Resetting *The Canterbury Tales* Assignment Description

ENGL1102/Spring 2010/Wharton
Individual Assignment 1: Resetting The Canterbury Tales

Overview:
The goal of this assignment is to create a multimodal composition that describes a new setting for the “General Prologue” to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and explains and justifies the rationale behind your choice of setting.  Your final composition will comprise three essential elements:

• A three-image slideshow that uses original images (i.e. images that you have created yourself) to depict and describe the new setting
• A 30-second audio track, incorporating either original or “found” (i.e., pre-existing, composed by someone else) audio, that describes, explains and/or justifies the new setting, and
• A 500-word essay that describes, explains, and/or justifies the new setting.

Assignment Description:
In our discussions of the “General Prologue,” we have explored how Chaucer’s choice of setting influences the meaning of The Canterbury Tales and how it might be seen as a response to and/or transformation or translation of Boccaccio’s Decameron.  We have also discussed how the setting of the “General Prologue” relates to Chaucer’s possible purpose in writing the Tales.
This assignment asks you to create a multimodal composition that offers your own interpretation of the “General Prologue,” an interpretation that should be shaped by your own thoughts on:

• the meaning of the “General Prologue,”
• its relationship to the social and historical context in which Chaucer wrote, and
• its significance as a “frame” for the Tales.

Rather than thinking of this as three separate compositions, consider it as a single composition comprising three multimodal elements, each of which can incorporate one or more modes from the WOVEN (written, oral, visual, electronic, non-verbal) spectrum.  So your slideshow might contain written as well as visual and non-verbal elements.  The audio track might use verbal as well as non-verbal sounds, and the essay could incorporate visual, oral and non-verbal elements, as well as written text.  To some extent, the entire composition will be electronic, since all stages and the final draft will be posted as a unified composition in a single posting to your individual blog.  As a whole, the composition should be constructed around and unified by your “thesis,” which is your interpretation of the “General Prologue.”

Elements of the Composition:
Three-image slideshow
--should consist of no more and no fewer than three (3) images
--should incorporate original images that you have created yourself
--can make use of photography, digital or computer generated imaging
  techniques, free-hand drawing, or any combination thereof
--should show consideration of the following:

• how do your images visualize your interpretation or re-interpretation of the “General Prologue” and/or The Canterbury Tales?
• what mood are you trying to evoke, and how does that relate to the mood created by Chaucer’s original setting?
• what adjectives are generally associated with the setting you’ve chosen, and how do those adjectives relate to the adjectives we’ve used to describe Chaucer’s original setting?
• what sort of characters will you find congregating in the setting you’ve chosen, and how do they relate to the Canterbury pilgrims?
• how does the slideshow work with the audio track and the essay to present a complete description and justification of your new setting?
• if you have incorporated written elements, how do those elements help to integrate the slideshow with the audio track and the essay as a single, seamless composition?

30-second Audio Track
--should be no longer and no shorter than 30 seconds
--may consist of found as well as original audio
--can incorporate ambient noise, music, spoken-word or any combination
  thereof
--should show consideration of the following:

• how does the audio track help to present and/or explain your interpretation of the “General Prologue”?
• what sounds are associated with your setting, and how do they relate to the sounds that might have been associated with Chaucer’s original setting?
• how does the audio track work with the slideshow and the essay to present a complete description of your new setting?
• how have you integrated the audio track with the slideshow and the essay as a single, seamless, composition?

500-word Essay
--should consist of no fewer than 500 words
--*****should state your thesis clearly*****
--should be organized around your thesis, with paragraphs organized around
  the main points of your argument
--should be relatively formal in tone and should provide specific evidence,
  drawn from Chaucer’s text, the source material, our class discussions,
  and the other two elements of your composition, in support of all of
  your major points
--may include visual, non-verbal or other modes of composition in addition
  to written text
--should show some consideration of the following:

• what is your interpretation of the “General Prologue”?
• how do the slideshow and the audio track help to present and/or explain your interpretation?
• how have you integrated the essay with the audio track and the slideshow as a single, seamless, composition?

