Assignments


Since there is no exam in this course, regular attendance and participation is a must (and will figure in the final grade).  To pass the course you must be in class the majority of the time (you are allowed a maximum of two absences, with the count started after the first week of classes).

 

Solo Assignments  Solo Assignments

 

Besides team work, each student has individual assignments that contribute to the class as a whole or to their team project but that are individually graded. A total of 50% of the final grade for each student derives from these solo assignments.

 


 

Student Bio Solo Assignment

 

Class 4, Oct. 15: (This assignment is required to pass the course, but is not graded.) By this date, each student needs to create a bio for the course site that includes a description of their intellectual interests.  This will allow class members to learn something about each other and also facilitate the formation of project teams.  Try for a bio that is more or less professional in tone.  However, since students often do not have enough material for a professional bio summarizing their relevant interests, expertise, experience, etc., you can also aim for a middle point between a Facebook-style profile and a career-oriented, professional bio. (Students may request to be excused from this assignment for privacy reasons or other reasons if they speak to the instructor.  Students may also have their bio page deleted after the course.)  To create your bio page, follow the steps on the Bio Instructions page.

 


Practicums Solo Assignment

 

Various Dates in First Weeks of Course (see course schedule): (Practicums are required to pass the course, but are not graded.) Course "practicums" are hands-on, small-scale exercises that ask students to experiment at a beginner's level with the tools of the digital humanities. Classes 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in the course each include a practicum that should be completed before class.  Typically, a practicum asks students to try out a digital tool and method, then to leave an interesting "souvenir" on a page they create on the Student Work site for this course.  The "souvenir" can be as simple as a screenshot of or link to something created (or found) during the exploration,  For instructions on the individual practicums and on how to leave a "souvenir," see the Practicums page.

 


 

Annotated Bibliography Solo Assignment

 

Class 12, Nov. 17: Create an annotated bibliography of 5 items related to the literary work and/or technologies or research methods your team is working on (or related to some other topic bearing on your team project). An "item" might be, for example, an essay, book, software tool, web site, related project, suggestive paradigm, etc. (There must be at least one print or originally-in-print item included. Wikipedia articles do not count as possible items, though Wikipedia may be used to supplement the description of an item if used according to the course Wikipedia Use Policy.) (10% of final grade) An annotated bibliography entry for an item consists of the following:

 

 


 

Research Report Solo Assignment

 

Class 14, Nov. 24: Choosing one of the items in your individual annotated bibliography, write a 4-page research report on it that includes the following sections (15% of final grade).  The main difference between your original annotated bibliography item and the research report based on it is that the report will be longer, will include an "abstract," and will also include a "statement of relevance to team project":

 

  1. Abstract (100 words or less). [An abstract is an efficient thumbnail summary of the item being reported on--a so-called "executive summary."]
  2. Description.  The description is a fuller version of the same in the original annotated bibliography item.  It may include portions of the annotation you previously wrote for your annotated bibliography as well as quotations from the item in question (properly cited). Please include screenshots or other images where appropriate.  The goal is to give your reader a good idea of what the item is.
  3. Statement of Relevance to Team Project.  Here you can add your reflections on the contributions, opportunities, or limitations of the item as it relates to your team's project. (What possibilities does this item suggest for your project and its general idea? What problems or limitations does it also suggest?)  Use impersonal voice wherever possible--i.e., not "this article is relevant to my team project because..." but instead "this article is relevant to the team project on [name of your project] because...."
  4. Resources for Further Study.  This section of the report should be a brief set of follow-up citations or links (including the citation/link to the item under discussion). There should be at least 4 resources; and they should be cited properly in MLA style unless there is a reason to choose a different style. (See the Purdue Online Writing Lab's "MLA Formatting and Style Guide") (Please note the course Wikipedia Use Policy.)

    Post your research report on the course site by following the instructions on the Research Reports page.   (Deadline: Your research report must be posted to the course site by the time of class on this day.)

