I've been without internet access for about 16 hours, just as I was updating this material. My access will likely remain spotty for the near future at least, so if you are waiting for a response, please be patient and just forge ahead and do what seems best in the interim. If you read the below material once, it's worth another read for the new material alone. Be sure to click on the read more link.

I provided a different sample essay for you to look at, along with some commentary on the essay's strengths and weaknesses. If you read it and have questions about it, or anything else related to the assignment, let me know.

Sorry for being slower than I planned on getting the second essay back to you, but as soon as I post this message, I'll be returning your second essay with a response and grade. If you did not receive an essay with a grade, it's most likely because I didn't receive one to be graded. Contact me if you have any questions in that regard.

If you want to figure out your grade to date, add this grade to the previous grade and divide by two. Revisions are due by midnight, August 5th. That's an extra day, but since the third essay is due to me by midnight the 4th, it doesn't give you much extra time. As with the first assignment, no questions will be fielded in the next 24 hours regarding the second essay and my comments and grades. Any questions about those things sent before the time is up will be discarded, unread. When you do get back to me with questions, please write something like "In my essay, regarding my paragraph on depicted actions, you wrote that 'blah blah blah.' To address that, I was going to 'yada, yada, yada.' Do you think that will work? Please let me know." I'll get back to you and answer the question as best I can. You can, of course, ask more than one question at a time.

Grades for this essay averaged 1.87, which is between a low 'C' or a high 'C-'. The median, half above and half below, is 1.7, a 'C-.' The lowest grade was a 1.0 (D) and the high a 2.7 (B-). Counting all submitted essays, the overall grades for the class are a 2.03 average and a 2.10 median. Click the "read more" to see the rest of this note.

I'm going to be out of town for the next week, which doesn't mean all that much. What it does mean is I will only be online once or twice a day instead of hopping on and back offline when the mood strikes me, which is generally quite often. Because of this, you may not receive real quick answers to your questions, so please be patient.

I have two essays yet to grade from assignment two. However, both of these essays were submitted in formats that either wouldn't open or wouldn't open in a readable format, so I'm waiting on resubmission of those essays before I do my grading and return the commented upon drafts. I'll juggle the schedule a bit so you don't end up with two essays, the revision for number two and the first graded draft of number three, on the same day.

Signing off until either late Saturday or early Sunday (which is the more likely).

The third essay, a website analysis, is pretty much along the lines of the video analysis essay. The task is the same, the object of the analysis different. The sentence summaries of chapters five and seven are due by midnight tonight. Responses to those summaries are due by midnight Monday. The draft is due Wednesday, responses to the draft next Friday, and the essay is due for grading on Monday, August 4.

For starters, read chapters five and seven, which should provide some good springboard passages to kick off the analysis. The springboard passage should set up a claim about the website, that it's a worthwhile resource, that it's too biased to be any good (and bias in and of itself is not a bad thing because we all have biases; if a site advocates a candidate, a position, a point of view, it's biased, but if you ever have advocated for anything, you know that a bias, your bias anyway, can be good; outright deception, on the other hand, isn't good), it lacks substance despite looking nice, it's unusable or what have you. Chapter seven in particular should give you some ideas in this vein.

Many of the analysis criteria from the Savvy Voter can be used for this analysis as well. For instance, there will still be a mythology, whether it's a candidate or organizational mythology constructed by the site. There will be depicted actions, though we'll see still images of them rather than moving images. There will be props, background locations, emotion communicating faces, clothing, supers and code words and appeals. There might be some other things you'll see.

Additionally, you can look at a variety of other elements, such as the bias of the site (for good or ill), the usability or layout of the site (for example the class site is in a typical inverted 'U' with information down each site and some menus and a banner across the top--a very standard layout, as is the inverted-L), how the site does or does not connect to other sites (internal or external links--internal means they want to limit your access to desired information, theirs), who is behind the site and what authority they have on the issue (this is usually found in the "about us" section), the site's layout, the site's intended audience and how well they are served, the quality of the information on the site (or lack there of, which brings us to a variation on eye candy).

Once you decide on a site, if you respond to all, or nearly all, of the website analysis guideline (follow the link within the assignment) points, you will have a lot of raw material to work with and a good idea about which elements hold the most promise for the analysis. The sites I've provided links to all worked when I last checked. If you have another site that seems to fit with the assigned task, one that is not listed, you can probably use it but run it by me first just in case it's not a good fit for the expectations. Otherwise, if there are any questions that remain after reading this and the assignment material, let me know.

