What will we be doing?
This course has four major projects, each of which is a stage in a course-long project to document and analyze a built environment in or associated with Atlanta:
- Reading Summaries (6)
- Annotated Bibliography (10 annotations)
- Built Environment Descriptions (3, one each for exterior, interior, and digital)
- Built Environment Analysis (1)
You will earn points for each major project. In addition, you will also earn points for general class participation. In general, this course is designed to reward the quality and quantity of work you do. The more you put into the course, the more you will get out of it–with regard to both your learning and your grade.
Reading Summaries (300-600)
Reading Summaries | 300-600 Points
For this project you will read all of the assigned readings for each unit, but choose only two per unit to summarize (50-100 points each). Compose 500-750 words max per summary. Compose more summaries for more points (up to 50 points per submission, for a max total of 600 points). Your reading summaries will be created as blog posts on your WordPress site, in the category “Reading Summaries,” and tagged appropriately with the title of the reading you have summarized. You will submit links to your reading summaries using the form on your WordPress site.
Summary Due Dates
Summaries 1 & 2 are due on January 25th by 11:59 pm; summaries 3-6 are due the first day of the relevant unit of study, by midnight:
- Summaries 1 & 2: 11:59 pm on January 25th
- Summaries 3 & 4: 11:59 pm on February 15th
- Summaries 5 & 6: 11:59 pm on February 29th
Once a unit has ended, no more points will be awarded for summaries of that unit’s readings. Late summaries can be submitted for completion credit (but not for points, see late work policy below) until midnight on March 7th.
Summary Instructions
How to compose a summary:
Project Purpose and Goals: A summary emerges in the process of a reader’s coming to understand a text. This process might take very little time, or it might take several read-throughs and other steps, like looking up unknown words and annotating thoughts and ideas in the margins. Ultimately strong summaries for this course will reflectyour understanding of the articles’ main ideas, quoting one or two passages you deem particularly important. A summary is not the practice of replacing words with synonyms. We recommend reading through the article once, annotating it, then putting it away and composing an answer to these question: What is the article? Who wrote it? What is it about? What are its main ideas? Then go back to the article. Adjust your answers as needed to most accurately reflect the articles’ content, and insert any paraphrases or quotations you feel are important; perhaps they are passages you feel you might reference in your own analytical writing later on. This project is designed as an opportunity to practice gathering, summarizing, synthesizing, and explaining information from various sources.
Instructional Readings for writing summaries:
First Year Guide to Writing chapters 7 (pp 220-222) Writer’s Help 2.0 Chapter 12
Guidelines
*Use the literary present tense *Cite paraphrased details and quotations (see Writer’s Help MLA guide for in-text citation) *Limit quotations (1-3, brief, and only if the original language is very important) *Include the bibliographic information (see Writer’s Help MLA guide for end citation) *Consider multi-modes when composing in the blog post: spatial, visual, linguistic Click here to see a copy of the evaluation rubric.
BEDs
Built Environment Descriptions | 300-600 Points
For this project, you will write 3 detailed built environment descriptions (100-200 points each):
- Description of an interior site
- Description of an exterior site
- Description of a digital site
Compose more descriptions for more points (up to 100 points per submission, for a max total of 600 points for this project). Your site descriptions will be created as blog posts on your WordPress site, in the category “Built Environment Descriptions,” and tagged appropriately (“Interior,” “Exterior,” or “Digital,” and “[Site Name]”). You will submit links to your built environment descriptions using the form on your WordPress site.
BED Due Dates
The three required built environment descriptions are due by the following dates:
- Exterior Built Environment Description: 11:59 pm on January 25th
- Interior Built Environment Description: 11:59 pm on March 4th
- Digital Built Environment Description: 11:59 pm on April 1st
As long as you submit each of the required descriptions by the due date, you can submit extra built environment descriptions at any time until April 1st (for up to 100 points per extra description, up to a max total of 600 points for this project). Late summaries can be submitted for completion credit (but not for points, see late work policy below) until 11:59 pm on April 1st.
