Writing II- ENG 2150-HMWF – Spring 2017

Read Part 1 of “Invisible Child – Girl in the Shadows: Dasani’s Homeless Life” by Andrea Elliot for the New York Times. Then answer the following questions in 500-1000 words. Write your answers in a Word doc and email to me (kmartin.baruch@gmail.com).

1. Describe the experience of reading Part 1 of this article and interacting with the images.
2. Why do you think that writer Andrea Elliot and the editors she worked with decided that this story needed to be told in a multimodal fashion? Give specific examples of the melding between Dasani’s story and the marriage of text and photos here.
3. At the bottom of the page on Part 1 (and throughout the rest of the article, as well) there are links for “Part 1 Source Notes,” “Selected Documents,” and some videos of “Behind the Reporting.” Why do you think the editors chose to include this material?

This extra credit assignment is due by 11:59 PM on Monday, May 22nd (the same time as your Final Portfolio).

When you submit your extra credit, please let me know how you would like to receive the credit. You may choose between adding 3 points to your grade on ONE of the 3 major assignments (either Essay 1, Essay 2, or Project 3) or eliminating an unexcused absence (which would effect your final grade by -1/3 of a letter grade, e.g. from an A to an A-).

I will not be providing written feedback on this extra credit assignment. You will either receive full credit or receive no credit for completing this assignment. In order to receive full credit, please answer the questions in detail to demonstrate that you have thoroughly read Part 1 of the article and reflected on the multimedia nature of the article.

Below is the grading rubric for Project 3. It’s a bit less detailed than previous rubrics, but it should still give you a clear sense of what to aim for in completing your final projects. Remember that this project has two parts: the remix itself and the reflection letter.

Remix Project – 60 points total (note: this is the video, podcast, comic, Prezi, etc)

30 points – Argument and Audience: Your argument is conveyed clearly (the consumer of your project can grasp the main points you wish to put forth). Your argument is tailored to your chosen audience, which is narrow and clearly defined. In other words, there is a synergy between argument and audience, wherein the argument is crafted for the audience, and the audience is appropriate for the argument.

15 points – Use of modes/mediums: Your choice of medium (e.g. podcast) and modes (e.g. speech, music, etc) bolsters your argument and is appropriate for your audience. You have selected compelling and appropriate images/video clips/etc. to appeal to your audience, and arranged your selected images/video clips/etc. to tell a compelling story.

5 points – Style and grammar: If you’re using alphabetic text, your writing style should be concise, compelling, and take into consideration your chosen audience. Same thing goes for spoken word (e.g. in a podcast or audio essay). For videos, Prezis, and comics, the stylistic choices you made about the look and feel of your final product match with your audience.

5 points – Project Proposal: You turned in a project proposal.

5 points – Revision from draft: You turned in a draft and attended your group conference, and you have revised based on feedback from the peer review and conference.

Reflection Letter – 40 points total

30 points – Reflection and Rationale: Your letter shows that you have been reflecting on the process of working through this project and displaying a clear rationale behind your choices. You cite specific examples throughout your letter to convey your reflection.

10 points – You have addressed all of the questions listed under “Reflection Goals” in the Project 3 Prompt.

In one typed, double-spaced page, please answer the following:

1) What is your new target audience? Why have you chosen this audience/why do you want to reach them?

2) What will you produce for your remix (e.g. Short video, audio podcast, audio essay, photo album, Prezi, etc?)? Why have you chosen this new form? (think about affordances)

3) How will you adapt your argument from Essay 2 into this new project, for this new audience?

4) What steps do you need to take in order to produce this remix project?

Please email these to me (kmartin.baruch@gmail.com) as a .doc or a .docx at by the start of class on Monday, 5/1.

Listen to both acts of the This American Life episode “The Problem We All Live With.” Then respond to the following questions, writing between 250-500 words:

1. When you click on the transcript for the episode, the page includes the following note: “This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard, not read. We strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that’s not on the page.” What considerations do you think the producers took in designing this episode as an aural experience?
2. Related to the first question: How do you imagine the experience of listening to this radio show episode is different than it would have been to merely, say, reading Nikole Hannah-Jones’ ProPublica article about the Normandy school district? What does the audio allow for that print cannot?

Click here to access the full grading rubric for Essay 2.

As promised, here are some resources for responsibly working with sources:

– On the differences among quoting, summary, paraphrase, and patchwriting: click here

– On avoiding plagiarism (via Harvard): click here

Bonus: links with information on how to identify fake news

Step 1: Read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “The Case for Reparations” and answer the following questions, citing from the text as necessary:

1) What is Coates’ intellectual or research problem? Think about the Booth formula of naming a topic, adding a question, and articulating significance—what would Coates’ be?

2) What is his main claim? How does he reach this claim?

Step 2: Begin to brainstorm your own possible research topics:

Pick 2 focused topics, as Booth describes them in section 3.3 of “From Topics to Questions,” that grow out of this seed text. Explain what in the Coates triggered your interest in this topic (you should cite a particular moment or moments in the relevant seed text).  In class, we will add questions to these topics.

Length: 250-400 words

Submit as a comment in response to this post. Due by the start of class on Monday, 3/6.

Essay 1 is due on Friday, 3/3 at 11:59 PM. Submit the essay as a .doc or .docx file via email to kmartin.baruch@gmail.com. I will email you back to let you know that I received the paper as soon as I am able, by Saturday afternoon at the latest.

Don’t forget your cover letter! It should be 1-3 paragraphs, addressed to me, reflecting on the process of writing and revising this essay. You can either put it at the beginning or end of the document.

As promised, here is the grading rubric I will use for Essay 1. Let me know if you have questions.