Blogging project

English 1117 – The Final Project –

Now that you know the ins and outs of blogging, the final project is a chance for you to make the blog your own.  Spend some time considering how you would like to use the time and the writing space.  As you know, there are many genres of blogs, so you will need to choose a genre and/or a purpose for yours.

 

If you choose a genre-

If you choose a genre, (i.e. health and fitness, travel, cooking, fashion, gaming, diary…), you should find a few exemplary blogs within that genre as “mentor blogs”.

 

If you choose a purpose more than a genre –

You might choose purpose over genre if you have a specific goal for yourself.  Maybe you want to use the five weeks to work on that piece of fiction you’ve been meaning to write, maybe you have an interest in social justice issues, and you would like to learn more about that, or maybe you haven’t had a chance to explore career options, and you want to use this time to look at opportunities for your future; maybe you’re an artist, and you want to uses the platform to show your work.  The options here are endless.

 

If you choose a purpose for your blog rather than working within a specific genre, you should also find a few exemplary blogs within that same field or topic to study as “mentor blogs.”

 

Weekly posts:

1. Study what the creator of these exemplary blogs does and how s/he does it and write about what you’re seeing.
2. and 3. Write about the topic of your choice within your genre and/or purpose.  Play around with adapting some of the techniques you’ve learned from the blog you’ve been studying that week. Have fun crafting these posts for your audience.
3.  *If you are doing four posts per week, this post is entirely up to how you want to use it as long as it fits within the project.

 

NOTE: Be sure to always cite, attribute and link in your posts.

NOTE #2 – some weeks, I have assigned a specific post.  You will be allowed to swap out one of the regularly scheduled posts for this assigned one, or you have the option of doing the assigned post in addition to your regular routine.

Assigned posts are as follows –

• Week 15 – Dec. 3-7 – “The Blog Tours” – Compose a post providing a review of three classmates’ blogs – not to critique so much as to express what you learned by visiting each one. You may do three separate posts or combine them in to one post.
• Weeks 16-17 – Rather than posting your usual 2-4 posts, you will be working on a longer, final reflection post. This will also become the final paper for this class.  There will be more details to come regarding this assignment.

 

 

 

Grades:

The final project counts for 30% of your final grade.

The final project consists of:

1. A Formal Proposal and Contract – Due Monday, November 5^th – a hard copy, in class.
2. Five weeks of blogging – Beginning Monday, November 12^th , ending Friday December 14^th.

 

 

 

 

The Proposal: A one-page document that uses the following template.

 

• Executive Summary: Two to three sentences describing the audience, topic and purpose of your blog.

 

• Narrative: Describe in detail what you plan to do during the five weeks of your project. Write with so much detail that someone else could step in and complete the project in your absence.

The narrative should explain, what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, and

what you hope to accomplish by doing it.

 

• Readings: List and link to the reading you will be doing for your project. This might be articles, blogs or other electronic content.

 

• The Contract: In this section of your proposal, detail the extent of your project in measurable terms: numbers. Think in terms of numbers of blog entries, length, grammatical correctness, proper formatting (citations and attributions), and frequency of posting. For instance, how often will you post? How long do you expect those posts to be? How much time will you need to spend proofreading for grammatical errors or reviewing MLA citation rules? Will you need to solicit help from the Writing Center or a writing tutor to help you in these areas?
  Use good estimates because you’ll be held to them.

  Set your contract.

 

Here are some guidelines.

C –  for keeping up the blog two to three times a week, with entries of about 200 – 300 words/day – minimal grammatical errors and proper citation.

B –  for a focused and carefully constructed blog, including posts 3 – 4 times a week, about 300-400 words or so a day. Minimal grammatical errors and proper citations – being sure to include at least one link in each post.

A –  for a focused, extensive blog. Not just blogging but crafting each post 3 – 4 times a week, about 500-750 words per post. Minimal grammatical errors and proper citations – being sure to include at least one link in each post.

You can earn more points than you contract for if you end up going beyond what you originally planned on. On the other hand, if you fall short on the contract, you may receive fewer points. (I’m hoping for the former.)

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