Guidelines for the Reflection over the Composition in a New Genre

Please do not respond back to this post--you need to email me your reflection by our final class, which is Thursday, May 31, 2012.

Respond to the following questions based on your project. You need to answer in complete sentences using specific language--so, don't say something like "this is the best project I have ever done because I XXX." This tells me nothing. Be specific. Each question should have two-five sentences in response. 

1. Believe this is the best project you have ever completed. Tell me why.

2. Doubt this project is any good at all. Tell me why. 

3. Predict my response to your project. 

4. Agree or disagree with your sense of my response to this project.  

And last, discuss your overall reaction to working within a group. How did your group work together? Was there an overall leader or did you work more fluidity together? This is the time to be very honest, so that I know how the group functioned together. 

The Vampire Exposed

In your final (!) blog post, you have the opportunity to explore, define, muse, and/or theorize about the past 9 1/2 weeks and your learning with and about the vampire and media ecology theory. 


Think of it this as your swan song: show me what you got. =) 


Make connections. Be specific. Use quotes. Show examples. Dialogue with one another. Feel free to be creative, though, not "creative": it should be be a work of reality not fiction (as much as a class on vampires can be a reality). 


There are no other specific guidelines because I want to see what you can give me. 


Due by class time, Thursday, May 31, 2012. 

Composition in a New Genre

For this blog post, you need to complete it together as part of your group--this will help get you into the mind-set and rhythm of working in your group. You need decide on a plan of attack, in other words, a detailed plan of action that shows your thinking and understanding of how and when to organize and complete this project. Use this blog post as a time for your group to organize the logistics of the project and to prepare for the work day on Monday. You need to provide an overview of project expectations (as established by the group), project specifics (genre, audience, rhetorical situation), and calendar of events (how/when the work will occur). 

You do NOT need to comment back to another for this post. 

Due: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 by class time. 

Work Day: What's Your Story?

Your out-of-class work day concludes with a blog post where you share your story about your researching journey. 

Part I:

Tell your “story” of your research findings and experiences, including but not limited to, your interview(s), observations, and surveys. In other words, I want you to actually tell the story of your process as if it was a story and not simply a project you were completing for class. Your audience is mainstream people. 

Some things to remember about this reflection: it should read like a story, and stories have a central point; they aim for an emotional response; and they are engaging. 

Given that this class centers on media ecology and vampires, you must include a paranormal element to your story. 

Your story needs to be 350-500 words. 

Part II:

The second part of this blog post: you need to respond (comment back) to a peer's post--you MUST do this to receive full credit. This means underneath someone's post, you need to click "reply" and comment on their post. 

Due: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 BY 11:59 PM in order to be in attendance and receive credit for your work day. 

Interview with a Vampire: Louis and Lestat

As we continue to read through Interview with a Vampire, I want you to begin your thinking of this text with an examination of the two main vampires, Louis and Lestat. Pull out some of their main character traits and discuss how they compare, for example, what makes Louis seem *more* human-like than Lestat. Do you feel yourself drawn more to one over the other? Why? These two vampires began what some scholars assess as a "new" look for the vampire: why might that be? 

Shoot for 300-400 words. Engage with others. 

Due: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 by class time. 

Vampires: All You Need is a Little Hope

Some theorists argue that the vampire can be a symbol for hope. Explain how you believe this is possible: how can something that many view as a monster offer people hope?

Support what you are saying with at least two of the readings we have done this quarter. Engage with your peers. 250-400 words. 

Due: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 by class time. 

Dracula

"I am Dracula and I bid you welcome..." 

As we wrap up reading Dracula, I want you to use this post to do three things: (1) discuss what you've learned about Dracula that surprised you; (2) explain why you believe it'd be essential to a class on vampires AND media ecology theory to read Dracula; and (3) think like a media ecologist and theorize about Dracula--the man, the monster, and the vampire. 

Use the readings we have done to support your responses. 

Engage with others. 250-400 words. 

Due: Thursday, May 3, 2012 by class time. 

The Promise of Monsters

Let's try something a little different: what, according to Haraway, is the promise of monsters?

