New groups & more about Narratives

TONIGHT, you must have addressed all the concerns we discussed in conference last week and upload your P2Draft 2 to your group's shared folder AS WELL AS the link to it on Canvas. You must have it uploaded to TWO PLACES before 11:59 pm tonight. Remember that your classmates cannot mark up or make comments on a PDF or a Pages file, so upload your draft to the shared folder as a Google doc.

Don't assume you are in the same group. EVERYONE was reassigned to new groups. Repeat the same process as before of making a copy of your classmates' draft and label it Your initials comments for Their initials. See the previous lecture about classmate review for more information on how to do that.

For this draft, you will be reviewing your classmates drafts for their analysis of the examples in connection with the conventions they listed for their subgenre.

When you read your classmate's draft:

1. Title: Is it Evocative? Do you have a suggestion for a better title? If not, mark "Good Title". Examples of a bad title: Project 2 Draft 2, or the name of the subgenre.

2. The Introduction: Strike out any sentences which are writing into the paragraph. Does the composer start talking about subgenres generally or the specific subgenre? Strike through the unnecessary words.

3. Use this highlighter key and mark these things in your classmate's paper

• Yellow: highlight cliches, vague language, pointing sentences (Sentences which begin This is, That is, There are, It is, They are), set up sentences (sentences which only exist to set up the information in the next sentence) and questionable word choice.

• Red: highlight summary, any instances of first person (I, me, my, mine, we, our), 2nd person (you, your, yours), logical fallacies, and weak or unbelievable statements.

• Orange: passive voice or telling instead of showing

• Green: Any sentences which you think are written well.

• Blue: Any patterns which indicate what the future of that subgenre could hold, for example, if the writer references new storytelling structures, setting, diversity, accessibility, or other patterns.

4. Paragraphs: Are the paragraphs too long? Insert possible breaks in the too-long paragraph.

5. Transitions: Strike through all basic transitional statements (The first example, the first finding, in conclusion).

6. Conclusion: Strike through any unnecessary summary. Underline the answer to the So What? question.

7. At the end of your classmate's document list three things you think they should continue to work on and two things they are doing well in their paper.

Classmate Review should be completed before 11:59 pm on Thursday, March 14. Then, you must complete the Classmate Evaluation Form and upload it to Canvas before 11:59 pm on Friday, March 15. Remember the classmate evaluation form will determine your grade for participating in the assignment.

REMEMBER: Project #2 Draft 3 is due before 11:59 pm on SUNDAY MARCH 17.

Also, this week's Twitter Assignment is to review this photo and write an original Twitter narrative. I took a photo of this graffiti in the Sweet Shop:

Write the story of Morgan, Kayla, and Bekah (crossed out) at the Sweet Shop in the subgenre you selected from your curation in series of 10 tweets. Is it a romantic drama situation? Is it a crime story? Is it a science fiction story?

Next week is Spring Break, (YAY!) and as soon as you return, you will be diving right into Project #3. Before you disappear into your separate corners for a week, I want to introduce you to this very labor intensive project.

Welcome to Project #3

Your assignment for Project #3 is to write, produce, and promote your own narrative.

You will be composing a piece of fiction which relying on the knowledge you gained in Project 1 and written in the subgenre style you analyzed in Project #2. This means if you researched Coral Reef bleaching for Project #1 and Teen Romance for Project #2, then you will be composing a romance with teens who are super invested in the oceans.

But composing the fiction is not all you will be doing. You will also publish this narrative yourself on your Class Wix site and then build two real advertisements for the work of fiction and using social media accounts, persuade others to read/view/experience it.

And you can do this. You’ve learned how to study a narrative closely and how they use research to tell a story (P1). You have learned all the components of a particular subgenre and its conventions (P2). Now, you will assemble your own narrative, design it and paginate it for digital consumption. (Your semester-long practice building Wix pages has given you experience with that). You will also create two supporting advertisements to act as promotional materials for the narrative with the intention of attracting an audience and support a minimum of two social media accounts in order to encourage that audience to locate your narrative. (You already have experience with Twitter, so you know how to do that. You also engage on social media every day with Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc).

The project has many components (consider this your checklist):

• The narrative (Draft #1 and Draft #2)

• Short Assignment 1- Narrative Proposal with Production Calendar

• Short Assignment 2- Character Sketch

• Short Assignment 3- Promotion Plan

• A page specifically for your narrative on your class Wix website. This is not the same things as your P3 page. It need to be a way for your reader to easily access your narrative without sifting through your class assignments.

• Advertisement 1

• Advertisement 2

• social media account 1 - and minimum requirements

• social media account 2- and minimum requirements

• one 1,000 word Process Report recording your progress and results

Go to the Project #3 Project Page for further details.

