Today, I'm introducing three weekly features I plan to feature on the magazine. Each of them will be pulled directly from your weekly blogging by your peers, with perhaps a little editing here and there. Each of these features are modeled on columns found at The Paris Review and The New York Times. I will probably refer to these three as our "blog features."
"Consumed"
If you'll recall, I suggested you follow the format of the NYT column called "Download," viewable here. Here is a sample I did on my own blog.Blog feature #1, then, which we'll call "Consumed," will simply re-post to our magazine the single best "on the shelf" post created by someone in our classroom each week.
Ideally, your blogging this quarter has been regular and varied,
including brief descriptions and/or evaluations of anything from novels
you are reading to online "long form" journalism to games you are into
and music you have on repeat. And "Consumed" will recognize and profile our class's readers who do this in the most interesting, original, or thoughtful way, as determined by you each week.
"What We're Loving"
This feature is based upon The Paris Review column of the same name. In essence, it is comprised of individual entries--quick discussion of a book, an old movie, a link--from several students' weekly "On the Shelf" posts, again, selected by you each week.
"Briefly"
Our last blog feature will be modeled on The Paris Review column confusingly titled (sorry) "On the Shelf." Where "Consumed" focuses on the reflections of an individual student and "What We're Loving" has more of a collective voice, "Briefly" is simply a list of links with a word or two of introduction--no description, simply (school-appropriate) links to articles of interest, entertainment, or other news and notes.
TODAY: You will be nominating blog content for each of these three categories. In the margins of No White Stone, you will see links to the blogs of all the students in my Etymology courses. Today, let's limit ourselves to looking at the blogs of your classmates. Browse, read deeply, skim, follow their links, if they work, just keep clicking. Listen to music while you go, if you like.
And do these two things:
(1) leave at least three friendly comments on blogs other than those of your besties. Ideally, these will be comments that relate to the content in some way of a post and do more than simply say "that's cool" or "me too."
(2) leave a comment here, on this blog, that nominates someone for each of the above three categories: a blog name/post date for "Consumed" and blog names/more specific post dates and directions for "What We're Loving" and "Briefly." For example, your nominations comment might look like this:
Consumed: More Cowbell, Please (9.22.12)
WWL: Bookworm Days, entry on Palo Alto (9.14.12)
Briefly: Happy Go Lucky, link to Cloud Atlas trailer (8.25.12)
