Assignments and Grading

==**Assignments:**

Participation and Attendance (15%)

Reading Presentation and Handout (5-10%)

Convergence Wiki Projects(30-40% Total):

                               Slash Fiction Assignment (10-15%)

                               Multimedia History Assignment (10-15%)

                               Convergence History Assignment (10-15%)

Final Essay:  Keyword paper/ Wiki  (TOTAL: 40-50%)

                   Thesis and annotated bibliography (5%)

                   Paper draft (5%)

                   Final Paper (30-40%)

## **GRADING:**

For those assignments above that provide a range of grade percentages, each student will decide for him or herself what grade between those two percentages they would like each assignment to count for.  If one of the assignments asks you to do something you have never tried before, or if you know you have another big assignment for another course do the same week, you might want to make that particular assignment worth less.  This type of grading is meant to allow you to experiment more in the course and allow you to personalize it to help you focus on those aspects you are most interested in.  **Each student must post their desired grading scheme by Friday of Week 2.  Otherwise I will create one at random for you.  THE FINAL PERCENTAGE MUST EQUAL 100%**

## **Participation**:

Attendance is mandatory.  In class we will be discussing class readings and various films, television series and other media. I expect you to come to class prepared to discuss all the texts assigned for the week. I will take attendance but attending is not enough. I need to hear your voice. Please make an effort to speak in class at least once a week. If you miss more than three classes, you will automatically get a 0% in participation.  If you miss more than Six Classes, your **FINAL GRADE FOR THE CLASS** will automatically drop one mark (A -> A-)  for each day you miss after that.

## **Reading Presentation and Discussion Leading:**

Starting the third week of class, each student will present and lead a discussion on the day’s readings for the course.  You may present on your own or in pairs.  These discussions must be 20-30 minutes and are meant to start a conversation with your classmates.  You may bring in examples that help illustrate or challenge the author’s arguments or relate it to examples we have already discussed throughout the course.

            The basis of this presentation will be a 1-page handout that details the reading’s argument(s), context (what arguments and/or historical moments is the author responding to? Which scholars and ideas are they challenging, and which are they agreeing with?), structure, evidence, and any particularly brilliant quotes or piece’s of analysis.  The handout will also provide 3 questions meant to spark discussion during the class.  Each student will provide handouts for all of their fellow students (as well as their professor!) and will post it to the course’s wiki.

## **Short Convergence Wiki Projects:**

Each of these 2-page assignments asks you to do some outside research and analysis.  **The slash exercise** asks you to read a few examples of slash fiction (to get a sense of the genre) and perform a close reading on one of them in relation to Henry Jenkin’s article on the topic—highlighting what makes it generic, what makes it distinct, and, if possible, how the fan community has reacted to it.  **The Multimedia exercise** and **Convergence Mediaexercise** both ask you to find a few (3-5) historical primary source examples from newspapers, magazines and other media that reference these keywords.  You will close read one of these examples to address the question of how this text defines “multimedia” or “convergence” and what the stakes of this definition are for the author.  Does their definition differ from those presented by the other sources you found or others from class?  **You will bring a hard copy to class and upload them to the course’s wiki by each assignments’ due dates.**

## **Final Paper:**

For your final assignment, you will write a **10-12 page** paper in the style of one of Raymond Williams’ Keyword articles.  You will focus on a digital/convergence-centric keyword/buzzword of your choice and explain its etymological and historical roots.  Your term must have a contested, or unclear meaning  and you must, using primary sources, explain how this term has shifted over time and depending on who used it. Like Williams, you will use these changing and contested meanings to answer the questions of how this keyword helps us better understand a particular aspect of contemporary culture and digital media.  While this is a historical research paper, you may center your paper around one or two artistic examples to help you better elucidate the specific meanings of this term.

This assignment is broken up into parts:  You will first submit your introduction, thesis and annotated bibliography (a list of possible sources you will use with a few sentences describing what you find interesting about the source and how you will use their argument to help make your own) to me and to your classmates via eclass for review.  This bibliography must include at least 5 primary sources (newspaper, blog post, or other non-academic writing) and at least 3 secondary sources (academic journal articles and/or books from academic presses). Based on this information, a group of your classmates will first help you edit your thesis, and then write you outlines that they believe would best prove your thesis.  These outlines will detail both how the argument will flow from point to point, and what types of evidence you will need to prove these points.  Based on these suggestions, you will write a first draft for your paper and present it to a different group of students.  This group will read your draft and provide you with feedback on how to improve your argument, clarity and style for your final draft.