New genres for student composition
Tracy, I love the critical analysis project you describe, and I especially love that one of your former student's products was the catalyst. I'm also interested in the notion of modeling after Karl Fisch's Did You Know video, which is both wonderful in and of itself and also has inspired many interesting imitations and remixes. It is an ideal 'mentor text' for a project that uses statistics the way that you did.
It got me thinking about the range of assignments that usefully play off of mini-genres—little style trends—that circulate and provide the form and structure that can spark student creativity. This is one. The paper cut outs of a Common Craft video might be another. The ongoing drawing to illustrate a talk, as in the RSA videos is another.On the site, there are pieces by Dawn Reed and Rochelle Ramay which both leverage the NPR This I Believe essays.
Im curious whether others on this site have found useful minigenres that they like to use and that inspire students.
Comments
Kevin Hodgson
on Mar 27 2011
at 16:40
Slackers
What an interesting project and I can only imagine the discussions that took place. I wondered about the use of such a loaded term as "slackers" and wondered if that sparked debate. What I find interesting, too, is how video can add an emotional element to a rhetorical stance (for example, one might create an opposing video about the creative energy and authority of American learners. How would that look?)
Kevin