Class: December 7, 2010

For today's class, I would like you to refine your idea for your final project. First, I would like you to find a few samples of texts are similar to what you hope to produce for your final project. Then, I would like you to write in the comments a more detailed description of your project. Be specific about things like topic, length, audience, approach, etc.

For Thursday's shortened class (beginning at 4:45), please pick the best post from each of your classmate's blogs.

Class: December 2, 2010

Today your goal is to produce the best written post of your life. It's a lot of pressure. Hopefully, you brought a draft of a post in with you to work with, but if not, you can start from scratch. As you are writing, I would like you to consider the following things we have talked about over the semester:

• Paragraph organization
• Sentence structure
• Word choice
• Concise Writing
• Grammar

Good luck! Write a post that your mother would post on her refrigerator!

Class: November 30, 2010

Today we're talking about professional blogging in two senses. First, the ability of bloggers to make money off of their own blogs. Check out these two articles:

• Will I Grow Rich By Blogging?
• How Much Money Do Bloggers Make Blogging?
• Top Earning Blogs

The other sense of professional blogging is blogging done by corporations to reach consumers. Blogging has become a vital part of corporate marketing. I would like you to find a company with a blog and post a response in the comments to the following questions based on Chapter 6 of Say Everything:

1. The Cluetrain Manifesto argues that markets are conversations, and that human conversations sound human - that is "open, natural, and uncontrived" in a way that can't be faked (168). What is the voice of the corporate blog? Does it sound human?
2. Cluetrain Manifesto co-author Doc Searls draws a distinction between making money with a blog and making money because of your blog - that is, using the blog to build attention and reputation for a money making venture. How does the corporate blog you found generate money? How does it seem to fit into the overall profit scheme of the company?

Post your answers below, and then we'll discuss them.

Final Project

For the final project of the semester, I would like students to apply their writing/rhetorical skills beyond their blog. I am providing several options for potential projects, but I am also open to suggestions. Essentially, I would like this project to reach a wider audience than your blog and be published to an active community (Wikipedia, Salon, Youtube, etc). The project could tie in with your blog topic, but could also be about another topic entirely. I provide a few options for projects below, but I am also open to suggestions. I would like each student to send me an email by Friday, December 3 explaining what they would like to do for a final project. After I receive the email, I will negotiate with each student exactly what they will complete for the final project. I anticipate each final project being a significant effort and learning experience, but not necessarily a huge time commitment (considering that we only have about two weeks left).

Final Projects will be due by December 15. The length and form of submission will depend on the project and will be negotiated between the instructor and the student.

POTENTIAL PROJECTS:

Editing Wikipedia Entries: Choose a wikipedia entry for a subject you know well and make a substantial edit, or choose a legitimate topic that lacks a wikipedia page and create it.

Create a YouTube Video: Produce and publish a Youtube video about a subject of your choosing. The video should have good production value and be interesting for its intended audience.

Create a Remix Project: The digital age is characterized by compositions that make something new out of existing texts, such as Garfield Minus Garfield or this re-cut George Costanza trailer. Your final project could create a significant new composition out of existing published works.

Create a Podcast: Record and edit a podcast and publish it on iTunes. Podcasts should be focused, professional, and well-produced.

Post on OpenSalon: Post a few substantial blog posts on OpenSalon or a similar social networking blogging site.

Class: November 16, 2010

Today's class is all about usability and SEO. First, let's talk usability. Please check out the following links to determine if each website is User Friendly. If there are problems, try to reference vocabulary from Usability.gov in describing them:

1. JonesSchijoff
2. ZincBistro
3. MaisonMartinMagiela
4. Evolution and the Nature of Sciences Institute
5. CafeIntl
6. LA Eyeworks
7. DPGraph
8. 2Advanced

Then, we'll check out these SEO Tools:

• Google AdWords Keyword Suggest
  
• Spider Simulator
• Keyword Density Checker
• Keyword Suggestion Tool
• Keyword Analysis and Recent Keyword Activity on StatCounter
• Follow the instructions on this site to add meta tags to your blog
  

Class: November 9, 2010

Word! Today's class focused on Ross-Larson's advice about words. Let's start by doing a little writing about this prompt:

1. What's the best advice in Ross-Larson's word section?
2. What's the advice that you most needed personally or the rule that your blog breaks the most?
   
