Reflective Essay

A quick reminder-- your reflective essay should provide a description of the processes involved in the project, and you should address these three topics:

1. the initial collaborative work, including the decision about a topic and any technical problems that the group encountered. Describe how you collectively made decisions and solved problems.
2. Describe and rate your particular contributions; tell me what you did well and what you could've done better
3. Describe and rate the contributions of your teammates.

Also: the information about webspace for the projects is now up on T-Square under "Resources"

"Chinese Democracy" finally arrives....

Twenty years ago, Guns'n'Roses was the Most Important Rock Band in the World, and Axl Rose was the Biggest Rockstar on the Planet.

Seventeen years ago, when I was in the eighth grade and most of you were just learning to walk, they started work on their next album, Chinese Democracy. Within a few months, the band had split. Axl hunkered down in his studio and started mixing what they had recorded.

While you were learning to walk, he found new members and recorded some additional tracks.

While you were entering kindergarten, those guys left and were replaced by other people. Axl continued to mix.

You finished elementary school; Axl got ProTools and continued to mix.

You went to middle school, got acne, your voice changed. Axl showed up on the VMAs, fat and dreadlocked. He got so winded he could barely make it through "Welcome to the Jungle."

He promised us the album was coming; he scheduled tour dates. He didn't show up. People rioted. He went back to the studio and kept mixing.

You got your driver's license. Axl continued to mix.

You graduated. No album.

Now, it's here. And it is bad.

According to Jon Pareles

• "Chinese Democracy" is the Titanic of rock albums: the ship, not the movie, although like the film it’s a monumental studio production. It’s outsize, lavish, obsessive, technologically advanced and, all too clearly, the end of an era. It’s also a shipwreck, capsized by pretensions and top-heavy production. In its 14 songs there are glimpses of heartfelt ferocity and despair, along with bursts of remarkable musicianship. But they are overwhelmed by countless layers of studio diddling and a tone of curdled self-pity. The album concludes with five bombastic power ballads in a row.

Chuck Klosterman disagrees. Read his review too.

For Monday

Read Chapters 12-13 in Confederates in the Attic.

Submit your claim & criteria to T-Square.

In case you forgot...

The blog that's due for tomorrow is a continuation of the topic I assigned last week. Read here.

Follow-up: The South and the Election

The New York Times published a follow-up to an earlier article (which I posted) on the South, race, and the Presidential election. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts: read it here.

Wednesday's readings

I'd like you to read Victor Dover's evaluation of the Cotton District project in Starkville, MS. You might also find Brian Herman's essay insightful. For images of the Cotton District, click here and here.

Also, read this review of Google's new web browser, Chrome. The author is David Pogue, the New York Times' technology columnist. If you want to give Chrome a spin for yourself, it's free and a quick download.

**Addendum: The Cotton District falls under the rubric of the architectural movement known as New Urbanism, and I thought you might need a quick definition. From the Online NewsHour:

"New Urbanists promote a return to the traditional town planning that defines places like downtown Charleston, South Carolina; old town Alexandria, Va., historic San Francisco and Georgetown in Washington DC. These traditional neighborhoods feature walkable Main Street shopping districts, downtown parks, and grid streets."

The NewsHour's has a great resource on New Urbanism. Take a look.

Reading for Monday

Knock out Ch. 10 in Confederates in the Attic.

The Reopened USS Intrepid: a Review

The NY Times has a review of the reopened USS Intrepid--a retired aircraft carrier that has been refitted as a museum and permanently moored along the Hudson River....take a look for an interesting review of an attraction.

William Eggleston Retrospective

The Whitney Museum (in Manhattan) is holding a retrospective entitled “William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008.” Eggleston's a native Mississippian, and the bulk of his work captures life in the rural South. The New York Times has posted this slideshow of his work, and I think you might find it interesting.

Post-election political discourse

My sister called me yesterday in some despair; as many of you know, she's about your age--a college student at the Univ. of South Carolina. In her dorm, in her group of friends, and among her Facebook networks, have descended into shouting and name-calling after this election--with both sides bearing guilt. Similarly, I saw a many disgruntled faces across this campus yesterday. And that's natural; losing sucks, in politics, sports, the workplace, whatever. However, partisan hollering provides little headway.

For those of you who were ardent Obamaniacs: take this victory with some humility, because the road ahead is going to be nigh impossible. And remember: a vote for McCain does not equal a vote for racism. That's just dumb.

And for those of you who identify as conservative or Republican: don't despair. Your nation has not abandoned you, and a new socialist moment does not await you. In fact, given your age, the coming years will be exciting to be a Young Republican. Why? Because, after a fairly significant defeat, the GOP will have to reinvent itself, and you will be at the helm of the ship. In fact, nothing yields profound ideas like being out-of-power.

