‘One
day when I was twenty-three or twenty-four this sentence seemed to form
in my head, without my willing it, much as sentences form when we are
half-asleep, ‘Hammer your thoughts into unity’.
For days I could think of nothing else and for years I tested all I did
by that sentence [...]” William Butler Yeats (cited in Frank Tuohy, Yeats,
1976, p.51 )
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PROJECTS
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requirements:
Project One.
1. At least 55% of the first project must be devoted to the famous person and/or his context.
2. One student noted that “The only confusing thing about the first project was trying to write about Oxford when I knew so little about it.” Of course this problem can be solved by researching your subject. That is how “discovery learning” works. At least two books of secondary research to be cited. “Secondary” in this context means works about the subject (as in literary criticism on the author, or history of his/her college, or …..), or by the author if the works are not assigned in the course already. Use of the internet also needs to be cited, but internet citations do not count for book research. You are responsible for the value of internet citations: points will be deducted if the information is wrong.
Project Two.
1. Points to be determined primarily by working in exact quotations (put in quotation marks and footnoted) and by thoughtful, insightful parallels or comparisons between the literary version of the college experience and your U.T. experience (also footnoted).
2. However, more points are given to “footnotes” if they are not at the bottom of the page but off to the side of the item being documented as in Gardner’s Annotated Alice. To do this you will need to know how to frames in HTML probably. If you can’t put them off to the side the way Gardner does, footnotes are to be at the bottom of the page, not at the end of the project.
Both Projects.
1. The project must be concise, and have specific detail, correct spelling and punctuation, consistent tense usage, logical transitions between sentences, and above all, the best word in the best place. Grades are based not only on content but also on number of errors and infelicities in writing style. The smart thing is to try to write the technically perfect paper.
2. Specificity and Details are particularly important. To get an A you will need to show that you are good at communicating your sense of place, at making your place come alive for the reader.
7. Number of words is to be specified at the end of essay, after the final sentence, before a works cited page (use “word count” under “tools” in Microsoft Word). The minimum for a project is 2100 of your own words (not counting quotations); for a revision it is 350 additional words.
4. You must include at least two quotations from your sources. Extra points will be given also for incorporating additional quotes from relevant readings in our packet or elsewhere (with identification of author and title and page numbers). You are responsible for all errors in quotations unless you put "[sic]" after each error acknowledging that you know it is an error. All changes in quotations and insertions of your own words are to be placed in brackets also.
3. You must include pictures in this assignment. This requirement is usually met by inserting electronic files of pictures or photographs into your text (see “Insert” in Word). The purpose of the pictures is for you to become acquainted with the integration of verbal and visual rhetoric that has become common these days and to gain some practical experience in preparing a multimedia brochure or web site. Pay special attention to ”Effective Visual Design” in your anthology.
- Insert pictures in text where they belong, not in a gallery at the end
- Make sure to identify or title all pictures
- Pictures can be taken from the internet if you supply the URL for each internet picture in a footnote.
- For pictures from print media, you will need to digitize them (make them into a computer file) with a scanner. If you are going to use them on the web 72 dpi is sufficient. There are scanner stations in the Student Microcomputer Facility, FAC 212 and in the Rhetoric multimedia lab: PAR 6
7. Finally, make sure your the essay carefully for every kind of error, including typos.
8. Get help if need be: for more specific help feel free to email me, or call me on the phone to make an appointment to meet in my office. Alternatively, take advantage of the services you have paid for in the Undergraduate Writing Center and Jester Learning Center.
8. Projects are to be uploaded to your webspace account as html files ending in “.html” or “html” (See “Save as Web file” option in Word.) Project pages are to be uploaded along with all associated files (Word saves them in a folder with almost the same name). See Putting Pages on the Web Using Webspace
8. To post projects, for others to see and comment on, go to Blackboard (courses.utexas.edu) and choose our course. Go to Communication. Choose Discussion Board and then Project One (or Two as the case may be). Then post the webspace URL of your project in proper HTML format so that the respondent need only click on or select your project title and the project pops up without the respondent being required to type in your whole URL into a separate window.
8. When it is time to hand in the “hard” copy of your project you are to PRINT screen shots of each page of the webspace project and hand them in, with the URL, and, preferably, with the text itself also available in a double spaced format for my comments. Include a printout of the suggestions of other students and highlight the suggestions you incorporated in your essay. Finally, include a printout of the suggestions you made to other students. All documents are to be on separate, numbered pages, and in A POCKET FOLDER WITH YOUR NAME ON THE OUTSIDE. ALSO INCLUDE IN THE FOLDER ALL PREVIOUS PROJECTS WITH INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS.
9. Points earned for COMPLETED PROJECTS will not be added to the online gradebook until the projects have been put on a CD and that CD uploaded to the course web site by the instructor and all files are working properly.
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GRADING
Late penalties. Because the secret of good writing is allowing time to read and revise: DO NOT PROCRASTINATE.
a. For posting late on webspace and the Discussion Board: -10 pts. for each day (not each class day) that the project is late.
b. For turning in hard copies to me late: -10 pts. for each class day late.
*Printer and other computer problems are not acceptable excuses (= my dog ate my home work); you need to do your work in advance so that you can deal with such problems before the deadline.
HOW YOUR PROJECT WILL BE GRADED:
Good research: up to + 20
Good unity, coherence, progression: up to + 20 (HAMMER YOUR THOUGHTS INTO UNITY)
Quote included +2, well integrated +4 or more; up to +20
Pictures included beyond the first, with labels and word wrap, +2 each, IF also referred to in the text +3 each; up to + 10
audio well integrated +10 or more; video well integrated +20 or more
Major errors first project: -3, minor errors -2, infelicities –1; (Same errors repeated in revision of first project –7, -4, -3; in second project –9, -5, -4; in revision of second project –11, -7, -5)
No word count –10
Inaccurate word count –25
Less than 2100 words: 2000 words or so –10; 1900 words or so –15 etc. Obviously, the more words you write the greater the risk of error. Thus some may be tempted to write as little as possible and thereby expect a better grade than those who wrote more. Hence the penalty must be fairly heavy because we don’t want to penalize those who do the assignment and reward those who do not.
WHAT THE MARKS WILL MEAN
Good in margin = +4
Numbers in the margin refer to the chart on the inside of the back cover of Bazerman
The symbol of the inverted V stands for “transition needed between these sentences?”
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