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You guys were an awesome class. Thanks for a great semester. I wish you well. Good luck with school, professions, marriage, and life. And feel free to stay in touch.

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P.S. This is probably the last email you want to receive from our class blog. There should be an unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email.

Final: Punctuation Quiz

The 1200-Word Final

INSTRUCTIONS: You have to write a total of 1200 words. You also have to answer each of these seven questions. That means you can give short answers on some and long answers on others, until you reach the word count. (And remember the Ninja Method, grasshopper.)

1. What was the coolest moment of the semester? (Doesn’t have to be related to our class.) 
2. What do you think I think is the most important thing I’ve taught you this semester? 
3. What is the most important thing you’ve learned this semester?
4. What new bits of technology did you learn? What did you learn about the role of technology in communication?
5. What’s something you learned from Lynn Truss in Eats, Shoots and Leaves?
6. In The Anatomy of Peace, Yusuf and Avi taught us about acting on the feelings that tell us to treat others as people. What action did reading the book encourage you to take? What relationship did it make you think about? 
7. If you were running the show, what would you have changed to make this class better?

EXTRA CREDIT: Explain how a specific scene in Nacho Libre teaches an important principle of writing (describe the scene too).

P.S. Did your changes to the Wikipedia entry stick? Explain. (But you don’t have to copy and paste all that stuff I told you to do.)



NOTE: Make sure you label your answers (you could copy and paste the questions above into a Word document). Also, when you EMAIL IT TO ME, rename the file with your name and give the “essay” a  clever title—like we always do. This is due Wednesday at 5:00pm.

Freewrite Race (10 mins)

We're going to write for 10 minutes.

You can write about whatever you want (but no gibberish).

The person with the highest word count at the end gets 2 points extra credit.

Stop writing when the timer goes off, and paste what you have as a comment below.

Food and the Last Day of Class

I’ll give you +2 points extra credit for bringing homemade, savory food on the last day of class (Monday). Sign up here: http://goo.gl/3cl8D

Also, FYI, the final won’t be held in class anymore—it’ll be online. More details to come.

On Monday, you need to have a draft of your technical poster ready for your peers to critique. After the critiques, we’ll have workshop time, and I’ll be able to give more tips on how to do whatever it is you want to do. (But keep it simple if possible. And don’t forget to track your hours.)

See you Monday.

Teammate Grading

You’ll submit this form multiple times—once for each teammate.

I recommend you write up your answers in a separate document and do a little editing before you paste them into the form and click submit.

Goals Rushwrite

Our technical poster assignment has four main goals. Write one paragraph for each, explaining how your project meets the goals. (Post your answers as a comment below.)

1. It has lasting value to you.
2. It’s a project you can share with future employers to prove your abilities.
3. It teaches you software you’ll use in the future.
4. It helps you become a better communicator.

Medical Obfuscation

Read this: Medical Obfuscation by Michael Crichton. 

(If you didn’t know, Crichton is an M.D. who wrote Jurassic Park, Congo, Sphere, and many other popular novels.)

And here is the quiz we’ll take at the beginning of class Friday:

1. What percentage of the reading did you do? 
2. Explain a specific concept from his article that stood out to you (something you underlined, perhaps). 
3. What’s one detail you’d like to improve in your writing style? 
4. If you were the author of this piece, how would you update it if you were going to do one more revision?

Infographic

Check this out:

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669394/infographic-captures-the-amazing-scale-of-space-through-scrolling

Brainstorming for Posters

Come up with 3 potential ideas that you’d like to do for the technical poster. Paste these as a comment below.

Contribute to World Knowledge

1.) Find a Wikipedia page on a topic you know a lot about (e.g., something from your major, an obscure TV show or video game, a religious concept you have a unique view about, an illness you’re familiar with, etc.—just make sure it’s a page that could use your writerly skills). Paste the URL of the article as a comment below. NOTE: This may be the most important step.

