Assignments
This semester we will complete two major projects and a number of smaller assignments designed to immerse you in writing with computers. This page contains brief information about each assignment; if necessary, links to other pages (which will be added as the semester moves forward, if they are not already present) provide more details. Graduate students enrolled in the course will have additional assignments and readings.
Major assignments
The course is designed to investigate sixteen concepts which I think are important for computers and writing. Both major assignments continue that theme.
Writing online: in the first six weeks of the semester, we’ll be using weblogs, learning to make web pages, and discussing a wide variety of concepts which affect these and other online forms. During this time, you’ll complete a number of small assignments. Using your web page, compile these assignments. Rework one or more assignments to show the operation, definition, and complexity of one or more of the concepts covered in the first six weeks.
Conceptualizing computers & writing: isolate one or two concepts to add to the list which frames the course. Investigate accordingly, building an online project which uses the technologies you’ve learned this semester. Work in any genre of writing we’ve encountered—whatever best fits your needs. Connect your thinking to ideas others have shared, online and otherwise. Show the relation of your ideas to others we’ve discussed.
Other assignments
Because a fair chunk of our time in class will be dedicated to studio work, the contributions you make outside of class time are critical. I will evaluate your particpation in these discussions at midterm and at semester’s end.
Weblogs: set up a weblog and use that space to write about the issues we’re dealing with this semester—and whatever else strikes your fancy. Connect your weblog to others with comments and trackbacks.
Glossolalia: use our Wiki to build resource pages (definitions?) for the sixteen concepts which shape the course. I expect you to contribute actively to the development of one or more entries, or to metadiscourse, or both. In class, we’ll talk more about the way this work will be divided, and you’ll be able to cultivate a role which is pleasing to you.
Experiments: the course includes numerous small writing assignments which encourage you to connect theory and practice. See the schedule for brief descriptions. I expect you to complete these assignments and post them on your web page and/or weblog.