compile images, or reconsider how to more clearly express their ideas in a highly accessible and efficient visual format. Make yourself available for feedback/troubleshooting -- students can email drafts of their infographic at various stages, etc.

Homework, possible in-class work time

Peer Review your infographic - this is not a necessary step, but I think it is an important one. Beyond instructor feedback, students can get great feedback from their peers on whether or not their infographic makes sense. This is useful because it will help them to discern how efficient their infographic is at communicating information to different audiences.This can take place online outside of class.

Present Infographics

Infographics can be posted online in a course blog or message board or students can present infographics in class, depending on available class time.

Then, students can make final changes and submit - if desired, the presentation can be the final submission, or students can have the opportunity to use feedback to further revise their infographic and submit it via email or reposting.

Instructions For Students:

Overview

For this assignment you will use Photoshop to create an infographic of your second essay. This infographic will be different than most of those available online because it is not focused on the interrelation and visual presentation of ideas and not statistics.

A good basic overview of the history and use of information graphics is available on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_graphics

To see examples of some infographics, I recommend the following sites. Keep in mind that the layouts and materials featured here are more complex than yours will be, largely because they are geared towards presenting complex statistics with images as opposed to ideas:

http://www.coolinfographics.com/

http://www.infographicsshowcase.com/

Requirements

Your infographic must:

- Represent the basic content of your essay

- Depict your argument

- Include at least four images

- Reflect visual linkages between different types of ideas – see suggestion below on color coding your argument and your use of the major approaches (formal, historical, cultural)

- Include a works cited page in a Word document – it does not have to be a part of your infographic

Steps

1. Review the guidelines for infographic creation on Spyre studios website: http://spyrestudios.com/the-anatomy-of-an-infographic-5-steps-to-create-...

Spyre Studios breaks down infographics as follows:

Visual:

color coding
graphics
reference icons.

Content:

time frames
statistics
references

Knowledge:

facts (information)
deductions (your argument)

Content: Your content will be your essay content, namely the basic elements of your main claim (the work, the author, your argument), your incorporation of the three approaches we’ve focused on this semester: formal, historical and cultural, and your main claims (topic sentences) and conclusion. As far as images go, you can scan in sketches or original artwork, use Creative Commons images or attributed images, use your own photographs, etc.

Knowledge: Your knowledge of the text (informed by formal, historical and cultural approaches) will shape the infographic. You might put information on the text itself, the definition of the genre of the text, or a emphasis on key words used by the author that reflect the topic or the tone of the work (with their OED definitions) under formal. The history of the work itself and the context of its composition, pertinent information about the author’s life, etc would be historical knowledge. Information about its intended audience, the history of its reception or information on its current reception (inclusion in anthologies, etc) is cultural. Be sure to create a works cited page in Word listing all of your sources – it does not have to be a part of your infographic.

NOTE: Because you will not be presenting complex statistics, your infographic will be what Spyre calls a “One-Level Deep Infographic” or a “simple infographic” that includes these “3 core parts.” You will not be working with multiple visual themes, just one that will be “common throughout the design.” Don’t try to mimic the more complex, statistical infographics featured on the sites above – just focus on communicating your ideas visually in a “very basic” representation.

2. Brainstorm ideas to represent, sketch on paper.

You won’t be able to include all of the ideas you address in your paper, so create an outline of the basic concepts you want to include in your infographic. What background information would a viewer need to know to comprehend your argument? How can you express your argument in the most efficient way?

Once you’ve created an outline, draft a sketch of your infographic. How will you link ideas? Will you draw color-themed lines or use the shape tool? How will you orient your infographic? Look at some of the suggestions on the Spyre page – you might do a Mind-Map type orientation that is “concentric” or centered around your argument. You might do a vertical presentation that reflects the organization of your essay and spreads out explanatory captions and boxes as viewers scroll down the image. You might even do a horizontal, timeline-like orientation that will allow you to focus on the author’s life, the process of textual creation, and the reception of the text over time.

If you’d like feedback at this point, bring in your sketch to office hours or show it to me after class. You can also scan it in and email it to me if you’d like more detailed feedback.

3. Work on creating your infographic

We’ll have some class time you can use to work on your infographic and to get help with Photoshop. You can also work on your infographic using Photoshop on the computers in the Open Lab in Parlin 102. When you’re working away from computers that have Photoshop, you can continue to compile images and reconsider how to better express your ideas in an accessible and efficient visual format. If you’d like feedback at any stage of this process, feel free to send along what you have or to talk with me before or after class or during office hours.