2.) Copy the section you plan to edit (CMD+C) and paste it twice (CMD+V) into a Google Doc. Next, paste the article URL at the top. Finally, take a screenshot (CMD+SHFT+4) of the section you intend to edit and insert that too, for good measure.

3.) Leave an original copy of the text up top, and then edit the second copy down below. These might be mechanical and mid-level edits, but they need to be significant. You might re-word something to make it more clear. You might add missing information too. Also, consider including a citation to legitimize your changes—this will matter for step 5.

4.) Log in to Wikipedia and edit the section.

5.) You’ll earn 10 points for these first four steps (but don’t forget significant). If your edits last till the day of the final (meaning the community accepted the changes), you’ll earn an additional 5 points.

Do your best to finish this in class so you don’t have extra homework. You’ll email this to me during class on the final day (more instructions to come). 

How to Submit Your Instructions

1. This assignment has a new type of REFLECTIONS: (A) What did you learn from the usability test? (B) What surprised you? (C) What did this teach you about human interaction and communication that may be useful in the future?
2. Each group member should write an individual reflections essay. Then compile these into a single document (.DOC, .DOCX, or Google Docs).
3. If you haven't already, convert your instructions into a digital file that can be emailed.
4. RENAME the files (reflections and instructions) so they have your first names and a title. Then ATTACH them to an email.
5. In the SUBJECT LINE, write your names and the title of the instructions.
6. EMAIL it to me at travis washburn at byu dot edu.

This is due Friday at 5:00 pm.

Examples of (Good/Bad) Instructions

You need to find an example of instructions, good or bad. So you're looking for a How-To type of article, one that gives a step-by-step on how to complete a specific process.

Paste a link to an example below. Make sure to identify a good or bad point about it too.

This is due Wednesday before class.

A Brief History of 21 Exceptional Majors

1.) What is the purpose of these first three paragraphs?

2.) How does Bryson accomplish this purpose?

3.) What does this introduction do as far as ethos, pathos, and logos are concerned?





Now it’s your turn. Take 20 minutes.

You might start by brainstorming 25 interesting things about your area of interest (probably your major, but it could be a hobby too). Then choose one of these 25 and zoom in. Choose a purpose similar to Bryson’s purpose.

Try to do what he does here: make it interesting to a real human being—capture your reader’s imagination.

When the time runs out, post what you’ve written as a comment below. I also dare you to post it on Facebook or another social forum, or email it to some friends—try to get the feedback ratio tilted in your favor.

Presentations Worth Emulating

1. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find a video of a presentation worth emulating. (You're doing oral presentations soon, and this will help you know how to do one well.) 
2. When you find it, paste the video URL as a comment below. 
3. Also in your comment, identify one thing that the speaker does well that you want to copy when you do your presentation. 

If you don't know where to start, here are the top-20 most popular TED Talks.

This is due Monday before class.

Your Worst Childhood Nightmare

In honor of Friday the 13th, post your worst childhood nightmare as a comment below.

Use as many sensory details as possible—make it scary!

How to submit your research paper

1. Type a your REFLECTIONS* collaboratively (as a group) and integrate them into the letter of transmittal. (This is a slight deviation from the example and what I told you in class.) 
2. Make sure you have all the necessary parts: TITLE PAGE, LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL, TABLE OF CONTENTS, LIST OF FIGURES (if necessary), LIST OF TABLES (if necessary), ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION, BODY SECTIONS, CONCLUSION, REFERENCES, APPENDICES.
3. Save this single document as a .DOC or .DOCX file. (Alternatively, I wouldn't be entirely opposed to you sharing a Google Doc instead.) 
4. RENAME the file so it has your first names and a title (and don’t delete the .doc extension).
5. ATTACH it to an email.
6. In the SUBJECT LINE, write your names and the paper title.
7. EMAIL it to me at travis washburn at byu dot edu.

*Write a paragraph for each of these three questions: (1) What did you do well on? (2) What did you struggle with? (3) If you could do this whole assignment over again, what would you change?


This is due Friday at 9:00 pm.






