Out Of This World

The point of my students' first blog postings was to "sell" their favorite pop culture to unbelievers. The point of their second postings was to partake in their classmates' loves-- to see if they could be sold. For number three, I wanted them to take a step outside the comfortable sphere of our class (and our immediate culture) and try something new.

I mentioned to my class that I wanted them to experience something uncomfortable. We watched an episode of Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days series, one that made some of them uncomfortable. The point, of course, was to expose them to the guiding principle of a show "that dares to ask the question "Do we really know what it's like to see the world through our neighbors' eyes?" (Amazon.com).

I wanted my students to simply walk in the world outside of Davidson County and then write about it. I asked them to be open and honest, as always, but I made sure to reiterate that I didn't want incendiary writing that showed no growth. There blogs were to be about expanding their cultural horizons.

From Blog to Blog

Once the students in my class set up their blogs, and then posted their first entries, I turned the tables on them: After reading and commenting on each others favorite pieces of popular culture, I had them swap and review! While their classmates may not have been unbelievers, they were a good test audience. So, for their second round of postings, they each picked one to "buy." Everyone picked (or was assigned :) !) one movie, television show, etc. and had to watch it, listen to it, read it, or experience it.

After they had a chance to take in the culture, they back and re-read their classmates' blogs and made note of things they agreed with, disagreed with, or thought needed to be added. Then they started drafting for their next postings.

I stressed the need to make sure that their blogs were appropriate and in good taste.

The Things We Love

On our very first day of class, I required my students to respond to this prompt:

The editors of Entertainment Weekly are putting together a special issue focusing on "The Things We Love." The magazine is soliciting articles from readers about their favorite movies, television shows, musicians and songs, and books.

Take a few minutes to think about the things you love to watch, listen to, and read.

Then write an essay about your favorite thing.

Their responses (handwritten in 60 minutes or less with very little guidance) were the seeds of our Pop Write World experience. My intention was to have them take their initial writings and revise them into concise blog postings. These first postings would be our starting point for future blogs about the culture that shapes and guides us.

For their revisions, they had a little more guidance. I asked them to re-read their initial writings and ask questions (What did you do well? What would you change? What makes sense? What doesn't make sense?). I gave them a handout with some process clues (What's the thesis? What are your main points? Where are your "hooks"? Where do you go from here?).

I also reiterated the key point to the blog experience: Because their "audience" will be the great big blog-o-sphere, I want them to approach blogging as if they were selling their wares to skeptics.

This project is all about audience.

While working on their revisions, I had them each set up separate blogs, and then I connected them to this site.

Each blog is different; each blogger has attempted the tasks I've described here.

Take a look and see what you think!

Oh, and there will be more to come…

And So It Begins...

Welcome to Pop Write World! This is an experiment in social networking, netiquette, reading, writing, and more! This blog site will be the hub for a network of blogs from Davidson County Community College reading and writing students. To access their sites, simply click on the links to the right.

The Backstory: What is Pop Write World?

Initially, I came up with “Pop Write” from "popular culture writing." Pop Write World (as a student blog experience) expands that focus to the things that populate our lives and our world. Advertisements, television shows, movies, comic books, the internet, ipods, cell phones, music, magazines, sports, etc.

All of these things are worth writing about— if only to help understand their hold on us.

But the more I thought about it, the more “Pop Write World” came to represent something bigger.

I went looking for definitions of “pop.” And for each one, I thought, “Yeah, that fits.”

Pop (verb):
to strike or knock sharply
to push, put, or thrust suddenly and often deftly
to cause to explode or burst open
to fire at
to take (pills) especially frequently or habitually
to open with a pop
to go, come, or appear suddenly
to escape or break away from something (as a point of attachment) usually suddenly or unexpectedly
to make or burst with a sharp sound
to protrude from the sockets
to shoot with a firearm

Pop (noun):
a sharp explosive sound
a shot from a gun
soda pop
pop fly
power to hit a baseball
a drink or shot of alcohol
apiece
for each attempt
father
population
popular
popular music
pop art
pop culture

And so, “Pop Write World” is more than just a blog.

It’s a place where our culture intersects with our words and pops!