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.