Due Dates
First Submission - Due 11/11
Second Submission - Due 11/23
Approximately 2000-2500 words
(equivalent: 8-10 pages, Times New Roman, 12-point, pages double-spaced)
Description
The New Media Reader contains a wide range of arguments from a wide range of scholars, and each chapter begins with an introduction that explains the author's background, their importance to new media studies, and related texts and authors. For this assignment, you will write and design your own chapter of The New Media Reader. You will conduct research about the author, determine where the chapter would fit in the text (which section of the text and which chapter number it would have), write a detailed introduction to this contribution to The New Media Reader, and design your document using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
We will be conducting research in groups, so you will be able to collaborate with your classmates as you find the piece you will be summarizing and analyzing and as you find secondary sources. Each group will compile a list of possible contributions to The New Media Reader, and I will then help the group decide which of these would serve as the best option for the assignment. Once the group has decided on its contribution to The New Media Reader, it will collaboratively research that contribution and its author.
We will be learning how to use CSS in class, and I will be teaching you the basics. You are not expected to be an expert web designer, but you are expected to understand the basics of laying out a page with CSS.
Goals of the Assignment
While I will not be grading your paper, I will be providing feedback. That feedback will be focused on whether or not you've addressed the following goals:
1) Show evidence that you have conducted detailed research about the author and his or her relevance to the field of new media.
2) Demonstrate why this author belongs in the The New Media Reader.
3) Present a thoughtful, coherent summary and analysis of the piece you've decided to include in the New Media Reader. You should provide a summary of the piece, an explanation of its importance, an explanation of its connection to new media studies, and discussion of its most interesting or unique features.
4) Find connections between the piece you've chosen to include in The New Media Reader and other pieces that are already included in the collection. The text offers the"links" in the margins to point out how one chapter is related to another, and you should be including links of your own.
5) Show evidence that you understand the basics of CSS and that you've carefully considered page design. You can include text boxes and other graphical features. You are encouraged to add features to the page design, but those features should be helpful to the reader in some way.