BED Instructions
How to compose a built environment description: Project Purpose and Goals: This course explores how we can do close, analytical “reading”—which we can phrase alternately as the reading of visual rhetoric and the reading of the rhetoric of artifacts—of the environments and landscapes around us. In order to do this kind of close reading of the built environment, we need to train ourselves to see, and document or describe the details that provide the evidence for our analysis or interpretation of a given site. This project is designed to help you develop your faculties of observation and multimodal description. Instructional readings and models of built environment description: Guidelines: Choosing, observing, and documenting a site You are required to spend at least one hour observing each of the three spaces you’re writing about for this project. If you choose a private site (i.e. a business) for the interior or exterior site description,you should get permission from the owner or manager to conduct your observation. You should explain the purpose of the project, and that it is a class project. You will choose your site from the site list (link to spreadsheet for interior, exterior, digital). First choice of sites will go to the top five points earners from each section. Then, the remaining students in the top earning section will select their sites. Then site selection will open to the remaining students. If a site already has a name next to it in the spreadsheet, then it has been claimed and you need to pick another site. In an ideal world, you would make many trips to your site. For this project, you are only required to make one trip to your site, spending one hour taking photos or video, and writing or recording notes. During your visit, you are required to document the site in two ways:
- Create at least five digital records to document the location you’ve chosen. Post these digital records to your blog–each as a separate blog post–with a brief (50-100 words) description of what they are. You can take pictures, create video, make sound recordings, scan brochures/menus/flyers
- Take written or recorded voice notes in which you create an inventory or catalog of everything that you see, hear, smell, touch, or taste at the site
Use these questions to guide your process of documenting the site:
- What artifacts or things are present at the site?
- How are these artifacts or things arranged/located/stored?
- What is the layout of your site?
- Is it open and easy to navigate? Or is it closed, crowded with obstacles, etc.?
- What colors are present in the space?
- How does the site make you feel and why?
- How is the site used? Who uses it?
- How does the site advertise its uses? How does the site target or signal its intended users?
Other Characteristics to Note
Characteristics to Note
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You will archive each of your digital records as posts on your WordPress site, in the appropriate category (“Images,” “Sounds,” “Artifacts & Signage”) tagging them appropriately (“Interior,” “Exterior,” or “Digital,” and “[Site Name]”). You do not need to archive your notes, but if you do, you can earn points for good notes by creating a blog post of them in the category “Field Notes” and tagging it appropriately (“Interior,” “Exterior,” or “Digital,” and “[Site Name]”). You can also get extra credit for archiving extra digital records (10 per record) from your chosen locations. You submit extra credit posts using the form on your WordPress site. To receive credit, submissions must be properly tagged. Composing your site description After you have observed and documented each site, you will create a blog post on your WordPress site in which you compose a 250-500 word description of your site that answers the following questions:
- What site are you describing?
- Where is it located?
- When was it created/built?
- What artifacts or things are present at the site?
- How are these artifacts or things arranged/located/stored?
- What is the layout of your site?
- Is it open and easy to navigate? Or is it closed, crowded with obstacles, etc.?
- What colors are present in the space?
- How does the site make you feel and why?
- How is the site used? Who uses it?
- How does the site advertise its uses? How does the site target or signal its intended users?
Rather than answering these questions in order, your site description should be in the form of a narrative that provides this information to interested readers of the general public. The description should integrate your digital records associated with the site.
ABs
Annotated Bibliography | 250-500 points
For this project, you will compose an annotated bibliography using Zotero. Your annotated bibliography will comprise ten complete bibliographic entries and ten annotations. An annotated bibliography is a list of sources. It provides a complete bibliographic entry for each source in MLA format, and then for each bibliographic entry, gives a brief annotation (150-200 words) that evaluates the source and identifies why it is relevant to our ongoing study of the rhetoric of built environments. Each bibliography annotation (bibliographic entry + annotation) is worth 25-50 points. Compose more bibliography annotations for more points (up to 25 points per submission, for a max total of 500 points on this project). You will use Zotero to create your bibliography and submit links to each bibliography annotation using the form on your WordPress site.
AB Due dates
Due dates
The ten required bibliography annotations are due by the following dates:
- Bibliography Annotations 1, 2, & 3: 11:59 pm, February 5th
- Bibliography Annotations 4, 5, & 6: 11:59 pm, February 22nd
- Bibliography Annotations 7, 8, & 9: 11:59 pm, March 25th
As long as you submit each of the required bibliography annotations by the due date, you can submit extra bibliography annotations at any time until April 1st (for up to 25 points per extra bibliography annotation, up to a max total of 500 points for this project). Late bibliography annotations can be submitted for completion credit (but not for points, see late work policy below) until 11:59 pm on April 1st.