4. Peer Review your infographic

Send your infographic-in-progress to a classmate. Provide feedback on their infographic and get comments back on own. This is useful because it will help you to discern how efficient your infographic is at communicating information to different audiences.

5. Present your Infographic

We will have two course days of presentations where you will show your infographic to other students and discuss the process of creating it as well as your Essay #2 argument and topic.

6. Make final changes and submit

Evaluation Suggestions:

This assignment will receive a percentage/letter grade. Meeting the basic requirements and efficiently communicating information visually are the primary criteria.

Additional Resources:

In the assignment, I recommend that students use an online infographic guide at Spyre Studios -- this is a great introductory guide.

Course Type:

Literary Studies Course

Course Description:

In this course, we will focus on developing close reading skills through the examination of fiction and poetry written predominantly by American women on two levels, personal and social. Personally, what does it mean to be a “woman author” and what were (and are) some of the impetuses that drive women to write? Socially, how have expectations for women shifted over time, and what roles do these expectations play in what women write, especially with regard to genre, and whether or not they write at all? Furthermore, what have issues of authorship and authority entailed for women of various ethnicities and sexual orientations? These are some of the major questions that will guide our analysis.

We will build close reading, critical analysis and writing skills, all of which are vital for the English major. Students will also learn how to use the online Oxford English Dictionary as well as other resources essential to literary study. In addition to reading fiction and poetry, literary criticism and contextual readings will accompany each major text. Students will also initiate class discussion with fifteen-minute presentations on authors and texts. To fulfill the writing flag for this course, students will compose two major essays (5-7 pages) and several shorter (1-2 page) assignments in which they will demonstrate their grasp of close reading and critical analysis. Students will also critique each other’s work during peer reviews and work on developing the essential skill of significant revision.

Tags:

Infographic

Photoshop

Literature

Visual Representation

Creating Individual "Infospheres" on the Web

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:11:03 +0000

Author:

Jasmine Mulliken

Image Credit:

An example of an infosphere from Jasmine Mulliken

Brief Assignment Overview:

The infosphere assignment calls on students to identify online sources of information they regularly take in and to create a representative structure for this information. Students must build their own unique infospheres and organize them as they see fit.

Type of Assignment:

Course Unit

Major Course Project

Assignment Length:

Course Unit

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Annotated Bibliography

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Rhetorical analysis, citation, research, invention, digital literacy.

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Mind mapping software (Novamind, Freemind, etc.)

Aggregator website (Netvibes, iGoogle, etc.)

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Mid-Semester

Full Assignment Description:

Michael Vlahos defined "infosphere" in 1996 as "the fusion of all the world's communications networks, databases and sources of information into a vast, intertwined and heterogeneous tapestry of electronic interchange" (498). The thirteen years since his article was published has seen, among ather things, a shift in use of internet from the impersonal to the personal. Individuals now have their own infospheres, personal tapestries of information that they choose to absorb on a day-to-day basis. The infosphere assignment calls on students to identify online sources of information they regularly take in and to create a representative structure for this information. One way to do this is through an aggregator site such as Netvibes. Students must build their own unique infospheres and organize them. The bases for this organization becomes apparent not only in the way the student displays his or her infosphere on the webiste, but also in the secondary and explanatory requirement--the mind map.

This 6-7 week assignment requires students to construct both a visual and a verbal representation of their infospheres. During the process, it is important to discuss theoretical ideas about the web, sociology, and argument so that students understand what makes up their infospheres, but also why and how these sources play a role in their formations of identity.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Begin the unit with a discussion of infospheres. This discussion can be up to a class in length and may include whole class discussion, group discussion, and/or lecture.

The next class period should focus on the idea of aggrogator sites and should include a demonstration of how one works. I used Netvibes. After explanation and demonstrations, let the students work on their own for 15-20 minutes, addressing any questions that come up during that time.

The next class period might deal with structuring information. (This could be done before the aggregator discussion, but I found it useful to have the material already so there was something to fill up the structure with.) Talk with students about how we structure our lives based on role or time or any other framework. This discussion could be half a class, and the next half could be an explanation/demonstration of NovaMind or another mind mapping software. Again, allow some time for students to play with the software in class.

The next few class periods, allow time at the beginning or end of class to work on project. In the meantime you might have them do readings over information structures or identity and its modern influences and discuss these readings and the ideas they evoke. Tie these ideas in to the infosphere so that the theory behind the assignment is always relevant.

It might be a good idea to have one full class dedicated to working on the project toward the end of the unit. You may not need this, though, if you've been allowing a block of time throughout the unit for work.

