Blog Assignment

Description and Details:

Over the next eight to ten weeks you are to create and post to your blog twice a week.  The entries need to be a minimum of 300 words per entry, though it would be wise to vary the length and challenge yourself to write several 500-1,000 word entries when you are in the midst of a good topic.

You are required to write four to six entries on a single topic.  In total we will do this three times.  The topics should be chosen based on your passion, curiosity, and interests.  Do not pick so broadly that you lack focus in your postings.  In fact, narrow your interest down to a category of some type.  Instead of music pick a genre, a particular artist, or an innovation that is occurring.  Don’t write merely about video games (and by the way, most student writing I’ve ever read about gaming is absolutely bone boring), but some controversial component of gaming, or design, or innovation in the field.  Likewise, if you are passionate about the environment, pick more than “water”; choose some aspect of water conservation that is in the news.  Biology is too broad, so how about a piece of biology that is fascinating to you?

To help your posts along, a minimum of two of the six entries must be based on news articles from either a newspaper, magazine, or other online resource.  The first half of your post can be a summary of what the article states, and the last 150 words should cover what you think about what you read.  Dialectical journal style is fine for this portion of the post. Do include the title of the article, author, journal, and date. It is acceptable for two of the six entries in a three week period to be entirely of your own creation and not based on an article.

In addition, on my blog, you will find a list of college essay topics.  During each three week session you will choose a minimum of one of these topics and write a college essay.  It would be great if you could choose a topic that would allow you to bring in your area of interest for those three weeks.  As you may or may not know, it is a great idea to incorporate your culture, beliefs, passions, heritage, and interests into your college essay, so that is why I encourage you to write about your passions, interests, and beliefs.

These college essays will give you an excellent opportunity to fulfill one of those 500-1,000 word entries.  This way, you will have a series of college essays by spring.  They may not all be brilliant, but they will be a group of stock rough drafts to choose from for next semester.  We will also complete several more polished college essays after the AP and AS exams are finished.

It is all well and good to write college essays, post responses to things you’ve read, and to ruminate on a topic, but the most important part of this assignment is to focus on good, intelligent, interesting writing.  This is your chance to explore ideas, passions, and who you are and what you care about in this world. It is an opportunity to explore the “life of the mind.” Do remember that you will be posting to the world, so you want to strive for well-written, clear, error-free writing.  Use your editing tools for each post, so that each entry is the strongest writing you can produce.

On that note, since this is a public forum, be thoughtful about what you post.  Do not include personal information, names of friends, your home, and even weigh if you want to mention your school by name.  When you are writing, if you have any hesitation or question about whether to include something that may be too personal, then don’t include it.  Save your most private thoughts for a personal journal.

Grading: First Week Only:

A+ If you are able to reach the challenge goals you will earn a top score with this caveat:  they must be of strong quality, not repetitive, and relatively error-free.

                A – 2400 words

                B 2100

                C 1800

                F  Anything below the minimum required, which is 1800.

Challenge: In the first three week set, see if you can reach 2700 words.

                                In the second three week set, see if you can reach 3100.

                                In the third and final set, see if you can reach 3500 words.

Due Dates:

Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:00PM

Monday, April 9, 2012 10:00PM

Monday, May 7, 2012 10:00PM