I recommend that each of you, regardless of affiliation, pay close attention to the policies and ideas generated by the serious, subtle and nuanced conservative thinkers who will play important roles in this reinvention process. Read National Review; pay close attention to George F. Will (hardly a young guy, but nonetheless a worthy read) and Kathleen Parker, both of whom write for the Washington Post. Ross Douthat, of the Atlantic Monthly, is excellent, but my personal favorite is David Brooks of the New York Times. I'm including below a link to a Brooks column, The Conservative Revival, in which he argues that the British Conservative Party offers an example from which American conservatism should draw.

Drive-By Truckers from 11/1

SouthernShelter has posted an authorized bootleg from the Truckers' Saturday show at the Tabernacle. (Alas, they haven't put up the opening set from The Hold Steady).

I'm still having some residual ringing in my left ear....

Unit 3: Evaluatons

I will formalize the following during the week, but I wanted to give you a heads up now....

Our next unit will deal with EVALUATIONS. Of the various permutations of the genre, you are probably more familiar with them as reviews. And, of the many types of things that are reviewed, you are probably familiar with reviews of works of art (i.e., books, films, music) and places (i.e., attractions, restaurants, hotels, etc.).

For this final essay, you will compose a brief (4-5 page) review of a topic of your choosing. The parameters: you may choose to evaluate an album that loosely fits under the umbrella of southern music (Option A), or you may evaluate a place here in the metro Atlanta area. Topics might include: a building, a park, a development, a restaurant, a club, a farmer's market, etc.

Remember, a review is a type of argument: your essay should make a CLAIM about the topic and then support that claim with evidence.

As we work toward writing the essay, we will use the blog as a place to workshop ideas. This week, you will write a short evaluation of a song or album; next week, you will evaluate a PLACE--a building, a park, a development. You will choose one of these blogs and develop it into your essay.

Briefly...
Blog for this week: Select an artist that interests you, and then find a review. In your posting, you should examine how this particular review functions as an example of the genre. You will need to address most of the following questions:

• what is the claim?
• what evidence does the author provide to support the claim?
• what contextual evidence does s/he provide?
• how does s/he hold your attention?
• what sort of nontextual elements (illustrations, images, embedded songs) does the author employ?
  
• what are the standards that the author employs?
• does the author use any specialized language? If so, explain how understandable it is, what else you need to know, etc.

Feel free to review the review: if you disagree with the author's conclusions, say so!

Blogs will be a rich source of music criticism....you should have no trouble finding something to write about.


Next week's blog: evaluation of a place
Find a review of the general type of place you might write about (i.e., if you want to write a restaurant review, read a restaurant review; if you're evaluating a place, read an architectural review). Ask the same questions as last week:

• what is the claim?
• what evidence does the author provide to support the claim?
• what contextual evidence does s/he provide?
• how does s/he hold your attention?
• what sort of nontextual elements does the author employ?
• what are the standards that the author employs?
• does the author use any specialized language? If so, explain how understandable it is, what else you need to know, etc.

Schedule for the final paper:
Topic due: Friday, Nov. 14
First draft due: Friday, Nov. 21
Peer Review: Monday, Nov. 24
Final Draft: Wednesday, Nov. 26.

Kathleen Parker (briefly) on the term "Redneck"

On Wednesday, two of our three sections slipped into interesting discussions of the term "redneck." Serendipitously, today's column from Kathleen Parker delved into the use of this very word in the campaign. A little context: Parker lives in Camden, SC, and she is a conservative commentator for the Washington Post and the National Review.

A little more reflection

By and large, I have been pleased with your posters. However, I see one common problem: too much text. For Friday, I would like to revise the text on your poster as short, truncated bullet points. Distill your analysis to the most crucial key points. Type this into word document or just post them under the appropriate area in the forum on T-Square. Remember: you are working to use the fewest words possible and still get across a significant idea. Word choice is critical--use the best, most precise, most specific words.

Southern Seen & Larry McGehee

I wanted to share this with you: Larry T. McGehee, one of the two or three best teachers I've ever had, passed away on Saturday night.

More than a decade ago, Larry realized that the weekly and biweekly newspapers that the small towns (like his hometown in Kentucky) probably could not afford the increasingly-expensive subscription rates of nationally syndicated editorial columns. And so, he decided that he would provide such a column, every week, free of charge to anyone who was interested. And hundreds of tiny newspapers were. The result was "Southern Seen," a chronicle of life in the South. If you're interested, you can access the archives here.