Assignment Stages:
All drafts, including Stage 4 your final draft, will be posted to your individual blog.  Peer-reviews will be posted as comments to your peer’s individual blog.  Remember that all assignment stages must be completed in order to avoid receiving an unsatisfactory grade for an incomplete assignment.

Stage 1:  Slideshow Rough Draft (Posted to your individual blog as “Resetting The Canterbury Tales: Stage 1” by class time on Monday, January 25, 4 points)

• the rough draft of your slideshow should consist of at least nine (9) images that provide a visual description of your chosen setting
• “posting” the slideshow to your blog involves uploading photos to a site such as Flickr, Picasa, photobucket, or Smilebox, creating a slideshow, and embedding a link to the slideshow in your blog posting in such a way that the slideshow plays or can be played within the blog without transitioning to a new site or opening a new tab/window like this:

• the following links provide tips on how to create a slideshow and embed it in your blog:

           --Flickr
           --Picasa
           --photobucket
           --Smilebox

• if you use non-digital means to create your images, e.g. freehand drawing, you will need to scan them to create digital images that can then be uploaded to the web

In-class peer-review of Stage 1, reviews of two (2) peers to be completed in class, Monday, January 25, 4 points

Stage 2: Slideshow and Rough Draft of Audio Track (Posted to your individual blog as “Resetting The Canterbury Tales: Stage 2” by class time on Wednesday, January 27, 4 points)

• your second draft should consist of a new posting to your individual blog that integrates your slideshow (either the draft from Stage 1, or a revised version) with a draft of your audio track
• “posting” this stage to your blog involves embedding a link to the slideshow with audio in your blog posting in such a way that it plays or can be played within the blog without transitioning to a new site or opening a new tab/window
• Audacity, is a free, open-source program that you can download and use to create your audio track
• You can get tips on using Audacity, here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq

Out-of-class peer-review of Stage 2, reviews of two (2) peers to be completed by Thursday, January 28 at 11:00 pm, 4 points

Stage 3: Essay Rough Draft (Posted to your individual blog as “Resetting The Canterbury Tales: Stage 3” by class time on Friday, January 29), 4 points

• this third draft should be blog posting that incorporates a draft of your slideshow with audio and text that outlines your thesis and argument for the 500-word essay
• once again, “posting” this stage to your blog involves embedding a link to the slideshow with audio in your blog posting in such a way that it plays or can be played within the blog without transitioning to a new site or opening a new tab/window

Out-of-class peer-review of Stage 3, reviews of two (2) peers to be completed by Saturday, January 30 at 11:00 pm, 4 points

Stage 4: Final Draft (Posted to your individual blog as “Resetting The Canterbury Tales: Stage 4” by 11:00 pm on Monday, February 1, 72 points)

• the final draft should be a blog posting that integrates the final draft of your slideshow with audio and the 500-word essay
• *****your final draft MUST include a works-cited list that identifies ALL source material, including anything drawn from the texts we’ve been discussing in class, as well as the sources of found audio*****
• once again, “posting” this stage to your blog involves embedding a link to the slideshow with audio in your blog posting in such a way that it plays or can be played within the blog without transitioning to a new site or opening a new tab/window
• since this is the final draft, I expect all formatting and linking issues to be resolved at this point, wonky formatting and broken links, like typos and grammatical errors, will negatively impact your final grade

Stage 5: Reflection (Posted to your individual blog as “Resetting The Canterbury Tales” Stage 5” by 11:00 pm on Wednesday, February 17, 4 points)

• How did your essay evolve from one draft to the next in response to peer feedback and/or your own consideration of it?  How does your final draft use more than alphabetic text to convey your argument?  What composition strategies worked well for you in this assignment, and how might they work well in other rhetorical situations?

Assignment Goals and Desired Learning Outcomes:
Rhetorical Awareness:  The rhetorical situation comprises your purpose, audience and context.  The rhetorical situation influences the kind of arguments that you can make as well as how you make them.  You should have a clear idea of your audience, purpose and context before you begin composing, and your final draft (which includes all three elements) should reflect your awareness of all three.  Ideally, your composition should express your unique personality as an author, in addition to making a persuasive argument for your interpretation of the “General Prologue.”

