Throughout the course, we will be maintaining a class blog. The reasons for this are two-fold: one, to share course-relevant topics and issues of personal interest, and two, to gain experience writing about complex ideas clearly in digital environments as a key writing and communication skill.
There are two types of blog engagement: original posts and responding to posts. You are required to do both periodically throughout the semester.
Original Posts
Each student will write at least one original post this semester. Posts should highlight a real-world example of language or literature at work. Your post might connect to our content that week, or it might highlight something of interest to you.
Possibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Link to and discuss a relevant article or media artifact that connects to language or literature in the world.
- Discuss a recent book you read or a favorite book you’d like us to know about.
- Post a poem (written or spoken) or song lyric and do a brief analysis of it.
- Reflect on the relationship of language or literature to current events (for example, Black Lives Matter or the pandemic)
- Post a relevant TedTalk or other video, and summarize and discuss why it is important that we watch it.
- Share an aspect of your own experience related to language or literature and ask a question of your classmates to get them discussing.
All posts should include 1-3 questions at the end for the class to discuss.
Original posts should be 200-400 words and should make use of multimedia (image, links, video).
All posts are due before Tuesday’s class. Students should read the posts on their own. At the start of Thursday’s class, the post authors for that week will take a few minutes to highlight their posts and lead small group discussion.
** NOTE: You may not plagiarize anything from the web. NEVER copy and paste. All posts should be entirely original to you. Please acknowledge any sources you use by linking to the original source and/or including a citation at the bottom of the post. Please see me if you have any concerns or questions about citation.
Writing Tips
Writing for a blog medium is different than formal academic writing. While your post should be clear and thoughtful, you can aim for a more casual conversational tone in the blogs. Generate interest; write engagingly. Your audience is your classmates.
Consider reviewing the following resources for tips on writing in a digital environment and in a blog:
- Sue Dunlevie, 16 Rules of Blog Writing and Layout [Which Ones Are You Breaking?]
- Kathleen Morris, 10 Elements of a Quality Blog Post: Tips for Students
- Austin Kleon, Credit Is Always Due
Key points to remember:
- Short paragraphs, shorter sentences
- Accessible language and conversational tone
- Use white space, effective organization (headings?), and dynamic media to guide your reader and maintain interest.
Assessment
Blog Post Rubric
| Exceeds Expectations | Meets Expectations | Does Not Meet Expectations | |
| Engaging content Topic is original and shows thoughtful consideration Topic and content relate specifically to English language and/or literature Topic and content is appropriate for and directed toward class audience Body writing shows and generates interest in the topic Post incorporates media (images, video, etc) in a way that enhances the post (not simply as illustration) | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Depth of insight Blog post moves beyond summary into analysis/discussion of the content or topic Post engages with deeper significances or implications of topic | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Clarity of writing Diction and grammar is correct; paragraph structures are effective Post is formatted neatly and clearly for online environment No typos | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Schedule
* Due Tuesday before class