I have just returned the revised first essays to those who submitted them. In terms of overall grades, the class median rose from 1.5 to 2.3, basically from a little less than a C- to a C+. This means half of the grades were below this scores, half above, with probably a few straddling the line. The average grade rose from 1.71 to 2.28, again from a C- to a C+. Five students who received less than a 2.0 did not submit revisions as required; otherwise, the change would have been greater.

I have received 14 drafts of essay two, which is pretty much in line with the number of essay one revisions received. If you have yet to submit essay two, please do. I'll begin reading and responding to them later today.

It's also time to start essay three. As with the previous assignments, click on the "syllabus" link at the top of the page and scroll down to the third assignment. It's essentially the same as the just completed assignment, though this time you will read and analyze a website rather than a video. Many of the same criteria, plus some new criteria, can be used. I'll post a bit of a "lecture" on that tomorrow. In the meantime, the reading assignment is for chapters five and seven because they are a better fit for the assignment than would be the normal progression. The summary for those two chapters, in complete sentences please, is due by midnight Friday. Look for ideas that you can use to kick off the analysis of your website.

More good news is that when it comes to the calendar, as of Friday, we are halfway through the class. One month to go. In terms of the work to be done, we're not quite halfway, but pretty close. Keep plugging away and we'll get there together and if you have questions or concerns, be sure to let me know.

Revised essay one is due by midnight, Tuesday. Wednesday midnight is the due date for the second essay. Both the revised first essay and second essay for grading should be submitted as email attachments, using .rft, .doc or Open Office format, which I forget the extension, maybe .odt. The major concern with a number of the responses is they are not using the rubric provided. If you don't use that rubric, you won't be thinking about the manner in which I'll be evaluating, responding to, and grading your essay when that time comes. There's a purpose to having you read and respond to the major concerns I'll be addressing. It's because they are important to effective essays and writing. Please follow the directions for the response and you'll learn more and end up writing a bit better in the long run.

To the best of my knowledge, I've read each of the draft video analysis, assignment two, essays that have been submitted. If I've missed yours, let me know. I'll check again in the morning before I have to take care of some obligations. Even if you don't have an essay submitted for response at this point, it will be accepted for grading.

Here are the two major concerns that apply pretty much across the board:

Number one is the need for a clear thesis. The thesis should make a claim about the video based on whatever the chosen passage from Unspun says. The thesis should make clear what is at stake in the analysis of the video, why the analytical claim is of interest or importance to a reader of the essay. Quite often you can look to the last sentence of your essay and find this. That requires moving that sentence to the thesis position--the last sentence of the introduction--and revising from there. I suggested this specifically to several of you. It just so happens that student writers often finally get their bearings as they finish the essay and state the main point quite well. This "writing to learn" can be taken advantage of in the revising of the essay. Please do.

The number two concern is paragraph focus, development and integrity. Basically, that means this: provide your reader a topic statement (One of the more important elements of any campaign video is the candidate mythology it works to construct.), some explanation as to why the topic (candidate mythology in this example) matters (Candidates work hard to create a sense of themselves that voters can accept or buy into so they can feel good about casting their vote for a human being, not just a politician.), an example or two or three to illustrate the topic (John McCain relies heavily on the candidate mythology of his being a war hero. He does this primarily by repeatedly showing images of his younger self standing beside his Vietnam-era F4 Phantom (I'm just guessing at what sort of jet he flew, but this was a common Navy jet) fighter jet and images of his time as a POW in the notorious Hanoi Hilton prison camp.) and some explanation as to why this matters. (While there is no doubt McCain is a war hero for having nobly endured his captivity, if nothing else, the problem is that being a war hero does not necessarily qualify someone to be Commander-in-Chief. War heroes have had mixed success as President, whether it's Andrew Jackson's heavy-handed marching of American Indians across the country in the "trail of tears" or Dwight Eisenhower's building the interstate highway system, being a war hero is no guarantee of great leadership. In this respect, the constructed mythology is not a reliable indicator of future performance by any elected official, the president among them.

Do something along these lines with each of your paragraphs and they will be effectively focused and developed and they will have integrity by being focused on one idea that is well developed. As always, let me know if you have questions about this or my particular comments on your essay.

I just saw this video for the first time today. I think it's new. It's critical of McCain and comments that prompted some recent changes in campaign personnel. https://pol.moveon.org/donate/inyourhead.html?id=13272-4044252-rUvWVLx&t=1. If you still haven't decided on your video, this might be the one for you.

I see that so far, only about half of the second essay drafts have been posted. If you have not yet posted your essay to the blog, and have questions, let me know.

