Assignment for Feb.15

Dear students:

Please be informed that from now on your regular preparation for the class will include not only your reading assignment, but also some work on your group project which you are expected to post on your weblog on a weekly basis. Your blog will serve as an online portfolio where you'll be gathering information and useful links for your future thematic web site, as well as a means of communication with me, your groupmates, and hopefully other like-minded people.

So, you task for our 2/15 class is

1. to be ready with your Theodore Dreiser assignment:


2. (his biography (HAL pp.145-15o) and "The Second Choice" story).


3. to construct your own blog.

The ultimate goal of our project is to create an original online resource for others. Each group is going to choose a topic (my list of suggestions is a work in progress) or to come up with a topic of interest to you that has to do with literary developments in the USA. We will be working in groups of 3 0r 4 students. Please form a group of 3 and take the following steps together.

Getting Started.
Step 1. You will need to sign up for your group's Blogger.com account. Go to http://www.blogger.com/start and click the "Create Your Own Account" link. Make sure that your group has a personal email account before attempting to sign up. (Since the three of you will be using one and the same login and password, it's a good idea to open up a new mail.ru or gmail.com email account and share it for the duration of the project.)

As part of the registration process, Blogger.com sends out a confirmation email containing a link necessary for activation of the new account. As your websites will be available for public viewing, it is perfectly acceptable for you to use pseudonyms or nicknames when signing up. Note: My display name is anna_filatova for obvious convenience reasons.

Step 2.
You will be required to enter your blog title which will be the heading of your weblog (eg. Mine is "American Literature: Students' Web Projects"). If need be, you can always change it though.
Also, you are to choose your blog's URL (its Internet address). My URL is http://american-literature-projects.blogspot.com

Step 3.
Customize your blog, i.e. select a layout and color scheme for your group's weblogs. Blogspot.coml provides a generous selection of ready-to-go templates and colors that can be chosen with the click of a mouse. Simple customization is important, for it helps to create a sense of ownership and unique online identity from the very beginning. Edit your group's profile, i.e. upload your photos, put some info about yourselves and your interests.

Step 4.
Practice posting and editing! Play around with it. Then learn how to make comments on other Blogspot.com sites and answer comments on your own sites. Go to my weblog http://american-literature-projects.blogspot.com and leave your group's comment about your successful creation of your weblog and its URL.