First: The WRITING Write and edit a script, short story, collection of songs, or storyboard a comic book. Make sure you are reaching the minimums for each narrative. The narrative must be a work of fiction (no personal essays), and must be based on THE SAME RESEARCH FROM PROJECT #1 WRITTEN IN THE SAME SUBGENRE AS PROJECT #2.

This is not the same thing as writing your own version of the original narrative you studied for Project #1. You cannot use the same characters or multiverse as the narrative you studied because that would be Fan Fiction.

Select the form which you believe best suits your research, narrative, and potential audience. If you have an idea for a narrative NOT on the list, please contact me to discuss the minimums for the project you are proposing.

Narrative minimums are:

Text Based modes

• Short story: Minimum of 10 double-spaced pages.

Audio modes

• Narrative podcast (fiction or nonfiction): Minimum of 30 minutes. Examples: Lore, Serial, The Black Tapes, Welcome to Night Vale, Homecoming.

• Ballad (storytelling song): 3-5 minutes. Examples: El Paso by Marty Robbins, Henry Lee by Nick Cave and PJ Harvey, Murder Ballads, Pancho and Lefty by Townes Van Sant. (This is by no means a definitive list of ballads. If you know one which is not listed, please, please tweet a link to it. I love adding things to my example list). Remember that if you pitch this idea, I am going to ask why? What is your background as a songwriter? How will your ballad fit in the ballad tradition of storytelling. Writing a song is not "easy".

Visual modes

• Comic book: Story told in comic images. Length should be 22 pages.

Audio/Visual modes

• Short Film or documentary: 30-50 minutes.

• Short, short film series: 7 short films connected with a common theme of around 5 minutes each.

Next: Production

• Responsible for videoing, paginating, recording or photographing the narrative

• Responsible for building the visual materials which will advertise and promote the narrative.

• Must design a website for the project

Next: The Promotion

• Conceptualize the advertisements for the campaign. They should be different and designed to be easily shared via social media. These ads should also be truthful. This is a real project, so DO NOT claim your work of fiction is a New York Times Best Seller. It isn't. You will be lying.

• All written materials for social media promotions. (Tweets, posts, blog materials, website copy)

• Design TWO Social Media accounts to promote the narrative: Supply the art, gifs, promotional materials, writing for social media; Post many times daily on each site (You cannot use your class Twitter account as one of the two. However, you should definitely use your class account to encourage your fellow classmates to follow you and help promote your narrative. You class is a network and you should all help each other promote). Remember that a successful social media account is not just about the composition, but about the composer. That should be how you approach your social media accounts; they are about you and your brand as the composer of this narrative.

Next: 1,000 Word Report

After the project is complete, you must write 1,000 words on your decision-making process during the project.

• What is the name of the narrative you create? List everything you were required to do and everything you completed.

• Who was the intended audience for this narrative? How did the strategies you employed reach your audience?

• What genre conventions did you utilize for the completion of my project?

• What software, programs and tools did you utilize to complete this project?

• How did the project change from conception to completion?

• How did you manage your time for this project?

• What was most challenging about composing Project #3 vs Project #1?

• What advice would have given yourself before beginning Project #3 to make the process easier?

So where do you start for this project? Answer these questions:

• What did you research for Project #1?

• What subgenre did you analyze in Project #2

• What kind of story would you like to read? What would your best friend want to read?

• Who else would want to read this story? Who would be your audience?

• What would be the best mode and format for this story? How would your audience wish to consume your narrative?

Once you figure that out, write Short Assignment 1, which is due by 11:59 pm on MONDAY 3/25 Short Assignment #1: Narrative Proposal (500 words). What is the narrative you plan to write? What mode will this narrative take? What are the sub-genre conventions of this narrative? Who is the audience for this narrative? What tools and skills will be required to assemble this narrative? What two persuasive advertisements will you build to promote this narrative? Which two social media accounts will you design and maintain to reach your audience for this project? What is the time frame and requirements necessary to complete this project? ALSO: Provide a detailed bullet point list of all the tasks required in order to complete this project (ex: finalizing the script, editing promotional art, recording vocal tracks, etc.) and how you anticipate managing your time for it. Assign deadlines for yourself (not class deadlines: personal deadlines) for when each task should be complete in order for you to reach your class deadlines.

Don't Forget:

• P2 Draft #2 is due TODAY before 11:59 pm. Upload to your group's shared folder AND to Canvas!

• P2 Draft #3 is due before SUNDAY, March 17

• The MONDAY you return from Spring Break, you must submit your Project #3 SA1 Narrative Proposal. Do NOT WAIT UNTIL SPRING BREAK IS OVER!!!

• If you are a face to face learner who needs to talk out ideas with me before a project begins, set up an appointment with me THIS WEEK to pitch ideas for Project #3.