AB Instructions
How to compose an annotated bibliography:
Project Purpose and Goals: This project is designed to continue to develop your skills of summary and description. It will also help you to develop academic research skills, and learn how to evaluate the credibility and relevance of different sources. You will practice MLA citation style. You will compose rhetorical analyses of multimodal artifacts. Finally, you will begin to synthesize information from your research and develop evidence-based conclusions about the rhetoric of the built environment. Instructional readings and models for the annotated bibliography: Guide to Writing: pp 221-222.
Guidelines:
When complete, your multimedia annotated bibliography should contain annotations of 150-250 words each for at least 10 sources. At least 7 of your sources should be academic pieces by scholars reporting on their work relevant to understanding the rhetoric of the built environment. At least 3 of your sources should be drawn from popular news journalism or other media coverage relevant to our ongoing examination of the rhetoric of built environment. Finally, of your 10 sources, at least 3 of them must rely primarily on some form of visual, gestural, spatial, or aural content other than alphabetic text to convey meaning. As described on the University of Cornell Library website on “How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography,” “the purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.” In addition to MLA citations and annotations, your multimedia annotated bibliography will include links to your sources or to web references that identify where your sources can be located (e.g., in the library, on Amazon.com, on Netflix, etc.). Ideally each annotation should briefly and concisely answer the following four questions about each source:
- What is this source about? When summarizing, keep in mind for whom the source was intended and why this source is relevant to your project.
- What information or evidence have you drawn from this source that helps you to understand better the rhetoric of the built environment and how it has taken shape within the city of Atlanta?
- Why did you choose this source? Your reasons might include one or more of the following: It is more comprehensive or detailed than other available sources. It specifically mentions or responds to one of our other readings for class. It is the only available source on the particular topic for which you are using it. The author seems to have views sympathetic to those of some of the other readings, or he/she offers an alternative viewpoint from those we have considered in our class discussions.
- Does this source have any flaws or weaknesses that you have had to take into consideration while using it? When answering this question, you should consider when and in what venue this source was published, and whether it shows the influence of bias or outdated/disfavored ideas, political views, research methods, etc.
- What is the relationship between this source and the other sources you’ve uncovered in your research? For example, does it offer an alternative viewpoint? Is the author in conversation with or does he/she draw upon the work of another author relevant to your project?
BEA
Built Environment Analysis | 300-600 Points
The final product is a detailed and evidence-based analysis of the built environment in Atlanta. Your analysis should be at least 1,500 words, and should integrate images, sounds, graphs and other media as necessary and relevant to make an appealing, effective multimodal argument.
In this analysis, you make one argument that you support with evidence. For example, you might argue that the rhetoric of the built environment suggests that a particular neighborhood in Atlanta is becoming racially segregated as it undergoes gentrification. Or you might argue that the rhetoric of the built environment in a museum makes it unwelcoming to children, even though it is a space that its history and advertising suggest has been created for a young audience.
Students who submit their required built environment analysis early by April 15 may submit one extra built environment analysis (for up to 300 extra points, for a max total of 600 points for this project).
Your site analysis will be created on your sites.gsu.edu WordPress site, in the category “Built Environment Analyses,” and tagged appropriately (“Interior,” “Exterior,” or “Digital,” and “[Site Name]”). You will submit links to your built environment analysis using the standard submission form.
BEA Due Dates
Complete first draft: April 12th
Complete revised second draft: April 19th
Complete revised final draft: April 29th
BEA Instructions
How to compose a built environment analysis:
Over the course of the semester the unit readings on interior, exterior, and digital built environments have provided you with examples of the kinds of arguments you can make about the built environment:
- Identify and describe a problem and its causes, for example how the built environment contributes to social, political, and economic inequality (Morton, Nersessova, Schindler)
- Make a proposal for why one approach to designing the built environment is better than another (Scholl and Gulwadi, Bazelon, Brooks, King)
- Answer the question of how the built environment came to be a certain way, and how it reflects social, political, historical, or aesthetic causes (Schindler, Tick, Hocks)
Your argument will be organized around claims and supporting evidence. It should have a clear, and compelling central thesis. The evidence should come from your data, which is derived from your built environment observations, your own documentation of the built environment in Atlanta, and any observations or documentation submitted by your peers. You can and should include digital images, sounds, video, charts, graphs, maps, etc., in addition to words, making sure to cite the author and source of any records you did not create yourself (including those created by your peers).
