MWA 1

MWA 1: Blog Meets Memoir

            So far in class we have been writing reader response blog posts on the novel Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. You have been asked to blog about your personal response to the novel as well as to describe something that happened to you either when you were reading the novel or in the past. For this assignment, you will need the skills and subject matter treated in both SWA’s because you will write a short and sweet memoir based off of your own personal reader response experience.

            Assignment guidelines: Write a 1000-1200 word blog post about an event that occurred in your present life or your memory that was triggered by the reading. (Note: you may expand your SWA blog posts, or write something new. Sometimes writing a new story is actually easier). This blog-ish memoir should have an arc that contains the elements of a memoir discussed on pages 40-46 in Writing Today such as vivid description and personal narrative. Skills utilized in both SWA’s that will be needed for this assignment are reader response and writing with the 5 senses. Your audience will be pretty broad (internet users, blog readers, people interested in literature), but for the final assignment and peer review day, please bring a printed word document of your blog text to class.

            Your story should be interesting to read, and give the reader an idea of which passage from Bless Me Ultima inspired you to write about the topic you choose.  It will have an introduction that sets up a scene for the reader and gives us a purpose for your blog post. In other words, tell us why you are writing. You should have plenty of descriptive language using the 5 senses. The memoir will end with a sense of the significance of your storytelling. Ways to think about showing significance include the concept of old self vs. new self. Is there any way that this experience changed you or your surroundings? What do you want the reader to do or feel after reading your memoir?

(Remember that because you do not have a lot of space to work with, you will need to use your words wisely- make every word count!)

-------------Grading Guidelines:----------------------------------------------------------------------

As in your SWA’s, An “A” blog will be free from spelling and grammatical errors, will move coherently from one thought to the next, and will be fun and easy to read. At least four of the five senses are utilized and the author offers rich descriptions. The blog layout is appropriate and simple. It will be within the word limit and will discuss both the text and the writer’s reactions to the text.

A “B” blog will have all the necessary components, but will have some errors in grammar, spelling, or organization. It will make sense but may not be as easy to understand as an A paper. The blog layout is appropriate and simple and the post is within the word limit.

A “C” blog will have some distracting errors, and may be deficient in 3-4 small areas, but will otherwise be a readable blog. It may still be within the word limit and the layout may be correct.

Any grade below a “C” is because there are deficiencies in 4 areas or more, the blog is difficult to understand, or there are far too many errors that distract from the piece. 

SWA 2

SWA 2: Description in Your Blog

            In SWA 1 you were asked to write about your personal reaction to a section of Bless Me Última. In this assignment you will expand on your new blogging skills to describe not only how you feel and are reacting to a certain part of the text, but giving the reader lush descriptions about your surroundings either while you were reacting to the text or while you are remembering your reaction to the text. Also, in this assignment, you will be asked to describe an event that happened to you either while reading the text, or in a distant memory that the text reminded you of. Be as descriptive as possible to offer richness for your reader, using about 1 ½ pages (about 700 words).

            Reader response blogs are all about the blogger, and will be centered on your personal experiences with the text. However, in any type of writing but especially in descriptive writing, your audience should be considered. Ideally, a reader with a completely different experience will be able to feel as if they were there for the events being described. Show us, don’t tell us. A helpful reminder for descriptive writing is to keep in mind that the 5 senses should be used. So, describe what you saw or are seeing, what you smelled or remember smelling, what your fingers are feeling, the taste of what you had for lunch, and the noises in the environment around you for example. For a review on descriptive writing in personal narrative, see pages 42-45 in Writing Today. If you are curious about reader response theory, review this website: http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com/2010/04/importance-of-reader-response.html

Grading Guidelines:

An “A” blog will be free from spelling and grammatical errors, will move coherently from one thought to the next, and will be fun and easy to read. At least four of the five senses are utilized and the author offers rich descriptions. The blog layout is appropriate and simple. It will be within the word limit and will discuss both the text and the writer’s reactions to the text.

A “B” blog will have all the necessary components, but will have some errors in grammar, spelling, or organization. It will make sense but may not be as easy to understand as an A paper. The blog layout is appropriate and simple and the post is within the word limit.

A “C” blog will have some distracting errors, and may be deficient in 3-4 small areas, but will otherwise be a readable blog. It may still be within the word limit and the layout may be correct.

Any grade below a “C” is because there are deficiencies in 4 areas or more, the blog is difficult to understand, or there are far too many errors that distract from the piece. 

SWA 1

SWA 1: Creating a Blog

In this assignment, you will need to create a 1-page (approximately 500 word) personal response to the text of Bless Me Última read thus far in class. You will have created the basic template for your blog and e-mailed me the blogsite before getting this prompt, and should already have a basic understanding of how to “blog.”

Blogging is a specific microgenre that has grown substantially in popularity in the past few years. For more information on the blog microgenre, review pages 542-548 in Writing Today. Some bloggers even get funding from advertisers if their blog is highly viewed. For this rhetorical situation, your audience will be small and will mostly involve me, other classmates, and the occasional web user who stumbles upon your blog while surfing the internet. Despite the limited audience, please be aware that you are putting your writing out into a public forum that others may read, so do not list ANY information that is case sensitive, that reveals your identity, or that you feel uncomfortable sharing with strangers or other members of the class.

 You will be posting 2-3 posts on this blogsite for Bless Me Última, but for the first post, I want you to give the reader your personal or gut reaction to what you have read so far. First, give the reader a brief intro to the context of your post, mentioning the name and section of text you will discuss, and then tell us more specific information such as: “I felt a strong connection with Tony because…” In other words, explain how you felt when you were reading certain parts of the text, what your opinion is of the story or certain characters, and what you think intellectually of where the story may be headed.  For an example of a reader response blog, review this website: http://eglemons.wordpress.com/category/literature-circle-reader-response-journal/  Helpful hint for blogging- you should write in a word document first, then upload afterwards to avoid formatting problems, spelling mistakes, and so that you can keep track of your word count.  

Grading Guidelines:

An “A” blog will be free from spelling and grammatical errors, will move coherently from one thought to the next, and will be fun and easy to read. The blog layout is appropriate and simple. It will be within the word limit and will discuss both the text and the writer’s reactions to the text.

A “B” blog will have all the necessary components, but will have some errors in grammar, spelling, or organization. It will make sense but may not be as easy to understand as an A paper. The blog layout is appropriate and simple and the post is within the word limit.

A “C” blog will have some distracting errors, and may be deficient in 3-4 small areas, but will otherwise be a readable blog. It may still be within the word limit and the layout may be correct.

Any grade below a “C” is because there are deficiencies in 4 areas or more, the blog is difficult to understand,  or there are far too many errors that distract from the piece.