Week of Nov 2-4

Dear students,

On Wednesday, Nov 2, you will be visited in class by Career Services, who will be talking to you about some of the possibilities available to you at the college. They may be running up to 10 minutes late: please arrive on time and wait in the classroom for them.

Peer mentors, please take attendance.

On Friday, Nov 4, Professor Simonian will be your substitute. She will help you as you work on your presentation projects in class. You may bring your laptops this day. You will also be discussing the drone pilots and gaming article.

Any questions? Email me.

Best,
Professor Durbin

Presentation Schedule - 3:00 class

W Dec 9

3:00--Jazzy
3:10--Mauricio
3:20--Bryce
3:30--Fred
3:40--David
3:50--Joseph
4:00--Richard


F Dec 11

3:00--Somaan
3:10--Ashley
3:20--Isaac
3:30--Chris
3:40--Logan
3:50--Ryker
4:00--Jaycob

Presentation Schedule - 12:00 class

W Dec 9

12:00--Brie
12:10--Kacey
12:20--Kalab
12:30--Jona
12:40--Weston
12:50--Hollywood
1:00--Kait
1:20--Aaron


F Dec 11

12:00--Thomas
12:10--Morgan
12:20--AJ
12:30--Gabby
12:40--Hunter
12:50--Jacob
1:00--Kacey
1:10--Diego

Questions for Feed

Group Questions about Feed:

1) Discuss the title of the novel. How is it a double entendre? What is it referencing?

2) Is the novel a critique of social media? A celebration? Something else? Discuss.

3) What parallels to the way that our world operates with social media today do you see in the novel?

4) Analyze the speed with which things are uploaded to social media in the book. Why is speed important in this post-apocalyptic world? Is it equally important in our world? 

5) Why do you think Mira Grant chose to put zombies and social media together in a book?

Drone Pilots and Gaming

Please read this article.

Final Essay and Presentation

For your final project in this class, you will create your own concept for a reality tv show, a video game, or a social networking site.

You will create a visual aide in order to present your show, game, or site in a creative way--do a skit, share a video (all videos should be uploaded to youtube or vimeo so they can be played easily in class), utilize the internet, visual aids/posters, etc. 

You may not bring laptops the day of the presentation, but you may upload to the web and present from the in class computer. Please do not present anything that requires a flash drive or downloading as we do not have time to set up in class.

Quickly slapped together print outs or scrawled drawings will receive no credit. You may not present a creative aide that was not made by you.

Some questions you should ask yourself as you create your project: how does my show/game/site differ from those we studied in class? How does it utilize its genre in a new, creative way? Who is its audience? Think critically, too, about how your show/game/site reflects certain cultural attitudes and values. Give us specific details about the framework of the show/game/site. What inspired you, and why? How did this class help you to think about popular culture in new ways?

Additionally, please answer the above questions in an essay format, 3-5 pages in length, and present them to the class as well. You may choose to present them in a creative way or a more straightforward way, but they must be answered directly. Being able to critically analyze your own work, as we've critically analyzed the work in this course, is imperative to your success on this assignment. 

Apply at least six quotes from in class notes or the books we read in class.

You may choose to directly quote or paraphrase, but do include a Works Cited page.

Can't wait to see what you do.

Hi everyone,

If you're signing up for classes, I'm going to be teaching an awesome Jan Term course on horror fiction and film, and two spring Why Read sections on science fiction and film. Sign up! Tell your friends!

Prof D