Project 1: "My Story"

In this project, you will need to reflect about an important, personal, event or series of events  that are relevant to you and have shaped  your persona. You will then be required to portray these in a genre of your choice,  showing a comprehensive understanding of the genre (Genre analysis, CHAT theory). To help you decide on the genre which best adapts to your story,  we will read extracts from some biographical texts: “The Story of an Hour” by Chopin, Persepolis by Satrapi, Diary of Anne Frank, and Mockingjay –The Hunger Games- by Suzanne Collins. By reading these texts, we will focus on the genres of short story, graphic narrative, diary and young adult novel, exploring  how these genres affects the practice of life writing. Furthermore, and in order to cover more life writing genres, you will be required to create a comprehensive list –together with a brief description– of (auto)biographical genres that interest you.

Requirements:     

1. Description of  2 (auto)biographical genres (other than the ones we are reading in class).  (20 points)

2. Genre Analysis of the genre chosen for your personal narrative. (30 points)
 Detailed description of genre features, information regarding the cultural/historical context of the genre, and CHAT analysis.

3. Personal narrative (30 points)
It should adapt to the conventions of the chosen genre and show an understanding of the made decisions.

4. Peer review, participation and attendance.  (20 points)
You will be required to provide significant feedback to one of your peers in the writing process. Participation and collaboration are then extremely important -skipping class or not meeting the peer review deadlines will not only affect your grade but also that of your peers- and failure to comply with this rule will be penalized.

Pop quizzes are likely to take place in order to encourage students to reflect on their reading experience and foster class discussion.

Project 2: Pop Cult Journalists   

In this project, you are going to write a  feature article for a magazine/newspaper of your choice, showing information on a cultural phenomenon that interests you.

Here is a handout where project 2 is explained in detail:  project 2.doc

Project 3: Writing for a Cause

In this project, you (working in pairs) will become acquainted with several social issues affecting society to finally choose the one which interests you the most. You will then research the social issue of your choice in order to gather enough information to produce a visual text which reflects both your research and concerns. (Each group will create a flyer, poster, pamphlet, Facebook pages/memes, chalk-up, or other visual text that will reflect your social issue).

This project will essentially require that you put into practice the skills that we have developed through the semester: research on a specific genre, adaptation to its conventions, reflection on your creation process via CHAT theory, research on the topic and citation of your research. But here is the new challenge!  You will need to present the research that informed your project in an oral presentation in class. This should not be hard though, since you already know most of your peers and should feel comfortable with the class.

 Remember that you will not only need to research the social issue, but also the conventions of the genre you decide to create so that you can follow them properly. For instance, to explain how your research on your conventions of the genre is reflected on your creation you could say: One of the main characteristics of Magazine articles is that they have commercials next to the articles, so we placed an add next to this article; or, a common feature of Facebook profiles is that the colors white and blue are used, so we used these colors. (Note, these are very random examples). And you should do the same with your research on the social issue.

Requirements:

1. 10 minutes Oral Presentation (50 points)
    Be careful not to exceed 10 minutes but not to fall short either!
    In this oral presentation you will explain your social issue to the class, the genre  you decided to create and how your research is reflected on your visual genre.
    Important note: This project was created in groups, therefore, in the presentation, I want to hear each of the group members speak equally.  Here is where you will demonstrate that you both have worked together, that you all know what has been going on in the creation process and you worked equally hard. Remember that even though this project is done in groups, the grade is individual so make sure that you take the chance to show what you have done and how you have collaborated with one another.
If you give the impression to not know about your project well enough, this will negatively affect your (individual) grade.
(Advice: you should probably practice your presentation beforehand. And maybe treat some friends to candy so they listen to you and give you feedback).

2.   (25 points)  2. 1    List of conventions of your visual genre (remember to be specific, so if you create a flyer, specify and focus on the kind of flyer you are creating)
                         2. 2   Genre Analysis (be specific to the creation process you and your partner went through)
                                       Remember you will need to add a contextual note, where you tell me where your genre is going to be found so that
                                             we can consider the audience and the reception!
                         2. 3   Works Cited Page

3. Genre Creation (25 points).
   It should adapt to the conventions of the genre and reflect your research on your social issue.

So, the presentations will take place on the 5th and 7th of December.
                               You will turn in your final project on the day you present and right before your presentation.

         What you need to turn in:                     Works Cited Page.
                                                                           Visual Genre (yes, you do need to print it,  in color for me to follow your presentation better).
                                                                           List of Genre conventions (general)
                                                                                  + CHAT Map on your genre production (specific to your production).
                                                                           Any other materials you think are relevant.

Note: Missing class on the day you are not presenting will mean 20 points less off
your grade, regardless of how great your project was.