Larry had greater, more subtle, and more profound understanding of southern culture than anyone I know. I think you might find something of interest here.....

How to make a poster via PowerPoint

Thanks to Hannah (section A), who spotted this handy guide!

Assignments for 10/27-10/31

For Monday: get those posters to me!

For Wednesday: read 1.8-1.9 in the EBook.

For Friday (Halloween): be prepared for group conferences.

Southern Music: The Jukebox & Your Readings

The first week of November will be devoted to Southern Music. I'd like you to go ahead and listen to the songs I've compiled and the readings I've posted. Check out T-Square: read the introduction to Malone's Southern Music/American Music and the Wells article, and spend some time with Miller's long Dirty South essay.

At the bottom of the blog, you'll find a jukebox loaded up with playlist that introduces 20th-21st Century Southern Music. How'd I select what's there? Difficult choices were made....and as Malone and others suggest, almost all of American music (and thus, much of global pop music) is rooted in the curious collision that occurred in the South--the musical conversation and exchange that included English & Scots-Irish ballads, Protestant hymns, and the polyrhythms of African music . The blues were born down here, and all of it--from country, jazz, bluegrass, rap, and rock of all stripes--are rooted in that tradition.

So, here's what I did: I selected the central movements in popular southern music in the 20th and 21st Centuries, and then I picked the handfull of artists most critical to or representative of these movements. The majority of them grew up in the South, toured the South, and recorded on southern labels.

Let me explain the organizational pattern: I've organized the songs in both a chronological and geographic pattern--one that I hope is neither reductive nor too complicated too follow. Artists are grouped in movements, and the central cities of those movements and the years they occured are listed.

Certainly, I've left out many significant artists and movements. For instance, how could I produce a southern music compilation without BB King? Or Ludacris? Or Little Feat! And I'm so light on folk music....Ugh--I disappoint me! To remedy this, please post links to relevant artists, genres, etc., in the comments section bellow.

Finally, I'd like you to think about the racial dichotomy that is reinforced by my organizational plan. Particularly after the '60s, the categories I've enumerated fall into either white or black music. Is this accurate? If so, what different directions did white and black folks take the blues over the course of the 20th Century? If not, what do I need to do to correct it?

Here we go:

1-3: Mississippi Delta Blues (1920s-'30s)

• Robert Johnson - "Crossroads" (1936)
  
• Leadbelly - "The Boll Weevil" (1934)
  
• Bessie Smith - "Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl" (ca. 1930s)
  

4-5: New Orleans (1940s-'50s) ~ jazz & gospel

• Jazz: Louis Armstrong - "Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?" (1947)
  
• Mahalia Jackson - "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jerico" (ca. 1950s)
  

6-8: Nashville/Country Music of the 1930s-1950s

• The Carter Family - "Will/Can the Circle Be Unbroken" (1935)
• Hank Williams - "Lost Highway" (1949)
• Bill Monroe - "Mule Skinner Blues"(1939)

9-17: Early Rock (1950s) ~ Mississippi Delta, Memphis, and elsewhere...

• Muddy Waters - "Mannish Boy" (1955)
• Bo Diddley - "Bo Diddley" (1955)
• Jackie Brentson with Ike Turner - "Rocket 88" (1951)
• Big Mama Thornton - "Hound Dog" (1952)
• Elvis Presley - "Hound Dog" (1956)
• Little Richard - "Long Tall Sally" (1956)
• Jerry Lee Lewis - "Wild One" (1958)
• Johnny Cash - "Cry! Cry! Cry!" (1955)
• Ray Charles - "Mess Around" (1953)

18-20: The Rhythm & Blues of the 1960s ~ Memphis, etc.

• Otis Redding - "Try a Little Tenderness" (1966)
• Booker T & the MGs - "Green Onions" (1962)
• Nina Simone - "Mississippi Goddamn" (1963)

21-23: Nashville in the late '60s & '70s ~ Countrypolitan & the Backlash

• Loretta Lynn - "Fist City" (1968)
• Dolly Parton - "Jolene" (1974)
• Waylon Jennings - "Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way?" (1975)

24-28: Funk in the '70s & Beyond ~ Memphis, New Orleans, etc.

• James Brown - "Super Bad"(1970)
• The Staples Singers - "Respect Yourself" (1971)
• Al Green - "Take Me to the River" (1974)
• The Meters - "Cissy Strut" (1969)
• The Dirty Dozen Brass Band - "Do Whatcha Want" (1991)

29-30: Southern Rock of the 1970s ~ Atlanta, etc.

• Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird" (1974)
• Allman Brothers Band - "Whipping Post" (live, 1971)

31-34: Dirty South Hip Hop (1990s-2000s) ~ Atlanta, Memphis, New Orleans, etc.

• Goodie Mob - "Dirty South" (1995)
• OutKast - "ATLiens" (1996)
• Lil Wayne - "Grown Man" (2005)
• David Banner - "Saints Row" (2008)

35-39: Roots Rock & Alt. Country (late '80s - 2000s) ~ Nashville, Athens, Austin, etc.

• R.E.M. - "Driver 8"(1985)
• Steve Earle - "Someday" (live, 1986)
• Lucinda Williams - "Pineola" (1992)
• Drive-By Truckers - "The Southern Thing" (live, 2001)
• Drive-By Truckers - "Let There Be Rock" (live, 2001)

40. THE BIG FINALE

• Elvis Presley - "American Trilogy" (live)
  

Topic for blog post for this week

I'd like you to explore the digitized holdings of the Georgia Tech Archives; find something that interests you and consider how that document, text, or artifact touches on our discussions of regional identity.

For those of you (particularly those in Section A) who didn't see anything of use, see my post from Friday.

Some things to look at from the Archives

Just playing around, I found some really interesting documents that the Ga Tech Archives have made available online.

From the SmartTech: the College of Architecture's repository of undergraduate projects.

• A Restaurant from the mid-1930s
• Perspective on Tech (1934)
• Cinema Lobby (1938)
• Suburban House (1938)
• "A Super Food Market" (1939)
  

Also from SmartTech, the archived broadcasts of WREK's Tech Talk.

Also, I recommend Tech's Living History site.

You should also explore the Archives's Digital Collections.

The NY Times on Race, the South, and the 2008 Election

The New York Times is currently running a series on how race is affecting the 2008 Presidential election. Yesterday, their reporters headed South and interviewed a few locals....many of whom they found at the local Wal-Mart.

Take a look: do you think this article accurate represents the electorate in this region? How voters in the rural South?

Blog for Oct. 19

This week, you have two options:

Option A
Throughout the semester, I've regularly posted links to relevant articles, news items, interviews, and websites that we just haven't had time to discuss. Collectively, these items are labeled Tangetial Stuff. For this post, I'd like you to take a look at these and then respond to something you read. You may also take a look at the sites I've posted under "Other Links" (scroll down near the map to find them).

Option B
Check out the maps for any section of this course, and find a pinpoint (posted by someone else) NEAR a pinpoint that you have posted. Read that person's entry, then respond to what they've written. Consider the differences and similarities between your experience in that place and the experience/observation of your colleague.

Another really cool thing....

I saw this on the news last night....the Christian Science Monitor's Patchwork Nation Project. In an attempt to expand upon the red state/blue state spectrum, the CSM has divided the nation, by county, into 11 demographic categories--and they've got bloggers representing each of the 11 categories.

Check it out and find your home.

Extra Dreamweaver session available

Ms. Brown has invited all of you who are interested to a Dreamweaver tutorial (open to all students) on for Wed 10/15 and Thurs 10/16 from 5-7 pm in the Homer Rice Center in the library. She'll teach for 1.5 hrs, then give folks time to work on their projects and ask questions. No registration is necessary.

Have a great Fall Break

And read section 4.1 in the Ebook!

FRIDAY: MEET IN THE LIBRARY

Don't forget: we'll meet in the library for an introductory Dreamweaver session.

Postmodernity....

Amy Elias's titled her article "Postmodern Southern Vacation," which begs the question: what do "postmodern" and "postmodernity" mean?

Postmodernism is a notoriously slippery concept. If we turn to ye olde Wikipedia, we find that:

"These terms are used by philosophers, social scientists, and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary culture, economics and society that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century life. These features include the fragmentation of authority, and the commoditization of knowledge (see "Modernity"). Postmodernity is a condition, or a state of being, or is concerned with changes to institutions and conditions (as in Giddens, 1990) - whereas postmodernism is an aesthetic, literary, political or social philosophy. In other words, postmodernism is the 'cultural and intellectual phenomenon,' especially since the 1920s' new movements in the arts, while postmodernity focuses on social and political outworkings and innovations globally, especially since the 1960s in the West."

Postmodern art is often characterized by a sense of play and an awareness that narratives, images, and signs (which belong to the category of signifiers) have become detached from their original referent (the signified). For example, I've included an image of the late Nashville legend, Porter Wagoner, who was as famous for his garish suits as he was for his duets with Dolly Parton.

