Advanced Composition: Digital Storytelling (English 333)

Texas A&M University-Commerce, Spring 2011 Shannon Carter, PhD

Online, eCollege shannon_carter@tamu-commerce.edu

Office Hours: Tuesday, 2-4:00 (by phone) and Office Location: HL 209, though office hours
Thursday, 2:00-3:00 (@ office). Appointments are will also be held at Gee Library, First Floor, as
especially welcome. you begin working on your multimedia projects.

images from Texas

A&M-Commerce
Digital Collections

“Ugly Man Contest” “Campus Ice Storm” “ETSU Students”

Commerce, TX (1959) Commerce, TX (c 1950) Commerce (1907)
An advanced composition course engaging 21st-century modalities for composing (images, audio, print, text) in
what is often called “Digital Storytelling.” As the influential critic Lawrence Lessing argues, “creativity and
innovation always build on the past” (Free Culture, 2004). Our course foregrounds this notion by drawing
extensively from local history to retell those stories through new media--especially as represented in the Digital
Collections at Texas A&M-Commerce. For this and many other reasons, any research trail that begins or ends in our
university’s Digital Collections is appropriate fodder for the digital compositions resulting from this course.

Objectives
• To gain familiarity with and control over multiple modes of composition
<multimodality>
• To gain familiarity and increasing facility with a range of tools (software and
hardware) useful in creating multimodal texts <composing technologies>
• To learn about and use contemporary communication technologies in a variety of
settings and for a variety of purposes <communication technologies>
• To understand and effectively navigate the ethical considerations associated with
creating and sharing multimodal texts <creative rights>
• To expand research skills by engaging in primary and secondary research inside and
outside the library <research methods>
• To develop abilities to work collaboratively in a variety of in- and out-of-class
activities and settings <collaboration>

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Texts
Required Texts [purchase]
I’ve included ISBNs so you can explore purchase options online. All items below are available for
purchase at our campus bookstore.

Kammen, Carol. On Doing Local History. Second Edition. AltaMira Press, 2003. ISBN:
978-0759102538
Wright, Richard. 12 Million Black Voices. Basic Books, 2002. ISBN: 1560254467 or
9781560254461
Westhafer, Cheryl and James H. Conrad. A Pictorial History of Commerce , Texas.
Commerce, Texas: Friends of Commerce Public Library, 2010. Print. ISBN
9780615386645
Tarpley, Fred, Ed. Memories of Old ET. Silver Leos Guild. No ISBN available but
complete purchase information at
http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_65365.shtml

Required Texts [available FREE]

In addition to the above required texts, we will be making extensive use of texts available online. Please
check eCollege for collection of additional required readings.

Equipment
Software [available FREE]
Most of what we will be doing can be done with free software on your home computer. Video editing
software is among the basic software for PCs and Macs. Additional software needed is available for free
download.

In-Process Media Storage/Sharing:: Dropbox (Windows/Mac)

Manage Bibliographic Data: Zotera (Windows/Mac)
Web Design: Weebly (Windows/Mac)
Video Production:: Movie Maker (Windows) or iMovie (Mac)
Audio Production:: Audacity (Windows/Mac)

[audacity.sourceforge.net] [dropbox.com] [zotera.org] [weebly.com]

For Windows Users--All versions of Windows since XP come with a version of basic editing software,
Movie Maker, which is more than enough for what we are going to be doing in class.

For Mac Users--Macs all come with a version of iMovie, which is also quite enough for this course.

Software [purchase]
In addition to above, we will be making extensive use of the program Comic Life. You can certainly make
use of the thirty-day trial (free!), and most machines in Gee Library are loaded with Comic Life and other
software useful new media production.

Windows Users: Purchase Comic Life at http://plasq.com/products/comiclife/win for $24.95

Mac Users: Purchase Comic Life at http://plasq.com/products/comiclife2/ for $19.99

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Hardware/Additional Equipment
In addition to a PC or Mac, your projects may require you to capture additional (new) video, audio, or
images. If so, you’ll need equipment for capturing this new media and downloading it to your computer
so you can manipulate it. The vast majority of equipment you need for this course is available for
checkout at the Gee Library. Checkout times will be quite limited, which means some of you may want to
invest in some of your own multimedia equipment.*

Available at the Circulation Desk @Gee Library--

Laptops
Flip Cameras with kit (including tripod)
Audio Recorders
USB-camera cables
Headphones (noise canceling)
Large, external USB harddrives
Headphones (highly recommended)
DVD burner with writable DVD media and relevant software
Mini DV Digital videocassettes (if using camcorder other than Flip Camera)
Large, external USB harddrive (for storing media)
Memory stick(s), for ease of sharing (at least 4 gig, preferably more)

*If you are planning on purchasing equipment or have questions about what you already have on
hand, please come chat with me about it.