Evidence what you are decide with specific pieces of Haraway's text (this means direct quotes) and feel free to extend out to include other readings from class to support your response. 

250-300 words. Engage with others. 

Due: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 by class time. 

Technologies of (the) Monster

Halberstam argues that "gothic sexuality, furthermore, manifests itself as a kind of technology, a productive force which transforms the blood of the native into the lust of the other, and as an economy which unites the threat of the foreign and perverse within a single, monstrous body" (101). We might argue, given how McLuhan and Fuller define ecology, that we could replace Halberstam's "economy" with "ecology" showing that gothic sexuality as a technology is, in fact, a medium by which we understand Dracula as a vampire. As Halbestam argues, we understand that Dracula is "not simply a monster but a technology of monstrosity." 

For this post, I want you to pick different sections of Dracula to your own argument for the vampire as kind of technology--a technology that defines the vampire as both/and and not one or the other. For example, Halberstam says that Dracula is both a monster and a man; feminine and powerful, parasitical; repulsive and fascinating. Work from your own idea and thinking about Dracula, but make sure to use specific and direct support from the book as well as Halberstam. 

250-300 words. Engage with others. 

Due: Thursday, April 26, 2012 by class time. 

Dracula: Embedded Genres

As you continue to read Dracula, pick one of the genres that is used to tell the story (so, for example, pick the genre of a letter). Then pick a specific section of the book that uses that genre (so perhaps the initial letters from Mina to Harker). Explore the significance of using that particular genre while discussing that particular part of the book, in other words, why would Stoker use that genre instead of another genre to develop the section? (Working from my example), why would Stoker use letters to create dialogue between Mina and Harker? Why not another journal entry? I want you to pick your own example to work from and do be very specific when explaining your example. 


Essentially, I want you to explore why Dracula is told through the use of embedded genres (a genre instead of a genre). How does this add to the story? How might the story of Dracula read differently if it been done in the form of a more straight-forward novel (keeping in line with the traditional genre conventions of a novel)? 


Make sure your thinking is grounded in evidence, so pull from the novel, but feel free to also draw on the other readings we have done. 


Engage with others. 


300-500 words. 


Due: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 by class time. 

Dracula: Uncovering the Origins

Part of the purpose of this course is to look at the different ways that the vampire can be, or has been, re-defined by different works--both literary and theoretical. According to Jenkins, Stoker did not define Dracula based on Vlad the Impaler. But other theorists have argued that he did. To loosen up our normal theoretically-driven posts, what do you think? Why do you believe Dracula was defined in the ways that Stoker defined him? What makes Dracula represent "the vampire"--why do we still honor Stoker with creating, defining, and representing the vampire (especially given that there were several vampire stories floating around before Stoker wrote Dracula)? Jenkins says that "all roads lead to [Dracula]"--and I want you to really explore why you believe that's the case.


Given that we have read several different pieces that ask you to redefine your understanding of the vampire, your response may be based in some theory. If up to this point, as some of you have mentioned, you haven't, in some way or another, re-defined or expanded your understanding of the vampire, explore why that may be. Are your own conventions driving your understanding of the vampire blurring the possibility of an expansion? Do you view the vampire through a Dracula-like haze? 
**I'm not looking for you to *knock the readings here rather explore your own understanding of the vampire, where it came from, and why the belief is there. 


300-500 words. Engage with others.


Due: Thursday, April 19, 2012 by class time. 

Vampires' Ontology?

As we continue to engage with Rai's blog and with our own understanding of media ecology theory, we are going to respond to one of the questions driving this class: what is the ontology of monstrosity that the vampire is caught up in? If we understand that  ontology is the study of being or essence of being/existing and that monstrosity is the condition of being "abnormal" then we can begin to question the existence of the vampire. So, for this blog post, I want you to respond to question above--what is the ontology of monstrosity that the vampire is caught up in--by specifically looking at Dracula. What is the ontology of monstrosity that Dracula is defined by? Ground your thinking in both the text, Dracula, and the other readings we have done thus far (could be Halberstam, Jenkins, Rai, McLuhan, etc).  