In the next image, you'll see a more contemporary face--Meg & Jack White, a.k.a. The White Stripes...the greatest rock and roll two-piece out there. Now, think about the different ways in which Wagoner and White wear these similar outfits (Wagoner is wearing a Nudie suit, which is named for its tailor, Nudie Cohn). What is signified by each outfit?

For a more thorough explanation of postmodernism & postmodernity, I refer you to the Po-Mo Page.

Awesome thing that I found online and by which I am confused and convexed

When you have an opportunity, take a look at this: Prof. David Kolb's Sprawling Places web text. It is, in some ways, very similar in form to the web text you'll work on together. Prof. Kolb is a philosopher of no little renown, and the text is an outgrowth of years of scholarly research and writing. And so, his site is far richer than what you might turn out in a semester.

Try to make sense of its unique and challenging organization (click on "Conceptual Diagrams" to see what I mean). If Prof. Kolb had an entry on Metro Atlanta or a particular community in our area, what might he discuss? What are the keywords or key terms that he might use?

Definitely worth thinking about (on your own, of course)....

Blogs, generally, and Blog Assignment for Oct. 10, specifically

You good people have spoken, and I will continue to offer regular topics for your postings. The focus will shift a bit: from now on, I want you to think about writing about places and for the map. Your postings ought to help us flesh out our understanding of the region.

Another slight change: if you have something of interest to contribute beyond the assigned topic, do so. Your contribution will be reflected in your participation grade. I will also offer credit to those of you who respond to the work of your colleagues, either by commenting on their blog OR (preferably) by writing about and linking to their work.

Few of you addressed the question of assessment: would you prefer a holistic, overall assessment at the semester's end, or would you rather that I grade each post individually? Post below.

This week's topic: in the essay "Living Southern in Southern Living," Diane Roberts writes about the magazine as part of a "performance" of southernness (93). This week, I would like you to write about an IMAGE that is part of a similar performance of a cultural or subcultural identity. The parameters:

1. this must be an image that you have recently encountered and that you can locate on our course map.
   
2. while the image does not have to offer a claim about the South or southern identity, specifically, but it should be part of a performance of a group that can be located in the metro Atlanta area. This group doesn't have to be exclusive to our area.
3. If you can, include the image in your blog.
   

Your entry should introduce the image, identify where you found it, identify the claim and the audience, explicate its message, and address the elements of design. Again, my expectations are increasing as the semester progresses. The entry should be concise, well-organized, specific, proofread, and about 200-300 words.

A Scientific Explanation for Conspiracy Theories

Interesting piece on NPR's "All Things Considered Today": the journal Science recently published a study by a behavioral economist at UT-Austin's McCombs School of Business. Her recent work examines how, why, and when people see patterns when none exist. She asserts that, when we feel least in control of our circumstances, we find patterns that might explain why things are happening to us; that is to say, when we have no idea what's going on or what to do, we tend to attribute control of our situation to some other force. We imagine a connivining coworker has sabotaged our promotion, a global conspiracy has oppressed us, or even our failure to follow a certain pregame ritual has lead to us failing on the field.

Take a listen, and think about our friend Walt in Confederates in the Attic.

For Monday & Wednesday

Monday: Read Ch 14 in EA and Diane Roberts' essay "Living Southern in Southern Living" (posted as a .pdf under "Resources" on T-Square).

Wednesday: Read 4.2 in the E Book & Amy Elias' essay "Postmodern Southern Vacation" (also on T-Square).

New Links for the Final Project

Down below the blog links, you'll find a set of links, all of which will be useful for your final project. I'll update them as I think of new things to add.

The Future of Our Course Blog

Hello everyone....

I've been reading and thinking today, and I'm not particularly pleased with the way I've been using your blogs and our course maps. We've veered to far from my original idea....which was:

a) for you, individually, to write about the South as you experience it.
b) for you, collectively, to create a deep map, which would place your experiences alongside one another.

So, we're going to take a break this week and regroup. I'd like you each to offer suggestions about how we might change course on this project (Post them as replies below).

I'd also like you to take a look at this blog, TheWhereProject. Its owner is Tim Lindgren, an instructor and PhD student at Boston College, and he hopes that the blog will "deepen my sense of place." I know that may sound touchy-feely, but that's what I want this do: to provide each of you with a chance to think critically and analytically about the PLACE and the CULTURE in which you know live. Ideally, I'd like you to connect your experiences in this place to our readings, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Among the options I'm considering: I might end the regular pattern of issuing a prompt, expecting you to respond by Friday, and then assigning the 0-2 score. Instead, you would be free to write about your experiences and interests as you see fit. At the term's end, I would assess as a total portfolio of multimodal composition and communication. Of course, if I did this, I would provide a rubric explaining my expectations and criteria. The benefit to you: you could work on your own pace and write about what interests you. The downside: you'd be on your own.