3. Find three examples on your blog of a place where you should have taken Ross-Larson's advice.
   

After we discuss your responses, I'm giving you a chance to write another post in class. This time, I want you to write trying to follow the advice on words as closely as possible. As you compose your post and after you finish the draft, check it carefully to ensure that all of your words are carefully and deliberately chosen.

UPDATE: Read Concise Writing on the Purdue OWL. Use this to edit the draft of your post online.

Class: November 9, 2010

Most of class today will be spent commenting on blogs to bump up your readership. But first, I wanted us to explore a recent event that is of relevance to blogging.

1. First, check out this blog post.
2. Next, check out the Cook's Source Facebook Page.
3. Then, read this statement by Cook's Source.
4. Then, check out this page about protecting your blog.
5. And then, look at Creative Commons. Let's all make Creative Commons licenses for our blogs!
6. Finally, check out the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Once we finish this, get to commenting!

Class: November 4, 2010

It's sentence day! Inspired by Ross-Larson, we are going to write better sentences.

1. First, check out the list of opening sentences in the post below, and choose your five favorites.
2. Then, look at your own blog. Choose your two least favorite sentences and re-write them. Be ready to read the old and new versions to the class.
3. Take some time in class to write your post. I will be grading this post specifically on the quality of its sentences, so take time to craft really great sentences. In addition, please use at least two of the sentence strategies from the Ross-Larsen section 6 on sentences.
   

Opening Sentences

Check out this list of the first sentence of every blog post from this semester. Then choose the five best. Be ready to explain why they are so good:

• It is no big secret, here at Co-op Love, that Brandon and I don't always agree on what makes a good game.
• I finished knitting my hat!
• I finished this wrap skirt since I finally had the buttons.
• My home page is aol.com and always read the news and interesting storys they have featured for the day.
• There is absolutely nothing good about this movie.
• The Reebok EasyTone shoes have been around now for a few years but there is still some controversy over the idea of getting in shape just by changing your shoes.
• XKCD is amazing, if you haven't had the pleasure of reading the webcomic before.
• I often say to people that, given the Christian fable, I prefer the Devil character over the "god" character.
• I was recently watching the romantic comedy Leap Year with my sister.
  
• Call of Duty: Black Ops doesn't come out till Nov. 9, but I can tell by the way this trailer looks at me, that it wants me to buy it now.
• We spent thirty minutes of fiddling around with various settings on my PS3 in an attempt to figure out WHY my Bluetooth headset wasn't working.
• After Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) destroys the Death Star, Darth Vader (David Prowse) attempts to locate Luke by sending probe droids to scour the galaxy.
• I made some friendship bracelets!
• Hey! I just wanted to let you know that secular societies enjoy a better quality of life.
• It's here or rather it's there.
• My first hat is really coming along now!
• Julia McCullough (Piper Perabo), wife of amateur magician Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), regularly performs an underwater escape trick for magic shows.
  
• Brandon is safely at Fort Gordon and finishing up the whole intake process.
• Brandon just left for Georgia.
• I got a new fitness "toy" this past week - a 3 lb hula-hoop.
  
• I've heard people say that we absolutely need religion.
• Well, I haven't had time this week yet to work on anything new, so I'll do another flashback post since I've been planning on posting these anyway.
  
• Here's about how it breaks down - God is either extraordinarily negligent, evil, or completely unconcerned with our existence.
• This weekend has been pretty busy and I haven't had time to work on projects, really... My friend and I went to went to Philadelphia this weekend to an Ingrid Michaelson concert (awesome!) and to visit our other friend who is going to school there.
• I first learned about Jackie Warner by way of her t.v. show Work Out.
• This is a simple suggestion for lunch.
• I started this wrap skirt a week or so ago and tried to finish it up last night.
  
• I crocheted another hat, this time a slouchy one.
• After an FBI agent is killed in a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia, his friend and fellow FBI agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) assembles a team to investigate at the crime scene.
• I just wanted to post a quick review of The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest for PS3.
• I love nerd comedy.
• Okay, I just have to say I love the fall...yesterday my mom and I went on a walk with the dogs to enjoy the day.
  
