Project 2 - Style in Digital Space

The second project of English 2W focuses on how to demonstrate a writing style in digital and multimodal writing contexts. Details about the project, deadlines, and point distribution are shared in this handout.

This is a working document. I will be adding content to it and/or tweaking the existing content, as my thought evolves on these assignments and as our discussion on rhetoric becomes more clarifying for me. The idea is to make the assignment expectations clearer to you and more relevant to the course.

Table of Contents

Project Description

As part of this project, you’ll produce different digital texts and how style is exercised in them. Digital texts you’ll read will range from podcasts, videos, immersive essays, etc. You’ll produce a digital text of your choice and you’ll find examples of digital texts you can produce by visiting the file “Resources for Multimodal Text.” The length of your project will be determined by the type of the genre/delivery you’ll choose. For a podcast, the expected length will be 10-12 minutes. Other digital texts will be of comparable length and it will be determined in discussion with each student.

Grade points: 25%

Project Expectations

  • It’s hard to determine “word count” or length for this project, since each student has the liberty to choose the genre or digital mode of their work. In most cases, the length will be decided in dialogue with each student. And I am open to revising the length criteria based on who your project evolves.
  • An approximate estimation of project length is that if you choose to compose a podcast, then the length requirement will be 10-12 minutes. For a video blog that might be close to 8-10 minutes. I hope to use it as a baseline to determine what the length of your particular text should be.
  • You’re expected to do extensive research for your project. Along with your final draft, submit a separate Works Cited file to Moodle listing your references in MLA or APA format. The minimum number of sources you should plan to refer to and include are eight.
  • You’re also expected to complete a reflection assignment after submitting the final draft. The purpose of this reflection exercise is to continue thinking about your style and how in Project 2 you built upon what you developed and experimented with in Project 1.

How to Get Started with the Project?

  • Start with a topic idea that you’re passionate about. Questions to ask are: why do you want to write about this topic? What’s unique and important about it? Who is the audience for it? What kind of specific and urgent argument can you provide on your topic? Check the “Topic Proposal” and “Outline” expectations below.
  • Once you’ve an inkling of a topic idea, brainstorm the digital genre that might be suitable in building that argument and delivering it in an impactful way. Our class discussion and the Google Doc mentioned above will lead you to several options.
  • Discuss with me (your instructor) to figure out the length, delivery mode, and technical aspects of your project. This discussion will also entail identifying and developing the multimodal nature of your text, how to bolster it, and how to make it purposeful.
  • Conduct research into your topic, the genre of your text, and the tools you’ll use for your composition.
  • Develop an outline for your text, and turn it into a detailed storyboard. Use this template provided to you to type out a detailed storyboard or hand-draw your ideas.
  • Proceed to compose your rough draft; you can either compose your work on Notion.so, using the project 2 template provided to you, or you can choose to compose your work on a different digital platform depending on the genre you’ve chosen and then plan to embed your work into Notion down the road.
  • Get feedback from your instructor, peers, and Writing Associate (WA).
  • Revise and finalize your draft. Embed your work into Notion if you haven’t already. The final draft should be published on the web. Follow the instructions in the section “Share with the web.” Copy the published link and post it to Moodle.

Drafting and Grade Distribution

Total grade points: 25%, which is divided as follows:

  • Topic proposal: Propose a topic of your choice you plan to write about for project 2 by Mar 6. Follow the prompt on Moodle. Grade points will be 2%.
  • Outline: Submit an outline of your project and the preliminary research you have done by Mar 16. Grade points will be 3%. Your outline should respond to the following points:
    • What’s special about your topic? What’s the niche topic or exigency around which your text and argument is built? We’ll need to brainstorm more on this area, as this is the crucial first step to ensuring that you have clarity and purpose in exercising style.
    • b) Who is the audience? What is the demographic for which this text is targeted?
    • c) What genre have you chosen for Project 2? Why have you chosen this genre and why do you think it will work the best for your topic? What digital tools or composing platform do you plan to use for your text?
    • d) What will be the structure of your work? Meaning, the outline will lay out the overall organization of your content.
    • d) What sort of multimodal content will go into the post?
  • Storyboard: Create a detailed storyboard for your project and submit by Mar 19. Ensure to use the template. Grade points: 5%.
  • Rough Draft: Submit a draft of your project by Mar 22. Rough draft grade will be combined with the final draft.
  • Peer Feedback: Provide peer feedback to one of your peer’s rough drafts by Mar 25. Grade points will be 3%.
  • Final Draft: Final Draft must be submitted by Mar 29 and it should meet the project’s expectations. Grade points will be 12%. The length of your project will be determined by the type of the genre/delivery you’ll choose. For a podcast, the expected length will be 10-12 minutes. Other digital texts will be of comparable length and it will be determined in discussion with each student.

Learning Outcomes

  • Reading Skills: What readings in the class did resonate with you the most and why? What ways were you able to engage with the readings critically? How did the readings help you as a writer and rhetor? What persuasive and rhetorical strategies did you develop through the course readings?
  • Writing Skills: What new writing skills did you learn or acquire? What new complexities and challenges did you tackle in your writing? What ways did your mental and emotional approach, voice, and style for the project vary? In what ways did you become aware of your writing process?
  • Rhetorical Knowledge: How did the concept of rhetoric evolve for you in this project? What roles do you think emotion, culture and ecology play in shaping rhetoric? Who is the audience for this genre? What sort of audience knowledge is required? What’s the purpose of this genre? How did you apply ethos, logos, and pathos to make your argument more persuasive? What roles do you think context, audience, genre, culture, and emotions play in making rhetoric situation-specific?
  • Metacognition: What strengths and weaknesses have you realized about yourself as a writer? What sort of critical and reflective thinking did go into your understanding of style? What stylistic aspects will transfer to future writing situations?
  • Multimodal Literacy: What multimodal contents (audio, visual, etc.) did you read, research, compose, or incorporate for this project? How did the multimodal content choices enrich the persuasive appeal of your essay? How does emotion and multimodality work with each other in shaping rhetoric?

Student Questions

I expect you to have questions for me about the project. I’ll populate this section with your questions and my responses.