What are the five major concepts of the class?

I think that there are many concepts a student must grasp to excel in this course. Understanding circulation, utilizing genre and exigency to create a work, the process of analyzing digital and print media thoroughly, knowing how writing has transformed over time and across different outlets, and how to create/spread texts and ideas to maximize a writer’s audience effectively. I chose these five tasks, if you will, rather than terms because I saw them in every article we read and I saw myself doing them in every project I wrote and discussion in class that was had. I think that if you know how to do each of these objectives then you have, in one way or another, pondered on works from Jenkins (Why Media Spreads), Bitzer (Rhetorical Situation), Arola (Design), Selber and Eiola (Assemblage) and the other writers we have studied day after day. Through the writing of our projects, we have had to create circulate, analyze, and reflect on texts with a specific exigency. In doing this, we are constantly and consistently doing all five of the concepts listed above. I think that it is important to know each of these concepts in and out individually, and know how they work together. Without one, the others may be hindered. If you do not understand the important of circulation, you may not use the proper media outlet to distribute your text efficiently. Likewise, if you do not understand the principal of exigency, you may create a text that is fragmented and all over the place, having no congruent substance of purpose. Each of these five main concepts are everything I expected to research, read about, and learn how to use in a Writing and Editing in Print and Online course at Florida State University. I think it is a core course were students are encouraged to seek out their creative side while also utilizing skills that they can take into any work place, whether that be in a newspaper office or an advertising rig, or even a company that is solely business. I will take these excerpts and proficiencies, and five main concepts with me to my future occupation.

Five Concepts of this Class

At first, the idea of answering this question seemed a bit daunting to me. We have covered so much in this class that narrowing it into five categories felt almost unfair. However, after thinking about it for a little while, I came up with five that I think sum up this class fairly well.

The first category/concept is reading. We have done a lot of reading in this class to help foster our understanding of how texts are formed, how they interplay with other texts and the environment around them, the differences between print and digital texts, and so on and so forth. By reading so many articles by so many different authors, we were able to view different perspectives on similar topics; it helped foster a wider understanding of the ideas we were reading about. We also made our own reading materials in that we created texts (and wrote essays explaining those texts), learning first hand what it takes to make something readable and easy to understand for the audience you're attempting to reach.

The second category/concept is analysis. I would say most of this class is about analysis. We are constantly looking at and discussing different texts, and viewpoints on texts. Learning to analyze what text would be best suited for an exigence, where to put that text, and what to put on that text are all major steps in the world of WEPO. Without analysis, we wouldn't understand the point anyone was trying to make with the texts they present to the world.

A third category/concept is design. Like any kind of artists, we writers definitely need a design phase to work out our ideas and notions, iron them out, and actually make them production ready. We learned about the various designs you can use when creating a text-- videos, social media posts, chalking, buttons, stickers, and even (but probably not) posters. Each one of those designs has various pros and cons to it, and by knowing those you can choose accordingly and make your text the best it can be.

The fourth category/concept is assessment. Once the text is created, it's a good idea to look it over and really make sure it's the best it can be. That's why we did drafts in this class-- by providing a first wave effort and then getting feedback from others, we were able to take a second look into our projects and maybe see some points (both good and bad) that we didn't before.

And, finally, the last category/concept is editing. A first draft is never usually a perfect draft, so after the assessment phase it's important to go back and fix any tweaks that you or your peers found.

Good Question

When I first read this journal's question, I have to admit that I was a little confused. Not because I didn't understand the meaning of the question, but because this journal was different from the one's that we've done before. In the previous responses, Joe asked us about particular concepts in readings we had done that week. For those responses, we needed to essentially read and remix the assigned article that week. However, this response required the exact opposite - it asked us a question that we couldn't find the answer for in an already published text. And scrolling through the responses, it seems that everyone has a different answer entirely.
In my opinion, the five core concepts of this class are composition, design, circulation, mobility, and assessment. Because this class is called "Editing & Media for Print & Online," I think Joe structured the class around the actual process of composing discourse in the 21st century. Composition comes first in the process, and I particularly enjoyed how Joe incorporated 'remix' and 'assemblage' into this section. By doing this, we were introduced to new and more effective methods of composition. Design is next - when even mentioning composition in today's society, a good rhetor must have a well-designed text to even be noticed. Circulation is another concept that's absolutely crucial for the class. By requiring us to read Spreadable Media, Joe reinforced the concept of creating the type of discourse that's most likely to rapidly circulate. Mobility is a concept that I think would have been recently added to the curriculum of this course, because of its more recent rise to importance. Still, in today's world, we must talk about the concept of mobility in discourse if we're learning to compose. The last concept is assessment. I thought it was a very good addition to introduce modern (and even new) ways of assessment, because sometimes people forget that editing and assessing their work may be the most important part of the process.
Overall, the explanation of the entire writing process in this class has been one of the best out of all the english classes I've taken. Personally, I feel like many writing professors at FSU still have an old-school look on the process, so it was very refreshing to see it taught this way.