Instructions For Students:

This assignment has two parts: a mindmap reflecting the structure and reasoning for your website; and a website reflecting your infosphere as discussed in class.

Create, in an online environment, a space that represents your infosphere. You should use an aggregator site such as netvibes.com or igoogle.com to bring together the various information you take in on a daily basis. This may include any news sites you visit, radio stations you listen to, shows you watch, social sites you visit, email accounts you check, lectures or podcasts you listen to (like church sermons or class feeds), and the like. You may want to create different tabs that effectively categorize the information by role. Perhaps you read different magazines or journals for your job or classes than you do for entertainment. Maybe you want to separate your personal email account from your school email account. Keep in mind how you organize the information you take in and try to represent that through the interface.

As a precursor to building your website, map out the various components of your infosphere in a mind map. This map can serve as a brainstorming space and help you think through the different uses of the various information you take in on a daily basis.

Be as thorough as you can. Include everything you receive information from or take into consideration when constructing your reality. Remember, though, that you are trying to represent mainly the information you take in and not the information you put out. Sometimes these lines intersect, but try to contain this assignment as best you can to information you receive and process.

Requirements

Upload as a jpeg your infosphere mindmap by the due date. The map should have at the center your name. The first level of nodes should represent the tabs that will be at the top of your netvibes site (or the first level of organization on any other site you're using). The next level of nodes should be the titles of the blocks you will be putting under each tab. The nodes under the block titles should explain how and how often you use the information in the block, when and why you started using it, and a brief description of the site represented in the block.

Post a link to the finished site to the submission area for the assignment by the due date.(Check the calendar on the course website.) Additionally you may post a link in the class forum if you're willing to share your infosphere with the class. Be as thorough as possible. If you find along the way any sites that aren't part of your current infosphere but that you want to make part of it, definitely add those in! This assignment is meant to be both reflective and generative.

Evaluation Suggestions:

The grade on this assignment is based on the thoroughness of the site and the mindmap. In cases where students may have fewer objects in their infospheres, the amount of information and description in the mind map should show a thorough understanding of the role of those objects. The page should be well organized according to a specific structure defined by the student. The mindmap and website should show structures consistent with each other. Many objects on the website does not guarantee a good grade. Grade is based on evidence of the student's understanding of the purposes of those objects.

Course Type:

Advanced Writing Course

Intermediate Writing Course

Course Description:

This project was implemented in an intermediate rhetoric course, RHE 309K The Rhetoric of Web Identity.

Tags:

Infosphere

Citation

Visual Representation

Invention

Website Design

Novamind

Tracing Memes in Storify

gianfagna — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 19:55:15 +0000

Author:

Megan Varelmann Gianfagna

Image Credit:

Screen shot of Storify home page

Brief Assignment Overview:

In this assignment, students use the free online program Storify to track the life of a meme by combining elements pulled from social and news media sources.

Type of Assignment:

In-class Exercise

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Organization

Summary

Synthesis

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

I've used this assignment in two different ways. The first time I taught the course, I used it as an outlining exercise. The second time I taught the course, I allowed students to use Storify as the platform for the essay itself. The outlining exercise can easily transition into a larger assigment. Originally, this assignment was meant to serve as both an invention and an outlining exercise for students as they prepared to write their first essay, where they map the similarities and differences among three iterations of a meme in terms of media, venue, exigence, purpose, audience, and message. This in-class project as well as the more formal essay are two ways of achieving one of the larger course goals: to have students look beyond individual platforms and investigate—through emerging multimedia composing practices—the broader, interconnected digital media landscape.

Media Requirements:

Adaptable For Use Without Classroom Technology

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Computer with internet connection

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Useful Anytime

Full Assignment Description:

In the context of my course, Rhetoric of Going Viral, the focus is on tracking a meme across multiple iterations, creating a sort of metacommentary on the way it has changed across media and time. I require that students integrate at least three “primary” texts, or iterations of their meme, as well as at least one contextual source to help the reader understand the meme’s origin, impact, etc.

The Storify interface allows students to search Twitter, YouTube, Google, Facebook, Flickr, the Storify site, and RSS feeds. Then they can drag the texts, images, and videos they find in the research window into their story. They can add commentary and rearrange elements as they go. At the top, they can add a title and a summary of their story. When they’re satisfied with their work, they can publish their story and share the link on a blog or social media platform.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

In the class period before students are scheduled to complete the assignment, I recommend sharing a few Storify pieces and discussing the assignment requirements. For homework, I have students select primary texts and contextual sources, though many do additional research as they are composing. Students will also need to create a Twitter account to log in.

