Post #3

For your third post, I'd like you to reflect on the topic speeches that you did in class on Monday. To help you do this, please watch the Class Capture of your speech, available on Blackboard. (The link for the Class Capture is on the left toolbar--click it, open the folder, and the only class capture available should be labeled "Topic Speeches.") As painful as it may be, watch your speech and take notes. Think about what you did well and what you would like to improve. Take notes not only on the content, but on your delivery, as this is your "default" delivery setting. Write a reflection of 150-200 words and post it on your blog.

Please post by the beginning of class (8 am) on Friday, January 31. And as always, let me know if you have any questions.

Post #2

For your second post, I'd like you to consider topics that you might like to tackle for this semester's projects. Remember, it should be a "public controversy that is currently in the news at the local and national levels." To help you gather ideas, mine the brainstorming activities we've been completing for possible issues. Or visit a few websites, checking out what hot topics are in the news lately. Here are some helpful sites:

• Room for Debate NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate) 
• The Year Ahead in Court Battles (http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/01/the-year-ahead-in-court-battles/282670/)
• The Great American Gender Debates of 2013 (http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/the-great-american-gender-debates-of-2013/282419/)
• Top 10 Legislative Issues to Watch for in 2014 (http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-2014-legislative-issues-to-watch.html)

Ultimately, I'd like you to post three possible topics that you want to work with and why you want to work with each. Be as specific as you can, writing about 50 words for each. This will help you start to not only narrow possibilities, but begin to articulate material for your first speech.

Please post by 8:00 am on Friday, January 24. Let me know if you have any questions.

Post #1

For your first post, I want you to begin to take notice of all of the arguments that are happening around you. Try to counteract Carr's argument that we can only shallowly consider the world around us. Examine objects, ads, texts, words spoken by you or others for the possible arguments they make. Pick five things that you notice that interest you. Tell us what they are, what argument(s) you think they make, and why they are interesting to you. You should write about 100 words for each item you notice, totaling 500 words for the post.

Please post by Monday, January 20th at 11:59 pm.

Welcome to WRD 111!

Greetings!

Welcome to WRD 111, also known as Composition & Communication II. I'm your fearless instructor, Rachael Hoy. I look forward to getting to know you and working with you throughout the semester. 

Just as "Life moves pretty fast" (as Ferris Bueller says), the semester moves pretty fast too. With that in mind, I have a couple of notes to help get you started. 

During the semester, you'll be keeping a blog.  It will be used for a variety of writing assignments, including projects or field notes, smaller pieces that will be developed and worked into the projects, research summaries, and reflections. This will provide one way of sharing information and serve as a record for your work. By the end of the course, your journal will be a testament to your own credibility that you have built through critical inquiry. As such, you will need to set up a blog and e-mail me the link. Instructions for setting up a blog on Blogger are below.

Feel free to e-mail me with any questions you stumble upon along the way. 

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Setting Up Your Blog

Step 1: Create a Blogger Account and create a new blog for this class. The best way to do this is to use your first name & last initial, so that I can easily identify whose blog it is. Blogger is supported through Google...so if you use gmail, you'll have a pretty easy set-up with your gmail account. You can absolutely feel free to use a different account if you want, but linking it all means you don't have to log in and out of gmail/blogger all the time. If you have a different email, no big deal! Just follow the instructions with whatever account you choose.

Step 2: Name your Blog. You can be as creative as you want with the title.

Step 3: Design your blog. You can be as creative as you want, the only requirement is that somewhere on it, I can see your first name and last initial.

Step 4: Make your first post. To test out your posting capabilities, I want you to post 3 things that annoy/irritate you. For instance, I might post that I can't stand it when people get self-righteous on Facebook. Like, really…is that the place for it? If you have any questions about how to create a post, feel free to shoot me an email.