Here is the second part of assignment three.
Assignment Three, part II [aka Module]
Electronic Literature
ENC 4420/5420-W61
Dr. Saper, Professor
Module 3, part II: Intermediation
Included in this module: Goals; Assignment; Due Dates; Links to Web-site; Assessments; and Grading Rubric. Read this entire module before starting the assignment or asking any questions about the assignment.
Goals:
Students read a hypertext novel. They learn how to read this type of work, and they learn why this particular novel is significant in literary studies. The students learn why many consider Michael Joyce’s Afternoon a classic work in modernist or postmodernist literature, and why it was included in the Norton Anthology of Postmodern Literature. Students also read important hypertext novels.
These goals correspond to the overall goals of the course: to learn about electronic literature in both its forms and contexts.
Assignment:
Students will read two works by Michael Joyce [or just Twelve Blue, if Afternoon not available]. They will also read Judd Morissey’s The Jew’s Daughter (2+ hours), Maria Mencia, Birds Singing Other Birds' Songs (1/2 to 1 hour). They will learn why these works count as literature. Students will examine both the novels and readings of the novels. The time commitment for the reading alone is 8 hours for this assignment.
1. Read Hayles’ Electronic Literature, pp. 43-87. Read a description and guide to reading Michael Joyce’s Afternoon by Jill Walker at http://jilltxt.net/txt/afternoon.html
2. Read Michael Joyce’s Twelve Blue and Afternoon [if available]. [one to two hours and two hours respectively]. Read Judd Morissey’s The Jew’s Daughter (2+ hours), Maria Mencia, Birds Singing Other Birds' Songs (1/2 to 1 hour).
3. Please note: these works do not have page numbers; so, I have supplied you with an estimate of size and the approximate time needed to read these works.
4. Describe in your notes how you read these works, and relate how Walker and Hayles read these works.
5. Write a clear and concise 1250 word essay on your conclusions – jam packed with information and avoiding wordiness. In your conclusions, specifically discuss how this type of reading fits in the history of texts and technological change. Discuss with very specific details from the works, Hayles, Walker, and your own reading experience how literacy and reading have changed or might change in the future. Include, when these changes occurred in your overall diachronic analysis, and insert these changes and new hypertext and hypermedia novels in your time-line.
Due Dates:
Include this part of the module in your overall Module and Assignment 3. Turn the entire project in by the due date. This will give you an opportunity to ask questions about the assignment and make revisions. No late projects accepted, no exceptions.
Where: Post the finished assignment to the blog, but post a draft to a discussion on the course site. Since everyone gets credit for helping (and you can help more than one of your peers each assignment) you will find someone to give you suggestions for improvement. If you cannot offer any suggestions, then you might want to consider an alternative to academia.
Assessments:
Content: Do the materials include the following elements:
A. full name of student and helper(s)
C. description of reading experience (yours and others).
D. description of details from lexias and general plot lines and themes. Also describe how the readings relates to historical change in texts and literacy.
Form: Did the student include the following technical aspects?
A. turned-in the project in electronic form on the blog
B. prose contains no grammatical, stylistic, or typographical errors
The grader [in this case Professor Saper] will study the essay (including the prose), and ask the following questions.
1. Does this material present a clear representation of the student's thinking about Joyce’s works, the contexts for reading these works, and how these works fit in a larger history?
2. Did the student have interesting insights about the hypertext work and historical changes to literacy?
3. Were the insights expressed clearly? Did the student modify their time-lines to reflect the new information?
4. Is the essay interesting, unique, expressive, and informative?
Grading Rubric:
Passing Grade (in the D range): fulfilled number one in the assessment.
Adequate Grade (in the C range): fulfilled one and two in the assessment.
Good Grade (in the B range): fulfilled numbers one through three in the assessment.
Excellent Grade (in the A range): fulfilled all of the four criteria in the assessment.
