English 106/Fall 2009
Composing With Popular Culture
Welcome to your website for English 106. We will use this space for annoucements, a storage for handouts, and to post blog assignments.
11/19
Super Handy Tutorial on Dreamweaver Table Design
11/16
Links for Class
11/16
Blog Post #7
This week I want you to discuss one of the reviews you're using for Project #4 (which is due this Thursday). Post the link to one of the online reviews that you're using for the project. In your post, I want you to focus mainly on the author's ethos. What ethos are they trying to project? How do they try to build it (be specific, cite examples)? Does it work for you? You can also touch on in the larger sense of logos, pathos, and ethos mixing in their attempts to be persuasive, what do you feel the ratio is? In other words, is it a pathos heavy argument, a logos heavy argument, etc?
No need to comment on the previous week's posts.
10/26
Blog Post #6
This week I want you to watch and analyze a music video of your choice (use Youtube or a similar video service). You're looking to do something like we did in class the day we watched the three vids. Analyze for use of symbols, imagery, connotation, etc. Perhaps analyze camera movement, cuts, framing, transitions, etc. It will depend on what video you choose, which elements prove most interesting. Try to link the analysis to purpose, theme, image of band, or some broader context.
Either embed the video in the post or provide a link to the vid on youtube.
Also remember to make two comments on posts from last week.
10/17
Blog Post #5
Yes, ladies and gentleman, there was a time called 1981 before MTV where music videos did not exist. Artists were heard on the radio and mainly only seen on album covers or in live performance footage on television shows. Nowadays (and for over 25 years), the music video is a commonplace release for a mainstream artist. The thought of an artist having a career without some sort of well-known and publicized visual image is almost unthinkable. I want you to use your blog response this week to consider the affect of this huge shift. What are the various ramifications of music consumption taking such a strong visual turn? What has been the effect on artists and listeners? What is gained by such a heavy emphasis on visual and style and what might have been lost? I encourage you to not pose your response in terms of simple good or bad (i.e. the shift to music videos was a good one for the music industry or a bad one for the music industry). Try to find a little bit of both and synthesize your perspective into a more complex take on the question.
9/28
Then access these for overall CRAPpiness
Username: mpepper@purdue.edu
Password: english106
Go to "My Slidespace" then "View All"
9/21
Photography Links
9/13
Blog Post #3
Post one juxtaposition from project #1 in the post. You should choose the one that you think is the most, for lack of a better term- you. What we choose to compose, especially on an assignment like this one that was so open, potentially says a lot about us. Think about it, we see compositions of any kind and always jump to some sort of conclusions about the author him or herself.
Write a blog post that explains how this juxtaposition says something about who you are. Why did you make it? How does it reflect interests or concerns that you have? Why was it important for you to make it and show it?
I'm asking for a more personal blog than we've done so far. Not everyone is comfortble with writing about themselves. You can be as revealing (or not revealing) as you want to be. But do think of this from an audience perspective. No matter what you decide to write or how you decide to write it, how can you produce something entertaining for your audience (i.e. the other people in the course).
9/8
Here are some various resources to help you with Project 1. As I've said before, these are not suggestions. I expect you will read and utilize them.
Rhetorical Font Use on the Purdue Owl
Composing Rhetorical Write-Ups
Additionally here is your blog prompt due this Thursday, 9/10.
Blog Prompt #2
Select a children's cereal mascot and perform a rhetorical analysis. Use our in-class work with Purdue Pete as a basic model. Assume the target audience is little kids and assume the purpose is to get them interested in eating the cereal (these feel like safe assumptions). You will be looking to explain how the visual composition choices of the character speak to the audience and attempt to accomplish the purpose.
Write up should be roughly 400 words and you should try to include a picture of the mascot in your post.
8/30
This week you will start posting on our course blog. A blog is essential short for a “web log,” and is a place where people post short pieces of writing to share either with a select group of people or potentially any interested audience. Some blogs have themes and the posts are always on that topic, while others are more general and could be about anything from the blog keeper's life. One of the best features about blogs is the chance for others to comment back on the writing and the potential this holds to spark dialogue.
Your first blog post involves exploring some already existing blogs so you can get an idea of the genre. Here I want to explain the mechanics of the post.
Our blog is invite only. Check your emails Monday or Tuesday for an invite to our blog. Once you have that invite you will have posting privileges.
1. Sign in at http://blogger.com
2. You should see “Pepper's 106 Blog Zone”
3. Select ''New Post”
4. Insert a title into that field and type (or cut and paste) your actual entry into the larger field.
5. There are a variety of basic word formatting buttons (bold, italics, justification) to use at the top of the larger text field
6. When you're done, select “Publish Post.”
When viewing an actual blog entry from someone else, you can click on the “Comments” link. This will open up a text box where you can type a reply. Select “Post Comment” for it to appear.
There are other things you can do, such as insert links and photos that we will cover later.
One thing we don't have time for today is going over how to access your H. drive and softwares from your home computers. But there's not much to go over, in that, you need to set it up largely yourself. Here are the links:
Blog Post #1
Due by Thursday 9.3
For your first blog post I want you to make a post discussing the nature and features of blogs themselves.
First, you will need to go look at, read, and study some. You to Google Blog Search and enter a topic of interest to you. Start looking through some blogs. The Google tool will usually take you to a blog post's permanent page, so it would be a good idea to navigate to the front page of the blog from there (there's usually some sort of link that says Front Page or Home). You can sometimes also erase everything after the .com and reload the URL to get to the front page.
Read a good number and variety of blogs. They are all different and reflect the values and style of the author. You may also want to research the word "blog" through other means to deepen your understanding of them.
After you've done this, write a 300-400 word blog on our course blog. You're looking to quickly sum up what you feel are the various features of blogs, what makes a blog a blog, etc. You should also explain what your initial feelings are about blogging (good, bad, or both).
Linky Resource Goodness
Purdue Linkage