where I am from

Assessing the Rhetorical Situation:

In life beyond the university, life after RWS 305W, there will likely be countless times where you will need to investigate and learn to write for an unfamiliar genre. From presenting a professional summary to formatting a curriculum vitae, one thing writers in the real world have to do is understand genre, form and rhetorical success and then participate in that genre.

For this assignment, you will be assessing “Where I’m From” as a genre, asking what do these writers do? The goal is to craft your own “Where I’m From” post as an individual blog on Blackboard. Your audience is your fellow classmates and your instructor. Your goal is to explore where you are from, or a place or origin or focus that has influenced who you are. In this blog you will replicate the style of this genre and contribute original information in this creative way so that our class can become a community of learners rather than online strangers.

Learning outcomes for this assignment:

• To demonstrate the ability to learn from published mentor texts and then craft a description of where you come from in the borrowed style for an online audience.
• To provide a vehicle for others in the class community to know who you are and contribute to an inclusive class culture.

Instructions for Composing & Submitting Your Blog:

Your profile must include certain content, described below, in order to be considered complete. You should compose and revise your text on a working document, so that you can freely edit before copying and pasting or retyping into the space

Content:

1. TEXT

• The text should be 450 words, single-spaced. When you hit return, an extra space is automatically added, so that between your paragraphs it is double-spaced.
• The goal of this blog is to accomplish two major things: learn style and genre from published professionals that you can replicate, and to explore and share your views on where you’re from.
• Note: You will need a title, but you do not need to introduce yourself by name in your opening line, or construct any kind of artificial introduction or header – just jump right in.

1. PHOTOS

• Insert one to three images in any place you feel appropriate (before text, after text, as a break in the text). These images can be photos of yourself or of anything else that you feel appropriately represents where you are from; you can use the stock pictures available or upload your own image.
• To upload an image, click on the corresponding “landscape” icon on the toolbar and a box will come up prompting you to browse your computer for the image you wish to post. Be sure to upload the image, not attach it.
• The photos you choose should be saved as .jpeg and Canvas will automatically format it in your Discussion post.

1. LINKS

• Within your text paragraphs, provide the names of two websites that you want to share with the class. The importance of each website should be clear and integrated into your narrative. These sites could be associated with your personal and/or professional interests; they may be informational, maps, videos or anything relevant to your topic. It’s up to you: the sites you choose to include will reveal more information about where you’re from and what matters to you. Please do not share sites that require login in order to experience them (ie, Facebook, Linkedin, etc).
• To embed a hyperlink to these sites, type in the name of the site or title you see fit (not the URL), select it, and click on the chain toolbar icon for inserting a hyperlink. A window will pop up where you can copy the URL of your site. Click on the box that will open your link in a separate window. Then click “submit” and your link will become active. (Note: it will not be active until you post your entry, so do not be alarmed when nothing happens while you are still composing the entry.)