Introductory Post Assignment

For your first writing assignment this semester, your group will collaborate on an introductory post for your blog. Your post should accomplish 3 main goals:

1. Introduce each group member (including a photo of each person).

2. Establish the subject of your blog, i.e. give your readers a sense of what you will be writing about this semester.

3. Establish the tone and rhetorical style of your blog.

We will spend the first few days of class discussing a number of different blogs and what does and does not work about each. You will also engage in discussions amongst your group members, during which you will negotiate a coherent and appropriate rhetorical approach for your blog based on a target audience that you work together to identify. You should take into account each group member's interests as well as their strengths as writers, since you will be expected to adhere to this plan throughout the semester.

A successful post will (in order of importance):

1. Establish a rhetorical tone that is appropriate to the blog's subject matter and target audience. Not only will the post address this topic explicitly (i.e. a section of the post that will explain the authors' rhetorical approach), but also implicitly through the tone and style of the post itself.

2. Identify a subject for the blog that will serve to link all of the semester's posts. An outstanding post will also give a sense of the authors' unique approach to this theme.

3. Introduce each of the blog's authors in a manner that emphasizes their credibility as authors as well as the common ground they share with their audience.

4. Be free of errors in spelling and grammar.

5. Be formatted in an appealing and consistent manner.

Length: at least 5-6 paragraphs

Note: Every member of the group will receive the same grade for this assignment, so be sure to distribute work evenly.