Course Projects

Marco Belluci, "Question mark." 8/4/2005. via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic License. 

1. What are you most confused by or nervous about in regards to the four major projects?

• I am nervous about the planning that is going to have to go into these four major projects. I have never worked in any of the new areas outside of an essay in terms of what I am trying to accomplish, and am nervous about the adjustment period.
• I am also nervous about finding topics in my major as well. It is much more difficult to find a controversial topic in theatre as opposed to a STEM major. 

2. What are you most interested in or excited about in regards to the four major projects?

• I am most interested in seeing how I am going to learn about my major this semester. I was unaware that this class was so thoroughly involved with my own form of study, and am excited to learn about my major through this new perspective. 

3. Based on your understanding of the major projects, what are the elements of this course that you have to plan ahead for? How will the coursework described in the four project assignment sheets challenge your time management skills this semester?

• All of the major projects are going to have to be fully planned ahead in advance. All of the genres for the corresponding project need to be chosen before any of the major projects are due, and meeting with professors/grad students/those in the field is also going to take much needed planning as well. 
• Also the blogs taking less and less importance over time as each project passes is important as well, it is important to know what is the main focus while going throughout this course and allow that to shift to fit my needs. 

4. How has your past English coursework in high school or college prepared you for the challenges of this course? What skills will you bring into the course with you?

• Previously in high school I have written a paper on a controversial topic in a field of interest, however at the time I was planning on being a Journalism major. However, the importance is that I am able to go through sources and find important information that is pertinent to the topic at hand. 
• Also I have taken Principles of Dramatic Structure in the fall semester and am familiar with how theatre handles their written work, while I am no expert by any means I do know of a good place to start. However, adjusting to this new criteria may prove difficult overall. 

5. Do you have any questions about the four major projects that haven't been answered by the assignment sheets? What do you still want to know?

• Due to the lack of experience in the new areas, is there going to be time to learn more about the genres in order to adequately complete a project in a currently unfamiliar genre?
• Is there any sort of team work involved at any point whatsoever? At what point are our classmates an asset in terms of asking for help?

Reflection:

I wrote comments on Katy's and PJ's posts about course projects. What I learned from my classmates was that I am not alone in my apprehension and, personally, terror at the thought of learning all of these new skills in place of writing essays on the topics. Specifically PJ mentioned that this class was going to be a challenge, and it reminds me why I chose this class in the first place. I did not go into this class asking for the easiest English class experience, and therefore I should not get that. Also Katy brought up that learning these skills that were not previously expected is indeed exciting as well as nerve-racking, as we will be able to leave the class as a whole with a much wider variety of knowledge and experience than we ever had previously. These posts gave great comfort in that not everyone is experienced in all these new forms of media, and this class is not going to be easy for anyone.