In-Class Work for Tu 11/5: Researching / Drafting Proposals

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Hi everyone, from utopia (aka, the Society for Utopian Studies annual conference, this year in Pittsburgh):

Today in class you’re working to flesh out your ideas for your final project proposals, conducting research, developing the specifics of the project you are designing, and drafting the actual proposal.

Work Plan for Class Today

2:15pm-2:25pm: Freewriting

  • Continue the freewriting you did in class last Tuesday. Take some time to gather your ideas, get the ideas flowing. Remember, the goal with this short activity, as it is with all freewriting, is to simply keep writing, and let the ideas get down on the page.

2:25-2:45pm: Research

  • Using the Internet, but also the texts, materials you’ve brought with you, do some research surrounding your proposed project, to work on becoming informed about the particulars of your topic, to learn key concepts, phrases, and keywords, and to help you to refine your focus
  • This research process should prompt you to ask new questions, explore new potential trajectories for the project, and spur your thinking. Take notes on what you’re finding, and include these sources (with citations) in your proposal.

2:45-3:10pm: Proposal drafting (I encourage you to do this on OpenLab, drafting a new post–that can then be revised to the post you need to have completed by Saturday)

As you draft your proposal, make sure you consider / address these questions:

  • What is your project? What is its purpose? Its motivation (why are you interested in this?)? What do you hope to learn / gain from doing this project? What will others gain from your project (how should others care about it? ask yourself, “so what?”). Really attempt to articulate a clear vision for this project.
  • How can you focus/narrow down your topic so that it is manageable in this short-term project?  Remember, you don’t want your topic to be too broad or general … isolate just one variable (focus is very important).  What kinds of questions do you hope to address through your research?  What, specifically, do you want to learn about this topic?
  • What kinds of sources will you use in your project?
  • What will the components (process, products, deliverables) be? What forms of new media composing will you experiment with (what genres will you work in, what online communities will you explore, etc.; use the textbooks to remind yourself of the various genres you can include)? What do you hope to achieve? How will this be practice-oriented (not a standard, traditional research project)? How will you build reflection into the process?
  • How do you plan to present this material in a portfolio (on your individual ePortfolio)? What kinds of write-up will you provide? What kind of multimodal compositions will you create?
  • Timeline: What is the proposed timeline for conducting / completing this project? What are the logistics involved? What makes sense, for your particular project? (remember, as we discussed, for example, if you are exploring the impact and analytics of some type of new media composing, you will need to produce the content relatively early in order to allow time for this analysis)
  • What questions do you have about your proposed project? What do you most want feedback on (for both the peer review today, with classmates, and for discussions with Professor Belli)?

3:10-3:35pm: Peer Review of Ideas

  • You’ll work in groups of two: Mariah & Fola, Pam & Jodie, Ashley & Sam
  • Taking turns, each person will first present, orally, her proposed project to the other, talking through it for five minutes or so, and then hearing the other person’s response, and having a discussion after to help revise (this is meant to be a conversation: do not simple read each other’s drafts).
  • Your goal is to provide helpful feedback to your peer at this early stage at the proposal drafting process. While you may not be an expert in the proposed topic area, don’t feel as if you have nothing to contribute. The most helpful thing you can do is to offer your impressions as a “reader” (of this proposal): is there a clear sense of the project? Does it seem like it will be do-able in the timeline of this assignment? Does it address the particular expectations, guidelines, and requirements of this project? Are there considerations that are being overlooked? Underexplored? You should ask clarifying questions and offer suggestions, to help your classmate to think through / articulate the particulars of her project,

3:35-3:55pm: Drafting (with focus on revision / expansion)

  • Return to drafting, based on the feedback you’ve received, and revise your proposal accordingly. You should take notes for yourself, noting where you need to do further research or thinking (before you submit your full draft to me, as a post on OpenLab, by Saturday night)

 

HW / Reminders / Announcements:

  • Proposals Due by Saturday night (11:59pm), 11/7. Must be submitted completely and on time, in order to receive feedback
    • Remember to be a specific and detailed as possible, and at the end, to ask for targeted feedback (what are you most struggling with? what can I offer most help with as we work to design / focus the project?)
  • Response blogs due M 11/9
  • In-Class Presentations on Th 11/12, on revised versions of proposals
  • Professor Belli’s office hours have slightly changed, due to her being assigned to advise from 4-5pm on Tuesdays. Office hours remain Tu 1-2pm and always by appointment.