Shoot for 300-450 words. Engage with others. Don't be afraid to loosen your boundaries and think outside the box here, so long as  you support what you are saying with the texts we are reading. 


Due: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 by class time. 

Monstrosity: Vampire Vs. Zombie

After beginning to investigate media ecology theory, I want you to try and put some of your understanding into practice. Halberstam says that "monsters are meaning machines" and that "we need monsters and we need to recognize and celebrate our own monstrosities." So, we might argue that the vampire is the medium, but what then would the "content" of vampire be (given that McLuhan argues it's another medium)? Attempt to answer this question by using The New York Times piece as evidence--what is the content of "the vampire" according to this piece? How then might you begin to question if the vampire is an assemblage of media, sensation, etc, etc? 


Respond to these questions and conclude by offering your own list of vampire vs. zombie teams that, in a sense, respond to your own musings above.  


Engage with one another. Shoot for 250-500 words. 


Due: Thursday, April 5, 2012. 

Vampire Forensics

"Twilight Zone" provides us with an interesting historical context of the vampire and his rise to fame within our culture. It also, and perhaps convincingly so, shows how the line between what is considered myth and what is considered reality can become blurred  inside people's minds. To support his research, Collins Jenkins provides "interpretive" data shown through a historical lens. Deconstruct his chapter and find a sentence, a paragraph, a theme, etc that you might consider a researchable topic in relationship to the vampire (i.e. a researchable question could be: in the 21st century, do we still consider the vampire to be highest level of supernatural species?).  Discuss how you might go about researching the topic. What would you need to know and why? How might you connect to a larger theme that isn't just something based around a literary analysis  (i.e. given the example question above, you might bring in different anthropological theories to provide a context for how species understand a top-down order to living)?


Do some brainstorming in this blog post to see what you can begin to come up with in terms of research and vampires. I'm looking for you to be able to start to "dig deep" and see connections between vampires and research that extends beyond literature and literary analyses. 


Shoot for 250-400 words. And do engage with one another. 


Due: Tuesday, April 3, 2012 by class time. 

Investigating Key Terms

As we briefly discussed in class the first day, key terms give you a vocabulary by which you can begin to understand writing, create a writing identity, and learn new knowledge about writing. In this in-class assignment, you are going quickly investigate key terms. Begin by defining the key terms audience, genre, and rhetorical situation in your own words and use Bitzer as support. Some of these terms Bitzer did not explicitly defined, but I want you to still draw from him--this is you beginning to synthesize. Next explore the key terms relationship within the context of writing, specifically good writing.What key terms do you think about before you write? Why? How do you define yourself as writer, in other words, what does your writing identity look like? Conclude by issuing a decree: what do you believe is important about writing and where do you believe this belief came from? 

Your response should be as long as it needs to be. Don't rush through. Think. Muse. Reflect.

This is extension of your blog post for homework, so think of it as furthering your thinking through the use of key terms. Your homework worked with rhetorical situation in a more global sense, and I want this post to be about you as an individual writer.  

Rhetorical Situation

Guidelines: 
Blog posts are free and open; their language is casual. I expect to see four things in your posts: (1) that you read the piece; (2) that you can make connections to yourself as a writer and the class; (3) that you understand the genre conventions of a blog; and (4) that I can begin to see who you are as a writer—through your voice, style and language choices. 
**Comment back to this post, do NOT create a new post. 


In about 500 words or less, I want you to explore the following questions. Be specific in your responses. You can use direct quotes from Bitzer’s piece (and, in fact, this might be the most helpful in your explanation of a rhetorical situation). 


According to Bitzer, what is rhetoric? What is a rhetorical situation? Why are both important in the understanding of how to write? What do you believe comes first—the writing or the rhetorical situation? Do you believe all writing needs a rhetorical situation in order to write? Why or Why not? Connect rhetorical situation to this class: what connection do you see?


If you are NOT the first one to post, you need to mention at least one or two of your peers’ responses in your entry i.e. you may agree or disagree with what someone else’s definition of rhetoric. You cite this person in your response and note why you are citing this person. Don't forget to do this as it is part of the assignment.


Due: Thursday, March 29, 2012 by class time.