Welcome to English 360, Fall 2011

Hello and welcome, English 360 students! We have a TON of reading to do this semester, and each of you will construct a blog that will serve as your learning journal for all that reading. It also serves as a space where YOU can influence the agenda for class discussion.

Before each class meeting, you will--of course!--complete the reading assignment, and you will make a blog entry, in your own blog, that responds to the readings. Entries should be approximately a page long, and they should respond analytically to the readings for the upcoming class session. For example, you might post your own insight into a reading by Plato; you might post about a connection between the reading and present-day events or media; you might compare one reading to another; you might try one of the progymnasmata in ARCS--really, the possibilities are endless.

Then, after class, you will return to your blog and write a briefer response to your own posting and to at least one other classmate's entry for that day. Over the semester, this informal writing will provide a record of your intellectual progress. Doing it will also improve your grade, directly and indirectly. Directly, because NOT doing these entries will lower your grade; indirectly, because this time processing the material will help you learn the material and will enhance your ability to communicate your knowledge.

So. Here's what you do.

Step One
If you don't already have a blog(s), come to www.blogger.com, create an account for yourself, and create a blog. If you have trouble with this, ask a classmate or come see me.
If you already have a blog on a different host, just create a new blog for this class, or come to blogger and create one.
In either case, be sure that your name (or your pseudonym, if you have a problem using your name) is included in the blog name. You might also include engl360 in the name, just to keep things straight.

Step Two
Come back here and "follow" this blog, making sure that when people click on your "follow" icon, they can see the link to your own 360 blog. That way we can all see each other's thinking.

Step Three
Start reading and blogging!

Enjoy!