Homework for conferences this week and for Thursday

For our conferences, come prepared to discuss how you plan to answer some of the questions about Project 3 for your reflective essay.

Here are the questions:

1. Why did you select the particular scenario you chose to work on?

2. Why did you choose to do the project in a certain genre (paper, presentation, video, website, etc.)?

3. How did you take into consideration the needs of your audience (our class)?

4. What did you do in order to strengthen your ethos in this project?

5. Did you try to address pathos? If so, how?

6. What difficulties did you encounter while working on the project?

7. What aspects of the project do you think worked particularly well?

8. If you could change the project in any way, what would you propose?

For Thursday, come ready to do the peer workshop on your draft for Project 3. Bring three paper copies of your printable projects, if working on a digital project that cannot be printed, please bring a computer in which you can show the project to others.

Here are the questions for workshop discussion:

1. What is the thesis?

2. Is the thesis proved/argued/explored (depending on the purpose of the project) during the course of the paper?

3. Are the sources introduced and properly cited?

4. Are there any parts of the project that you found confusing?

5. What was done particularly well in this project?

6. How could the project be improved?

Tuesday October 21 Class Meeting and Conferences This Week

Please note that as we discussed in class we'll be meeting in Bearing B275 tomorrow so we can finish watching everyone's ad parodies. The B before 275 stands for basement! As soon as you enter Bearing, go down the steps and then look for the room. Don't go to the second floor! (I did that the first time I went to Bearing and it's very frustrating).

For your Wednesday and Friday conferences I am expecting your three sources for project 3, as well as your thesis statement. If you're using a book, bring the book, if you're using websites, bring the actual website address written down and be ready to tell me why you think it is trustworthy. If you're interviewing people, bring a list of those you're hoping to speak to or have already spoken to.

For the thesis, write down the statement you're thinking will guide your project throughout, such us "The dorms at Purdue meet the students' needs and are superior to the national dorm standards" or something of that sort.

I am pasting the handout I gave you guys today below, as well as our extra credit sheet in case you lose it. Remember, you cannot give me the extra credit assignment any later than December 9.

Creating Your Own Website Information Handout

Websites that have open design templates:

• oswd.org (go to browse all designs)

•openwebdesign.org (go to browse designs)

Every page you save for your website must end with .html and must be in the same folder in your H Drive or your computer at home. If you place it in your www folder in your H Drive, it will go on the web. I do not ask that your work be on the web for my class, thus I recommend that you save it in another folder in your H Drive or your home computer. If you want to put your site on the web, however, you can do so after the class is over.

To understand the code used to create your website, go to:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60

You will need to download the new toolbar and restart Firefox. Once you’ve done so, a new toolbar will appear. It is called the Web Developer Toolbar. The third option across is CSS (the language that controls the design, as opposed to the content of your website). You will click on CSS and click on “View Style Information.” Once you are under that mode, anything over which you drag your cursor will be surrounded by a red square/rectangle. Then the code that controls that particular part of the website will appear on the top of the page, under the toolbars. You can then find that code in Dreamweaver and change it if you wish.

Class Extra Credit

As we have discussed in class, the written medium is not the only way in which we can make an argument. We try to convince others of our opinion in a plethora of ways, and one of the most innovative and powerful of these is the documentary film. You have the chance to earn two points of extra credit by watching two of the documentaries below. You will receive one point each for any of the films you watch (two is the limit). In order to receive the credit, you need to write a short statement in which you tell me what the director’s thesis was, if they convinced you (Why? Why not?) and what sort of evidence they provided to support their point. Your response should be about a page. The extra credit is due Tuesday, December 9^th at the latest. You can email them to me at hidalgoatpurdue@gmail.com any time before then.

Here are your choices for documentaries. You can borrow them for free at your public library (you’ll have to go into their database and order them online. The librarian can show you how to do it) or through Netflix or video stores like Blockbuster. Some of them are also available for free on the web. Purdue may have some of them at our library as well. Feel free to watch them together and discuss them, but make sure to present your opinion individually. The thesis will be the same, but the evidence you discuss and your reaction to the film should be different.

Born into Brothels directed by Ross Kauffman. Main topic: children and photography.

Bowling for Columbine directed by Michael Moore. Main topic: gun control.

Fahrenheit 911 directed by Michael Moore. Main topic: 9/11.

An Inconvenient Truth directed by Davis Guggenheim. Main topic: global warming.

Jesus Camp directed by Rachel Grady. Main topic: children and Christianity.

Mad Hot Ballroom directed by Marilyn Agrelo. Main topic: children and dancing.

The Party’s Over directed by Donovan Leitch. Main topic: 2000 elections.

The Rape of Europa directed by Richard Berge and Bonni Cohen. Main topic: Art stolen during WWII.

Roger and Me directed by Michael Moore. Main topic: job outsourcing in America.

Sicko directed by Michael Moore. Main topic: health care system.

Spellbound directed by Jeffrey Blitz. Main topic: spelling bee competitions.

Super Size Me directed by Morgan Spurlock. Main topic: obesity.

V-Day: Until the Violence Stops directed by Abby Epstein. Main topic: women’s rights.

Enjoy!

Thursday Class Reminder

Please come prepared to present your video and your analysis tomorrow. Three groups will go tomorrow and three on Tuesday (Bridget's group will go Tuesday because she has a sore throat and Mike will also go Tuesday because he started the project later than everyone else). The rest of you need to be ready to present.

