LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ENGL209
is a skills course, but its purpose is not to teach specific software.
Instead, we will focus on the design and rhetoric of electronic documents.
You will learn to write in an electronic environment and create basic
hypertext documents incorporating links, targets, images and other
types of media. Where appropriate, we will also use hypertext and multimedia
as tools for teaching close reading through textual annotation. We
will explore the similarities as well as the differences between print
and electronic documents, analyze the rhetoric of the web, and consider
the relationship between verbal, visual, and associative structures
in electronic documents.
FINAL PROJECT: You will complete a final project in which
you digitally enhance a text you have written (or are currently
writing) in another course. If you are taking 209 as part of
a Mason Topics package (sections L01 and L02), the final project
will relate to the linked course. If you are not part of a linked
package (section 001), the writing you enhance must be from a
course you are taking concurrently with ENGL 209. If you are
taking another English department course, the writing you start
with should come from that class.
This project will demonstrate your understanding of the rhetoric of hypertext
and mastery of basic web authoring tools.
SKILLS: During the semester, you will learn how to
- set up your server space on the Mason server
- create directories and set permissions
- upload files and manage your site
- create HTML pages using Netscape Composer (or another
editing tool of your choice)
- find appropriate content using search engines and library databases
- add links and targets using web authoring tools
- save and insert images using web authoring tools
- use tables to arrange content on individual pages
- use links to create a sequence of pages on your site
- learn about site design including ordering of pages and use
of appropriate navigational aids
- work on design issues, including color, aesthetics, and readability.
REQUIREMENTS: This class meets for only four weeks. Although
the syllabus and assignments are on-line, ENGL 209 is not a distance-learning
class. You must come to class prepared, and do all of the assigned
reading, in-class projects, and homework assignments. Your work must
be turned in on time. If you do not hand in all assignments, you
cannot pass the course.
GRADING: Your final grade will be determined as follows:
- Homepage and class site: 20%
- Web page critique: 15%
- Image Capture: 15%
- Hypertext Annotation: 15%
- Final Project: 25%
- Participation and demonstration: 10%
PLAGIARISM: see the GMU
Honor Code |
