Blogging

Mad Hatter, reciting lines (line-drawing c. 1865 by
Sir John Tenniel, from Alice in Wonderland)

About the Blog

This semester, I am asking you to set up your own <weblog> as a forum for discussing theories of -- and practices in -- public discourse, even as you are studying it. By the end of the semester, your blog should provide your own intellectual roadmap through the course. You will need to post to your blog two times on our course readings (by 11:00 a.m. on the days the readings are assigned). You will also need to write long, thoughtful responses to another student's post four times over the semester (not four times at once). We will work out a schedule, so that you all know who posts when, but I will not assign response dates, so you must write responses on your own initiative. 

Blogging Guidelines

Please remember that this blog space is public. Fellow class members will be reading and commenting on your posts, as you will theirs, and other Internet users will encounter your posts and read what you have to say. While I want you to feel comfortable to have great discussions on it, the blog is a performance space where we still need to be committed to good communal practices.

(Note: Setting word limits on what you compose in electronic mediums can be problematic, but you should plan to write a couple of screens' worth, as you are aiming for a fairly expert level of discussion. This often comes to ~750-1000 words, but I urge you to write enough, which may mean disregarding the word limit. Above all, write to communicate.) 

1. First and foremost, engage your reader and keep your reader engaged. Think of this blog as a place where you will instigate or inspire class discussion on critical topics, and not just a space for filling up with words. Start a thoughtful conversation about what you read, rather than just summarizing it.

2. Aim for critical depth and synthesis. It doesn’t take much skill or expertise to spout opinion or to demonstrate bias; the real skill is in engaging with an idea and considering it empathetically and objectively, as well as sympathetically and subjectively. Think of these posts as your critical offerings to the rest of the class, where "critical" means you are applying the terms, concepts, and theories of others to something you have read in order to understand it more fully. You might exchange informed opinions about the assigned readings, you might ask and answer questions or expand on issues we didn't cover in class, you might make applications of our texts to other texts you read or encounter, you might do a rhetorical analysis of another text or situation as a way of demonstrating one of our theories, or you might do other things. Whatever you do, please put questions raised by one text in conversation with other texts, and help us to understand how one text extends or complicates another. This means synthesizing both readings, rather than picking only one and summarizing it.

3. Aim for substance and quality. I’m not interested in seeing how much space you can fill; I am interested in seeing you genuinely communicate your thoughts, ideas, arguments, and responses to your readers. If you are responding to an article we have read, explain what issues are raised for you, why those issues are interesting or important, how they align with or challenge what you’re learning in class so far. Whatever you to do visualize your argument should not substitute for substantive discussion.

4. Aim for clarity and specificity. Consider stating your main claim early on as a way of helping your readers to follow your thought process. Provide context details to remind us of what article or assignment you are addressing. If you are commenting on one portion of someone else’s post, please copy/paste that portion for others to see.

5. Title your posts to give your readers context. Make them interesting! Titles should reflect what you have thought or written or are trying to argue (rather than merely restate the name of the article or assignment you are responding to).

6. Follow good civil/civic discussion practices. We will spend the semester discovering what these are, but for now please remember that the aim of our discussions is to exchange ideas and help others understand why we think the way we do. In one sense, what we do is like diplomacy. Flaming, aggression, hate speech, inside jokes, or tactics that cause others to feel marginalized or excluded will not only not be tolerated by me, they will also shut down conversation and undermine your discussions.

7. Follow good attribution practices. If you refer to something we haven’t read, please provide us with either the full citation so we can find it ourselves, or with a hyperlink allowing us to access the document. Mention the full names of authors you cite, and the titles of articles you discuss. Include page numbers where relevant. Cite images and video where needed. And please sign your name (or your pseudonym) to every post and every comment so that other readers and writers know who left it.