Stance and Support:  Making an argument involves using appropriate evidence drawn from appropriate sources.  Material (summaries, paraphrases, quotations) drawn from all of your sources should be relevant to and integrated with your argument, and you should provide proper attribution in MLA format when you incorporate the words, work or ideas of another in your essay.  When you rely on your own personal experience and knowledge, you should clearly identify it as such, and such examples should also be relevant to and integrated with your argument.

Organization:  A composition follows a logical progression from introduction to conclusion.  Ideally, your final draft should have a form that reflects the logical progression of your argument and an awareness of the needs of your audience in understanding it, rather than one that follows a pre-determined formula (e.g. the slideshow with audio, followed by a “five paragraph theme”).  Consider how you might use text to introduce the slideshow in your blog and control where and when your audience plays it, “wrapping” your text around it so that it encourages your audience to see the slideshow and audio as integrated parts of your argument.

Conventions:  This assignment is designed to get you thinking about the conventions of multiple modes of communication and how those conventions influence a composition that incorporates more than a single dominant mode.  Ideally, your composition should reflect an awareness of the conventions of visual, aural and electronic media while also complying with conventional rules regarding citations and documentation, grammar, punctuation and mechanics in the textual component.

Multimodal Integration:  In this assignment, you will work with integrating multiple modes into a unified work.  Ideally, your final draft will demonstrate some understanding of how multiple modes of communication work together to create the final composition.

Grading Rubric:
I will use the attached rubric as a guide when grading your projects. Comments on your work will in most cases consist of a summary of how the rubric applies to your work, and extended comments on the final draft.

*The Canterbury Tales* at Shakespeare Tavern

As announced in class on Wednesday, I have added the Shakespeare Tavern's stage adaptation of *The Canterbury Tales* as a text for this class.  The Shakespeare Tavern is located at 499 Peachtree Street, within walking distance of campus and the Civic Center MARTA station.

Student tickets are available for three shows next week, Thursday, January 28 at 7:30 pm; Friday, January 29 at 7:30 pm; and Sunday, January 31 at 6:30 pm.  When I spoke to the box office this afternoon, there was still plenty of seating to accommodate the number of students who had expressed preference for each performance on the sign-up sheet.

Book your tickets as soon as possible.  You can purchase them online here any time or call the box office at 404.874.5299 between 1:00-6:00 pm Friday and Saturday, and 3:00-5:00 pm Sunday.  Whether you book online or by phone, be sure to specify a student ticket to ensure you receive a $5.00 discount.  A failure to secure tickets will NOT be an acceptable excuse for failing to see the play.

Feel free to use comments to this post to organize groups to attend together.  Seating in all sections is first-come, first-served, so groups that want to make sure they sit together should arrive at least 45 minutes or so early.

You can find out more information about the show and the Shakespeare Tavern at:
http://www.shakespearetavern.com/

Oral Presentation Assignment Description

ENGL1102/Spring 2010/Wharton
Group Assignment 1: Oral Presentation

Overview:
The goal of this assignment is to deliver a 10-minute oral presentation, followed by a 20 minute class discussion that introduces your peers to an important topic concerning authorship and the regulation of creative activity. Groups, topics, and presentation dates will be randomly assigned, and in addition to the presentation and discussion period, each group will be responsible for one blog posting designed to help your peers prepare for class on the day the group presents. The assignment thus comprises three essential elements:

• A blog posting that provides a two- or three- paragraph definition/summary of your topic and presents three or four significant questions/issues to be covered during the presentation and discussion period, to be posted to the class blog by 5:00 pm on Tuesday before your presentation.
• A ten-minute, formal presentation that may or may not incorporate audio-visual materials
• A 20 minute, moderated discussion period during which your group will lead the class in a discussion of your topic.

Assignment Description:
Two of the central questions we are exploring this semester are: 1.) how authorship and other forms of creative activity, such as invention, have been regulated by social, institutional, and legal means throughout history, and 2) what impact, if any, changes in regulation have had on the creative environment over time.

