Exams

Exams will focus both on information from the textbook and from lecture, with more focus placed on ideas that are developed in class lecture and discussion. The test will be multiple choice, matching & true/false. The test will only include 30-33 items.

Students will be permitted to use 3x5 notecards during the test period if they turned in the review notecards on the day readings were due. Each day that reading is due -- a 3x5 notecard will be collected at the beginning of class. No notecards will be accepted later in the class period.

Study sheets will be provided one week prior to the exam for students.

Identifying a Community Need

Before you begin your search for a Community Need that you can be invested in -- let me spend a moment defining "Community Need." A community need is a problem that affects many people in the community in a similiar way. A community need is never caused by one person; these needs always have a complicated history and are rooted in multiple institutions and events. Different groups in the community are affected in different ways, but what makes it a *community* need -- is that many people are troubled and almost everyone wants to solve it (though in different ways).

I recommend that you start this process by brainstorming. What are the community needs that you already know about from your own hometown? They can be needs that exist at the neighborhood level, the city level, the county level. These issues could be related to some community institutions, community businesses or just residents. These issues might affect only older people, younger people, married people or handicapped people.

Often the problems that are most significant in our own lives -- are rooted in a much larger systemic problem that might not be obvious at first, but may actually be a problem that could be addressed in the community.

I'd recommend that you brainstorm a list of problems that you can think of without doing any research first.

Next, I'd recommend that you try to think about how other people, unlike you, who also live in your community, might answer the question: What are the biggest problems that people in the community face? What are the biggest problems that the community faces?

After you've thought hard about your own experiences and those experiences that you're aware of -- I suggest you look to some other sources. There are institutions that already exist in this community (the greater Canton area & Stark County) who only exist to address existing problems. Many of them are non-profit institutions; a few more are government branches. I suggest that you browse the links below and expand your list of problems by thinking about the work that these organizations do.

Stark County Foundation

Stark County Family Council

City Data on Canton

Census Data on Stark County

After you've thought hard about these agencies and their work, you may already have enough options. If you don't, I suggest that you read the paper. The Canton Repository and the Akron Beacon Journal (maybe the Cleveland Plain Dealer) are good; I might recommend a national paper or two, too (The New York Times, The Washington Post, etc...). Unfortunately much of the newspaper's pages these days are NOT devoted to community needs, but are, instead, devoted to surprising local events.
Make sure you focus your reading on problems that fit into the definition above.

Now that you've brainstormed a huge list of potential problems -- how do you choose the right one for you to address?

I suggest that you identify the top three-five problems that you're most interested in and spend an hour or two researching them on the web. How have other communities dealt with this problem? What does this problem look like in this community? What information and resources will aid your preparation for this presentation? Look over the assignment again before you make your choice -- which option best fits:

your gifts + the assignments demands + your classmates' interests + this community's needs.

Once you've settled on a Community Issue, send me an email proposal and if I approve it, I'll add it to the list of approved topics here on the blog. If I have some concerns, I'll email you.

When you send me your issue-proposal-email, you should clearly articulate the problem in a full sentence. In a second sentence, you should explain *why* this is a problem, even if it seems too obvious to you, I want you to explain the "harms" and the "impact" of this problem.

That's it. Just two sentences. I'll only accept these proposals through email. While these proposals are not graded, the longer you wait to turn one in, the more difficult it will be for you to find a problem. If you present a problem at the fair that I have not approved in advance, you risk the possibility that it will not meet the criteria I stated at the top of this post. If you present a problem that does not meet these criteria, your presentation will automatically have 20% deducted from the grade you earn.

Research for Your Oral History

The Research for your oral history will help you in thinking about your participants, their experiences and the process of interviewing them.  You should collect some academic research, you should read some first-person accounts, you should collect some literature from the popular press.  You should turn in a summary paragraph that draws together your key findings,  a list of questions that you may include in your interview, and a list of works that you consulted.  Please use MLA format or APA format in this citation.  You will turn in your research via Google Docs, again sharing your document with comm.110.malone@gmail.com (as well as the members of your group).  Your research is due by 8 pm on October 23rd. 

Back to the project page.

Media Literacy Speech

OVERVIEW:  The Media Literacy Speech is a 7-9 minute speech that helps your audience (students, your peers) develop stronger Media Literacy skills.

Your presentation must integrate concepts from our course, include an in-depth analysis of a particular media text, focus on media literacy, emerge from significant research and be carefully organized.

Each person will choose a media text and develop a speech that explains that text (from a media literacy perspective). Each text must be posted to the course shared google doc, must be IMPORTANT in the last two years and each speech must deal with a unique genre in that particular medium. Andrew will regularly review these topics and let you know if there is a problem.

Examples of media texts could include:

television sit-coms
tv reality shows
tv game shows
(other kinds of television shows)
magazines
video games
movies
an album
a radio show
a song
a newspaper page
a web page

Your media text must be a MASS media text, so cell phone messages, skype, AIM, email, plays and live performances by bands DON'T count.

Your media text must be an INFLUENTIAL (critically or popularly) media text from the past year (12 months).

You may want to include a CLIP or a PORTION or PICTURES of/from your media text, but any videos from your speech may not extend longer than 10% of your speaking time.

Your speech should be carefully crafted, employing all of Aristotle's proofs to engage your audience and persuade them to care about their own media literacy within this genre / medium / (type of) text.

POINTS AVAILABLE: 75 points

ASSESSMENT BASED ON::

Content - value of information, sources & focus (25),
Speaking/Presentation points (25),
Structure & Creativity of Overall Presentation (25),

TURN IN:

A full sentence outline, minimally two levels (I. A., B.). Your outline must be the CONTENT of the speech, NOT a description of what you will do in the speech.  (in other words, the subject of the sentence cannot be "I" and the verb should never be "will explain"  -- make actual claims about your actual subject.)

A works cited page including proper citations of all sources and the text you're focusing upon.

You should share all of these materials with comm.110.malone@gmail.com

Speech Giving Groups

Mitchell Hall 207:

Ben
Tim
Jason
Cady
Amy



Mitchell Hall 209:

Diedre
Sarah
Colleen
Allison
Kelsey


Mitchell Hall 203:

Jordan
Andrew
Tommy
Jenny
Chuck


Mitchell Hall 103:

Lepear
Juho
Will
Hunter
Travis


Mitchell Hall 107:

Jared
Felipe
Conner
Phil
Michael

Informative Speech Writing Groups

You'll work in these groups together for the next weeks to develop and write an informative speech on a community issue. You can find out more about the assignment here. These groups will also serve as an opportunity for you to participate in "labs" focused on group communication.

Child Abuse:
Tim
Andrew
Juho
Felipe
Sarah

Domestic Violence:
Diedre
Jared
Lepear
Ben
Jordan

Obesity:
Travis
Mike
Chuck
Amy
Kelsey

Teen Pregnancy:
Hunter
Phil
Jenny
Cady
Allison

Animal Cruelty:
Colleen
Will
Jason
Thomas
Connor

Overview Sheet

Your overview sheet is due on MONDAY, February 17th you give your COMMUNITY ISSUES FAIR SPEECH. The overview sheet should include:

a clear statement of your community issue,

a clear statement of your persuasive goal,

an explanation of how you implemented each step of Monroe's Motivated Sequence, and

an appropriately formatted list of references (please feel free to use whichever style manual you usually use -- APA, MLA or Chicago)