Five Major Concepts

The five major concepts that we have covered in this class have been:
1. Circulation
2. Composition
3. Collaboration
4. Design
5. Revision

  Writing for the digital world relies heavily on circulation. The internet allows for texts to be circulated through several different means than print media can travel. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Reddit allow for texts to become viral media, and reach several different audiences simultaneously. When we read Penny and Dadas, we learned about how Twitter helped to facilitate the Occupy Wall Street movement. When circulated correctly, online texts can create communities and facilitate real life change.
  Digital writing requires a different attention to composition. Dr. Yancey talked to our class about the function of the page in text versus print and the differences needed. She said that she doesn't believe that MLA is necessary for all types of writing. She also talked to us about the uses of margins and how different texts require different uses of the page. Blog posts are going to be formatted differently than research papers, and Instagram posts use different means of composition than an online newspaper would. Online writing opens up endless possibilities for writers to format their texts.
  A large portion of the work we have done in class has been collaborative work, from our classroom google docs to our QQCs to creating this blog. Community writing is something that has flourished in the digital age, so it is only appropriate that our class is structured around it. Writing collaboratively keeps authors accountable and accurate.
  Design is crucial to online texts, not only for aesthetic purposes but for functionality. The way in which a text is designed can attract or lose an audience. It can affect whether the text is circulated or not. Also if the text is designed poorly--in a functionality sense--it can prevent readers from interacting with the text.
  Finally, revision. Revision is essential to online writing. Online texts are under much more scrutiny than written texts are because they are more accessible.  Therefore, the need to be easily revised is key. Online platforms make revision easy, so that if a text is published with false information, incorrect grammar, or punctuation errors, the author can easily revise. Also, online accessibility allows for communities to contact the authors and help the revision process, reinforcing the idea that online writing is collaborative.

Five Major Concepts

The five major concepts of the class include analyzing texts, producing, designing, editing, and circulation. One of the things we have consistently done in class this semester is the breaking down of texts for interpretation. Analyzing texts is important because everyone interprets what they read in a different way, so by picking apart the articles that we have read, we can better understand the meaning and intent behind the text.  Producing is another key concept in this class since we are constantly writing whether it is an in class assignment, or journal post, creating new material is something we are always doing. Producing does not only have to be new material, but the assemblage of old texts for a new purpose as well. Designing goes hand in hand with producing, and is an important concept that I have learned in the class. I have used a variety of digital media platforms, as well as physical texts over the course of the semester, and found that the way you present your material can have more of an impact on the reader than the text itself. Furthermore, in order to produce the best material or text there must be some type of correction or modification, which is why editing is a central concept in the class. In almost every class, students are put into groups to edit and review each others work which is beneficial as a writer because it helps point out our weaknesses and what we can improve on, as well as gain a different perspective on the text. Finally, circulation is a concept that has been relevant in every project and classroom discussion since we were first introduced to the term. Knowing how a text is able to spread and circulate around a community is very important when choosing the type of platform you want to distribute your text, which is why this concept can be used for any type of material you produce.

5 Major Concepts

Throughout this course there has been a variety of concepts that have been discussed and reviewed, however, the five that stand out the most are analysis, design, circulation, editing, and digital text. We have analyzed several articles, texts, and theorists in order to establish a better grasp on how writing and editing works in the print and digital world. Projects one, two, and three all involved analysis of the theorists and application of our analysis to our exigence and media. In addition to the analysis of the theorists and comparative texts, design played a large role in our class and our projects. What kind of layout and platform would best exemplify our exigence? How will the design of the media effect how the audience interprets the exigence? How can we apply what we've learned from the theorists and apply that to our project? In correspondence with design, circulation was a key component in our projects and the texts discussed in class. The designs we saw inspired the designs we chose in our projects to achieve, or hope for, extended circulation of the media. Our drafts and peer- review provide edits that aid us in the revisions necessary to create a suitable project that works with our exigencies and media. Finally, digital text was seen throughout the course from a theorist we had to read online the night before class to the journal response I'm writing right now to a Twitter account my group is creating for our project.

What are the five major concepts of the class?

There were many new concepts introduced throughout the semester, however there were five that stood out the most among them: design, analysis, digital and print texts and how they work together and apart, editing, and circulation/spreadability. In a digital world it is sometimes easy to forget that print text still plays an important role in the writing process, and isn't a polar opposite of digital text, they each have their own benefits that are not present in the other, but with that comes weakness that the other is able to boost. When addressing an exigence it is best to use both digital and print text in order to reach a wide audience and exemplify it, before this class I thought that digital media on its own was the best way to spread a message, but now I know that you need both to work together. Circulation, even if not blatantly being stated, is addressed in almost every text we read, because what's the point of creating a text if no one is going to be reading it? Circulation ties in other key concepts of rhetoric as well as spreadability, and something that you must think of throughout the entire process of creating a text, because you want it to go as far as it possibly can. Editing is exemplified through the peer review and several group interactions that occurred, although having someone read your work and having to give comments on someone else's work can seem stressful, it does help us grow as writers and editors. Design needs just as much focus as the writing itself, how do you plan on formatting the piece? Are you going to include any images or video that goes along with your text? Does the piece work better on a site with already established formatting or should you choose one that lets you take complete control? There is so much more that goes into the writing process than simply writing, and this class helps establish the skills you need that work together with writing in order to create the best representation of your text and increase the audience.