introductory post

Hi everyone! As I'm requiring you to complete posts twice weekly for this course, I'll join you in writing about many of the topics here. To distinguish my own responses from the prompts and assignments, I'll use labels to keep things clear:

• "Prompts" are questions/topics that you will be required to answer or discuss on your blog. Prompts are listed for each day in the course schedule, but any changes will be posted as "Prompts" here.
• "Posts" are my own responses to some of the prompts or topics. I won't post on every topic, but I'll participate in many of the discussions emerging on the blogs.
  
• "F.Y.I." will be anything interesting (course-related) that might interest you.
  
• "Unit __" will let you know which course unit the post belongs to.
  

Now that I've clarified a bit, here's my own introductory post:

My name is April Patrick, and I'm your instructor for 20803. I am a PhD student at TCU working in Victorian women's literature, mostly poetry. Most recently, I completed my MA and taught English at the University of Houston. I also taught high school English for a few years in the San Antonio/hill country area and worked in marketing/communications in the Houston area. I have now lived in Fort Worth for a little over a year.

Though I did not choose to 'take' this course, I did choose to teach it and to focus the content on this fall's Presidential election. One main reason for doing so is my personal interest in politics and campaigns on a variety of levels (not just the Presidential election). Another is that I find the rhetoric around politics and elections full of excellent examples for discussion in class. I am genuinely looking forward to discussing with you the many rhetorical choices relating to the election throughout the semester.

I have been extremely interested in politics since I was a high school student. My enthusiasm about politics became much more concrete on the first day of my senior year when my Government teacher suggested that male students are much stronger in government and economics classes and that the female students just needed to accept that. From that day, it was my personal mission to prove him wrong. And along the way, I realized that I truly was interested in government and politics. Now, I'm grateful to that teacher for inspiring me (regardless of whether that was his intent).

Just as I'm asking about the arguments made in your design choices for your blogs, I see many arguments appearing on mine. In designing any course blog, my first priorities are making sure the blog is professional but inviting, which is sometimes a difficult balance. By making those design choices, I am arguing for readers (you) to see this blog as a generally serious space associated with class, but I also want you to enjoy this portion of the class and feel free to write in your own voice. I see blogs as a chance to explore the variety in our writing styles as we learn to balance our uniqueness with the overly academic voice we sometimes rely on in writing for school. Another more obvious argument is included in the link to register to vote on the right side of the page.

I'm really looking forward both to meeting each of you in class and to reading your introductory blogs.

first blog assignment, due 28 august 2008

Your first assignment for this class is to actually create your own blog using Blogger and to write your first post. Here are the instructions:

[1] Set up your blog: To do so, go to www.blogger.com, and follow the on-screen directions for setting up a free blog. As I mentioned in the syllabus, I know that some/many of you already have a blog where you write posts; however, for the purposes of this class, you will need a separate blog that is focused on reflecting about your reading. Feel free to provide a link to your other blog if you would like to share that with your classmates as well. Keep in mind that I will post your blog address on the course website, so other class members will have access to your blog. You can restrict general public access to your blog, however, under “Settings” by marking “no” for the question “Add your blog to our listings?” Here are a few requirements for your blog:

• Please take some time to personalize your blog. This is a way for both me and your classmates to get to know you, so feel free to include a photo, links to other sites you enjoy, etc.
• Please make sure that your name (first/preferred name and last initial) is clear on your blog. For web safety, there is no need to include your full name.
• Please use the Page Elements section of the Layout tab to add a text gadget with a disclaimer about the content of your blog: “The opinions expressed on this blog do not represent those of Texas Christian University or of its administration.”
  

[2] Write your first entry: Write a letter of introduction about yourself. Start with the basics—where you are from, what year you are at TCU, what major you are considering, etc. Then, I want to know a few things related to your participation in this course. Here is a series of questions to think about as you write:

• First, think about your interest in this course. Why did you choose to take this writing course? If your answer is simply that it’s required, then what would you like to get out of it?
• Next, consider your experience with writing both in and out of the classroom. What types of writing do you primarily do now (think beyond traditional school papers to other kinds of writing and technologies, like email, texting, etc.)? How do you feel about your writing? Why?
• Then, describe your level of interest in politics (on a national, state, local, or university level). What aspects of politics are most/least interesting to you? (you don't have to divulge your political leanings if you don't want to) :)
  
• Finally, as you're reading chapter one of everything's an argument for class on Thursday, you'll notice that the authors discuss how everything we say/do/create truly is an argument. This means that in your first assignment of creating a blog for this course, you are making an argument (whether you realized it or not). Take a few minutes to talk about what kind of argument you think your blog is making. Consider choices you made about colors, images, the way you introduce yourself, etc. What do these choices say about you as the blog author? about your participation in the course?
  

At the end of your letter to your blog audience, please write a final statement letting me know that you have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus, which I see as a contract for our course. Remember that all of your blog entries should be in paragraph form.

[3] Follow up: Add a comment to this post that includes your name, section, and blog address (http://____.blogspot.com), so that I can add it to the list on our course page. Also let me know if you have any questions regarding the syllabus or anything discussed in our first meeting of the course.

welcome to english 20803

Hi everyone. And welcome to the blog for sections 016 and 046 of English 20803. We'll be using Blogger as a journaling tool throughout the semester to reflect on and analyze the rhetoric and arguments that surround the 2008 presidential election. Your course calendar has the blog topics for each day, and it is your responsibility to keep up with the required blog postings. Of course, if you would like to post on your blog more frequently than the required two posts per week, you are more than welcome to do so. Just keep in mind that your classmates and I will be reading your blog on a regular basis.

This page will have any course announcements and updates, so it's a good idea to check it regularly or to subscribe to the blog feed. Also, as you set up your individual blogs, I'll include links to everyone's blogs on the right side of the page, so that you can easily access the blogs of your classmates.

Happy blogging!