Blog Requirements for Monday, February 9

AP Lang: 15 posts since Jan. 1, totaling 6000 words

Perspectives: 15 posts total, totaling 3750 words

Perspectives Assignment, 12/10: Blogging

Today, there are a few things you should try to get accomplished on your blog:

1. Write your first post, in which you introduce your blog. Basically, you want to address the questions, What are you going to do on this blog? and What should readers expect in the future? (Find another way to phrase it besides, "I am going to..." and "Readers should expect...")
2. Find some other blogs and websites that have to do with your topic, and link them, just like you linked the "Kennedy Blogs" site along the side.
   
3. Read some things on these other sites, and try to find something that can be a jumping off point for your next post. If you can, begin to write it now.

The assignment right now looks like it's going to be 750 words per week. Since you got snow-dayed out of your other time in the lab, I'll say 500 by next Monday, in at least two posts (that's two new posts, not counting what we wrote last week).

Assignment: AP Lang & Comp

I've mentioned before, I think, that Andrew Sullivan is my favorite blogger. In the tradition of some of the Orwell-inspired "Why I Write" essays, Sullivan has written an essay in the new Atlantic Monthly entitled "Why I Blog." On his blog today, he had this to say about the essay:

If you feel me working up to another celebration of Montaigne, you're not wrong.

One other thing. The essay is a defense and celebration of blogging - but not as a replacement for long-form writing or in-depth journalism. In fact, I think blogging makes the long, deep take more important in our ADD culture.

Please read it and write a notebook entry.

Sample Blog Review: Andrew Sullivan

"The Daily Dish"
Andrew Sullivan
andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

Andrew Sullivan is an editor for the Atlantic Monthly, and has been blogging since the summer of 2000. On his blog, The Daily Dish, he writes about politics, religion, current events, pop culture, and sometimes (though less often these days) about gay rights issues. Sullivan is Harvard-educated, Catholic, gay (and married, as of early 2008), and politically conservative (the libertarian kind). His most recent book, The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back, was about the influence of religion on political conservatism. He updates his blog daily, often twenty or thirty times in a day.

His online work for the Atlantic seems designed primarily to provoke strong opinions. Sullivan won't just write about the events of the day, he tells you what he thinks about them. He sometimes gets into heated exchanges with other writers, both on and offline. As much as anything, I think, it's this strong set of opinions that keep readers--both those who agree and those who disagree--to come back and read more.

The Daily Dish is easy to navigate. The stories are on the left, while links--including those to his archives and biography, and a number of other websites and blogs--are on the right. He links to blogs of all political leanings, even those he consistently disagrees with. He includes photos and YouTube videos, but probably only about 10% of the time. Regular features include "The View from Your Window," in which readers e-mail photographs from their homes around the world, and "Mental Health Break," where Sullivan posts some random, often ridiculous YouTube video.

I read Sullivan regularly, because I consider him a smart guy with a lot of interesting things to say. He writes about topics that interest me, and I find his writing voice sharp and often funny. The Daily Dish is linked to my own blog.

Assignment: Blog Review

Over the past couple of weeks, you've been looking for blogs that suit your interests. Today, you're going to write about a couple of these blogs. Here's what I want to know about each of them:

• Purpose. What reason does the blogger seem to have for continuing to update the blog, and what reason does the reader have for continuing to visit it? What topics are the focus of the blog?
• Point of view. Describe the author's perspective. What credibility does s/he seem to have on this topic? What attitude does the author take toward his/her topic, and toward his/her audience?
• Quality of presentation. How easy is it to navigate the site? What kind of content is included? How much does the blogger rely on content found elsewhere on the Internet? How often is other media (images, video, audio) included?
• What about this blog appeals to you? Why is this one of the blogs you'd be interested in reading on a regular basis?

Write about one blog at a time, providing the title, blogger's name, and url (the web address). Provide the above information in a clear format, single-spaced.

A Couple More Blogs

Ta-Nehisi Coates blogs for the Atlantic about rap and hip-hop, as well as politics.

Two cake-related blogs: Yes, cake. Or rather, cake and cupcakes.

Six More Blogs, Suggested by Students

A motorcycle blog.

A science and technology blog.

An entertainment blog.

An electoral map blog.

A fake blog, written by the character Dwight, from NBC's The Office.

And another cat blog. (This should not be interpreted as advocating websites dedicated to cats.)

More Blogs of Interest

FiveThirtyEight -- Dedicated to electoral projections and political polls; very interesting stuff.

The Cool Hunter -- It's hard to pin down the focus of this one... design, architecture, culture. Very, you know, cool.

Tifaux -- Blog about TV. I just found it... strikes me as potentially pretty funny.

Stereogum -- Music blog.

Matt Taibbi -- (Student Pick) Blog by a columnist for Rolling Stone. Politics, liberal slant.

Laura Freberg -- (Student Pick) Blog by a psychology professor about... psychology.

Tattoo Blog -- (Student Pick) A blog dedicated to photos of, and commentary about, tattoos.

Lick of the Day -- (Student Pick) That's "lick," as in, "riff." This blogger provides, as he says it, "a new guitar lick every day."

The Movie Blog -- (Student Pick) Pretty self-explanatory.

One student suggested a blog debating religion, but it seemed a little too combative to link. But it's obviously a topic that interests people, so I went looking for some with moderated views. Here are a few blogs (in no particular order) about religion, philosophy, and ethics, from different points of view -- David Kuo on BeliefNet, Planet Humanism, ThinkBuddha, Ijtema.net, Virtual Philosopher, and Civil Religion.

And what would the Internet be without cute pictures of furry animals? (Answer: one-third as big.)

Looking for Blogs

On Thursday, I asked all students to make a list of 5-10 topics of interest, and then to go find blogs related to those topics. I want you all to get a sense of what blogs are like, how they work, and to find at least a few that you enjoy reading. Some suggestions:

• I'd start with Google, Yahoo, or some other search engine, and type in a few key words related to your topic. Be sure to include the word "blog," so you don't just get any old website or news article related to the topic. You want blogs.
• Blogs often have a set of links down one side or the other, sometimes called "blogroll." Even if you don't like a particular blog, you can use that blog to find other blogs on the same topic.
• Hopefully, you'll be able to find a couple you enjoy reading. If you do, write down the titles and authors (or "bloggers"), so you can find them again later, or copy and paste the URL (the address) into a Word document.