Remember that class will take place at SC 277, the same room where we met last week and that you all have about ten minutes to present and about five minutes for questions.

October 15 and 17 Conferences and Thursday's Class

For our Wednesday and Friday conferences, you'll come ready to tell me what scenario you want to do and in what medium you want to do it (paper, website, Powerpoint, etc). Also, how you plan to go about it. If you choose a facility, what facility you plan to evaluate, if you choose the election, what aspects you'll be covering, and so on. I have pasted the scenarios below.

For Thursday we'll have three groups present. Remember, the first group spokesperson will introduce the issue and the research you did on the latter, then you'll show us the video, and the second spokesperson will analyze how your video addresses the issue previously mentioned.

To avoid the problems we had in class during our workshop, and to make it easier for me to grade, I would like for you guys to post your video on youtube. There is a way to post it so that only those whom you choose will be able to see it. It is under upload videos, then broadcast options. You can hit private and then choose me as one of the people (or the only person, it's up to you) able to view this video. My youtube account is twofortheroad, or you can give them our class address hidalgoatpurdue@gmail.com. Please upload your videos so that they're ready for display on Thursday. We will watch three videos on Thursday and two the following Tuesday. Each group will have 16 minutes for their presentation and for questions.

Instructions for Project 3 Writing to Evaluate

Choose one of the following scenarios for your first project:

Scenario 1: Evaluating a University Facility

Which facilities at Purdue work well or need improvement? You can choose the cafeteria, parking, the dorms, the bookstore, the recreation center or other facilities you may have in mind.

Writing Assignment: Select a facility at Purdue that you are either acquainted with or would like to learn more about. You should look at the physical adequacy of the facility. Does its architectural design suit its purpose? Could it be improved? You should also evaluate the staff and the way in which they interact with the students, as well as any other aspects of the facility you feel the need to address.

Scenario 2: Evaluate Political Debate

Are you satisfied with our campus opportunities for political debate? How are the Boilermaker Network, WBAA Purdue and/or WCCR Purdue portraying the election?

Writing Assignment: Examine the way that the election is being portrayed on campus. Is it fair or biased? Is one candidate being privileged over the other? If yes, why do you think that is? Are there any other events or discussions you would like to see that are not currently taking place?

Scenario 3: Evaluating Your Education

Are you satisfied with the education you have received so far at Purdue? Do you find the facilities to fit your needs? Are you satisfied with the number of students in your courses, the class choices available to you, the homework load and testing/evaluating methods? Do you feel that the knowledge you are gaining will be useful to you in your profession and personal life?

Writing Assignment: Examine your education at Purdue so far. You can either select one aspect of it or you can look at it generally.

Scenario 4: Evaluating Your Own Expectations

Based on your college experience up to now, do you feel that your expectations about what your education would be like were realistic? Were they fair? Have they changed in any way? How were your college expectations shaped? Were they inspired by your parents, friends, guidance counselors, films, TV, music? Was that a reliable way to fashion your expectations? Should you have done so differently?

Writing Assignment: Construct an evaluative piece reflecting about your own expectations about your education at Purdue as well as their origin and whether they have changed, been satisfied or were realistic in the first place.

Scenario 5: Evaluating

In W;t, the main character Vivian, who is a professor, regrets having too sternly graded her former student Jason. In your own life, is there a time where you feel you have judged others or a situation too harshly as Vivian did?

Writing Assignment: Drawing parallels to W;t, construct an evaluative piece reflecting on what led to your overly harsh judgment. How and when did you realize that you had misjudged? Did you do anything to remedy the situation? Why or why not? If not, what would you do now if you could?

This Week's Conferences and Thursday's class

For our conferences this week, you should come with your group. You can ask any questions you still have about the ad parody. If you want to bring the video with you and show it to me, that would be great. If not, we could look at your analysis or anything else you want to discuss.

You also want to bring a draft for your individual reflective essay, by which I mean that you need to know which questions you want to address and how you plan to go about it. Remember that while you only need one analysis, you each need to write your own reflective essay. If you no longer have your reflective essay handout, see the questions at the end of this post.

Here's the itap remote access webpage for those of you working on websites for one of your projects:

https://goremote.ics.purdue.edu/Citrix/AccessPlatform/auth/login.aspx

This Thursday we're meeting at SC 277. You need to have your video as well as your written analysis with you. Please bring earphones so you can listen to each other's parodies.

REFLECTIVE ESSAY DIRECTIONS

When you turn in your project, it should be accompanied by a Reflective Essay. Your essay should be between one and two pages long and double-spaced.

In this essay you’re going to answer at least four of the following questions:

1. Why did you select the particular scenario you chose to work on?

2. Why did you choose to do the project in a certain genre (paper, presentation, video, website, etc.)?

3. How did you take into consideration the needs of your audience (our class)?

4. What did you do in order to strengthen your ethos in this project?

5. Did you try to address pathos? If so, how?

6. What difficulties did you encounter while working on the project?

7. What aspects of the project do you think worked particularly well?

8. If you could change the project in any way, what would you propose?

Do not number the questions, but write your response in essay form.

Homework for Tuesday, October 6

Please read pages 164 - 170 in our textbook.

Remember that our Thursday class will take place in SC 277 and that you will need to have your ad parodies and a draft of your analyses of the latter ready by then.