Week 7: What happens when we remediate traditional texts? What stays? What goes? Why does it matter?

Weekly Updates

You came to class on Wednesday with great ideas for your tap essays, and I can’t wait to see how they take shape over the next few weeks. I have contacted all of you with feedback on your essay topics, so if you haven’t seen my comments already, please check your Google Drive folders ASAP. Once you finalize your topic, you should take what you learned using Tapestry to reformat someone else’s words and apply those lessons to your own tap essay. Tapestry may not be the best application for drafting your essay, but don’t forget about Tapestry’s affordances and constraints as you write. Remember: concision, pacing, and selective emphasis are incredibly important to the success of your project.

Your homework for this weekend is to produce a first draft of the text for your tap essay and begin collecting images that you might use to enhance your essay. In class next week, we’ll focus on the composing process(es) you can use to refine your project. Here’s what we’ll cover each day in class:

  • On Monday, we will begin by reviewing Chapter 3 (pp. 57–82) in Toward a Composition Made Whole, so be sure to bring your book to class and be ready to discuss how the concepts in this chapter relate to your composing process(es) with the tap essay. (Hint: this is a great topic for a blog post, too!) We will use whatever time remains working in Tapestry, so please bring an electronic copy of the text you’ve drafted for your own tap essay.
  • On Wednesday, we will spend the entire class in workshop mode, and I will pair you with another student so you can share the tricks you’ve learned for working in Tapestry. In addition, I will meet briefly with each of you to review your script and answer any questions you have about your project. Before you come to class, all of your text should be added to your Tapestry draft, and you should have collected all of the images you think you’ll need for your project. (Use the links on the Resources page to find appropriately licensed images.)

As always, if you have any questions, send me an email or stop by during my office hours (T 1–4, W 9–12).