For this first assignment, I want you to explore how interior thoughts are narrated in literary works you have selected. You might begin by thinking about literary works you loved before this class began, but I also want you to explore as least one literary work you discovered through this course. Think of your post as an account of your journey exploring these literary works (or a summary of your findings). There is no requirement to have a single argument or claim. You are not required to find peer-reviewed sources to support or contextualize what you want to say. There is no requirement to be original. I want you to let your interests guide you and share what you’ve discovered with your classmates.
Step 1: Decide on at least one new literary work you want to explore. I’ll be helping you identify the features of the favorite literary work you shared in class so I can make suggestions for you, but please join me in seeking out new things to read.
Step 2: Decide what you want to encourage your current classmates to notice about this work and any others that you want to bring into the discussion. You might not fully work out what you think this literary work is doing and that is fine. You can present a series of questions that remain unanswered. You can write as much as you would like and you can include as many different types of media as you would like (embed film clips or songs, upload in-game screenshots or other visual art, etc.). Make sure that you include citations for information that you quote or paraphrase in your post (we will go over the use of hyperlinks for citations in class).
Tip: You may find it useful to compose in a document outside of OpenLab (Microsoft Word, a Google Doc, or something else).
Step 3: Upload a featured image on a draft blog post.
Tip: Your featured image can represent the content of your post in a wide range of ways. The image can be a book cover, an image of a page, or fan art inspired by one of the works you’re writing about. If you include a play or film script, perhaps an image from the production or the movie poster. You might also want to create something new to use as your featured image.
Step 4: Gather information needed to describe your featured image and make sure the media file has accurate information in the “caption” and “alternative text” fields. We will work together in class to learn how to reproduce images on a website carefully, ensuring we provide proper attribution and make the image legible for all readers.
A complete post should have the following components:
- Title
- Featured Image (something you’ve created or something you’ve found)
- Complete media file details for featured image (“caption” and “alternative text”)
- Captions conveying attribution statements for all images in the post
- Actual post with source material clearly cited with hyperlinks (flyby hyperlinks and actual citations)
- A list of works cited at the bottom of your post formatted according to MLA guidelines (use Zbib or guidelines from WAC Clearinghouse)