This assignment asks you to look into a number of topics relevant to those questions and share the results of your research with your peers and me. Some of the topics (translatio imperii et studii, parody v. satire, and adaptation criticism, for example) concern problems/issues related to what we might think of as “derivative” authorship, e.g. translation, social and literary criticism, and commentary. Other topics (copyleft, Students for Free Culture, creative commons, and adaptive reuse) concern problems/issues related to preserving the public domain and understanding how derivative acts of authorship/creativity work within a diverse array of disciplines.

Think of this as your opportunity to shape the direction of our inquiry in this class. While preparing yourselves and your peers for your presentation, you will be drawing upon the resources of our reference and instruction librarian, Sherri Brown, and myself as you research your topic and refine your focus.

On the Friday when you present, you will give a formal, 10-minute presentation and moderate a 20-minute follow-up discussion centered on your topic. By 5:00 pm on the Tuesday prior to your presentation, you will post a two- or three-paragraph definition/summary of your topic and at least three significant questions/issues for discussion to the class blog. So for example, if you are presenting on Friday, February 5, you will make your posting to the class blog by 5:00 pm on Tuesday, February 2.

To assist you with your research and preparation, I have created a research blog where you can collaborate with the other students (both from your group and from my other class) working on your topic, and get help from Ms. Brown, and myself. ***I also strongly encourage each group to meet with me by no later than Wednesday prior to your presentation to discuss any problems, issues, or questions that you have.***

Assignment Elements:
Blog Posting

• should be posted to the class blog as “Blog Post [1-7]: [Title of Your Topic Here]” by no later than 5:00 pm on the Tuesday prior to your presentation (So the first group to present on February 5 should make their posting, “Blog Post 1: Translatio Imperii et Studii,” by no later than 5:00 pm on Tuesday, February 2.)
• should provide a two- or three- paragraph definition/summary of your topic that gives an overview of the topic and its relationship to the general subject matter of the class
• should present and invite responses to at least three (3) questions/issues
• may use images, video, and non-verbal elements in addition to text to outline your topic and present questions/issues for discussion

10-minute Presentation

• should be no longer and no shorter than 10 minutes
• should introduce your topic and provide an overview of how it relates to the other texts, ideas, and topics we have been discussing in class
• may use images, video, text, and non-verbal elements in addition to oral communication

20-minute Moderated Discussion

• should remain focused on your topic and its relationship to the general subject matter of this class
• should be civil and invite, prompt, and encourage contributions from your peers
• should advance our understanding of your topic beyond what you have provided in the blog posting and your presentation

Assignment Goals and Desired Learning Outcomes:
Rhetorical Awareness: The rhetorical situation comprises your purpose, audience and context. The rhetorical situation influences the kind of arguments that you can make as well as how you make them. You should have a clear idea of your audience, purpose and context before you begin composing, and your final work-product (which includes all three elements) should reflect your awareness of all three. Ideally, the blog, presentation, and moderated discussion together should provide an overview of your topic and its relevance to our work in this class, and your work on the whole should show an awareness of who your audience is and what their needs are.

Stance and Support: Making an argument involves using appropriate evidence drawn from appropriate sources. This assignment is designed to get you thinking about how you go about researching a new topic in what might be an unfamiliar discipline or subject area, how you evaluate sources, and how you make use of and integrate those sources in communications that introduce a group of your peers to the new topic. Ideally, your presentation should integrate sources in a way that establishes your own authority to speak on the topic, and gives your peers some good background information and a few places to begin if they want to look into the topic on their own.

Critical Thinking: In this assignment, you are being asked to relate your research into the new topic to the general body of knowledge that we are constructing in this course through our readings, the group presentations, and our class discussions. Ideally, your presentation will consider what your topic has to do with the texts and issues that we have been considering in class.

Conventions and Organization: Ideally, each element of this assignment should comply with relevant conventions regarding formal written and oral modes of communication and the presentation of your subject matter should be logically organized around a clear, specific thesis.

