Project 4 Revision Plan

Reflecting on Your Project

  1. Begin by reading through the feedback that you received from your peer review partners on your project draft.
  2. Review the rubric for the project, and note places where you still need to work to meet your goals.
  3. Think in particular about ways to improve your work. Even if your project seems done to you, you should think about what you can do to make it even better. Note that your effort throughout the project matters so find ways to use the remaining time on the project to improve your work.

Writing a Revision Plan

  1. Based on your reflection, compose a revision plan for the project in your word processor, following the instructions on pp. 116-118 of Writer/Designer.
  2. Include the link to the current draft of your project in your revision plan.
  3. If desired, submit any additional materials that support your revision plan (e.g., a mock-up of a new section, a storyboard for a scene you will add, a chart showing a new design or structure).
  4. Submit your word processor file and any other attachments in the Project 4 Revision Plan assignment in Canvas. You’ll find it on the Assignments page.

Expectations for Your Revision Plan

Average (C) Work: Your revision plan answers all of the questions included in the revision plan section of Writer/Designer. It provides simple, basic details on how you will revise the project. It sticks to more cursory changes to the project. For example, a cursory revision would focus on fixing typos and correcting some broken links. Your revision plan will show that you will put in an average amount of effort before you turn in the project.

Above-Average (B) Work: Your revision plan goes beyond simple changes and shows a concerted effort to rethink and improve the current draft of your remix. An above-average plan might talk about cutting or completely rewriting a section of the remix, redesigning the look and feel of a section, and/or changing the way images are incorporated. Your revision plan will show that you will put in a reasonable amount of effort before you turn in the project.

Excellent (A) Work: An excellent revision plan will talk not only about what changes you would make, but specifically how you would change things. Note that you may include whatever makes sense for your revision plan (e.g., a mock-up of a new section, a storyboard for a scene you will add, a chart showing a new design or structure). Your revision plan will show that you will put in a considerable amount of effort before you turn in the project.


 
Last updated on 22nd April, 2016, 2:18 PM
by on 2016-04-15

Project 4 Proposals

This is the post for the Friday, April 15, 2016 class meeting.

English Undergraduate Symposium

If you will not be present because you are presenting at the English Undergraduate Symposium (symposium program), email me the details so I can mark the absence as excused.

Questions?

Cat wearing a tie, with the caption, Interesting proposal. Leave it on my desk. I need to sleep on it.Any questions about Project 4 assignment? Add them to this Google Doc and I will answer them at the end of the class.

Working on Your Proposal

Organization
The outline for your proposals is in Writer/Designer, on pp. 90–92. You need to include these parts:

  • Introduction/summary: Explain your focus and how you are approaching it.
  • Project plan: Include the grade you are aiming for and the project components you plan to complete.
  • Justification: Talk about why you chose your character and how the components and approach you have chosen are appropriate. Address any potential copyright restrictions you will have to deal with.
  • Roles and responsibilities: Skip it. Not needed, since you are working alone.
  • Timeline: Use the dates from the assignment for peer review, revision plan, and due date.

For all the parts, be sure that you include the information listed in the textbook.

Format

  • Use memo format, with the headings To, From, Subject, and Date.
  • Use what you know about design to make your headings and information clear.
  • Incorporate graphical elements (e.g., charts, tables) to organize your information meaningfully.
  • Rely on the Ten Design Tips as you work.
  • Provide documentation for any outside assets that you include.

Tools
Use Word or Google Docs. When you are ready to submit your work, save the document as a PDF to ensure that the formatting shows up as you designed it.

Homework

For Monday, do the following before class:

  • Have a draft of your proposal. We’ll do an informal peer review exchange and go over the submission instructions.
  • You will have the usual 1-week grace period.

 
Last updated on 15th April, 2016, 9:46 AM
Filed Under: Class Notes Tagged With: , ,
by on 2016-04-11

Project 4 Overview

This is the post for the Monday, April 11, 2016 class meeting.

Attendance Update

Cat in box with packing peanuts, and the caption, Ikea cat, some assembly requiredI updated the attendance information in Canvas during the weekend. If you had an absence and provided a doctor’s note, a notice from the Dean, or something similar, those absences are now marked as “Tardy” in Canvas. I still need to update the information for those of you who are student-athletes. I’ll take care of those later today.

Using the “Tardy” label for these excused absences allows me to still know when people were (or were not) in class while not having that absence count against you in the calculation.

Project 4 Details

For Project 4, you will choose items from a list to create in relationship to a fictional or nonfictional story. The most basic requirement is to create a polished branding video (maximum 2 minutes) or a polished website with at least three different pages that are NOT included in the Project Component List (e.g., an about page, a contact form).

Branding Video Examples

This video was created by a student in the 10:10 section of our class for another course that she took:

The Full Assignment and Decisionmaking

The assignment outlines all of the details for the assignment, but we need to make some decisions. Here is what I propose:

  • Your proposal for Project 4 is worth 15% of your course grade, taking the place of the final exam in the course grade distribution.
  • Your Project 4 is worth 25% of your course grade, as originally planned, but it is due the last week of the class. The grace period ends at the close of the latest exam period for the course.
  • The originally planned final exam (Revision and Maintenance Plan) isn’t completed.

Homework

For Wednesday, do the following before class:

For Friday, do the following before class:

  • Review the information on proposals in Writer/Designer, on pp. 90–92.
  • Choose a focus and make tentative plans for the project components you will complete.