• I have had my Reebok EasyTone shoes for almost a year now.
• Today, I want to talk about something that frightened and horrified me.
• Here are some of my earliest embroidery projects I did last year.
• Brandon leaves on Sunday and we haven't even started packing yet.
• Okay, so I've seen on so many blogs the wonderful things people have done with freezer paper stenciling.
• After much weeping and nashing of the teeth, here it is my Dead Rising 2 Review.
• I have been working on this video review for Dead Rising 2 for a week now.
  
• I was just thinking that some people who come across my blog may not know much about P90X or may be super interested in it and want to learn more about it.
• I finished the purse I had started in this post.
  
• Okay, we just got back from Best Buy and we did not buy a system, but we did finally make a decision on which system we will purchase.
• 20 years before the events in District 9, an alien spaceship came to a floating halt above Johannesburg, South Africa.
• I finished the single player mode of White Knight Chronicles.
• I love diyideas.com.
  
• Please, if you doubt the obvious evil of religious indoctrination, watch the documentary Jesus Camp, which investigates a church group instructing children to take back America for Jesus.
• Marni (Kristen Bell) was extremely insecure in high school, in part because she was constantly bullied by a cheerleader named Joanna.
• What an awesome feeling!
• This is a letter to the editor from my current city: Altoona, Pennsylvania.
• I am incredibly excited.
• In our society, it is fairly accepted that children should not watch violent movies until a certain age, hence the rating system we use in movies.
• When the hugely successful entrepreneur Preston Blake, founder of Blake Media, freezes to death, he leaves behind no will.
• Fish and Noodles - That's really all I can say about it right now.
• I finished the guckies!
• I hate it when people imply that science is somehow incapable of analyzing questions of morality.
• I love to make people upset.
• Hello everyone!
• Years ago I used to do these box exercises daily for volleyball training.
• Well, first and foremost I'm a Human.
• In 27 Dresses, Katherine Heigl plays Jane, a New Yorker who loves weddings so much that she has served as a bridesmaid for 27 of them.
• I get the feeling that some people may disagree with my assumption that brainwashing exists and is happening all around you.
• Hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend!
• I've had these two scrap pieces of fleece laying around for a while, so I finally decided to try to make some use of them.
  
• Jason Statham plays Frank Martin, a professional driver who makes a living by transporting passengers or cargo from one point to another
• We're just a species of primate that has evolved on a tiny, insignificant mass of iron and silicon orbiting a small yellow dwarf star - one of billions of stars in our milky way galaxy, our galaxy being just one of billions upon billions in the vast expanse of time and space - each consisting of billions and billions of stars, each individual star capable of harboring life.
• Waiting for my new computer screen to arrive sucks.
• I get the feeling that some people just don't understand the atheist position.
• Definitions.
• Here is a good snack for between meals - I think it would also work well for breakfast but I would add something too it like fruit.
• I think it's important to specify something very important.
• In Blood Diamond, Djimon Hounsou plays Solomon Vandy, a fisherman living in Sierra Leone.
• The other day I went and got a Dazzle so that I could make a video review of Dead Rising 2, which is incrediably fantastic by the way.
• This is what I've been having for breakfast lately.
• 
  
• In Leap Year, Amy Adams plays a young American named Anna Brady who is in a fairly happy, but not idyllic, relationship with her boyfriend Jeremy, played by Adam Scott.
• Isn't it about time that we grow up out of our weird superstitions?
• I think about half the reason I enjoy the Symphony of Science videos so much is seeing little segments of awesome talks, whether they be on TED, fora.tv, or any other awesome website with the greatest minds of our generation sharing ideas.
• Disney is the undisputed master of animated movies, as evidenced by the fact that 8 out my top 10 favorite animated movies are Disney films.
• There are so many things to consider when buying a second system.
• While browsing through some craft blogs for a quick and simple project, I found the perfect thing.
  
