Additional Materials

The links below provide an easy access guide to many of the additional course materials linked in the course calendar.

Email Netiquette

I thought that many of you might benefit from a few simple email nettiquette tips. Whether or not you choose to use them in all of your email correspondence is up to you. Know that I will expect for you to follow these conventions when emailing me.

Use a clear, informative title in the subject line. For users who receive a high volume of email, a clear subject line is more likely to attract their attention. When carrying on multiple email conversations with the same person, it's simpler to keep the threads separate. And it's also easier to find an older message in email archives when the subject is clear. BTW: When emailing the instrutor, you should begin the subject line with "ENC 1101."
Include both your first and last name. The reasons, I hope, are obvious. Usually, people expect to see a signature line at the bottom of an email (much like with a letter). Some email clients can be configured to include one automatically, or you can type one manually each time. Another useful option is to configure your email to include your name, rather than just the email address, so that it shows up in the sender line (for those that are using FSU email, ask during class and I'll show you how to do this).
When replying to someone's email, include relevant text from the previous email. You can't assume that the person on the other end of the correspondence still has the original mail available to them. If they do not remember exactly what they wrote in the previous message, this could create a communication problem. Besides, why make them go look it up if they don't remember what you are referring to? Note: when replying to long emails, include only the relevant text from the original email, not the entire message.
Follow-up your emails. If you email the instructor with a question or concern outside of class, you are expected to check your email for a reply.

Blogging to the Course Website

Each time there is a reading assignment, a workshop group will be assigned to post their reading response to the course home page using the create story link. Otherwise, almost everything that you write for this class will be posted to your individual blog site using the create blog entry link. These links will be available to you in the right hand column when you are logged in.

So, what is a blog or weblog? One way to think of a blog, in this instance, is as a journal. However, unlike a journal which you might keep at home, your blog site will be public. Your fellow class members will be invited to read your blog, and even link and respond to it in their own blog. And, of course, since it's on the Internet, other Internet surfers may encounter it and see what you have to say.

Class Requirements for Blogging

Blogs should observe the ideas about blogs and writing for the web discussed in class and included in the readings for Wednesday, June 25, in the Calendar.
Remember: depth, not breadth. The best blog posts will develop one or two major points in detail, rather than merely presenting a list of loosely related ideas. Consequently, if you have more than one or two important things to say, you may need to write much more than the minimum word requirement in order to do a good job of making your points.
When writing about a reading assignment, or responding to another class member's blog post, you should not spend much time summarizing the ideas. Rather, you should engage their text in dialogue by presenting your own views and/or extending the original views. Be analytical. Be critical (but in a nice way).
Don't forget. Bloggers link. You'll need to learn How to Make a Hyperlink. You are obligated to create a link anytime you reference another page on the web.
When linking to another blog post, be sure to use a permalink URL. Link to the full-view of someone's individual blog post, not the listing for their blog which contains all their recent posts. To access the full-view of someone's post, you can use the read more link (if available) or simply click on the title of the post.
Blog posts, once posted, should not be edited. However, you are permitted/encouraged to make minor proofreading corrections up until the deadline for an assignment. If you find that you need to clarify something in a post, you can always add a comment to your post.

Entering Your Blog Post

Title -- Do not merely list the assignment as a blog title. Instead, think of a good title for your blog post, something which speaks about the content of what you have written. Exception: When posting an Exploratory or Portfolio draft, begin your title with either Exploratory draft or Portfolio draft to make it easier for the the teacher and fellow students to find the post.
Topics -- Choose the most appropriate category for your post. Note that the topic choices are designed to correspond to the various types of assignments. Thus, if you are creating a reading assignment response, use the Reading Assignments topic. Avoid using the Class Information category as it was created for the instructor to use when posting information about this class.
Body -- Enter the text of your post in the body field.
Teasers -- After selecting Preview, Drupal (the site software) will create a separate Teaser input field and copy the beginning of your post into it. The text in the Teaser field will be used for as an introduction to your post when multiple blog posts are listed, such as on the Class Information category listing page. When you preview your post, the course website will provide information on how to change how much of your text appears in the teaser field.

blogs page

How to Make a Hyperlink

Maybe you've wondered why you ever needed to know any HTML. But for this class, you'll have to learn at least one HTML tag, the one for making hyperlinks.

It's easy to learn. Check it out:

<a href=""></a>

is the tag itself without any information in it. Within the quotes, you'll put the URL, or web address, for the site which you want to link to. In between the ><, you'll put the text you want displayed on the screen.

For example, the URL for Slashdot is http://slashdot.org. And if you want to make the word Slashdot a link in a sentence to the website in a blog post, type in,

<a href="http://slashdot.org">Slashdot</a> is a well known community blog site.

To get

Slashdot is a well known community blog site.

HTML is picky and it's easy to make a careless mistake. Don't include any extra spaces in the HTML tag. Make sure that you include "http://" as a part of your web address. In fact, one of the easiest ways to make sure that you get the URL correct is to copy and paste it from the address bar of a browser window currently displaying the page. You may need to use keyboard shortcuts such as CTRL-C (copy) or CTRL V (paste).