Looking forward to reading your proposals, and seeing you all next week. Again, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me. Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers,
Professor Belli

Class Notes 11/3

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Reminders:

  • Professor Belli will be away at a conference Thursday 11/5 (Professor Leston subbing)
  • Bring all books and materials to class on Thursday (working on final project)
  • Professor Belli’s office hours have changed, after this week there will be no office hours on Tuesdays 4-5 until 12/10 (contact her to set up meetings)

Upcoming due dates (HW)

  • 11/7 (Saturday) Proposals for the final project, ask for the feedback that you want! ALL BLOGS MUST BE ON TIME OR THEY WILL NOT BE RESPONDED TO!!
  • 11/9 (Monday) Response Blog, check the schedule for the prompt!!!!
  • 11/12(Thursday) Presentations, again check the schedule for the guidelines, will be based off of revisions and conversations with Professor Belli (hold off on creating those)

Notes on the Final Project

  • Theory and practice project, hands on, experimental
  • Make your proposal as clear and detailed as possible even if you’re unsure, get your ideas out there
  • Engage with the process but be open to change as your ideas develop and emerge
  • We will have multiple in class assignments and check ins
  • Be mindful of the questions in the Proposal
  • Be mindful of logistics and timing
  • Check the final project page (under assignments) for guidance and grading rubric

Class Discussion: Lebduska Article 

Overall we discussed images and how they were juxtaposed to portray Martin and Zimmerman.

Images can be used to manipulate points of views and arguments, think of how images of Martin in a “hollister” shirt were selected when they portrayed him as a victim, and images of him acting like a “typical teen” were used to portray him an as aggressor.

Culture plays a huge part of how we relate to an image, how we relate to it and how we respond to it.

(Page 6) “..images are not things” quote and how without our views, culture, political and social make an image is just an image but how we respond makes it relevant

(page 4) Pedagogy and media stereotypes

Jodie posed the question Can we retrain ourselves to see things differently

(page 5) Myopic lens, bias, the million hoodie march and how people stood in for a stereotype.

By marching in hoodies people of all different races broke the stigma attached to “the hoodie”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reminders: Reflections Due Yesterday

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Hi everyone:

I hope you had good weekends!
Just a friendly reminder that, as we discussed in class, your midsemester reflections were due to me, via email, by last night (Sun 11/1). You can see more details at the bottom of Mariah’s class notes. Please send these to me ASAP.

In our conferences last week, some people expressed a desire to still do the #whyiwrite extra credit blog. If you still would like to do that, you can do so (for extra credit) anytime before class on Tuesday (11/3).
Finally, please remember to bring all of your materials (3 books, articles, notes) to class this week, for in-class project work.
See you tomorrow!

Why I Write

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Why do I write? There are many reasons. First I write to express myself. Secondly, I write to put myself in impossible situations (situations that I would want to be in but can’t). I simply write for therapeutic purposes. I never realized how much relief I could get from picking up a pen and writing down every little thing that came to mind. To see it on paper is mind blowing, opening my eyes to my thoughts right in front of me. I write for numerous purposes that cannot be questioned because everyone had their reasons behind what they do.

I write to exercise my mind. I write to never forget my obstacles and my aspirations, goals, and dreams. I write questions that are left unanswered. I write to keep the existence of my true calling. I write because it is the next best thing to talking. I write as though I’m actively talking to someone.

