WEBSITE
The website assignment aims to help you learn the conventions of writing for the web as a way to diversify your writing skills to include digital spaces. Here are the project components:
WEBSITE (20 POINTS)
- In pairs, you will make a 1,400-2,200 word website, where you select one of the topics below and analyze how the chosen topic helps us better understand the idea of coming of age:
2. A website that analyzes the ways in which the concept of coming of age helps us better understand a historical or pop culture figure.
3. A website to inform visitors about a particular aspect of coming of age in our society.
4. A website that examines how the concept of coming of age affects the way in which we consume a particular digital technology (Facebook, YouTube, texting, chatting, Tweeter, a particular video game or app, etc.).
If none of these fit what you would like to do, we can discuss other possibilities
- You will select a particular audience, elementary, high school or college students, or people from a particular gender, nationality, etc. In your About page, you will explain who your audience is and what the purpose of the website is: to educate your particular audience about how your selected topic can be better understood through a coming of age lens.
- Define coming of age using sources, both from class and your own research. The website assignment requires you to use at least five sources. Even though you may use some of the ideas and sources you used for the podcast, this is an expanded version, so go deeper in your exploration of the traditional definition of the concept. All sources should be in MLA format.
- Explore the way in which coming of age helps us better understand the topic you have selected. The idea of coming of age should be present throughout your website, providing us with a new way of seeing both the topic of your site and coming of age as a concept.
- Modify website templates using weebly (http://www.weebly.com). We will have an in-class weebly workshop to help you learn to use it.
- Here are a few examples of student-produced websites modifying weebly templates that follow the structure I am suggesting for your own work: http://audiointeraction.weebly.com, http://makebankoffyoutube.weebly.com, http://artandsocialmedia.weebly.com, and http://phon3s.weebly.com. Even though the assignment the students were completing is different from yours, these sites will give you a sense of the structure I am asking you to work with and how to be creative with weebly templates.
- You will need to design a banner for your website. You can either have one banner or banners that change with each page. If the latter, there should be style continuity between them.
- Every page should contain images, and whenever fitting, you should embed video, as well as links to other pages in the website and to external websites that are relevant to your topic.
- You will need at least five sources. Two from the web, two from print or the library catalogue, and a fifth that can be whatever you wish as long as it’s credible. You will have a works cited page (either on its own page or under your About page, depending on how much room you have), where you will link all online sources.
WEBSITE PROPOSAL (2 POINTS)
The assignment is divided in two stages, preproduction and production, and partners will play different roles in each stage. As you select who will play what role, make sure to go with each partner’s strengths so the group will benefit as a whole. In the first proposal, you will answer the following questions:
Website Content
Preproduction Roles
Researcher: This partner is in charge of finding most (though not all) of the sources and of dividing the information in different pages for the website.
Designer: This partner will start the preliminary design of the website, selecting a Weebly template, beginning color choices, and finding images for the banner. The designer will also help with some of the research.
Production Roles
Main Writer: This group member will write around 70% of the site’s content and will help the designer find images for the site. The main writer will share the reflection writing with the designer.
Designer and Assistant Writer: This group member will modify a weebly template, creating the necessary pages and subpages, as well as writing short summaries of links for the Home page. S/he will also arrange all images (sharing image research with the assistant web designer), providing captions for them when necessary. Every page should have images and you should come up with a consistent design for each page in order to provide continuity to the site. This group member will write about 30% of the site’s content. The designer will share the reflection writing with the main writer.
NOTE: Both members must read every page of the website and the reflection in order to make sure the final product meets everyone’s approval.
Sources
Provide a list of your selected five or more sources in MLA Works Cited format.
Proposal Delivery
In order for your proposal to receive full credit, you must do the following:
You will receive half credit if you do not follow the instructions above or if you submit your proposal a day late. If you submit it two or more days late, you will receive no credit.
Website Content
- What topic have you selected and what are the specifics of your project? (i.e. Which option have you selected to make the website about and what aspects of coming of age are you going to explore?)
Preproduction Roles
- Who will play each of the following preproduction roles?
Researcher: This partner is in charge of finding most (though not all) of the sources and of dividing the information in different pages for the website.
Designer: This partner will start the preliminary design of the website, selecting a Weebly template, beginning color choices, and finding images for the banner. The designer will also help with some of the research.
Production Roles
- Who will play each of the following production roles?
Main Writer: This group member will write around 70% of the site’s content and will help the designer find images for the site. The main writer will share the reflection writing with the designer.
Designer and Assistant Writer: This group member will modify a weebly template, creating the necessary pages and subpages, as well as writing short summaries of links for the Home page. S/he will also arrange all images (sharing image research with the assistant web designer), providing captions for them when necessary. Every page should have images and you should come up with a consistent design for each page in order to provide continuity to the site. This group member will write about 30% of the site’s content. The designer will share the reflection writing with the main writer.
NOTE: Both members must read every page of the website and the reflection in order to make sure the final product meets everyone’s approval.
Sources
Provide a list of your selected five or more sources in MLA Works Cited format.
Proposal Delivery
In order for your proposal to receive full credit, you must do the following:
- Send the proposal as an attachment to [email protected]. The proposal should be a Microsoft Word file. The subject of your email should be Website Proposal 1, followed by the last names of both members separated by commas and in alphabetical order. The name of the document should be Website Proposal 1, followed by the last names of both members separated by commas and in alphabetical order.
- Both partners need to be Cc-d in the email.
You will receive half credit if you do not follow the instructions above or if you submit your proposal a day late. If you submit it two or more days late, you will receive no credit.
WEBSITE MAP (2 POINTS)
During class time, I will look at your websites. You will need to have all your pages and subpages made, your site’s fonts and colors selected and your banner(s) already in place. At least one page should have text and photos in it so we can have a sense of what your site will look like once finished.
REFLECTION (6 POINTS)
The final draft of your website will be accompanied by a 300-600 word reflection, which will address the following questions in essay form:
Reflection and Website Delivery
In order for your reflection and website to receive full credit, you must do the following:
I will deduct two points if you do not follow the delivery instructions above.
- What rhetorical choices did you make in order to meet the needs of your particular audience? Make sure to refer to the rhetorical concepts we have discussed in class and how you have employed them in order to craft a text that is geared toward educating your target audience about your topic.
- What aspects of your final product work particularly well and why do you think your group succeeded in making those parts of the website work?
- What aspects of your final product are problematic and what caused the issues? What could have been done in order to avoid the problems you had with the project?
Reflection and Website Delivery
In order for your reflection and website to receive full credit, you must do the following:
- Send the link to the website in the body of an email and attach the reflection to [email protected]. The subject of your email should be Website and Reflection, followed by the last names of both group member separated by commas and in alphabetical order. The reflection should be a Microsoft Word file. The name of the document should be Website Reflection followed by the last names of both group member separated by commas and in alphabetical order.
- Both group members needs to be Cc-d in the email.
I will deduct two points if you do not follow the delivery instructions above.
ASSIGNMENT CALENDAR
The assignment is worth 30 points. Below is a breakdown of the assignment components, their point value, and when they are due.
Assignment | Due Date |
---|---|
First proposal (2 points) | 4/10 by class time |
Website Map (2 points) | 4/15 by class time |
Website draft | 4/22 by class time
Incomplete drafts will count as a missed quiz (1 point) for both partners |
Website final version (20 points) Reflection (6 points) |
4/25 by midnight
You will submit the website and reflection together |
qUESTIONS
If you have questions about the website assignment, feel free to email me, stop by my office hours, or make an appointment.