Digitizing e2

In your last assignment for this course, I’d like you to revise your second essay in ways that make thoughtful use of the affordances of writing in a digital space. An affordance is something that a particular medium or technology allows you to do easily or well. The affordances of digital writing include

  • incorporating images into your text;
  • linking directly to other online texts;
  • quoting audio or video clips in your essay; and
  • adding audio or video clips that you have produced to your essay.

Your task is to use some of these affordances to revise and re-present your second essay on Medium.com. I will be especially impressed if the changes or additions you make lead to some new writing. That is, if you insert an image into your essay, don’t let it just sit there—comment on it, analyze it. If you link to other texts, tell us what it is you want us to notice about them. If you use audio or video, be thoughtful in editing the clip; go right to the moment in the song or film that you want to focus our attention on.

Be creative. Take some risks. If you make thoughtful use of the affordances of the web in digitizing your essay, I will add 10 points to your final grade for the semester. And if you add substantively to what you have previously written as you digitize your essay, I will add still another 10 points to your final grade. But if you try something and it doesn’t work—no worries, your grade won’t be affected.

To post your work to Medium, you will need to set up a free account on the site. I will walk you through the mechanics of posting in class—it’s straightforward and easy—and we’ll also look at some examples of what other writers have done on the site. I’ve also posted a brief set of hints on Formatting on Medium. I hope that like me you find Medium an elegant and appealing platform for writing.

Please post your essay sometime before class on Tuesday, 12/06. Please email me the link to your essay, and please bring your laptop with you to class. We will take some time to view the work all of you have done in a kind of electronic “arcade”.