Multimodal Integration: In this assignment, you will work with integrating multiple modes into a unified work. Ideally, your final draft will demonstrate some understanding of how multiple modes of communication work together to create the final composition.

Grading Rubric: I will use the attached rubric as a guide when grading your projects. Comments on your work will in most cases consist of a summary of how the rubric applies to your work, and extended comments on the final draft.

Days of Engagement Blog (Due Tuesday, January 19 by 5:00 pm)

As part of the Strategic Planning Process all faculty and students have been invited to discuss and share their views on the future of teaching and learning at Tech during the "Days of Engagement" on January 20-21.  For the Days of Engagement Blog, post a comment here that responds to the following question in light of the given scenario.  Your comment should consist of a well-developed paragraph of at least five sentences.  Before posting your comment, please read and consider any comments that may already have been posted by your peers.

The Question:

Given the following scenario, how should Georgia Tech educate students in 2035? Think about both the opportunities and challenges for Tech under this scenario.

The Scenario:  ROI Tech

US society is reevaluating its commitment to higher education as an
economic engine, and there is growing evidence that education can cost more than it is worth in lifelong earnings. Some sectors of society regard science and technology not as fundamental knowledge essential to the growth of social well-being but as interest groups. Social
commentators often oppose science and religion or technology and morality when discussing issues such as healthcare decisions. The educated elite in the US tends to have liberal arts or business backgrounds, and there is a pressured middle-class largely consisting of high-school graduates with apprenticeships in crafts and technical fields. The social consensus is that science, technology and education are best left to the Chinese and Indian populations, who have steadily overtaken the US in technological innovation, and fewer US students therefore pursue the more expensive technology degrees. Those who do compete aggressively for the few jobs as technocrats, and only those
with demonstrable problem-solving and project-based skills succeed. The remaining US-based Nobel Laureates are secure in their research
labs in US universities but are increasingly head-hunted overseas.  Few US students want to move into research, and most faculty are full-time instructors.

Setting Up Individual Blogs

By the time we meet class on Wed. next week, please set up your individual blog and send me the URL or an invitation to join it. You can keep the blog private, open only to readers by invitation, or you can leave it public. I will be returning feedback and grades via T-Square (one of the very few things for which we'll be using T-Square this semester). You can use any hosting service or blogging application you wish. The only requirement is that the blog should be maintained solely for your work in this class.

Below, I have provided a few links to easy-to-use, free blogging applications that you might find useful.  Feel free to shop around and find the application that you think will best suit you, just make sure to pick one that allows you to easily include images and other multi-media content in your postings.

 

Blogger (Google)

WordPress

LiveJournal

Welcome to ENGL1102-L3

Robin Wharton, PhD
Office: Skiles 309
Office Hours: M-11:00 am to noon, W-4:00 to 5:00 pm, F-9:00 to 10:00 am





This is where you will be able to access the syllabus, calendar/schedule, assignments, and discussion postings for this class.

In this class, we will be looking at the modern and postmodern “afterlife” of a number of medieval and early modern texts, including Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, John Donne's Holy Sonnets, and William Shakespeare's The Tempest. In addition to reading these works in what we think of as their “original” form, we will look at how they have been appropriated, adapted and transformed in writing, television, movies, dance and modern stage performance. Why do these texts, some of them written more than 600 years ago, continue to capture the attention of contemporary artists working in media both new and “old”? Is their status as required reading in the standard canon of English literature sufficient to explain their continued relevance as primary source material for a fairly astonishing variety of cultural production? How has their meaning changed or shifted over time? What, if anything, can the adaptations, appropriations and transformations of these texts tell us about the texts themselves, as well as perhaps the nature of art and creativity more generally?

These are the questions that will guide our work in this class. Along the way, you will have an opportunity to do some appropriating, adapting, and transforming of your own. Composition projects will range from traditional to creative and experimental, and will emphasize information literacy, audience and contextual awareness, process and reflection, and multimodal communication.

Syllabus

Subscribe to calendar/schedule here.

View calendar/schedule here.

E-mail me here.