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.