The uploads should now work. It is set to accept up to a 15 megabyte file. If you run into trouble let me know. To test it, here is a media poem I wrote.

Kenton Thornton: hello???? Jun 28, 2007 11:36:49 AM EDT
Tarik Yassien joined the session Jun 28, 2007 11:36:56 AM EDT
Bryan Thompson joined the session Jun 28, 2007 11:37:09 AM EDT
Tarik Yassien: chat party! Jun 28, 2007 11:37:09 AM EDT
Daniel Anderson: What do you think about the narrator? Jun 28, 2007 11:37:16 AM EDT
Derek Sanders joined the session Jun 28, 2007 11:37:24 AM EDT
Katherine Schuman joined the session Jun 28, 2007 11:37:28 AM EDT
Tenicia Johnson joined the session Jun 28, 2007 11:37:41 AM EDT

Daniel Anderson: This is kind of a tough question, but which of the works that we read seems more American and why? Jul 9, 2007 11:56:15 AM EDT
Megan Edwards: I think Hard Rock is very American Jul 9, 2007 11:56:40 AM EDT

Megan Edwards: The description of Hard Rock and the setting is very American...I think about Earle's Texas with this one Jul 9, 2007 11:57:12 AM EDT
Katherine Schuman: I think A&P is American because of it description Jul 9, 2007 11:57:16 AM EDT
Kenton Thornton: i agree with the idea that A & P is Jul 9, 2007 11:57:32 AM EDT

Daniel Anderson: So, how do poeple account for/explain Henry's death? Jul 18, 2007 11:35:24 AM EDT
Jacob Lucky: suicide Jul 18, 2007 11:35:50 AM EDT
Brandi Jones: hi lyndsi Jul 18, 2007 11:35:58 AM EDT
Daniel Anderson: Definitely deliberate Jul 18, 2007 11:36:05 AM EDT
Daniel Anderson: How does Lyman interpret it? Jul 18, 2007 11:36:31 AM EDT
Katherine Schuman: I believe it was suicide he knew that the water was high Jul 18, 2007 11:37:03 AM EDT
Brandi Jones: and he said his boots were filling in a normal voice Jul 18, 2007 11:37:28 AM EDT

Thought this might be of interest --

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19813092/

It makes me wonder about the nature of public and private spaces in the University. Facebook is not a university space, so this seems a bit over the top. Still it is more of a public space than people usually like to think.

Here are the instructions for submitting the final portfolio of your work:

First, a bit about the goals of the portfolio. The portfolio serves two main purposes: 1.) to drive continued revision of your projects, and 2.) to promote reflection on what you have learned as a writer and thinker in the class. To demonstrate your strengths in these areas, you'll need to compose reflections about all of the materials that you submit.

In this assignment you will bring many of the skills you have developed together to create a video collage. The video collage will feature an audio track, which will most likely be a piece of music but which also can contain your own recorded comments. While this audio track plays, you will sequence images and text to offer an interpretation of a literary work, to offer information about a text, author, genre, period, or other aspect of literary study, or to provide an overview of an issue of importance to the field of literary studies. Your collage should be at least two minutes in length.

In this assignment we will work together to create an online scholarly edition of a literary text. Our edition will vary somewhat from what you might find in typical versions of texts in that we will embed intepretations into the text; most editions merely provide contextual and editorial notes, which we will also offer.

As we get closer to the halfway point of the semester, you may want to collect materials to submit for the midterm portfolio. If you wish to stick with the contract grade, you don't need to submit a portfolio. If you want to have your work evaluated for a grade, you should collect it and submit it.

To submit your portfolio, follow these steps.

First, you may want to look at some of the portfolios from other classes. These portfolios represent the final work that has been turned in, so they include more items, but they should give you an idea of what a portfolio can look like

Before we get started, I'd like to discuss some aspects of interpreting images that might be helpful. We will use some sample images:

Black and White

The Waiting Room

Train Station

You will compose two collages for this assignment. The first collage will be geared toward representing the identity of a character from a work of literature. This project will revolve around two major activities: 1.) identifying images and words that make a concrete statement about that character's identity, and 2.) integrating those elements into a composition created using an image editor.

Here is a link to some additional playlists in case you need more examples to look over -- http://teachmix.com/newmedialit/?q=taxonomy/term/2/9

Here is a link to some basic information about fonts -- http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/html/font.shtml

You may also want to know some of the color codes to give the fonts the colors you want -- http://www.keller.com/rgb.html

What songs would be on Holden Caulfield's playlist? Add a comment with some suggestions.

What songs would be on Hamlet's playlist? Add a comment with some suggestions.

What songs would be on Charlie Brown's playlist? Add a comment with some suggestions.

What songs would be on Ahab's playlist? Add a comment with some suggestions.

The idea behind the name litstudio is that college classes can be built around making things. This is different from thinking of classes as places where you study things. Obviously you study things while you make them, but the process should be more experimental and creative. You can see how such a class might work in an area like the studio arts--to make clay pots, you get out some clay and start to shape it.

But can that kind of studio model be adapted to a class that is supposed to teach you to study literature? That's what we hope to find out.