Title: Unit 5: History of the Written Word Assignment
Course: Advanced Composition for the Digital Age SP14 > Section: Unit 5: The Written Word

History of the Written Word

Impress me with your new-found searching ability and create a presentation on the Written Word. Go back as far as you can. When did writing start? How has it evolved? Where is it headed?

Many students do a great job documenting the early stages of written communication and then completely leave out the last few hundred years and where they think things are heading. Don't be one of them.

Your presentation may take the form of a slideshow (Google Presentation/Slides280/...); Research Paper (See Research Resources) (Google Doc with Motion Charts); Detailed Timeline (TimeGlider); Screencast Presentation with audio; or anything else you want to try (get it approved by me first though). This is your chance to try out a tool you've always wanted to, or to focus on one that you really like.

This is a chance to be creative and you will be sharing it with the class for discussion. I don't want to give too many directions or place too many limitations on this assignment other than to say that it should be thorough and aesthetically pleasing. If you have questions email, or we can talk about it in a virtual conference.

Special Note: Since this presentation doesn't have any extra context to it (as far as you speaking while giving it), you'll need to make sure that you provide even more clarity and information in your slides. While a typical audience may be familiar with some of the terms, they would certainly need more background info on what some of the terms are. You may want to consider narrating your presentation while making a screencast so you can set the paciing for it and talk about your slides as you click through them. Then you can submit the video as your presentation.

Don't forget a Works Cited (Research Resource: Citing Your Work) page/slide/clip (if you're not sure how that should look check out the Proper Formatting resource or check out the OWL page for MLA citations both have menus to click on for whichever type of resource you're using). No matter what type of presentation you are working on, you will be using outside sources, so make sure you give proper attribution. Assignment submissions without a works cited page will not be accepted.

One final piece of advice: Remember, this is a presentation on the Written Word not Language(s). Including information on the spoken word isn't really relevant. This presentation should be more about how ideas are documented and shared in a visual format.

To submit your work, click Edit my submission below and copy/paste the link to your shared resource and provide a brief description. You will be posting these presentations on a Forum for the rest of the class to see/discuss (See Step 2 below).

At the end of your submission, skip a few lines and assign yourself a grade. Why do you think that you've earned that grade? Is there a part of your submission which could be improved?

Move on to Step 2: Unit 5: Written Word Presentations

Back to Unit 5: The Written Word Summary

Grading form:

Written Word Presentation Rubric

You will be graded according to the following rubric. Make certain to include all elements of the requirements in your presentation.

Visual Appeal

- Text and background contrast; use of images is tied to information on the slide and images are not distorted; Organization of information adequately uses the space on each slide.
- Visual appeal is adequate but could still be improved.
- Visual elements need work.
- No attention paid to visual appeal.
On-Topic

- Presentation never strays to unrelated material such as language development.
- Some elements of presentation stray from main topic.
- More than two elements of presentation stray from main topic.
- Presentation is not on-topic.
Thoroughness

- Presentation covers all major innovations of written communication.
- Presentation covers most innovations in written communication.
- Presentation lacks a number of innovations in written communication.
- Presentation neglects to cover most innovations in written communication.
Context

- Presentation contains more than just talking points and adequately covers the items presented.
- Missing some context to items presented.
- Little attention paid to additional context for the digital environment.
- Presentation only contains talking points and no additional context.
Grammar; Spelling; Usage

- No typos or errors.
- 1-2 errors
- 3-4 errors
- Presentation contains more than 4 errors.
Works Cited

- Works cited is formatted properly just as in the course examples.
- Minor formatting issues with Works Cited page.
- Major formatting issues with Works Cited page.
- Either not provided; just a list of links or other serious errors.