As with the first essay, I'll be responding to drafts once they have received two student responses. The student responses should respond to the prompt found here: http://bleckblog.org/comp/videorubric. If you have questions about any of this, please let me know.

Responses should be completed by midnight Monday. Revised essay one is due by midnight Tuesday.

If you have other questions, or would like more explanation to these, let me know and I'll do what I can for you.

Question: Basically, I need to watch to one of the ads and then support it with ch 3 and 4. I also need to base it on voter savvy list, right?.

Answer: Not quite right. You'll take an idea from chapter three or four and use it to kick off the essay, to create a context for discussing the video, to set up a claim about the video. You'll then use the savvy voter criteria to explain how the video does whatever the thesis claims it does. Check the sample essay as it does this fairly well. We were using a different book at the time, but I think you'll be able to see how it works.

Question: I read all the lectures that you posted yesterday several times and I am still trying to sort it out in my head. Basically, the idea is the same, thesis, intro, response and conclusion right? I didn't see anything on response, you mention body, it's the same right?

Answer: No, this one is different, so it's good you asked. the intro and thesis you are right about. You might write something such as campaign season is in full swing and anyone who watches television is about to be bombarded with campaign ads. Then you'll tie in an idea from the book that sets up a claim about a particular video.

Question: It seems so overwhelming, I am not very good in Politics :) and while> reading the chapters I have to reread several times until I understand. Once I understand then it flows easily.

Answer: Lots of people think there is something wrong if they have to re-read something. There's nothing further from the truth. Good readers are re-readers. I do it myself all the time with stuff that matters, even sometimes with stuff that doesn't if I can't make sense of what I'm reading. The danger is that many people think they should get it the first time, and that's the goal, but when encountering new information and new ideas and things you don't normally think about, re-reading is what makes the difference between kinda getting it and really getting it.

Question: basically I need to choose one of two chapters to work with. Then find an appropriate idea from that chapter that will support the video that I will be working on, is that right? Mostly though, I base my essay on Savvy Voter criteria and then blend a whole thing together to get my point across.

Answer: Yes, that's right.

Essays have been returned. If you don't have yours, please email. The number at the end of the comment is the essay's grade, based on the 0.7 to 4.0 scale the college uses. 0.7 = D-, 1.0 = D, 1.3 = D+, 1.5 = C-/D+, 1.7 = C-, 2.0 = C, 2.3 = C+, 2.5 = B-/C+, 2.7 = B-, 3.0 = B, 3.3 = B+, 3.5 = A-/B+, 3.7 = A-, 4.0 = A. These gradations are about as fine as I care to split the grading hairs.

Check your email for them. You should consider the grades preliminary because my expectation is that you will revise based on the feedback and then receive your final grade. However, if you grade is 2.0 or higher, revision is optional. If the grade is below 2.0, revision is mandatory, meaning you can't receive a passing grade for the class if you don't revise. This is the point of the class where you begin juggling multiple assignments, though I'll try to keep them as spaced as possible.

The long and short of things, based on this first essay, is you are a typical bunch of English 101 student writers. The class average for grades on the first essay is pretty much inline with previous class averages on the first essay: 1.7 or C-. Through the revision process this will change, always for the better as a group. Likely the class average will be about 2.5, but all of that remains to be seen. The highest grade given so far was a 3.0 (B) and the lowest a 1.0 (D). What this means is that most of you need to learn about college level writing expectations and I'm here to help make that happen. In some respect, we use a very traditional approach, the Socratic method and question and answer, as I try to lead you to better understand what you need to do to better your writing to meet certain expectations--those of the academic audience. What's not traditional is that we do this online rather than sitting face-to-face. Please read all that follows and let me know what questions you have. Keep reading by clicking on the "read more" link so you can see all of the specifics:

As usual, if you want or need clarification on any of this, please let me know. Be sure to click on the “read more” link to see the whole of this message.

Many of you are already reading chapters three and four. That’s good. Those summaries, in sentence format, are to be submitted by midnight tonight as previously indicated. While reading and summarizing, look for an idea or concept from which to build the analysis of your chosen video. There is a sample essay that should give you an idea about what you should do with your essay, but I’ll offer explanation here, and a sample, but brief, analysis of an video.

After reading the two chapters, it’s essential that you also read the savvy voter criteria as well as the rest of the material linked to the assignment. The assignment calls for applying the savvy voter criteria to the video of your choice. There are many videos you can work with other than those that are provided as part of the assignment. You can use serious videos, campaign videos, funny videos, spoofs of candidates or anything you like, as long as you address the assignment expectations of making it clear how the video can be read and that you can read it in that way.