Personal and Cultural Identity
| Site: | Cowichan Valley School District - Moodle |
| Course: | ELA10 - New Media (2 credit), CSS, Cizeron |
| Book: | Personal and Cultural Identity |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Saturday, 18 May 2024, 7:38 PM |
Table of contents
- Introduction
- Summary Explanation of Assignments
- ASSIGNMENT 1: Film Analysis
- ASSIGNMENT 2: Content Curator
- Criteria for Evaluating Websites
- ASSIGNMENT 3: Symbols
- Introduction: Descriptive Writing
- Other Poetic Literary Terms
- ASSIGNMENT 4: Descriptive Writing
- ASSIGNMENT 5: Editing Forum
- ASSIGNMENT 6: PROJECT - Writing a Personal Narrative
Introduction
Discovering and developing our personal and cultural identity means we need to recognize...
- Relationships and cultural contexts
- Personal values and choice
- Personal strengths and abilities
Consider all of these elements as you work through the assignments in this section.
Summary Explanation of Assignments
Here is a quick overview of the assignments for this unit. However, be sure you read over the specific assignment instructions that follow for each one. Review the marking rubrics for the assignments before you start.
ASSIGNMENT 1: Film Analysis
Writing a film analysis involves a discussion of cinematic, theatrical and other elements such as irony, satire, foreshadowing, setting, plot. Choose one of these and discuss. Be sure to identify which film you have chosen to view and discuss in your topic sentence.
ASSIGNMENT 2: Content Curator
Become a content expert on an issue surrounding our expectations of privacy in this world. Pool these resources into a blog on your topic by using appropriate website evaluation strategies and correct citation methods.
ASSIGNMENT 3: Symbols
Make connections to how symbols are an important part of personal and cultural identity by looking at First Nations symbology and then making a connection to your own symbol. Be creative! Develop your own.
ASSIGNMENT 4: Descriptive Writing
You should know how to visually describe the significance of an observation to better represent the importance of a scene, memory, character, etc. There are many applications of descriptive writing and being aware of your surroundings.
ASSIGNMENT 5: Response FORUM
Go through the 3 Grammar Resources listed under Course Resources. These sites are from an online Grammar textbook called The Bare Essentials. There are examples, practice exercises, and practice tests.
Do the practice tests in Unit 2 (SENTENCES) and Unit 3 (GRAMMAR). If you are not achieving 100% on these tests, review the lesson in the EXAMPLES and the do some practice EXERCISES to review.
In this forum, comment on which of the tests you found easiest. Which one was most difficult? Was there a concept in these practice tests that was unfamiliar to you? How might you begin to apply these learning lessons into your own writing? Can you see where you might use some of these conventions of language? Provide a discussion of your results and their applications into your creative writing.
ASSIGNMENT 6: PROJECT - Writing a Personal Narrative
Your project for this unit is to write a personal narrative that is based on the many creative ideas found in using new media. Write a multi-paragraph composition on one of the writing prompts in the assignment. Connect not only to your own experiences but also to ideas/themes commonly found in using digital technology. You may agree or disagree with the prompt.
ASSIGNMENT 1: Film Analysis
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Discovering and developing our personal and cultural identity means we need to recognize...
- Relationships and cultural contexts
- Personal values and choice
- Personal strengths and abilities
Task:
Write a 200 word response to one of the following topics. Be sure to identify which film you have chosen to view and discuss in your topic sentence.
Choose from one of the 3 choices below. You may need to do a little research on a specific term or element.
1. Discuss one of the following literary terms and its contribution to the overall message of the film as it pertains to cultural identity. Choose one of irony, satire, foreshadowing, setting, plot. How is a culture being portrayed in the movie? Are there stereotypes? Is it positive or negative? How does this literary device contribute to the development of the cultural identity being portrayed in the movie? Discuss relationships, context, and values.
OR
2. Identify and discuss cinematic elements in the film as they pertain to cultural identity. Cinematic elements include SHOT (framing, angle and camera movement); LIGHTING; EDITING. How is a culture being portrayed in the movie cinematically? Are there stereotypes? Is it positive or negative? How do these elements contribute to the development of the cultural identity being portrayed in the movie? Discuss relationships, context, and values.
OR
3. Identify and discuss theatrical elements in the film as they pertain to cultural identity. Theatrical elements include costume, props, set design, acting choice. How is a culture being portrayed in the movie theatrically? Are there stereotypes? Is it positive or negative? How do these elements contribute to the development of the cultural identity being portrayed in the movie? Discuss relationships, context, and values.
Click here for a sample movie critique.
Click here for an explanation on how to write movie critiques.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student demonstrates critical, creative, and reflective thinking to construct meaningful personal connections between self, text, and world. Element is accurately identified and evaluated according to how it pertains to cultural identity.
Written Expression: Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Content contributes to the central idea and makes insightful connections with logical organization.
Submission:
Use the "3.1 Film Analysis" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.