Assignments and grading

Brief descriptions for each assignment below and their value. Much guidance and additional directives
available soon.

NOTE: Upon submission, Essays 1-3 should be accompanied by a one-page, reflective memo in which you explain
the rhetorical decisions that you made throughout the composition process. What inspired your assignment choice/
topic? Why did you choose to express yourself using a particular medium? How does that medium facilitate the
rhetorical purpose of your text? What thoughts/feelings/insights did you have during the process? Now that you
have completed the assignment, what are your thoughts on the decisions that you made? In other words, really think
through the process and write a substantial reflection that shows the careful consideration that you put into creating
your text.

Essay #1: Picturing Local History--[10%]

For this first essay, you will develop a photo essay about some aspect of our history in Northeast Texas.
Project requires students to remix relevant images from archival materials with alphabetic text in an
attempt to to create an identifiable narrative regarding some aspect of Northeast Texas history.

Essay #2: Local History as “Sequential Art”--[10%]

For this assignment, you will remake an aspect of one or more of the memoirs presented in Memories of
Old ET or within the A&M-Commerce Digital Collections. The genre you are creating here is Sequential
Art, a term critic Will Eisner coined to describe the broad category of combining images with words in
sequence (Comics and Sequential Art, 1985). In a word, Sequential Art is comics and vice versa. Critic
Scott McCloud extends this notion by defining comics as “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in
deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or produce an aesthetic response in the
viewer” (Understanding Comics, 1993). That is your goal with Essay #2: to convey information about
Northeast Texas and/or otherwise produce an aesthetic response in the viewer about some aspect of
Northeast Texas.

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Essay #3: Moving Local History [10%]
The first two major assignments asked you to retell some aspect of our local history through photoessay
(static images combined with text) and sequential art (static images presented in deliberate sequence).
This third assignment asks you to begin retelling local history through video, audio, or other such means.
Options include creating a short video with the text-to-screen tool Xtranormal, (“Xtranormal Local
History”!), the slideshow editing tool PhotoStory 3, or video editing programs like Movie Maker or
iMovie. You might even consider retelling local history as audio essay, perhaps modeled after popular
radio broadcasts like NPR’s This American Life and using the audio editing tool Audacity. Much more
about these options and more soon.

Reflective Statement--[10%]
For this assignment, you will reflect on the work you have done for the course in terms of the major goals
of the course (see “Course Objectives” above) with the overall goal of demonstrating what and how you
have learned over the 15 weeks of the semester. Project should be 3-4 pages in length and will be due to
me by midnight the Sunday before finals week. NOTE: Up to 10 points extra credit will be given to
students whose reflection is multimodal. If you decide to go this route, your reflection will not doubt be in
a format different than above. Contact me ahead of time so we can discuss what you have in mind. Due to
the additional time to compose such a reflection, your due date will be during Finals Week. Again, you’ll
receive many more additional details soon.

Digital Storytelling Portfolio--[40%]

For your final project, you will develop a webtext for a public audience that communicates some
aspect of life in Northeast Texas. Your Digital Storytelling Portfolio should communicate that
complex information in a straightforward way. Essentially the Digital Storytelling Portfolios
produced in this course should offer effective companion sites to the course text Memoirs of Old ET
and/or the Texas A&M-Commerce Digital Collections.

Final webtext will combine deep revisions of at least one of the major assignments created for this
course (Essays #1-3), appropriate design, and extensive use of reflective elements and other
materials. Web projects make it possible to combine a range of channels of communication (i.e.,
linguistic, gestural, spatial, etc) into a single text. The project should take advantage of these
possibilities and develop through several stages, from initial overview to final presentation.

Site content will include the following: (OVERVIEW) short introduction to site contents; (TEXT) a
significant multimodal texts (audio, video, photoessay, etc) revealing extensive and appropriate use
of archival materials and deep revision; (ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS) bibliography of all source
materials, including relevant statement regarding creative rights for each; (PROFILE) brief profile
from author; (FREE ZONE) any additional, relevant contributions that might enhance the website’s
overall goals and purposes.

Weekly Discussion Activities--[20%]

Regular, enthusiastic, productive, and informed participation is expected. Keep up with our readings and
contribute (thoughtfully, productively) to our online discussions. That’s crucial. Specifics: Each week, you
will have at least three “threads” (“Threaded Discussion Activity” or “TDA”) in which I will expect you
to participate. You will find these at the “Discussion” tab listed each week, and you should contribute at
least two significant posts to teach TDA each week. Consider yourself in competition with your
classmates. Have you engaged the readings? the core arguments and implications of the readings and
other materials under discussion? your classmates? Are your responses informed? provocative?