Guidelines:
Your built environment analysis, like most of the other work you’ve completed so far, will be posted on your sites.gsu.edu WordPress blog. It might take the form of a single blog post, or you might choose to create a new page or set of pages for your built environment analysis. If the analysis comprises more than a single post or page, you will need a menu or other aid for navigating through the different parts of your analysis.
You should draw on your research for the annotated bibliography in making your argument about the built environment in Atlanta. Cite and document all sources using MLA parenthetical documentation and a works cited list. If you draw on the work of your peers, you should cite and document those sources as well. In addition to using MLA citation style, you can also link to sources of information that are available digitally, including the work of your peers.
Your built environment analysis will be composed in at least three stages, with a first draft, a second revised draft, and a third and final draft. We will complete workshops in class, and I encourage you to organize extra peer review groups outside of class for extra points.
Grading:
Click here to see the evaluation rubric for this project.
Participation
Participation | 400-??? Points
~Ask not what you can do to earn credit for this course; ask what you will do to earn as many points as you possibly can.
During the course of the semester we invite you to engage with the course material and assignments, with your peers and with your instructors, consistently and in inventive ways. We will assign points to your work reflecting the level of your participation both inside and outside of class. We will also subtract points for failing to participate (e.g., missing class) so as to fairly reflect your level of engagement with the course concepts. Your goal is to accrue as many points as possible during the semester.
Participation Rewards/Due Dates
While participation is ongoing, you can earn rewards by accruing points early, and some opportunities for earning extra points expire when the major project with which they are associated expire.
Instructions/Suggestions
If you complete all of the major projects, come to class prepared, and miss only four class meetings (two class meetings for hybrid sections), you will earn at least 1,475 points. Once you complete all of the major projects and accrue 2,500 points, you will automatically receive an A in the course!!!
Your points will be recorded on a google doc and available for you to view at any time; just request a meeting with an instructor!! We will go over points with you and give you feedback. (Plus you get points for coming to chat with us!!!)
Suggestions We hope to encourage your participation by offering points as follows, but please suggest your own projects and activities for potential points:
Class attendance: 20 points (missed class -20 points)
Study group organization and participation: up to 25
Individual office hour visit (come with specific questions or topics for discussion): 20
Group meetings with instructor (come with specific questions or topics for discussion): 20
Blog posts reflecting practice of course concepts: up to 50
Constructive commentary on blogs: 15
Extra submissions to image, sound, site description repositories:10/per
Extra reading summaries: up to 50/per Add an “about me” page to your website: 20
Create Facebook groups around topics, projects or readings: up to 50
Contribute to the glossary of terms: 15 per
Contribute markers to collaborative Google map: 10 per
Complete tutorials from Writer’s Help: 20 per
Complete Lynda.com tutorial on a relevant technology: up to 50
Suggest something!
**Be sure to let us know when you have completed points-potential work that doesn’t automatically get counted. Generally, you will do this by writing up your work as a blog post and submitting the link to your post via the submission form. This gives us opportunity to discuss the work with you and give you general feedback you can take to your work as a whole.
The Final Curated Website
Ultimately our course sections will produce a collaborative, curated website devoted to exploring Atlanta’s built environments. During the course of the semester, we will accrue artifacts–sounds, images, signs and materials–and site descriptions dedicated to the built environment of the city of Atlanta. Each student will compose and finesse a built environment analysis (see “Built Environment Analysis”) under the management of a team leader. Team leaders will come together and instead of composing site analyses, the leaders will design and edit a collective website, bringing together the most interesting and compelling images, sounds, signs and materials, site descriptions and analyses, offered by our entire community of course sections. The top points earners in each section will be invited to serve as design team and editors for this webtext, instead of composing a site analysis. They will choose the design, which artifacts to feature and how, and manage the editing of the final linguistic aspects of the site. This is a great opportunity for expanding your resumes and gaining valuable collaboration experience.
Submitting your work . . .
Use this form to submit pretty much everything for which you’d like to earn points–study group reflections, major project drafts, contributions to our Atlanta built environment archive, etc. We will keep track of when you come to see us during office hours for individual or group conferences and when you complete exercises in Writer’s Help. For everything else, however, you will need to submit a link to evidence of your work on your own site, on Zotero, on Google Maps, or elsewhere on the web. If you ever have questions about what kind of evidence you need to provide to document your participation and how to submit it, stop by during office hours or ask the question before or after class. You’ll earn points for the office hours visit, asking the question, and for finding a way to make the information available to the rest of your classmates.