The day of, students might spend the first 10 minutes of class getting signed in and walking through the basic features of the interface. There are also screencasts available on the Storify if you’d like to have students watch a tutorial prior to beginning their projects.

Instructions For Students:

Outline version

In Research Summary 1 and 2, you have practiced locating, summarizing and contextualizing online texts. As you move into Essay 1.1, you will create a multimedia narrative to help generate ideas and guide your writing. Using Storify, you will illustrate the relationships among the three primary texts you plan to use in essay 1.1. Your story should include three “primary” texts, or iterations of the meme, as well as contextual information about its origin, popularity, reactions it has caused, etc. You can organize your narrative chronologically or according to publication venue, message, topoi, or stakeholders. Remember that your primary goal is to give your reader insight into the relationships among these texts, so you will want to organize them in a way that makes those relationships most visible and gives your reader ample opportunity to note important overlaps and differences. Keep in mind that your map needs to include enough information and visual cues that it can be read and understood as a stand-alone narrative (that is, without the aid of additional explanation from you to me or your classmates). When you’re finished, you will publish your piece to your class blog.

Essay version

General

You have two options for the first assignment: a traditional essay of about 3 pages (this option can include embedded images and other multimedia elements or not) OR a Storify piece that fulfills all objectives of the assignment. If you choose the Storify option, you will need to sign up for a free account or sign in with your Twitter or Facebook login. The platform allows you to pull text, images and video from news and social media sites and integrate them into a narrative. You can add commentary and transitions to complete the story of the meme you’re mapping. Here is a demo/tour of the site’s capabilities.

For your first major project, you will trace the life of an event or argument, placing it in a specific socio-historical context and noting how its rhetorical features change and evolve as it moves through multiple media platforms or iterations over time. To do so, find three digital or physical texts (blog posts, videos, news coverage, op-eds, tattoos, T-shirts, posters, etc.) responding to a common exigence and talk in-depth about the sequence in which these texts appeared, the venues in which they are presented, and how the representation of the idea changes according to media and genre. You will be required to include at least 4 sources (3 of which will be the texts themselves and the other of which might be contextual information from a website or article).

Your purpose in this essay/Storify piece is to map out the various texts or versions of a single text you've chosen, clearly describing each one and then highlighting the relationships among them. Do not argue for which of the texts is “best,” but rather articulate as neutrally as possible what each says and what its relationship is to the other texts.

One way to maintain a neutral stance is to give each text equal space and attention in your paper, giving each the opportunity to present its message from its own perspective when possible. Be sure to attribute statements to their original speakers or organizations: phrases such as "According to. . ." and "As stated by. . ." along with verbs that indicate that someone has stated a particular position, such as argues, advocates, asserts and contends will indicate that the argument you are presenting is not necessarily your own.

Your audience for this essay will be concerned and interested but not particularly informed citizens who are looking to you to provide an unbiased lay of the land. With that in mind, you will want to provide enough background information to allow them to follow the conversation but not so much detail that it overwhelms your primary purpose.

Specifics

You'll want to sketch out the basics of what your three texts have in common and provide brief but informative descriptions of their form and content. You can draw heavily on your annotated bibliography for this information. For example, if they are all responding in different ways to a common exigence, you may want to explain what event(s) or cultural moment led to the creation of these texts. For each of the three individual texts, you'll want to tell your audience who created them, where and when they appeared, who they are targeted towards, and what message they send or position they take. Provide a clear timeline and sense of how the three texts relate to each other.
You'll want to compare how the texts have responded similarly or differently to the event or idea that spurred their creation. As you do so, you'll want to indicate who the stakeholders are (as well as what each source's stake is) and points of intersection and diversion among their responses. Your comparison (or perhaps the essay/Storify piece itself) should begin with a polished claim summarizing the main similarities and differences—a thesis. If you're discussing one meme that has appeared in multiple contexts, you'll want to focus on any ways it has changed or how it is being used or regarded differently on each site.
Document your sources according to the MLA or APA documentation guidelines.

Evaluation Suggestions:

I use the Learning Record, so individual assignments do not receive grades. Rather, I comment on the Storify projects and students later draw on those comments when composing midterm and final evaluations of their performance in the class.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My experience has been that students really love the Storify interface and need very little instruction to create their projects. Many students commented that they felt the texts they were working with were more visible, more immediately available to them as they were writing in Storify than in Word, and so their arguments emerged with less difficulty. As a reader, I found the Storify outlines and essays very engaging.

Course Type:

Introductory Writing Course

Course Description:

RHE 309K - Rhetoric of Going Viral - an intermediate writing course.

Tags:

Visual Representation