The Blog Assignment

Throughout the semester, you will keep a weblog that expands on our class discussions about film. Your blog is a terrific opportunity for you to communicate ideas that you thought of but didn’t say in class, or to record ideas you didn’t think of until after class. It’s also a great way for you to find out what other members of your class are thinking about the movies you’re seeing inside and outside of class.

Directions:

1. Go to http://www.blogspot.com
2. Scroll down on the Blogger page to “Create a Blog in 3 Easy Steps.” Click “Create your blog now.” Note that you need to create a Google account in order to create your blog. If you already have a Google account, you’re ahead of the game.
3. Fill in the required information to create an account. Do not use your full name on your blog or mention the name of our school in the title or in any posts, and never mention any personal identifiers about yourself or classmates. Feel free, however, to come up with a clever name for your blog and/or an interesting username.
4. Choose a template for your blog. Any of the templates will work fine – it’s just a matter of personal preference.
5. Post an introductory entry in your blog. There is no required format.
6. Click on the “Settings” tab on your Blogger page, and within that section, click on comments.
On the pull-down menu next to “Who can comment?” choose “Only registered users.”
Scroll down to “Show word verification for comments?” and change the toggle to “yes.” This will prevent spammers from commenting.
7. Go to my blog at http://tholentheartoffilm.blogspot.com/. In the comment section of my latest entry, post your first name and your URL. I will be adding this to the links section of my blog, so we all have easy access to one another’s blogs. Make sure your URL is accurate before posting it by typing it into the address bar and seeing that it links you to your blog.


Posting Requirements:
· Each of your three journal assignments will be submitted via your blog. Your first “real” blog entry will be journal #1.
· You must post entries in your blog after each film we view in class, plus five other entries about films you see outside of class.
· You may respond to films in a number of ways:
o Discuss/analyze an important scene
o Expand on a discussion question from class, whether from a film or a reading
o Make a connection to the real world/current events
o Discuss/analyze an aspect of cinematic style important to the film
o Discuss/analyze a topic or theme important to the film
o Relate it to another film, either from class or personal viewing
o Discuss ideas for future viewing inspired by film
o Answer film-specific questions that might be posted on my blog
· Your posts should relate to film, but within them, you can include links, photos, video, and anything else that is appropriate for in-class viewing.
· Feel free to play around with your entries. The beauty of blogs is that they’re not MLA-format, formal papers. It’s okay to make jokes, develop your own style, share personal stories and insights, be sarcastic, or otherwise show your personality on your blog.
· Remember, you have an audience! Craft your blog. Make it fun for your classmates to read.
· Remember that although you do technically have your own website, you are still doing a school assignment. Any blog that includes content that is inappropriate for school will not be included on my links list, and you will receive a zero for that assignment. If you run across any inappropriate content in someone’s blog, whether in the post itself or the comments, please let me know (it can be anonymous).

Commenting Requirements:
· For each of your entries, you must make comments on three other blogs.
· Comments should be respectful of the writer, although you may disagree with their thinking or make suggestions about their writing.
· In your comment, you can react to their post in any number of ways: agree, disagree, tell your own similar story, offer encouragement, tell her/him why you liked the post or how they might edit it, or add a link.
· You must sign-in on Blogger to comment.
· Part of your grade will be based on how well you can generate conversation on your blog. One way to do this will be to reply back to commenters. If someone leaves a comment, respond to it.

Grading:
Your blog will be evaluated on level of participation, intellectual depth of the posts, effectiveness of the writing, the level of reflection regarding the ideas expressed, and the willingness to contribute to and collaborate with the work of others (Richardson 49).

In summary, here are the goals for this assignment. I want you to:
Write for a real, wide audience and engage in respectful, insightful and honest conversation with each other.
Write in a personal, yet still academic voice; getting in the habit of writing will lead to both enjoyment and improvement.

More information on blogs, including how to add links and photos, as well as example entries, will be provided in class.