Anyway, these are up for discussion. Let me know what you think.

For Wednesday: The Southern Blogosphere

Remember, your proposal for a possible final project topic are due on Wednesday.

But also: I'd like you begin to review some of the interesting, bizarre, and downright offensive manifestations of southern identity I've been able to find online. I'd like you to scan each of these blogs, then select one that interests you most. Read through that blog more closely, and be ready to talk about it in class. Among the things you'll want to be able to address:

• how do you think the individual or group defines "the South"?
• who is his/her/their audience?
• does the blog offer a consistent visual style? If so, how is that style related to the type of southern identity that the blog offers?
  
• in what sorts of topics and/or debates is the blog interested?
• finally, look for fallacies and be able to identify.
  

Once you've selected a favorite site or blog, I recommend that you find out something about the organization or individual who maintains it. A quick Google search ought to be sufficient.

Here's the list:

Food

• Dixiedining's Weblog

Music

• Radio Cure: "A Music Blog From Down South"
• Southern Shelter: a music blog from Athens, GA.

Politics & Policy

• Skeptical Brotha
• Facing South
• ThinkSouth

The Politics of Southern Identity

• Edward Sebesta's Anti-Neo-Confederate blog
• "Rebellion"--the blog from DixieNet.org/the League of the South
• The Southern War Room

Humor

• Red State Update
  
  

Feel free to add any to the list. I didn' t includes sports here, because a) they are simply too many, and b) these largely cater to the particular interests of a particular fanbase. However, if you find a sports-related blog that you believe is either informed by or articulates a consistent sense of southern identity, feel free to talk about it.

Shakespeare Riots

In at least one section Friday, many of you were interested by brief reference to the so-called "Shakespeare Riots." In 1846, a violent uprising was born of an ongoing dispute between fans of the eminent British actor William Charles Macready and those of his upstart American rival, Edwin Forrest. By the end of it, the National Guard had taken to the streets of Manhattan, and 26 people were dead--"largest loss of civilian life due to military action since the American Revolution," according to this Boston Globe article.

If you're interested in all this, check this NPR story. This, of course, has no direct connection to the topics of our class, other than to point out that the pernicious and commonplace distinctions between "high" or elite culture and "low" or popular culture are not inflexible, but rather, are always shifting.

NY Times on Ole Miss as Debate Host

Worth reading....and critiquing.

Read it here.

This week's blog topic...

I apologize for submitting this so late!

As students at Georgia Tech, the preeminent institution of industrial and technological pursuit in the South, you should have responded strongly to the Twelve Southerners' Statement of Principles; as members of the human race, you should have been stirred by Dr. King's appeal for human rights and justice.

For this week's essay, I'd like you to reflect on the idea of Progress as it relates to the South generally, a southern place specifically, or southern identity. You can respond to something in the readings from King and/or the Agrarians, or you can go off on your own.

The only requirement: you must add a pin to the map, and that pin should be relevant to your posting.

Friday's Presidential Debate at Ole Miss

W. Ralph Eubanks has a great op-ed in today's Washington Post regarding the historical significance of Ole Miss's role as host to the first presidential debate between McCain & Obama. Definitely worth reading.

For Next Week

Ok everyone: on Monday, we'll discuss the essays posted under the "RESOURCES" section of T-Square: the "Statement of Principles" offered by the Twelve Southerners (1930) & Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" (1963). I'll also post links to them here

On Wednesday, we'll be back in Confederates in the Attic. The only thing: we'll be zooming through it--Chapters 6-8. That will be a longer reading that normal (62 pages, I think), so you'll want to use the weekend to get ahead.

For Friday

Read Ch 5 in Everything's an Argument.

Blog #4 Assignment

On Friday, Ms. Brown made mention of a variety of items that are all available for checkout in the library--including digital cameras, digital video cameras, and audio recorders--as well as resources like the presentation studio. For your next blog, I would like you to think about a particular problem or writing issue that you encountered in drafting, editing, and/or revising your first essay and to consider how you might have used one of these technologies to resolve it. This will require you to think in terms of WOVEN: your essay is a Written document, and so how might you have used other modes to make and support the same claim.

Here's the catch: you must use one of these technologies in your blog, and you will have to figure out how to locate in your blog WITHOUT MY HELP. A note here: you don't have to use one of the library's resources. Many of your laptops include webcams & audio recorders, and many of you have digital cameras. Heck, most of your mobile phones will do all of these things. Figure out how to record yourself, how to take a photograph or video, etc., and embed it in your blog. The library computers will have all of the software you need (most of your laptops will, too).

