Scrying on Yonder Showcase

December 10th, location TBA

• 10:00-10:30 set up in rooms  (we have STG 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 123, 124)
• 10:30-11:30 viewing in rooms (depending on # of videos and auditorium space/presentations)
• 11:30-12:30 presentations (in segments depending on rooms available)
• 12:30-1:00 debriefing sessions with instructors (debriefing questions)

"Crystal Ball" by John William Waterhouse

Nothing to fear, here. Rather, understand this prompt as an opportunity to summon something so much simpler than clairvoyance: clarity. Basic clarity about where you are now and where you want to be at the end of our semester.

What is a FYC showcase? Most of you know from previous experiences, but for those of you who don't, our program's showcase the ENC 1101/1102 surrogate final exam. 

By next Tuesday, November X

Write a short mission statement  or proposal memo that provides a rough idea what you hope to achieve/share/communicate at the December 11th showcase, and how (by what means? by what media?) you intend to enact this communicative Indicate whether or not you wish to give a brief oral presentation.

 Typically, mission statements provide opportunities to produce specific arguments and articulate specific goals. For example, the Center for Cognitive Liberties define "privacy," "autonomy," and "choice" as they seek support and link to diverse communities in their mission statement. Our purposes here are a little more precise. We want to connect an argument with a way of delivering that argument in the context of a showcase: we want to think about the design and medium of display and attention-gathering, as well as the form and content of our idea/argument. We could freewrite about this on our WikiBlogs, and at the same time create a mixmaster blog of all our mission statements. This way, we might be able find patterns across all of our ideas, and learn from each others' plans.

If you are feeling unsure about how to best share your semester's best efforts in a showcase context, work with and respond to the following questions, and create a blog from your responses:

1. Idea/ Purpose : What topic/concept/idea/question/problem can maintain your curiosity and energy for the duration of the semester? From this topic, formulate the most important (could be a practical question or set of questions, could be ethical) question you expect your readers need answered. What is your purpose in directing attention to this issue or idea?

 2. Form : Think about the media and research methods you will mix in research and writing this project. Then, consider this process again, and reconsider the elements you mix for their potential as display features that would invite attention and even participation:  film clips, graphics, and sounds from the world wide web (and beyond)? A poster, story board, a collage, a game, or a 'zine/pamphlet of some sort? A recommendation report stemming from your case study and literature review? A building, a garden, an event? To connect the different media you use, you will need to compose more text, and perhaps even conduct more research (interviews, observations, library research). Your display can emphasize one form, but can invite and create occasion for deeper attention to examples of your best writing.

3. Idiom and Audience : always, always, always consider your audience. Each member of each group will treat your subject from a certain perspective. Will you treat your audience and your topic as technician might? Like an artist or musician? Like an athlete? Like an single parent? An anthropologist? An employee at large firm? A concerned activist seeking reform in a specific field? More important is you treats the topic and audience. What is your ethos? Each project will be different, because each will be tuned to a different audience and scenario.

4. Secondary Investigator role: In order to continue to learn together, as a creative commons, we will need to provide secondary compositional effort on at least one outside project.  How will you help select and align the pieces of a peer  project (or projects)? Be prepared to consult on important rhetorical decisions ranging from the appropriateness of genre/conventions to in-text transitions and arrangement strategies. argumentative technique (definition, evaluation, cause, analogy, idiom translation, prolepsis, prolepsis, and more prolepsis)--you may be surprised at what you can render. You can provide technical editing skills (grammar, syntax, drawing/drafting, audio or video work). How much of your effort would you like to allocate to secondary investigator work?

 5. Structure: what is the overall structure of your project? How and in what sequence is it to be read, seen, heard, and experienced?

6. Surface: a) formatting; MLA/APA/Chicago style for research papers, and b) ratio of attention-grabbing media to deep-attention sections (extended prose sections)

7. Timeline: list weekly outcomes and deliverables (process, rough drafts, progress reports) that you feel will help you reach your desired outcome.

"The Medium is the Massage"

Here is yet another way to prepare for the showcase: consider how your idea would work in each of the following media/formats:

1. List ideas you want to focus on during the display

2. Describe how your idea could be displayed the following genres. Our goal here is to generate as many new ideas and ways of displaying as possible and appropriate to the message you want to share with your audience)

   Genre (this chart gives a few example...their are many, many more and even more possible combinations of genres/formats)		Ideas
   Collage
   Drawing(s)
   Oral Presentation
   PowerPoint
   Poster
   Informational flyer
   Brochure
   Photographs
   Newspaper	Front page
   	OP-ED
   Timeline
   Graph
   Pie chart
   Flowchart

3. How would the following design elements work for your topic?

   Design Element	Rationale
   Font type
   Font size
   Colors/ black& white
   Focal points/images/icons

4. What do you want people to focus on most? How can you best direct their attention to that element through design?

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5. What type of media—poster board, etc—will you use, and why?

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 Showcase Roster Form: fill out this online "Showcase Roster" form. Provide a catchy title!

Mixmaster Blog on yonder Showcase

post your responses below, so that we can see them all together. Let's see what happens!

More Showcase Documents

Oral Presentation and Video Application

Table Presentation Sign Up Sheet

Showcase Rubric

Evaluator’s Name: _____________________________________________________