Let's Be Creative For Hours and Hours

After reading the chapter two assignments in Multimodal Composition: Resources for Teachers, I found myself wondering about the dedication students would have to make to a multimodial class. The first sample assignment even says on the assignment sheet, “Schedule more time than you think you need for editing with Audacity—it always takes much much longer than the original recording!! Before you begin editing, be sure to go through the Audacity tutorial on the SourceForge web site…” (21).

Most classes require, what? Eight to 12 hours of studying outside of class each week? The idea of working with equipment and programs that continually break, crash, or take frustrating amounts of time could only extend this number.

Is this reasonable of educators to require this much devotion of their students?

I wouldn’t mind, but I always liked school. It just seems like requiring so much from students could lead to troublesome consequences if the student is taking a heavy course load. I am not saying we should lighten the load—goodness, the students DO need a challenge!—but when I think about locked up Ellis on the weekends or classes constantly in the computer lab, it frightens me for my hypothetical students.

I would go on about resources and necessary materials (helllllllo, look at page 27!) but I’m so over against-the-graining about these elaborate assignments.

All this new media talk inspired me to give my students the chance to compose without forming paragraphs. The problem was--and Dickie Selfe addresses this in his article--I did not think it through, and I was not aware of the "critical component" that drove my lesson.

I assigned my students a creative, non-traditional essay. There were five rules their projects had to follow:

1. No paragraphs

2. Must have a purpose

3. Must be aware of its audience

4. Must tell a story

5. Must be creative.

The students hated it. I thought one student was going to cry. But as I "graded" the essays/projects today, I was impressed with their ability to use different mediums (and what I'm assuming were unconscious rhetorical decisions.) Now I realize we need to discuss these decisions in class so others are aware of the various ways to communicate without paragraphs.

I'm thinking about asking my students for permission to show you their projects. Then I want to hear what YOU all have to say about them and if our readings are actually hitting on something we're too immediately against to understand, or if we're right to request words on a page in paragraph form.