Note #2: "Without my help" means only help from me. Many of you will have to ask for someone to help you--Ms. Brown and the other librarians will be incredible resources. Ask your friends, your roommates, your classmates. Also: don't be afraid of the HELP function on Blogger or any other resource.

Due Friday before class.

For Monday

Submit your second drafts & read Ch. 5 in Confederates in the Attic.

Readings for Friday

You'll have peer review work to complete for Friday, but I think you'll find some readings from the EBook useful through your own revisions. I recommend:

• On revising: 1.3 Intro, a, c, d, f, and g
  
• If you are having trouble with organization, Ch. 1.2 (paragraph development) will be useful.
  

Revising from Peer Comments

Soon, you will have comments from your peers on your first drafts. If you don't know what to do with those comments or how to revise your essay, I recommend that you check out the video on the subject posted on CompClass. To find the video:

1. Sign into CompClass

2. near the top of the page, click on "COURSE MATERIALS"

3. find "WRITE ON VIDEO TUTORIALS"

4. Now click "WRITE ON VIDEO TUTORIALS: Revising with Peer Comments"

Wiki notes....

I just wanted to remind you to sign up to be a course note-taker via the Wiki on T-Square.

Slideshow: Things I've Noticed About Your Writing

For Wednesday

We'll do some peer review exercises in class. Please post your first drafts to the forum.

Also, for Monday...

Remember to post an outline via the FORUM function on T-Square.

Blog Assignment #3

Your last assignment required you to analyze an argument from Confederates in the Attic. Now, I want you to connect one or more of those arguments to your own personal experience. In your next post, you must agree or disagree with a statement or claim made by Horwitz or one of his subjects, and you must use something you have seen/heard/witnessed/experienced this semester as evidence. Don't go looking for this evidence; just rely on something that has organically occurred.

As always, I would be thrilled if you were able to supplement your writing with an artifact: a photograph, image, or video or perhaps a related link. For instance, you might take a picture of your the site of your experience--if you see a poster or billboard or building, snap a shot of it. If you hear a song on the radio, provide a link to that artist's web site; if you read a book, link to its listing on Amazon.com; if you read a relevant news article, link to that.

For Friday & Beyond

Remember: a blog post is due. See below for the topic.

For Friday, read EA Ch 6 and submit a draft of the claim that your essay will make.

The reading for Monday will be from the E-Book. We'll read sections 1.1 c, e, f, g, h, and 1.2.

Your first drafts will be due on Wednesday.

A Timely Argument

I thought the argument offered by this short film, Blood and Oil, might be worth considering this week. The title might lead you to think that its subject is conflict in the Middle East--and I think the filmmakers intend to evoke that debate. However, this is about the Louisiana coast.

Topic for Posting #2

For this assignment, I would like you to identify and explain or even evaluate an argument about the South or the Civil War offered by one of the individuals in Confederates in the Attic. Identify the claim being made, the audience being addressed, and any appeals offered in support of that claim. You should also consider the effectiveness of the argument: is it successful? Why or why not?

Due Friday before class.

Sumter, SC: The GAMECOCK City

For an example of what your next blog post might look like, I've posted two videos I found on YouTube that make different arguments about life in my hometown--Sumter, SC.

First is a clip from a local realtor (a friend of my folks, in all honesty):



This is pretty dressed up vision of Sumter. What sort of appeals are being made? What do you think that they might be leaving out?

The next video is more indicative of the Sumter I know....I'll let you make up your own mind about it.

For Wednesday

- Read Ch. 2 in Confederates in the Attic and Ch. 3 in Everything's an Argument.
- Log into CompClass
- Be sure that a link to your blog appears on my blog.
- Bring pen and paper to class for the writing assessment.

Culture & Landscape in South Louisiana

Later this semester, we'll talk a great deal about the connections between place and culture, and we'll discuss how, as the difference in places are less obvious, so too are the differences between cultures. In my experience, South Louisiana is as culturally unique as any place in the U.S., but it's landscape is changing so rapidly, it's difficult to track how that relates to cultural shifts.

We'll talk about this more later, but when you have a chance, check out this article and this supplemental interactive map from the New York Times. The article is part of a series in which Times reporters revisit the sites described in the Works Progress Administration American Guide series, which were compiled and published during the Depression.

Pathos on the Campaign Trail

In Ch. 2 of EA, Lunsford & Ruskiewicz prompt you to evaluate the relative the possibilities and pitfalls of employing pathetic appeals. Such appeals often dominant political discourse, here and abroad.

