Artifact #1 Assignment:
 
Students will create a website on the topic of literature and new media using Weebly, Wix, or Wordpress. Websites must use multiple modes (WOVEN), and integrate multiple media elements including video, audio, hyperlinks, and images. The topic of these sites is open-ended, but must address a research question and focus on one particular new media example.
 
Research Question:
Think of a research question concerning the intersection of literature and new media. Examples of questions include: What plot devices does a podcast use?; Why might live-streamed commentary (by players and observers) augment the experience of a video game?; Do Daily Fantasy Sports Apps resemble the literary genre of fantasy fiction?; What narrative strategies do vloggers use to advertise and market products (unboxing videos, makeup tutorials, product placement)? Your research question should have broad implications for the discourse of new media and literary studies, which your specific example will only answer in part. In other words, you will not conclusively resolve your research question: rather, your project will act as a specific and multimodal case study in which you make a limited claim.
 
Choose a Specific Example:
Select an episode or instance from a serialized or multipart example of new media. For instance, you could pick the episode titled “Chapter 48” of the Netflix show House of Cards (Season 4, Episode 9); the episode titled “Big Chomp” of the podcast Judge John Hodgman (Episode 273); the Youtube Vlog post titled “A New Chapter” by BFvsGF (18 May 2016). Although I ask that you not choose a video game as your example, you may choose media about gaming such as a Twitch VOD or Let’s Play.
 
Technology:
Use a free website creation app. I suggest Weebly, Wix, or Wordpress, but there may be other options. I do not recommend that you code your own site because it is the purpose of this assignment to develop your design, communication and critical thinking skills, not your ability to code and administer a site.

 
Research:
In order to support your argument you must cite at least three secondary sources about new media studies. Your site must include a bibliography. I suggest you begin your research by browsing the resources provided on the course website. You might also look to see if scholars have conducted any academic research on your specific example.
 
Deliverable:
A website which uses a new media example to make an argument about your research question. The site must be publically available, or at least available to the Georgia Tech community. Sites must integrate a variety of modes in a manner that contributes to your overall argument. For example, if you are researching issues relating to streaming videos using an episode of The Mindy Project, then you might want to use clips of that episode as well as images of the Hulu interface.
 
Due Dates

Research Question: 9/9
Example: 9/12
Research/ Explanation/ Script: 9/19
Bibliography: 9/19
Complete site: 9/23
 
Grading:
Assignment grades will be determined using the programmatic rubric. This artifact is worth %15 of your total grade for the course, and will be evaluated on a 100-point scale.

Possible Topics for Inquiries in
Literary and Cultural Studies
  1. Genre (Poetry, Novel, Biography)
  2. Mode (Realism, Romance, Fiction, Non-Fiction)
  3. Storytelling
  4. Art
  5. History
  6. Authorship
  7. Narrative
  8. Character
  9. Dialog
  10. Pleasure
  11. Sales & Marketing
  12. Plot
  13. Rhetoric

Six Characteristics of New Media
according to Martin Lister, et al,
New Media: A Critical Introduction p. 13
  1. Digital
  2. Interactive
  3. Hypertextual
  4. Virtual
  5. Networked
  6. Simulated

Reflection
  1. Reflect upon your strengths and weaknesses in completing the project.
  2. What part of this project did you enjoy most and least?
  3. What was the most challenging aspect of completing Artifact #1?
  4. What is your argument or purpose, and how did you make the argument or purpose visible in your artifact?
  5. What modes does your artifact incorporate? Does one take precedence over the others?
  6. If you had more time for revision, what would you change and why?