Blogging will be a major part of your work this semester. Accordingly, it comprises 20% of your final grade. You should plan to write about one entry per week, on average, but the schedule is intentionally left open so that you can blog when inspiration strikes, with less worry about fitting into a schedule.
Content
Blog entries should be interesting, substantive, and insightful. Most importantly, they should add something unique and original to the discussion. These are not response journals, and I'm not necessarily interested in hearing how a reading made you feel. I'm also not interested in whether you liked a reading or not. Instead write about what makes a book or chapter successful, find an interesting counter reading, or discuss it in context or contrast with other works. Even better, find a reading of your own (or a comic, image, blog entry, etc.) that helped clarify or change somehow your understanding of something class-related. Really, any topic is potentially OK, as long as it relates to comics in some way and adds to the class discussion.
Blog entries should stand alone as much as possible and they shouldn't assume that the person reading your blog has read everything you have. You should also write in a way that demonstrates an awareness of other students' blogging. That is, if someone else has already written about a text you want to write about, make sure your blog entry links back to the first one.
There is no minimum length required for blog entries, however they should be "long enough."
Each blog entry should include the following items,
- An interesting, unique title
- At least one image, properly document
- Links, both internal and external
- Something new and unique
Finally, please remember that these blogs go out into the "real world" of the Internet. Attracting outside readers and receiving comments from them is a good thing. If you do get comments or questions on your blog entries, make sure you respond. Sometimes the best role for a blog entry is to be the start a conversation.
Evaluation
Blog entries will be assessed on a checkpoint system. Once a week, Wednesdays at 12:00 noon, I will evaluate one of your blog entries. If, since the last checkpoint, you've created more than one, I will simply evaluate the oldest entry, and the remaining entry will carry over for the next checkpoint.
Ultimately, I will evaluate 8 of your best entries. In other words, I encourage you to create more than 8 entries through the course of the semester.
During the semester, I will score your blogs using the rubric below. The grade that "counts" will be based on the sum score of your best 8 blog entries.
| Rating | Characteristics |
| 4 | Exceptional. The blog entry is focused and coherently integrates examples with explanations or analysis. The entry demonstrates awareness of its audience (the public), and it considers multiple perspectives. In short, the blog entry contributes substantively to the collective discourse of the seminar and satisfies all requirements. |
| 3 | Satisfactory. The blog entry is reasonably focused, and explanations or analysis are mostly based on examples or other evidence. Fewer connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. |
| 2 | Underdeveloped. The blog entry is mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. Additionally, the blog entry may not be complete or it may exhibit distracting grammatical errors. |
| 1 | Limited. The blog entry is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of student engagement with the topic. Alternatively, it may be too short or too sloppy. |
| 0 | No Credit. The blog entry is completely unsatisfactory. |
Schedule of checkpoints
| Checkpoint 1 | 9/1 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 2 | 9/8 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 3 | 9/15 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 4 | 9/22 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 5 | 9/29 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 6 | 10/6 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 7 | 10/13 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 8 | 10/20 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 9 | 10/27 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 10 | 11/3 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 11 | 11/10 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 12 | 11/17 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 13 | 11/24 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 14 | 12/1 | 12:00 noon |
| Checkpoint 15 | 12/8 | 12:00 noon |