 
Last updated on 11th April, 2016, 9:53 AM
Filed Under: Class Notes Tagged With: ,

Project 4: Literary Branding Remix

Branding Project: Worth 40% of your course grade
Proposal: Worth 15% of your course grade

Calendar IconImportant Tentative and Possibly Changing Dates

  • Apr 18: Proposal due (1-week grace period ends Apr 25)
  • Apr 26: Project 4 Draft due for Peer Review by 11:59 PM (no grace period)
  • Apr 27: Peer Review in class
  • Apr 29: Revision Plan completed in class
  • May 4: Project 4: Remix due by 11:59 PM
  • May 11: End of grace period for Project 4. No work is accepted after 5:25 PM.

Goals

Icon showing code bracketswrite and design web content, use digital images (and if appropriate, video and audio), and recognize basic HTML and CSS syntax. Tablet icon showing text and image on the screenexplore how linguistic text (words), images, and layout combine to communicate with an audience. Recycling iconrecycle an existing story into something new and interesting.

 
The Project AssignmentElectric hand mixer icon, signifying the remix project

You will take an existing story (fiction or nonfiction), and then choose a character, group, place, cause, or event from that story. You will create online resources for whatever you choose. The project you create will be a kind of digital remix.

The idea of remaking an old story in a new way should be familiar to you. Anytime a movie is made that is based on a book, those involved are creating a new multimodal version of the original. You are not limited to making a movie-version of your text however. Nearly anything goes. You may stick closely to the original version of the story or event, or you may reimagine the story from another perspective.

Requirements

  • You must include all five modes of communication.
  • You use appropriate documentation for all work that is not your own.
  • Effort, risktaking, professionalism, and accomplishments will all influence the project grade.
  • Your work should be complete, well-written, and avoid errors in image editing, linking, spelling, grammar, mechanics, and punctuation.

Grade-Level Requirements

The letter A, in white with black outlineComplete the B-level project and create two additional items from the list below. The letter B, in white with black outlineComplete the C-level project and create four additional items from the list below.

The letter C, in white with black outlineCreate a polished branding video (maximum 2 minutes) or a polished website with at least three different pages that are NOT included in the list below (e.g., an about page, a contact form).

Project Components List

Choose items from this list for your project. Note that an item cannot count in two categories. For example, you might publish your bucket list (#6) on your blog (#4), but the bucket list would NOT count as one of your three posts. You may create BOTH a video AND a website, but you only have to do one or the other.

  1. Branding video (1–2 minutes in length) for your focus.
  2. Website for your focus (which serves as a home for your collected materials)
  3. Branding basics for your focus: create a profile pic or logo (400px square), a cover photo (1500px by 500px), and a tagline (maximum 160 characters).
  4. Three blog/vlog posts (minimum). Topics include a rant, a favorite, a day in the life, dreams/goals, eyewitness report, etc.
  5. Infographic with facts and details about your focus.
  6. A Bucket List for your focus.
  7. A /now page for your focus.
  8. A Photo Gallery (9 photos minimum), with titles and descriptions, related to your focus.
  9. FAQs about your focus.
  10. A Listicle related to your focus.

Step-by-Step Details

#1 in a maroon circleStep 1: Choose a story and a related character, group, or place.
Choose a story (fiction or nonfiction) that you like or are interested in exploring. Do choose a story that is classroom-friendly. Nothing X-rated or otherwise inappropriate please.

Once you know your story, choose a character, group, or place from that story for your project. Here are some examples to get you started:

  • Fictional characters: Hester Prynne, Janie Crawford, Daisy Buchanan, Jane Eyre, Lady MacBeth, Sula, or Lena Younger (Mama). Animal characters and monsters would work as well, like Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web or Grendel’s Mother from Beowulf. 
  • Historical figures: Amelia Earhart, Elizabeth Blackwell, Helen Keller, Marian Anderson, Leslie Marmon Silko, or Mae Jemison.
  • Fictional Places, Groups, or Causes: Tours at Pemberley; Folkspants, Unlimited (Miss Celie’s business).
  • Historical Places, Groups, or Causes: Victoria Woodhull’s presidential campaign or Ida B. Wells’s newspaper Free Speech and Headlight.

These are only examples. Choose something that makes you happy. This should be a project that you enjoy working on. At the same time, think about how you will find or create assets for your project that are free for you to use. It’s hard to do a Disney character, for instance, because all those images, music, and video are copyrighted.

#2 in an orange circleStep 2: Write a proposal.
You will explain your plans for your project, relying on the ideas in Writer/Designer, on pp. 90–92. Use the outline in the text to guide your proposal, including all of the headings listed. Be sure to talk about how you are incorporating risk. Your proposal can be short and informal, but it must include all the details discussed in the text. You can work in a word processor (Word or Google Docs).

#3 in a maroon circleStep 3: Develop and refine your project.
Following the resources in Writer/Designer, Chapter 4, 5, 6 and 7, you will collect sources and assets, design your citations, develop mock-ups and storyboards, and draft and revise your project (from rough cut to rough draft to final project). You can find full details on all these tasks in the textbook, and we will discuss them in class.

#4 in an orange circleStep 4: Submit your project, and optional presentations.

Details on how to submit your work will be included in the post for the due date. Be sure that you follow the instructions, include the relevant information, and proofread your work. Remember that there are no rewrites or revisions after work is graded.

If time allows, we will have a project showcase during the last week of classes. We will work on the details when the time comes.


 
Last updated on 15th April, 2016, 9:28 AM