ASSIGNMENT 2: Content Curator
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Blog Post – Content Curator
Here is an article on content curation and its effectiveness as a tool for learning and teaching.
When it comes to writing about a specific topic, it is valuable to summarize what people in the field have written about. In this way you will be a true content curator. You won't be creating new content on the topic, however, you will be creating a valuable post that will be an excellent starting point for someone interested in your topic. You will become a "content expert" on the subject and share it with others. Along the way you will practice skills and learn how to access resources to do so selectively and legitimately.
In this unit your task is to selectively share the most valuable resources on your topic from around the web with your audience in a blog post. You will need to evaluate the websites carefully. The next page will provide you with the criteria for critically evaluating websites. Read carefully.
Look at the following blog post for two reasons:
1. As an example of a list post. The title often is something like "Top 10...." and includes numbered examples.
2. As an example of a blog post to generate traffic that isn't necessarily a good source of reliable facts.
IMPORTANT
Before you start your own blog post it is important to consider the topic of plagiarism and copyright. You are essentially summarizing the work of a number of people in your blog post so it is important that you do it correctly. In that way, you are creating new content yourself based on the work of others.
What is plagiarism?
Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work, or borrowing someone else's original ideas. But euphemisms like "copying" and "borrowing" can disguise the seriousness of the offense.
According to the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary, to "plagiarize" means "to steal and pass off (the ideas or words or another) as one's own"; "to commit literary theft".
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.
Source: https://21cif.com/tutorials/micro/mm/plagiarism/page5.htm
Take this cartoon tutorial to find out more about plagiarism and how to avoid it.
Copyright and Fair Use
1.Read here carefully to learn about copyright and fair use.
2. Click the links to test your knowledge on copyright and fair use.
Be sure to acknowledge your sources in MLA format. Read the handout on MLA CITATION in Class Handouts at the top of the course. There are also a number of online sites that will generate your citations for you!! Try citationmachine.
Task:
1. First you are going to explore some ideas before you choose a topic on which you will become a "content expert".
a) Google It: Often our first action is to put our question into Google. For specific research there are better options, but for exploring a topic give it a whirl. Type in the question "Is technology a force for good or evil?" Notice your search results. What comes up first? Google will make predictions as you type (called autocomplete). Follow this link to learn about autocomplete. Are Google's suggestions answering your question?
b) There are many websites built for content curation which are a good place to go for topics and sub-topics in an area. Try one of these sites: Type in the word "technology" OR use a more general topic like "good or evil",etc.. See what your search results look like now. Now try these websites built for content curation...
Pinterest Note: account required
You will probably have noticed that your results aren't specific enough for your purpose and that you will need to evaluate the results more critically to create your content list. Make sure you use the website evaluation criteria on the next page.
2. Now you will develop a topic that addresses the question of privacy.
How much privacy do all Canadians have the right to?
3. Your goal is to collect information that will answer that question. Consider online tracking, security cameras usage, data protection, etc.. Whether it's electronic or physical monitoring, do we know who is watching us?
4. Your final assignment - the blog post - should include
- an introduction that introduces your focused topic and how it will affect Canadians' expectations of privacy.
- 5 websites
- proper citation
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Topic is well-developed in a blog post complete with introduction, five websites and proper citation.
Written Expression: Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Content contributes to the central idea and makes insightful connections with logical organization.
Submission
Use the "3.2 Content Curator" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.
Criteria for Evaluating Websites
1. Investigate the author. Before information is used or cited, it is important to find out who the author is and what makes the author qualified to write on the subject. Pay attention to the way an author expresses opinions or facts. Are there indications of bias? Online articles and web pages often do not clearly include the name of the author. When this happens, it helps to know several investigative techniques.
from: https://21cif.com/rkitp/course/twohourworkshop/authorfind.html
2. Before information is used or cited, it is important to find out who the publisher is--especially if an author cannot be found--and what makes them qualified to publish on the subject. If an author for an online article or web page cannot be found, then it is imperative to find the publisher or organization responsible for hosting the Web site. The publisher can almost always be found. Look at the history of the publisher, other works published, reputation and objectivity. What do the findings indicate about the credibility of their work?
from: https://21cif.com/rkitp/course/twohourworkshop/publisherfind.html
3. Before information is used or cited, it is important to find out how old it is and if that makes a difference. The date of an online article or the last time a Web page was modified is not always possible to find. Depending on the nature of the information and its purpose, being confident that it is recent enough for current events or old enough accurately to reflect historical perspectives can be vitally important.
from: https://21cif.com/rkitp/course/twohourworkshop/datefind.html
4. Before information is used or cited, it is important to check out its online references: who links to it and what links the author has placed on the page. Links are one of the easiest credibility indicators to locate. Search engines index all the pages that a Web page links to, which makes it possible to search for the pages in the search engine's database that point back to a page of interest.
from: https://21cif.com/rkitp/course/twohourworkshop/linksfind.html
So, after investigating the author, publisher, date and links of a website, consider and review these 5 areas/questions you should ask about every site you visit or use.
