Today’s Plan
- Attendance
- Proposal Assignment
- Proposal as Genre
- Homework
Reviewing the Proposal Assignment
Vitals:
- Length 700 to 1000 words (essentially, 3-4 pages)
- MLA or APA format with Works Cited / References list and citations where appropriate
- Submitted as a shared link with comment permissions via Google Docs
- Due next Monday at 10:00 am
Note that it is strongly encouraged that you visit office hours to discuss your project with me before submission. My hours are M & W 1:00-2:00 and Friday 10-10:45 in Ross Hall, 1180D.
Let’s take a look at the short project description:
In the proposal project you will articulate to me which fan community you will join. This includes identifying active places on the Internet at which people are writing and commenting and identifying a few of the major personalities that drive this community. This project will also identify the kinds of writing you will need to do: what kind of writing does this community value? Are you going to be writing on reddit? Or a specific community forum? Could you compose a faq for this community and solicit feedback from community members? Could you write some reviews? What major events will provide you with material to write about? We will discuss this project more during the first week of class.
The proposal project is meant as an exercise in invention, in generating ideas that you can execute in the coming weeks. Writing on deadline every week can be more difficult than it might seem; this stage of the semester is meant to help you develop a wealth of materials that you can revisit in future weeks.
Grading Rubric:
- Sufficient Research: [51%] while I can’t put an exact number here, I’ll be looking to see that you have done your homework, so to speak, and that your paper reflects reading and research into the topic by explicating the names, sites, terms, activities, etc central to your topic. This should include numerous citations (both quotations and/or paraphrases).
- Arrangement: [13%] Following below, I’ll be looking to see that your proposal reads like a proposal and follows the genre conventions we identify in class
- Edited Prose: [13%] I expect that you will have carefully edited your prose for correctness and clarity. Also, since we are dealing with digital documents, I will be checking that links are properly hyperlinked.
- MLA or APA format: [13%] I will be checking three things here. First, I will be looking to see that your proposal is formatted according to MLA or APA guidelines. Second, I will be paying attention to how you format subject headings. Third, I will be paying particular attention to how you use direct quotes and/or paraphrases (checking the parenthetical, quotation marks, commas, etc).
Genre and/as Proposal
First, let’s talk about the term genre. Then we’ll talk about some of the fundamental parts of any proposal. Finally, I want to flesh out what my specific expectations are for the arrangement of this proposal.
I would like your proposal to have 3-4 sections (depending on whether you are doing an academic or a public project):
- Project Description
- Preliminary Research
- Publication Venues
- Potential Production Schedule
The first section should be a Project Description. In a few paragraphs, this section should give me an idea of what you want to write about this semester: the general topic, the people who are interested, your background in the topic, your expectations, etc. It might speak to why this project is important, why it is worth doing. It might also flesh out your previous experiences in this community and your qualifications for doing the project. The second section should be Preliminary Research. This section should give me concrete specifics about the community. Who are the important people writing on this subject? And/or, where are the important places people write about this subject? Make it clear what places you will be reading for ideas. I’m not looking for a mere bulleted list here, but rather a section that flushes out some of the key nodes in the discursive network you are engaging.
For those *not* working on an academic project, I will need a description of *where* you’ll put your writing, along with some links and description of examples of what writing you will emulate. For instance, if I were going to write about baseball, I would point to mlb.com blogs where users regularly publish, and fangraphs.com as a place where I could publish comments. If I were going to write about comics, then I might point to CBR Forum as a place I could join and publish each week. If I were going to write about Destiny, then I might have more of a challenge, since the Destiny Forums doesn’t have too much longform writing. Neither does the reddit forum dedicated to the game. So, while there’s plenty of news, people to interact with, and an upcoming expansion (review fodder), I would probably start my own blog on blogger.com to write longer pieces and leave comments, or links to my post, in other places. [Note: blogger is really easy to use and I can set up a blog with you in about 10 minutes. Tops.]
The final component of the proposal is your Production Schedule. This can be developed as a list or a table–but it should give me a week by week plan for what you might write. You should at least cover weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Give me a sense of what you imagine you will be doing. Do you want to do 3 weeks of short writing and then one long piece on medium? Do you have an idea for a longer post/question you might make on reddit? Perhaps you want to spend a week telling a story about why you care about your topic? Perhaps you want to spend 3 week writing a 2000 word guide for people who are new to the activity, which you can then post to a bunch of different spaces in hopes of gaining feedback? Do you want to read a book on your subject and post a review to amazon.com? Are you going to try and write a post that asks other people what you might read?
Again, let me stress that you have freedom to design a project that interests you. My central concerns are that 1) you read things every week and 2) you develop the ability to summarize, synthesize, and react to those readings productively. I know this happens more if you are interested and engaged in what you are writing about. Don’t develop a topic because you think I will like it. Develop a topic because you think you will like it.
Homework
Read Duffett, 1-5 & 15-23. Complete Duffett reading quiz on Canvas before you come to class.
Work on your proposal. You will need to print two copies of your proposal for Friday’s class.