Now I write because it’s feels like a responsibility that must be done in the educational system. But now, I’ll go back to writing for me, not because someone told me to. I’ll write because there’s more meaning and fulfilment in writing for myself. All the papers I kept of my writing from 6th grade and so on, all have meaning so there’s no reason to stop but to continue on as my writing grows. Writing never stays the same and I know there’s a distinct difference of writing from when I was 11 years old compared to now. I stopped writing for myself a long time ago but I definitely think it’s time to pick it back up. With writing anything is possible.

**Class Notes**

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Focusing on Attention Structures – Jones & Hafner (pg82 – 97)

Key Concepts: 

Multitasking & Partial Attention (82)

“Digital Media and Polyfocality” (83)

“One important though sometimes neglected literacies is this ability to use digital tools to manage, distribute, and focus attention”

Cast switching – switch from one activity to another

Dual activity – paying attention to two important things; switching back and forth

Continual partial attention –  constantly but partially, attending to the information from their communication devices, motivated by the fear of ‘missing something’ (82)

Example of Fola 

Analog  – doing laundry, watering grass, taking niece to park

Digitally – switching back and forth in tabs

  1. Is this multitasking and what type?
  2. How do we categorize this?
  3. Is this meta-cognitive multitasking?
  4. Does the concept of, “In the background” alter multitasking?
  5. What is considered noise in multitasking?

Managing attention:

  • Making yourself unavailable
  • Get attention when you give attention
  • Always on (Participation and Interaction)

Branching – which involves keeping a goal in mind but allocating time for other things. (84, last paragraph) links to polyfocality( directing attention to more than one focal point) !!Not just in digital spaces!!

Attentional tracks – distribute attention among a variety of different things such as conversations (85)

“Paying attention means more than just saying focusing your mental energy on a particular exchange, remembering who you are talking to and what you are talking about. it also involves sending appropriate signals or feedback to other participants in order to show them what you are paying attention” (85)

Attention Structures (87) –

“Attention structures are the technology means used by people to make sense of the over abundance of information that they face in the digital age” which are effected by the 3 elements :

  1. Historical body – You and Your mind
  2. Interaction order – Your relation with the people around you
  3. discourses in place – The communication tools available in the situation

(overlap in the social action)

“The Attention Economy and Digital Literacies” (90)

Attention economy – where value is created from the exchange of attention and ‘[w]hat matters is seeking, obtaining and paying attention’

  • facilitate participation by creating new channels for distributing attention
  • creates other types values

Illusory attention – give the illusion of personal attention even though they are addressing a large audience.

  • automatic replies
  • away message
  • filtering
  • ‘boomeranging’ (branching)
  • reminders

“Ideas become popular, and then become more popular based on the fact that they are popular in the first place, just like search results on google. Originating a meme, or playing a significant role in its distribution, is one way of attracting attention.” (91)

“In order to attract attention effectively, one also needs to gain some understanding of how social filters (see Chapter 2) function and amplifying information and in distributing and drawing people’s attention to content.” (92)

“while digital media have undoubtedly given people the tools with which attract attention, some are concerned that this is leading people to do ‘anything’ as long as it gets attention.” (92)

Social Media case study (92-93)

Hashtags

  • demands attention
  • enables and localizes participation
  • paying selective attention
  • categories
  1. What type of multitasking device is a hashtag?
  2. How have hashtags, favoriting, bookmarking changed out ability to attention?

Singling out

  • ‘@’ a person, place, or thing
  • gives explicit attention

How to Gain Attention Online (95) –

  • Do some something cool and/or stupid
  • Be controversial
  • Interview cool people;
  • Post pictures and videos;
  • Give your work a great title;
  • Write a guest post for a large blog
  • Leave comments and relevant blogs or social media channels;
  • Create a poll

What different strategies do social media platforms allocate to gain attention?

  • Notification in various places (email, popups, forwarding, etc.)
  • quick, popular, invites participation
  • gets point across by multimodality
  • is not overwhelming

Tracking Viral Visual Images

How does this event generate or incorporate the following topics:

  • Visual rhetoric
  • Emotional appeal
  • Multimodality
  • Circulation
  • Virality
  • Attention
  • Eventfulness
  • Provocativity

Reminders –

  • Keep in mind the Lebduska in mind and be prepared for discussion
  • Check schedule for update
  •  11/3 and 11/5 working on project based work in class
  • Mid-semester reflection 1-2 pages single spaced Document emailed to Professor Belli by sunday night 11/01
  1. How have you developed as a writer, in major, professionally?
  2. How have you grown?
  3. What have your gravitated towards ie. topics?
  4. Are there specific topics you are interested in perusing for final project?

