Literature and Media

Once you have created a poetry screencast, compose a second screencast that will become an element of your portfolio.

Rework your portfolio materials, and then identify one project you would like to discuss in a screencast. Use the screencasting software to put together a video discussing the project.

When finished, upload the screencast to YouTube, and then embed the video into your portfolio and incorporate it into your reflections on your work.

This is an open-ended assignment designed to accomplish two things: 1.) increase your ability to read and discuss poetry, and 2.) learn to make your computer a performing/composing space using screencasting software.

Because these are the key outcomes for the assignment, what you create can be quite flexible. You might

Create a playlist of eight or more songs that represent a character from a work of literature (could be a poem, story, movie, comic book, etc.). Begin with the work of literature and the character you hope to represent. Think of the qualities that make up the character, use adjectives to get started--strong, dweeby, weasely, etc. Think also of any development that the character experiences in the work.

To collect items from the Net and then add your explanations and text, you will need to know a few things: Making links. You can find song samples in iTunes using their LinkMaker Web site To learn how to make links and insert images into a blog posting, experiment with variations of these tags:

<a href="http://www.apple.com/itunes/linkmaker/">LinkMaker</a>

<img src="http://images.villagevoice.com/issues/0035/winter.jpg"></img>

Completing the portfolio and reflecting back on how different and interesting this course was, it got me thinking about other interesting courses that are available at colleges. Here's a list of 8 really cool actual courses.

http://www.top-colleges.com/blog/2010/07/23/top-8-interesting-college-co...

How does the book account for the apocalypse that has taken place? What purpose(s) might be behind the amount of information given about the destructive event in the book?

In light of our recent study of Billy Collins, I wanted to share this article that my PHIL 310 professor just shared with me.  His work is a discussion of one of Zeno's paradoxes. It made me think about intertextuality, plagiarism, and the fine line that can crop up between the two.

I love Billy Collins, and our homework assignment for the weekend reminded me of this youtube jewel. 
My favorite Collins poem is "Litany." 

Here is a three year old reciting it: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVu4Me_n91Y&feature=related

This is really interesting, because of how the three year old's reading compares to Collins' reading: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Iq3PbSWZY

When I first read it, I read it more like the three year old, without the attitude and sarcasm Collins reads it. I like the three year olds version much better. 

Enjoy :)

Culture

In this chapter Shirky pontificates the values of sharing through the internet and how our culture defines that sharing. He talks about how rewards and punishments for behavior, such as the day care  and Soma experiment affect how we approach and perceive the cognitive surplus we give to the world.

In Chapter 5, Shirky argues that sharing benefits everyone in the group who is involved in communicating ideas and information.  He also acknowledges the negatives that have resulted from this phenomenon (harassment is made easier for those who want to harm another person, etc.)  Still, Shirky says the benefits are endless.  Facebook, which Shirky mentions, is the obvious example of our generation's tool for an increased flow of sharing between groups.  People from all over the world are now able to connect, and many (particularly college students in the middle of class) see it as an invaluable tool to keep in contact.  Still, echoing Shirky's statements, Facebook is not without its critics--the site does create problems with "over sharing," as is evident in the news stories we are sent every once in awhile about employers searching potential employees Facebooks and making decisions on hiring based on its content.