Concept Journal
Media & Music — Spring
2004
Purpose: This is the first stage
of your semester project. It is designed to get you
thinking about the form and content of your final project. It
will also determine the exact requirements for your midterm.
Date
Due: Posted
online by 11:59pm on 29 January.
Product: An
online journal entry of at least 500 words (equivalent to
two typed double-spaced pages; it can be longer if necessary). The
subject line of your post should read "Concept Journal
-- Your Name." Your style can be informal, but the writing
should be clear and easy to understand. I recommend
that you type it on your word processor and then paste it
into a new message.
Your
Concept Journal should answer the following question:
What do you propose to do for your final project
and how do you propose to do it?
Start
by telling us about your intended project and why you want
to do it. WhatŐs important or interesting about it? What
do you hope to learn by doing it? Here are some more
specific questions:
What genre of writing do you plan to do? Are
you producing something in addition to a written text? If
so, what? Do you currently have the skills to pull
it off? If not, how do you plan to acquire the relevant
skills?
What topic do you plan to cover?
What kinds of research/study/background work will
you need to do in order to complete your project?
Who is your intended audience?
What steps will you take to move from the conceptualization
of your project (which you are doing now) to actually finishing
the project? How do we know that you can finish the
project in a semesterŐs time?
What will you do to fulfill the requirements of
the midterm (see the midterm assignment for details)?
Evaluation: Journals are graded
on the following scale: 100 (outstanding); 90 (fulfills requirements
of the assignment); 50-75 (does follow assignment or other
major problem); 25 (wrote something, not clear on its relationship
to the course). Journals must be posted online
in the class discussion forum in order to count toward your
final grade.
HOLD
ONTO YOUR CONCEPT JOURNAL AND MY RESPONSE! These two documents will tell you
exactly what you need to turn in for the midterm.