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productive? timely? If a plaque were offered at the end of the week for the Best Overall Responses to
each TDA, would you win? You should. Each post should go beyond merely summarizing the required
readings, but it should also be obvious from your post that you have read and completed everything
assigned for the week. That’s the minimum. Much better would be to post more than twice in each TDA
and engage your classmates’ posts as well. Otherwise, how can you “win”? :)

Timing: Post before the end of the day Monday, if at all possible. Get your first post of the week in by
Wednesday at the absolute latest. As much as possible, the discussion should be a discussion rather than
multiple speakers posting ideas/thoughts sans interaction. Participatory. Dynamic. One way to help make
that happen is to post early in the week and again later in the week. Posting early allows others to bring
you into the conversation that follows. Posting later in the week ensures that you benefit from how the
discussion has progressed and get a chance to weigh in with your own thoughts.

Policies
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory. Though you are not physically attending a class here, you are “here” when you
show up to the online discussions (TDAs), engage with them, and get your assignments in on time. Don't
skip a week. I will not let you make up the work unless you experience something dire--and I don't wish
that on anyone. If something is going on that's getting in the way of your class time, please let me know.

Late assignments
You must keep up with the reading and, since each assignment builds on the previous one, I cannot accept
late assignments. If you experience truly exceptional circumstances, please contact me immediately.

Official Statements
Academic Honesty: The official departmental policy: “Instructors in the Department of
Literature and Languages do not tolerate plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty. Instructors
uphold and support the highest academic standards, and students are expected to do likewise. Penalties for
students guilty of academic dishonesty include disciplinary probation, suspension, and expulsion.” (Texas
A&M University-Commerce Code of Student Conduct 5.b [1,2,3])

Student Conduct: All students enrolled at the University shall follow the tenets of common decency and
acceptable behavior conducive to a positive learning environment.

Americans with Disabilities Act Statement: Students requesting accommodations for disabilities
must go through the Academic Support Committee. For more information, please contact
the Director of Disability Resources and Services, Halladay Student Services Building, Room
303D, 903.886.5835.

Support
Writing Center
The Writing Center (or the “Communication Skills Center”) offers writers free, one-on-one assistance. We
welcome all writers, majors, and disciplines—undergraduate and graduate students alike. In fact, we work
from the premise that all writers, no matter their ability level, benefit from the feedback of knowledgeable
readers. The Writing Center staff is trained to provide writers with just this service. In short, we are here
to help you help yourself. In order to ensure the most effective session possible, we offer visitors the
following suggestions: (1) Get started on your writing project early, and visit the Writing Center at least
one day before your final draft is due. You will need time to work with the ideas and suggestions

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generated in your tutorial sessions. (2) Bring a written copy of your assignment, any relevant readings,
and one or two specific questions or concerns you would like to discuss with us. We are located in the
Hall of Languages, Room 103 (903-886-5280) and online at <http://www7.tamu-commerce.edu/litlang/
CSC/index.htm>.

CLASS SCHEDULE [tentative]

Assigned readings can be found among required course texts, unless otherwise indicated.

WK 1 (1/18-1/23): Introduction(s)
Guiding Questions: What is meant by “digital storytelling”? How have 21st-century ways of telling stories usurped
our previous methods? In what ways have these new methods merely worked older ones? How might the concept of
“remixing” or “mashups” enable new approaches to storytelling and why might that matter to us in this advanced
composition course?

Read: Lamb, Brian. “Dr. Mashups; or, Why Educators Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Remix.”
EDUCAUSE Review. 42.4 (July/August 2007): 12-25. (eCollege)
View: Relevant video, National Archives and A&M-Commerce Digital Collections (eCollege)
Write: In response to all TDAs
Reflect: In preparation for these and related conversations.

WK 2 (1/24-1/30): “Picturing” Local History

Guiding Questions: What is a photoessay? How might images function in digital storytelling? How might archival
images enable more effective storytelling? More accurate storytelling? How might we make effective use of archival
materials in the creation of essays that effectively integrate images and text?

Read: On Doing Local History, Chapter 1 and A Pictorial History of Commerce, Texas (required texts)
Explore: Texas A&M-Commerce’s Digital Collections
<http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/library/collections/digital/>
Begin: developing Essay 1

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 Write: In response to all TDAs
Reflect: In preparation for these and related conversations.

WK 3 (1/31-2/6): Remixing “Memories”

Guiding Questions: Who are we? As Americans? As Texans? As a community? Collectively? Individually? Who do
we know ourselves to be? How have we changed over time? How can we tell a people’s story through materials
available in our formal archives? Through materials we create and collect elsewhere? What does memory have to do
with it? What does technology have to do with it?

Read: On Doing Local History, Chapter 2, and 12 Million Black Voices (Wright)
Portrait of America, Chapter 1 (eCollege)
Develop: Essay 1
Write: In response to all TDAs
Reflect: In preparation for these and related conversations.