Remember: avoid merely posting the URL as a link, such as

http://cyberdash.net/enc110142/index.php

Notice how this doesn't convey much information. Better to have put the page or site title (often found either on the page or in the window bar at the top) or link to part of your text (think of the examples in this site). At the same time, really long URL's won't word wrap at the end of a line. They may cause problems with the way that text is displayed on blog sites and other web pages.

For an additional example on creating hyperlinks, see Webmonkey's Links. To learn more about HTML in general, go through The HTML Basics tutorial at Webmonkey.

Other HTML

Additional HTML commands can be used within the body of your postings. For example,

Here's how you do bold.

Here's how you do bold.

Here's how you do italics.

Here's how you do italics.

Posting Comments

Read through the posts on the class home page regarding the recent assignment.
Unless otherwise specified, using the comment boards attached to blog posts, post a separate comment for at least 4 blog posts, at least 50 words for each comment. You may post them all in one visit to the class website or spread them out over different visits (before the due date, of course). And you are always welcome, and encouraged, to post beyond the minimum requirements.
Each time there is a reading assignment, a specific group will assigned in the course calendar to post to the home page instead of their blog site. This will allow us to have some posts which receive a lot of comments, thus creating a dialogue. Therefore, each of you should pick two blogs on the home page and post a comment to each of them. At the same time, it's also important that you read and give some responses to your group members. So you should also pick two blogs from those posted by your group members and post a comment to each of them. An easy way to find your group members most recent posts is to click on their username in the block for Groups on the right hand side of every page. If for some reason your group members have not posted on the assigned reading, then feel free to respond to someone else in either class.
You are not obligated to reply directly to the original post, but may, instead, elect to reply to an existing comment with a post.
Strive to be thoughtful and analytical in your comments.
Try to find something new to say instead of saying what has already been said in the original post and in other comments already posted.
Feel free to share personal experiences which shape your views on the topic discussed.
You might provide links to additional resources on the web which would better inform the discussion.
Try arguing with and/or supporting the original blog post. If you are negatively criticizing what the blogger has said, remember to do so in a respectful, civil manner which encourages further dialogue. Thus, "this sucks" would not be an appropriate response. But neither would "That's great!" if you don't explain what you mean.
You may find, too, that none of the posts on the class website about a particular set of readings confront what you feel is an important issue on the assigned texts. As long as it is related to the general topic of the readings, as well as the topic of this class, feel free to post a comment which starts the conversation in a new direction (use the subject line to clearly specify this new direction).
The point of posting comments following reading assignments is, of course, to engage in discussion on the assignment. However, if you like, you may choose to post one of your comments to any other recently submitted blogs on the class site from the instructors and/or other students, even if they do not regard the current reading assignment.
Comment posting is typically informal writing, much like email. Because emoticons and acronyms are useful for conveying additional information on discussion boards, feel free to use them.
Always follow good citation practices in your posts.

For those of you wishing to do more than the minimum requirements of the course, you might visit the class website additional times per week and post new comments and/or replies to any of the blog posts.

How to Post

First and foremost, you must be logged into the class website to post comments.
When on the main page of the class website, use the navigation menu below the post to access existing comments. If there are no existing comments, you can use the "Add new comment" link to be the first.
To reply to the original blog post and start a new conversation thread, select "Add new comment." Enter a subject line which gives a glimpse of the nature of your comment. Type in your message.
To reply to a message, use the "Reply to this comment" link underneath the comment.
Before posting any comments, use the "preview" option to proofread and double check your post.

For your first couple of times posting, at least until you become familiar with it, you might want to begin by writing your comments in your word processor, then copying and pasting them into the comment board text window.

Advanced Usage

Try the various display options for the comment board: Nested, Flat, Threaded. You'll see that you can adjust how the comment board presents the messages. You can also set your preference permanently under "Save settings" button.
You can use HTML in your posts other than <a href> tags. However, we recommend limiting your use of tags to <a href>, , , <ul>, <li> and . Make sure that your tags are well-formed, i.e., using closing tags: .....

Process Memos

A process memo is a place for you to reflect on your experience in writing a draft, a place to reveal to your instructor and group members your concerns:

Indicate the strengths of your draft, what you feel works well.
Point out places where you had problems when you were writing.
Be specific; include a short quote or provide examples so that your instructor and group members know exactly what you are talking about. For example, if you feel that your draft doesn't flow well, point out exactly where and say why you think it's not flowing well.
Talk about where you might take your draft in further revision, where you could improve, what you might omit, what elements you might expand upon.
Explain things which you feel might not be clear to a reader.
Instead of hoping your instructor and group members will come up with something useful for you, use this as an opportunity to facilitate good responses. Ask any specific questions that will help you to get feedback.

Spend some time on this. The more detailed your process memo is, the more easily that your instructor and group members can target your concerns in their response. You might even consider jotting down concerns during the drafting process. That way, you'll remember to include them in the process memo.

