courses@JLR

In this informal writing assignment (similar to a 3-page paper), you will present an argument about the week's material that references at least one reading and one television artifact. This response essay takes the form of a blog post on our course website, where the rest of the class can read and respond.

WHY

The goals of this assignment are to:

• develop critical writing skills that enable you to communicate your ideas clearly
• deepen your understanding and synthesis of course material
• learn to formulate an argument using theoretical concepts
• approach academic composition as a continuing process o engage with the blog as a medium different from the printed page

HOW

Taking the opportunity to write notes, brainstorm ideas, and/or outline before class will help you determine what questions you'd like us to address. You can take advantage of Tuesday's meetings to ask questions that will contribute to developing your argument.

To begin formulating an analysis, you could try sketching out the main ideas of the readings, and listing any consequences, contradictions or critiques they bring to mind. You could also list elements of the screening materials or other familiar television programs/artifacts that intersect with these thoughts. Your goal is to make a connection between concepts from at least one of the texts and a relevant show or phenomenon (whether that's something we look at in screening or something else of interest is up to you).

This essay is short response to the week's content. As such, you will most likely focus on one article or one particular idea from the readings, and on one episode/component of a television program or object. You should: explain the concepts from the text(s) that support your interpretation; describe the significant aspects of your artifact; and articulate, as a cogent argument, your synthesis of these.

Unlike a typical essay, your blog post does not need to have a formal tone and structure (e.g. an introduction and conclusion). However, it should consist of well-constructed paragraphs and readable prose and contain a clear statement of your main idea. To take advantage of the blog format, assume that your classmates are your audience, and aim to stimulate further discussion (for example, you could pose questions explicitly). You are encouraged to include links, images, etc. in your post.

This assignment will be evaluated on the basis of your understanding of course material, the strength of your analysis, and how well you communicate your ideas. The accompanying grading rubric [included in the PDF] offers further guidelines about the characteristics of exemplary (and not so satisfactory) responses. Your professor or TA can also provide individual consultations and/or handouts on writing skills if you'd like additional direction.

WHERE

To create your blog entry, first click "Group blog" in the sidebar of our group page. Then click "Write a blog post" in the sidebar of the blog page. You can set the access level ("Public" is the whole internet and "Group: Intro to Television" is our class only) and save or preview your draft. Click the "Publish" button when you're done. See the HOW TO post on the website for further instructions.

You may wish to compose your blog post in a text editor (or word processor that supports plain text). Cutting- and-pasting to the web from Microsoft Word may result in unwanted formatting. To avoid this, you can click "Add/Remove editor" below the text entry field to paste as plain text. You'll then have to click again to toggle back to styled text and restore paragraph breaks and other basic formatting manually.

WHEN

Blog responses are due by 10pm on Wednesday. The weekly assignment schedule by group is as follows:

X: 2/08 + 3/07 + 4/11

Y: 2/15 + 3/14 + 4/18

Z: 2/29 + 3/21 + 4/25