Blog Post #7: Final Project Progress Report (Due 11/17)

During the last week, you have received some feedback on your final course project ideas.  As of today (Nov 14), you should make sure to block out times in your schedule to develop your projects (if you haven't been doing so already).  Make sure to work on completing a good portion of your project during each week in the next couple of weeks, so that you will have something to present to the class by the end of this month (after the Thanksgiving break).  The project itself, as stated on the course syllabus and the assignment sheet, is due in my email by midnight on the last of our class (Dec 8).  This means, each project should have a portion that you can email me.  For this reason, I asked each one of you to either email me your “rhetorical analysis” or “creative writing piece” OR a “rationale” explaining your brochure/art work/web site etc at the end of the semester, depending on the nature of your project.  In any case, make sure your project in some way makes it clear what course concepts/theories are being used in it. 

Have fun with your projects, and if something looks like it will blow out of proportion, think about simplifying things for you. The creative option was proposed for students who might feel comfortable doing it, but note that writing a paper which applies course concepts to an artifact (ad campaign, speech, etc) is also an available option.  The point here is to connect with the course material and show your thinking about the course concepts, and you are encouraged to do that in a variety of ways. 

We discussed some of the steps you can take to do a rhetorical analysis of an artifact during the class and relevant documents about this have been posted to Blackboard. We also discussed possible steps with other projects.  I strongly recommend keeping a little journal during the completion of this process, in which you can also enter the notes you take on your artifacts being analyzed (significant features/patterns in your commercials, speeches, etc) or products being created (brochures, websites, etc).  

Having stated these, for this blog post, I am asking you to write a progress report in which you discuss the status of your final course project: 

For the progress report:

• Include a summary of your project---what the final project is about, which rhetorical concepts/theory is used in it, possible audiences and contexts for it.
• Include an outline of your final project or some necessary points about the characteristics of the project.
• Summarize your status on the final project— since you read the assignment sheet, what have you done for the project?  What do you think your next steps should be?  What information or materials do you need to continue developing your project?
• Avoid the whining or the everything's-fine attitudes.  Think productively—think about this as a rhetorical puzzle: how would you solve it?  You are the rhetor or the rhetorical critic-- get in the role and take control.
• Include visuals, web links, or anything else related to your project.

*As with all writing assignments in college courses, use the standards of good writing style, grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling.
*There is no specific length requirement, but your post should address the points outlined in these assignment guidelines.  
Note: To be safe, always keep a safe copy of your blog post and other assignment-related materials.