 


 

Final Essay Solo Assignment

 

Due the Monday after classes are over: Dec. 15 (8 pages): You have two choices for how to approach the final essay.  One - Focus on Your Team Project: Write an essay in which you analyze or reflect on the methods and results of your team project, including how the project allows us better to understand the literary (or other) work that it is about.  Two - Focus on the Literary (or Other) Work: Write an essay in which use the results of your team project to help in analyzing the literary or other work that the project is about.

 

Important: your intended audience for this essay is a general scholarly audience, not the insiders in our class. So take care to provide the necessary context (i.e., explain the work and your project as if you were writing for another professor in the English department). Also, speak of your project in the objective third-person (not "our project makes me think that . . ." but "the [project title] at UCSB shows that . . .). In other words, these essays should be designed to be publicly presentable; they will be linked from the Final Essays page on the course site and also if possible from your team's project page on the course site.  (25% of final grade.) Post your essay on the course site by following the instructions on the Final Essays page.  Please also email a digital copy to the instructor (preferably in PDF format).

 

 

Team Assignment  Team Project

Students will group into teams of 3 to 4 each. Each team will create a digital project exploring a literary work (or part of a work). Teams will be formed up in Class 6.  Tech resources are available online in the instructor's DH Toychest.  The Transcriptions lab in South Hall 2509 is also available for students to use during announced hours (see tech support); the computers in the lab have some relevant software installed (SH 2509 software inventory). Grading: 50% of the final grade of each student will be based on the team-wide grade for their project.

 


 

Team Preparatory Tasks Team Assignment

Team projects are due at the end of the quarter, but they require preliminary collaborative tasks on the following schedule:

 

  1. Class 6, Oct. 22: Teams to be formed in class on this date.
  2. Class 8, Oct. 29: By this date, teams must meet at least once outside class to brainstorm face-to-face. (Subsequent team collaboration can occur through any combination of face-to-face meetings; email or online discussion; or use of the part of the course web site that is editable by students (Student Work).
  3. Class 9, Nov. 3: Project Planning Workshop. (The instructor will consult with teams in class in preparation for the upcoming presentations of project ideas).
  4. Classes 10-11, Nov. 10/12: Presentations of Project Ideas: Choose a literary work (or part of a work) that the team will work on; and prepare a presentation to the class that introduces that work, explains why you are choosing it, and gives at least two initial ideas for your team project based on the work.  Be prepared to answer the question "why?"  That is, have at least an initial hypothesis about what your project might accomplish for our understanding and appreciation of the literary work (or of literature in general).  (We will set a schedule by which some teams make their presentations in class 10 while others do so in class 11.)  For the presentation, prepare citations, excerpts, and/or summaries of the work as appropriate on your Team Project Page (so that people who don't know the work can get a sense of it and follow your presentation).

 


 

Team Final Tasks Team Assignment (Classes 18-20, Dec. 3/8/10)

 

Due to the shortness of development time in an academic quarter, teams are not necessarily expected to finish with a fully-realized and polished product (though, of course, the closer to that goal the better). Instead, the goal is to finish with at least a working "version," "prototype," "demo," "model," "draft," "first analysis" (if your project is a text analysis, for example), "preliminary results," or whatever similar term fits the nature of the project. During the last week of the course, teams will make formal presentations of their projects.  By the the time of these final presentations, teams must have ready the following:

 

  1. A cohesive, well-designed Team Project Page on the course site that presents (or links to) the project, explains it, and provides some context.  The idea is to create a home page site for the project adequate to the task of giving an outsider to our class the gist of your project. To create a Team Project Page, follow the instructions here.
  2. The project itself, existing in some combination of the working project or its intermediary or final results, images, videos, etc. (Depending on the nature of the project, you may be creating it on another web site or platform and linking to it from your team project page.)
  3. An annotated bibliography of books, essays, software, other projects, etc., related to the project (created by linking to, or consolidating individual "Annotated Bibliography" assignments).

 

Teams will formally present their projects to the class in classes 18-19.  Presentations must be well prepared and timed to last no more than 12 minutes.