The minimum for all process memos is 200 words, but it is certainly to your benefit to write much more.

Exploratory B Topics

My Worst Fear or Phobia
A Negative Role Model from My Past
A Humorous Description of How to Survive Dorm Life
My Most Embarrassing Moment
With Only 24 Hours to Live, I Would . . .
My One Trait Which Makes Me a Unique Individual
The One Place in the World That I Would Most Like to Live
Choose an animal that fits your personality. Tell a story as that animal.
Describe what it would be like to be the opposite sex for a day.

Revision Assignment for Exploratory A, Draft 2

Self-Evaluation

In at least 500 words, discuss your work in this class during the most recent half of the semester. Address all of the following:

Your work as a blogger.
Your work on the writing project.
Your peer response work on drafts
Contributions to in-class conversations and activities
Your responses to group member reading assignment posts.
Any other work you have done for this class.
Your strengths in these areas.
Where and how you could still improve.
The most important thing(s) you've learned.

Where approriate, for each of the items listed above, make sure to point out your efforts at going beyond the minimum requirements of this course.

While this does not have to be a well-argued formal essay, it should not be sloppy, and it should adequately address all of the issues above. If you need to write much more than 500 words, do so. As much as you like.

Following Good Citation Practices

Giving attribution is a matter of courtesy. Eveyone likes to be given credit for work that they do. How would you like it if you slaved away at an awesome research project on how to fix Tallahassee's many traffic problems and mayoral candidate John Paul Bailey used your work in one of his speeches and didn't give you credit? All writers want credit for their work just like you'd want credit for yours, yes?
Providing source information creates a research trail. Others, interested in learning more about the ideas you have presented -- for instance, where the ideas came from -- can visit the same sources that you read.
The Internet wouldn't be a "web" without links between pages. Do your part to expand the World Wide Web in your web writing by including links to your sources.
Providing citations lends credibility to your writing. Texts which cite well let the reader know that writers have done their homework. When on the web, they also allow the reader to easily visit those sources and see for themselves that the sources support the writer's points and that the sources are good, reliable sources.
In academia, failing to properly cite sources is considered plagiarism and can be grounds for failure of a paper or a course. In extreme cases, where a writer blantantly steals another's text and claims it as their own, plagiarism can even result in suspension or expulsion from a university.

It can sometimes be confusing as to when to cite and when not to cite. The explanations below will hopefully make things clearer for all of the writing of this course. Just remember. The best rule of thumb for citation is to always cite when in doubt. For example, even if you reference your own blog post or a comment on the class website, you should still cite it.

Writing for the Web

In your blog writing, you'll be expected to provide good attribution, although you won't necessarily use MLA style. Use quotes when necesssary (web writers often use italics instead of quotes; be consistent in your text). Writers on the Web always provide a link to a source (refer to How to Make a Hyperlink).

Sometimes, this link is merely highlighted text within the document, although it's typically better to provide the title and author for external links when available. This way, the reader knows that the link will take them out of the site.

Other times, web writers don't like to provide links to external sites within their texts; they don't want readers continually surfing out of their text before they finishing reading what the author has to say. If you choose this route, provide a bibliography at the end. Then provide author names and titles within the text so that readers can search the bibliography later on.

When referring to blog postings, always use a permalink when possible.

You'll find that discussion boards posting and email throughout the web don't always follow good citation practices. As a reader, you'll often become frustrated when someone provides information or mentions a source but doesn't provide information to help find it. Use your best judgment in writing and write for your readers.

Showing vs. Telling

To me, one of the characteristics of a good narrative is when the writer manages to submerge me within the story, when I begin to see/feel/hear the events being described. When the characters seem real. When I forget that the story is being told to me and instead experience the moment.

So how do writers do this? They use the story itself to convey messages, meanings and feelings by "showing" using details and description.

Now, this is different from a more traditional essay, where the writer is essentially talking to the reader. Where the writer is directly "telling" the reader what to think. Where the reader is not necessarily submerged in the experience, but rather understands the writer's meaning from the opinions being given to them.

This may seem a little confusing, so here's an easier way to look at it. You might have used words like "happy," "sad" "confused" within your writing. In these instances, you are "telling" the reader what you think, rather than letting them experience what you experienced and come up with that conclusion on their own. What you want to do instead is render the experience in such detail that it is unnecessary to tell the reader. If you have done your job well as a writer, the reader picks it up from the story itself.

Consider the following sentences. Rewrite them so that they show more instead of simply telling. Realize that you might require more than one sentence to do so:

It was a beautiful day.
His voice sounded angry to me.
She liked him very much.
The quarterback threw a great pass.
The watch was expensive.

Note: there is a certain amount of telling which has to go on in a story. For instance, in-depth showing through a four sentence description of your car might not be necessary for the story (unless the narrative is centered around your car). Writers strive to show whenever things are important, and tell when things are merely minor details in their narratives.