WK 4 (2/7-2/13): Local History

Read: Memories of Old ET (Tarpley, Silver Leos Guild)

Rhetoric at the Margins (Gold), Chapters 1 and 3 (eCollege)
Revise: Essay 1
Write: In response to all TDAs
Reflect: In preparation for these and related conversations.

WK 5 (2/14-2/20): Ethics (and Creative Rights)

Guiding Questions: What is Fair Use? What is Copyright Law and what does that have to do with composing in a
Web 2.0 world? How do new ways of composing challenge current copyright laws? What is meant by “push
back” (Bound by Law)? What is meant by the argument that “creativity and innovation always build on the
past” (Lessig)? What is Creative Commons and what might that have to do with us? With archival research?

SUBMIT: Essay 1 and Reflective Memo

Read: Bound By Law (eCollege) and On Doing Local History, Chapter 3
Tutorial: Comic Life

WK 6 (2/21-2/27): Local History as Sequential Art

Read: Understanding Comics, Chapter 1 (eCollege)

View: TED Talks, Scott McCloud (eCollege)
Develop: Essay 2

WK 7 (2/28-3/6): Local History as Sequential Art (continued)

SUBMIT: Essay 2 and Reflective Memo

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 WK 8 (3/7-3/13): Moving Local History

Read: On Doing Local History, Chapter 4

Develop: Essay 3

Special Event: Join us for the 2011 event “Writing

Democracy”! The very conversations you are having
here were inspired (and inspire) those leading to and
from this exciting conference, featuring several of
the scholars you’ve read thus far--including Deborah
Mutnick (conference co-organizer), David Gold
(keynoter), Jerrold Hirsch (keynoter), among others.

Where? Texas A&M-Commerce campus

When? March 9-11, 2011
Visit conference website at http://
www.writingdemocracy.weebly.com

SPRING BREAK

WK 9 (3/20-3/27): Ethics (and Creative Rights)

Guiding Questions: What is Fair Use? What is Copyright Law and what does that have to do with composing in a
Web 2.0 world? How do new ways of composing challenge current copyright laws? What is meant by “push
back” (Bound by Law)? What is meant by the argument that “creativity and innovation always build on the
past” (Lessig)? What is Creative Commons and what might that have to do with us? With archival research?

View: “Creativity Always Builds on the Past” (Cone)

<http://creativecommons.org/videos/building-on-the-past>; “On Laws that Choke Creativity” (Lessig),
TED <http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html>; “Wanna
Work Together?” (Creative Commons)
<http://creativecommons.org/videos/wanna-work-together>
Explore: Digital Collections (Texas A&M-Commerce), Internet Archives (archive.org), and additional Public
Domain and relevant archival materials with potential for digital storytelling
Write: In response to all TDAs
Reflect: In preparation for these and related conversations.

WK 10 (3/28-4/3): Digital Storytelling

Submit: Essay 3 and Reflective Memo

Read: On Doing Local History, Chapter 5
Begin: Final Reflections and Digital Storytelling Portfolio

WK 11 (4/3-4/10): Digital Storytelling

Submit: Site Overview

Create: Wireframe with Design Plan
After choosing a site template and navigation system, sketch a standard page indicating all design
elements including typography (font, size, formatting), color scheme, and image use. Include information
about how the elements and rhetorical choices work with site’s overall purpose, audience, and key themes.
Create: Working Bibliography
Provide complete citation information for all primary and secondary source materials you used in
creating all components to be included in your website. For all media included in the multimodal texts
themselves, include a relevant statement regarding creative rights for each.

WK 12 (4/11-4/17): Digital Storytelling

Submit: Wireframe with Design Plan

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 Submit: Working Bibliography
Create: Revision for Significant Multimodal Texts included in webtext
If working with video, offer a storyboard illustrating your script by incorporating: sketches of
individual visual elements (clips or stills), including any text you’ll be using); notations regarding relevant
audio and where/when it will appear in relationship to other elements; plans for timing across elements; plans
for transitions. If significant multimodal text will be presented as audio essay, create a detailed description of
key audio elements you’ll be using, plans for transitions, and other relevant information.

WK 13 (4/18-4/24): Digital Storytelling

Submit: Revision Plan

Create: Final Webtext
Prepare all elements (including reflections) to submit to class by week’s end, ensuring all elements
work as they should and giving yourself time to prepare the inevitable revisions before official deadline 5/1.

WK 14 (4/25-5/1): Digital Storytelling

Final Website Due!

Create: Reflective Statement (due 5/8)

WK 15 (5/2-5/8): Reflections

Reflective Statement Due! (unless you are composing a statement with extensive use of multimodal
elements; if so, your Reflective Statement is due during Finals Week. Please see description of “Reflective
Statement” above for details on this option and the “extra credit” potential it offers. Deadline for multimodal
reflections: Wednesday, 5/11)

FINALS WEEK

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