Guidelines, Deadlines, Expectations, etc.

You will post on the blog a minimum of once a week, with weekly posts due no later than Fridays at noon. Additionally, you should post a minimum of three quality comments on posts each week. These comments are also due by noon on Fridays.

With the exception of the first week (see the blog itself for your prompt), here are some general ideas and guidelines for your posts:

• Write at least one post per week. (More are okay, of course, and you can add short, informal posts in addition to your main posts.)
• Take advantage of what a blog can do that a traditional academic essay can’t always do: provide links, embed video, add images, etc.
• Post at least three quality comments. 
• As for the posts themselves, consider these options:
• Option 1: Connect what we are reading, writing about, and discussing to something you’ve encountered outside of class. (Another comedian, a news story, a personal experience…) The goal here is to make a concrete and interesting connection. 
• Option 2: Respond to (thoughtfully, civilly, critically, and creatively) someone else’s post in some detail. 
• Again, weekly posts and comments are due Fridays by noon.

Blog Response Grade Guidelines: To give you some idea of how I will grade your posts, see below for a description of “Exceptional Work” for a unit’s blog grade.

Grade of 90-100: Exceptional Work
• Response is 500-750 words
• Response has an exceptionally interesting/creative thesis/claim and is focused on one clear topic/idea/question
• Response has an intelligent, clear structure
• Response uses excellent evidence to argue/support specific points and/or refer to someone else’s posts and explicates that evidence
• Response has correctly formatted citations (including works cited entries) where necessary
• Response and comments contain no errors in punctuation, usage, and spelling
• Student has posted the required number of comments; comments are significant and error free