• I am always skeptical about the quality of movies based on video games.
• That's mind-boggling!
• The website Reel Thinker contains an interesting list of the ten movie trilogies with the worst third installments, written by Robin Hare.
• I have recently received some indignant feedback about a list I posted last week,
• I read a blog post recently dealing with why atheists seem so darned upset.
• I'm sure your all just dying to know how the yoga went - - I must say that it went better than last week but not by much.
• I'm currently feeling like an alcoholic who needs to get to a meeting.
• My boyfriend and I are avid gamers.
• By the year 2019, most of the earth has somehow been contaminated and can no longer sustain life.
  
• I love TED talks.
• Sometime in the near future, three exceptional Navy pilots are recruited to serve as a counter-terrorism team: Ben Gannon (Josh Lucas), Kara Wade (Jessica Biel), and Henry Purcell (Jamie Foxx).
• The Quran is both beautiful and moving, you can be assured.
• In Did You Hear About the Morgans? , Sarah Jessica Parker plays Meryl Morgan, a woman who separated from her husband Paul (Hugh Grant) after discovering that Paul had cheated on her.
  
• In Venice, Italy, a team of professional thieves led by Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) steals $35 million worth of gold bricks.
• This review is extremely hard to write.
• I would first like to start out by apologizing for my lack of blogging this week.
• It is incredibly interesting to read ancient religious texts.
• This is by far the most absurdly violent movie I've ever seen.
• So today was my first day of following the p90x fat shredder diet and day one of the workout.
• Before I even get into today let me just tell you a little bit about yesterdays workout.
• The list is dominated by action movies, which I can watch over and over again and still get a thrill out of the fighting sequences.
• I've been working on this scarf for a couple of weeks now.
• Brandon and I have both been pretty busy this week, so we haven't had time to play.
• And it’s hump day, day 4 of no fast food, soda, chips, ice tea, anything that includes sugar, and basically everything I love.

Class: November 2, 2010

Today's class is about Net Neutrality. First, we'll have a short discussion about net neutrality, covering both what it is and what it means.

Second, I'd like for each student to help us expand our discussion of net neutrality. The articles I picked are only the tip of the iceberg on this complex issue. Each student should find an article, commentary, or website related to net neutrality and present it to the class. What is the article about? How does it contribute to our knowledge of the issue?

Third, let's talk about how you think the issue should be addressed. How do you think consumers, the government, and internet providers should respond to this controversy?

Class: October 26, 2010

Today's discussion revolves around what people can and can't say online, and what they should and shouldn't say online. In preparation, I had you read Chapter 8 of Say Everything as well as these sites:

1. Student Suspension for Myspace Profile
2. The Rutgers Suicide and Social Networking
3. Wikileaks
   
4. Pentagon Asks Media Not to Publish War Leaks

Each site presents a free speech dilemma created by the internet. In addition, Say Everything mentions several instances of potentially troubling online speech. Choose one instance from the articles or book chapter and write a response comment to the following questions:

1. First, how do you view the speech? Is the action something that should be permitted? Encouraged? Frowned upon but allowed? Give us your reaction to the speech act.
2. Second, how should we as a society respond to the speech? If it is negative, can and should we prevent it? If it's positive, how can it be encouraged/protected?

After you finish writing, post a response comment to another student by using the @ symbol. If possible, respond to someone who wrote about the same situation that you did.

Also, here's more info on the Myspace student suspension.

Conferencing Schedule for Thursday, October 28

On Thursday, each student will meet with me individually for conferences about your blogs. Here is the schedule for appointments:

• 4:05-4:20: Kathryn
• 4:20-4:35: Joe
• 4:35-4:50: Kate
• 4:50-5:05: Quinten
• 5:05-5:20: Katie

Class: October 19, 2010

In today's class, we're talking about Shirky Chapter 8. After a brief discussion of the text, I want to talk about the formation of social groups facilitated by the internet. Here are a few examples to get things started:

• Perverted Justice
• Operation Beautiful
  
• We Will Offer Weezer $10 Million to Break Up
• PostSecret
• FlashMob.com
• Ex Jehovah's Witness Forum and Recovery Site
  
• HotOrNot.com
• Freecycle
• Heartwarmers
  
• Penn State Anonymous Confession Board
• Craigslist Missed Connections State College

Look at the groups that interest you, and you can also include groups not listed here that you would like to discuss by including a link in the comments. For each group, consider a few questions:

1. Is the group something new or something old done in a new way?
2. Does the group build social capital?
3. Does the group operate under "The Shadow of the Future"?
4. Can we make a judgment about whether this group is positive or negative?
   

