Remember that your blog should be in the range of 400-700 words. You will be addressing skills and ideas introduced in class, but the blog format should enable you to be more focused on what you think rather than summary. While I still expect everyone's writing to be clear, careful, and well-focused, the blog genre enables you to be more informal in tone, to address wider audiences, and to receive a wider range of feedback. As you post each blog, you are given the option to choose your audience: your instructor, the class as a whole, or the general public. I strongly encourage you to make at least one of your blogs this semester open either to the class or the public. I also encourage you to meet with me during office hours to discuss any stage of the thinking and writing process.

Your first blog should answer the prompt "What's in a Word?" and be focused on the skills of close-reading and reaction. Choose one of the texts we've read thus far (one of the poems by Whitman, Hughes, or Campo; the essay by Campo; or the stories by Gilman or Corin) and focus on one important phrase or sentence. How does the author's language in this phrase/sentence communicate his/her message? What are the biases or connotations of particular words? Do you agree with this bias or message?