By submitting this assignment through email, you are confirming that (1) your email is sufficiently secure to send and receive confidential grades and (2) you’re willing to have your grades come back through the same email address (that is, you trust email’s level of security and are willing to take the risk of any breaches). If you’d rather have your grades transmitted through paper, please submit a paper copy of the assignment to my box in JFSB 4116.

Friday Assignment 2 (Divergence Assignment)

LECTURE
Watch this lecture before proceeding with the assignment:



ASSIGNMENT

1. Finish a complete draft and exchange it with your writing partner.
2. Give them all three types of feedback, sticking to the highest level you can manage.
3. If you didn’t already, make sure you tell them (1) what you might change if it were your paper instead of theirs and (2) what you liked and want to emulate in your own writing. 
4. Trade back.
5. Update your draft based on the feedback.

SUBMIT

1. Don’t worry about reflections on this one.
2. Attach THE FEEDBACK YOU GAVE so I can see what you did (a separate file is fine). 
3. Attach your DIVERGENCE ASSIGNMENT.

Make sure you RENAME both files so they have your name and a title. In the SUBJECT LINE, write your name and the paper title. EMAIL them to me at travis washburn at byu dot edu.

This is due Friday at 5:00.

By submitting this assignment through email, you are confirming that (1) your email is sufficiently secure to send and receive confidential grades and (2) you’re willing to have your grades come back through the same email address (that is, you trust email’s level of security and are willing to take the risk of any breaches). If you’d rather have your grades transmitted through paper, please submit a paper copy of the assignment to my box in JFSB 4116.

Friday Assignment 1

In 3-4 paragraphs, explain the psychology behind the proposals (with the blindfold on, 15 minutes should do):

• What was your thought process in joining a group? 
• What was the biggest factor that influenced you to choose your favorite proposal?
• If you were to do your proposal again, what might you do differently?

Submit this assignment by LEAVING A COMMENT below.

Friday’s class will be online!

ANALYSIS-DIVERGENCE
The new analysis assignment is this:

Write something valuable.

And what I mean is: try to write something that matters to you. Also, write something that will be valuable to another person—probably a close friend of yours. Write about something that’s been bothering you, like Hemley does (see reading)—write a narrative of an event that changed your life—or teach your reader something you have unique expertise about. And don’t forget the ninja method.

READING
For Friday, instead of reading the last chapter of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, read Robin Hemley’s “No Pleasure But Meanness.” And do this before you start your “analysis” (which, obviously, isn’t an analysis anymore—let’s call it the Divergence assignment). It’s pretty light reading. Mostly I hope it changes the way you write—hope it invites you to write your full personality.

CLASS
Looks like I’m jumping ship with me bro, so I won’t be in class Friday. That means I won’t be taking roll. You may still need to attend, based on what your group-leader decides (see below). Also, we still have two assignments, which you can complete online:

ASSIGNMENT 1
This assignment is a psychological follow-up to the proposals we just did. I’ll post the details in a separate blog post—so “at dawn, look to the east.”

ASSIGNMENT 2
This is a peer-critique assignment. I’ll post a video lecture about doing peer critique (again, watch for a separate post). After you watch the lecture, you’ll apply the principles by critiquing a partner’s Divergence assignment. Your final Divergence assignment plus your critical feedback will be due Friday at 5:00. This means you need to exchange papers with your critique partner sometime Friday morning so there’s time to give feedback before the 5:00 deadline.

GROUP MEETINGS
The rest of Friday’s class time will be used for group work. You’re welcome to meet in our classroom (in fact, I recommend it). I know it will be tempting to skip meeting as a group. Just remember how soon this project is due—procrastinating won’t help. Group leaders, this will be up to you to coordinate.

GOOGLE+ HANGOUT
I’ll be online, hanging out on Google+ publicly from 8:00–9:50 am Friday. If you want to hang out there (for questions or just for fun), feel free. If you don’t want to do video chat (sometimes it’s buggy anyways), you can invite my Gmail account to chat.

I’m sending this now in case you want to get ahead.

Email me if you have questions.