Class Notes 10/27/15

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The crowdsourcing postings are not optional and counts towards our grades.  It was due two days ago and those who have not participated should go back and revisit them.  Everyone should participate in the ongoing conversation.  Credit will still be given.

For Thursday we should focus on Jones and Hafner and Cohen and Kenny.  If the Syrian boy post is not finished or posted, it should be done by Thursday.

Presentations:

Fola: Meme’s Ability to Change Over Time

  • Discourse communities
  • Where memes originated
  • How images are manipulated

Mariah:  “Just Do It”

  • Introduced Shia Labeouf
  • Advertising and image have merged
  • Self distribution of image and self
  • Commercial use and parodies

Samantha: Twitter: The power of a retweet

  • How we communicate on Twitter
  • Explained what retweets are and the purposes
  • Political and entertainment spreading
  • Terms and conditions of Twitter

Discussion:  “Iconographic Tracking: A Digital Research Method for Visual Rhetoric and Circulation Studies.”

We are required to rethink rhetoric and our composing strategies. It is important to the flow of new visual images.

We have a sharing society where we have the freedom to post anything as opposed to some other countries which have restrictions.

To verify stories, we should try to get at least three viable sources.

For iconic tracking, it is necessary to have a big dataset to identify patterns and terms.

Question: Does the image stand alone? Gries argues that we should be open to other possibilities.

Glossary Terms:

Creative comments: you can use other people’s images for your own purposes but you have to give credit to the original source.

Open source: relates more specifically to software which is made available openly and you don’t have to buy it.

Open access: publishing it means it can be accessed anywhere freely. It creates greater access and therefore a greater impact.

What Does the Future Hold for Raceless Individuals and their Offsprings?

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The American Academy of Children & Adolescent Psychiatry expects the multiracial children population to be one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population. Individuals who identify as “raceless” and who have offspring are increasing the population and the likelihood of having more progressive children. Although the number of mixed-race-families are increasing, the label of whether a child is black or white will be tougher than ever. In my presentation I explore many popular offspring of blended families still face the struggles of what box to check.

Do Raceless Individuals Exist?

Aylan Kurdi

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It was very important to us that we placed Aylan’s death in context, with some serious reporting about what happened to him and the broader picture of current political and social attitudes towards refugees across Europe, particularly in Britain and Germany. I still think it was right to use the pictures, but I might be wrong about that, and I’m aware that good intentions and serious intent are not always enough. – The Guardian

The boy– Aylan Kurdi  is not just ‘the Syrian boy who drowned’ in early September. The context of the image was to illustrate the sadness of the refugee situation. However, it became an outcry for what seems to be all lost children of such tragedies. The author upon our search was not found but what was listed was newspapers from various regions in European that used the photograph when the story first broke, but to our research the first actual person who took and posted the picture could not be found.

The visual imagery appeals to the ethos of a person by not only the raw nature of the image but also the questions it rises such as: how many more children have died this way? and how many of these stories go untold?

This image went viral due to the fact that we believe it contained an innocent child who encapsulates the fight and struggle of the refugee epidemic. It circulated based on this heartbreaking fact that he had not only lost his home but now his life too due to this situation. As the image circulate we attached our own meaning and in doing so create our own story as to why this is relevant to our culture or even why it is relevant to read.

The meanings the picture took on were both negative and positive in cases. For instance, people took the image as a way to be proactive and pay tribute while others created memes mocking and taunting the situation.

When it came to researching the image and story it was shockingly simple due to the fact that all we had to search was ‘Syrian boy drown’, and in a fraction of a second we were flooded with millions of stories and images. This not only shows how much the story circulated and its virality.