Once we finish talking about this, let's check out meetup.com, which Shirky mentions in his chapter (not surprisingly, he also serves on the board of advisers). Search the site, looking in particular for meetups relating to your blog discourse community.

Class: October 14, 2010

Today's class is all about the paragraph! For our exciting exploration of this friendly organizational unit, complete the following tasks:

1. Discussion of Ross-Larson Section 5
2. Find the topic and point in every paragraph you wrote last week.
   
3. Choose your favorite and least favorite paragraph that you wrote last week.
4. For both paragraphs, answer the following questions: 1) Do you stick to one subject and verb form? 2) Is your terminology clear and consistent? 3) Does each sentence build on the last? 4) Do you signal the relationship between sentences?
   
5. Choose the best paragraph written by one of your classmates.
6. Discuss paragraphs.
7. Rewrite your least favorite paragraph from your blog (in Word, not on the blog).
   

What fun!

Class: October 12, 2010

In today's class, we will be writing responses to the question "Is the internet making us dumber?" For this activity, please complete the following steps:

1) Post a response in the comments of this blog post to the following question: Do you think the internet is making us dumber? Why or why not?
2) Post a reply to another student's comment (indicating who you are commenting to by writing @name at the beginning of the response).
3) Discuss the issue in class.

Whether or not the internet is making you dumber, this activity will make you smarter!

Class: October 7, 2010

For today's class, I want you to leave with a finished post and comments on all your fellow classmates' blogs. Here's the procedure for class today.

1. Introduce exciting Linking Challenge! for next week!
2. Check out and discuss stat counters.
   
3. Write a draft of a new post and save it.
4. Have another classmate read your post.
5. Read another classmate's post.
   
6. Discuss the posts with your fellow classmates. Have them give you feedback on how to make it stronger.
7. Post!
8. Comment on all the other posts in class.

For Tuesday's class, read:

1. Is Google Making Us Stupid?
2. The Internet: Is it Changing the Way We Think?

Class: October 5, 2010

Today's class will involve a discussion of the Kelly/Keen exchange Can We Save the Internet? To prepare for the discussion, please answer the following questions in Word or in an email to me.

1. What is the most important issue the two writers discuss?
   
2. What is Keen's best point?
3. What is Kelly's best point?

Email me your answers, and prepare for an exciting discussion.

Class: September 30, 2010

Today's class finishes a few tasks left over from last session and involves a discussion of Larsen:

1. Look at Google Reader
2. Look at Del.i.cious
3. Discuss Larsen
4. Post comments on outside blogs

Read Can We Save the Internet? for next class?

Directions for Blogging Reports

By Sunday of each week, students will email a blogging report to provide me with links of their blogging activity. For blogging reports, please follow this format:

Subject line: [Name] Blogging Report: [Date]

Comments on Class Blogs

[Blog Name] [Your User Name]
[URL]
x4

Comments on Outside Blogs

[Blog Name] [Your User Name]
[URL]
X4

Make sure to send your report by Sunday so that you can get credit for your blogging activity each week.

Class: September 28, 2010

Today's class is all about getting readers for your blog and commenting on other blogs. For class, we will complete the following activities:

1. Discuss Tagging/Labeling
2. Discuss Readings
3. Introduce Blogging Reports
   
4. Register for Statcounter Accounts
5. Register your blog on Technorati
6. Create accounts on del.i.cious
7. Check out Google Reader
8. Discuss Comments
   
9. Comment on other blogs

What fun!

Class: September 21, 2010

Welcome to the official English 420 blog. It will provide us with updates, reading links, and instructions for class activities.

For today's class, please complete the following activities:
1) Set up your blog account!!
2) Choose the design/template of your blog.
3) Write the "About" section of your blog.
4) Add your blogroll to the blog.
5) Add any other widgets/gadgets you want.
6) Start on your first post (can be written at home).

For Thursday, let's discuss if we want to workshop posts in class or if you'd rather post before Thursday's class.