The first clip should be familiar: it's JFK's first inaugural address. Watch it, and consider how he appeals to the emotions of Americans, and consider what emotions he appeals to.



Secondly, let's take a look at what many consider the rhetorical highpoint of the current Administration. Consider Bush's use of pathos, both verbally and visually.



Third, check out the most famous ad of the campaign for the Democratic nomination.



Finally, let's consider some ads from recent campaigns. These won't require much analytical work, because our friend Jon Stewart has already done the heavy lifting:

An electronic argument about/for Metro Atlanta

As I said below, your blog posting this week will require to find and briefly discuss an argument about some place that you call home. I thought an example might help....

If you've watched the Olympics or any NBC program in Atlanta recently, you've probably seen the local NBC affiliate's ad campaign, "Are you curious?"; in case you haven't, I've included a clip below. Watch it and think about the argument it makes about Atlanta and about NBC 11Alive, as the channel calls itself.

The Power of Bloggers

On Friday, I mentioned to each section that I expect your blogs to become richer, deeper, and more personalized as the semester goes forward. As you think about what blogs are and what they can do, you might find this article from today's New York Times useful.

Monday's assignments

Greetings all. Your reading assignment for Monday: read Ch 2 (45-59) in Everything's an Argument and Ch 1 (3-17) in Confederates in the Attic.

I'm also providing the blog assignment now--to be posted before class on Friday. I would like you to find an artifact or text that makes an argument about your home town (or neighborhood, or region, or state, etc.). This can be an image, a website, a video file, an audio clip, etc. Embed or link your blog to this (or, if it's a tangible thing, bring it to class), and analyze the argument. Tell me what it suggests, who the audience is, what appeals it makes, and what contextual information I might need to understand it.

Homework for Friday

Ok, ladies & gents, madames & monsieurs, here are the assignments to be completed prior to Friday's class:

1. Read Ch. 1 in Everything's an Argument (3-44). You needn't complete any of the exercises suggested; we'll consider those (and more) in class. Also: don't worry about having a verbatim command of the text. Instead, focus on developing a general understanding of key points, and be ready to discuss one or two points that interests you.
2. Create a blog via Blogger.com and send me the URL
3. On said blog, post what we will call a Communications Diary for a 12 hour period. This should be a bulletted or numbered list of communications activities. These might text messages, IM conversations, emails, posting to web sites and/or chat rooms, participation in MMORPGs, formal meetings. You don't need to include every verbal conversation--but if you have particularly memorable conversation or one in a unique setting, please include it. Each listing should offer time, date, and a one-sentence or less description.

Please email me if you have any questions!

Outcomes and Objectives for Unit 1

Your syllabus includes a list of outcomes and objectives for the course; I've pulled together one for this first unit. I hope it will give you some sense of our direction for the next few weeks.

Rhetoric Rhetoric focuses on available means of persuasion, considering the synergy of factors such as context, audience, purpose, role, argument, organization, design, visuals, and conventions of language.	Objective Identify individual goals of the semester; consider the various forms of communications in which we engage regularly, and consider the conventions of those processes. Understand expectations of communication at Georgia Tech. Wrestle with the notion that “Everything is an Argument.” Explore arguments in a variety of modes and media. Introduce basic concepts: logos, pathos, ethos	Outcome -introduce self as a writer -keep a communications diary -participate in super-secret logo-identifying activity -identify logical, ethical, and pathetic appeals in assigned readings and in texts considered in class
Process Processes for communication —for example, creating, planning, drafting, designing, rehearsing, revising, presenting, publishing—are recursive, not linear. Learning productive processes is as important as creating products.	Objective Identify the conventions of various types of communicating. Review and become proficient in basics of written communications (thesis statement, paragraph, design, etc). Become self-reflexive about communication.	Outcomes Draft and compose a narrative essay. Participate in peer review.
Modes and Media Activities and assignments should use a variety of modes and media—written, oral, visual, electronic, and nonverbal—singly and in combination. Contexts and cultures of modes and media are critical.	Objective “Adjust writing to a variety of contexts, including electronic environments.”	Outcome Create and begin course-specific blog.
Themes of the course	Objective Understand the South as a rhetorical construct.	Outcome Compose blogs and narrative essay which explore individual southern experiences.

Christopher Dickey comes home, looking for deliverance.....

When you're the son of a literary legend, the cover stories you write for major national publications ought to do better than trading in cliches... However, Christopher Dickey didn't, but we're going to consider his piece in last week's issue of Newsweek anyway. Pay particular attention to the map.

Welcome to ENGL 1101

Welcome, welcome all! More information well follow today.