1. Content [What?]
Is the site a good source for information? • Was the site worth visiting?
2. Accuracy [When?]
Is the information on the site accurate? • Is the information on the site accurate? • How do you know it is accurate? • Are the facts documented?
3. Authority [Who?]
Who is the author(s)? • What are the author's credentials? • What is the expertise of the authors? • Are the authors biased in any way? How do you know? • Who is responsible for the site?
4. Purpose [Why?]
What is the purpose of the site? What is the point of view of the site? How do you know?
5. Design [Where?]
Was this site designed for the internet or is it a written article put on the internet? How do you know? What difference does it make to the information?
ASSIGNMENT 3: Symbols
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Symbols
A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning.
Cultural identity is often associated with visual symbols. What is identity? What are some ways people identify themselves? What does it mean to have a personal identity? A collective identity?
For example, one familiar symbol to First Peoples of Canada is the sacred circle of life symbolizing continuity, seasonal migration, and cyclical patterns in nature. "Because the regular seasonal pattern of life and movement of the animals and people was a continuous pattern, like a circle with no beginning and no end, the circle became a sacred symbol for First Nations people, the circle of life and renewal.”
Source: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_groups_overview.html
Look at these symbols in First Peoples' legends and culture.
Click on some of the symbols found at this site to read the explanation behind the symbol. For example, Dragonfly is a symbol of change, transformation, and swiftness to the Northwest Coast First Nations.
Task:
Your assignment is to create your personal symbol and explain what it means in a brief paragraph of 200 words. You can create your image in an online program or draw it or develop it electronically. You just can't copy and paste from the internet.
Some factors to consider may include traditions, cultural background, language, religion and spirituality, the arts (music, dance, etc.), attire (clothing, body markings), relationship to the land, ideological beliefs (political views, personal mottos).
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student demonstrates critical, creative, and reflective thinking to construct meaningful personal connections between self, text, and world. Exemplary ability to develop and respond to text to develop a personal symbol. There is a clear connection and engagement with the topic.
Written Expression: Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Content contributes to the central idea and makes insightful connections with logical organization.
Submission
Use the "3.3 Symbols" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.
Introduction: Descriptive Writing
| Definition |
Descriptive writing vividly portrays a person, place, or thing such a way that the reader can visualize the topic and enter into the writer's experience and mood. |
| Characteristics |
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| Sample Topics |
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| Additional Websites |
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/descriptive.html |
Other Poetic Literary Terms
Poetry Literary Terms
Read through this list of terms. You should know these in order to best respond to literature. If you need to look up definitions and/or examples. This is a good website.
- alliteration
- allusion
- assonance
- ballad
- blank verse
- consonance
- couplet
- dissonance
- free verse
- hyperbole
- iambic pentameter
- imagery
- lyric poem
- narrative poem
- onomatopoeia
- oxymoron
- personification
- quatrain
- rhyme scheme
- rhythm
- simile
- sonnet
- stanza
- symbolism
Try this Poetry Vocabulary Match. Check your answers with the accompanying answer key.
Then you can practice your knowledge with some online poetry quizzes.
ASSIGNMENT 4: Descriptive Writing
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Become a Digital Poet
The primary purpose of descriptive writing is to describe a person, place or thing in such a way that a picture is formed in the reader's mind. Capturing an event or scene through descriptive writing involves paying close attention to the details by using all of your five senses: that is imagery. Literary elements enhance and shape meaning and impact of the experience and description. Review the poetic terms on the previous page so you can incorporate figurative language into your descriptive assignment. Descriptive writing incorporates imagery and figurative language. Watch the video below to review descriptive writing.
To deepen your understanding of sense of place through description, you will develop a descriptive poem on a place/idea that is or was meaningful to you. To capture the essence of this place, the feeling or mood, you will need to use specific details to describe your topic. Here are some new media tools and ideas to become a descriptive digital poet.
Ideas
Students can:
- go on a poetry tour of the city. Check out Poetry Tours by the Poetry Foundation.
- animate their poems with digital poster tools, like EduBuncee, Flowvella, Sway, HaikuDeck, Adobe Slate, Canva, Tackk, Visme, Smore, ThingLink, Biteslides, and EduGlogster.
- produce cool videos of their poems with Powtoon, Touchcast, WeVideo, iMovie, Animoto, Magisto, or other video creation tools and apps.
- create digital poetry portfolios with free web tools and apps, like Weebly, Educlipper, Blendspace, Pinterest, and Livebinders.
- share their poetry in digital books with web tools and apps like Storybird and LittleBirdTales
- evaluate poetry with the Voicethread web tool and IOS app.
- use this heart shaped word cloud tool to share what they love about the subject matter.
- view animated text poetry like Television is a Drug then create their own animated text poetry presentations with multimedia tools like Powtoon, Thinglink Video, 30 Hands, Tell Me About This (IOS) and Narrable (IOS).
- create talking avatars to recite their poetry with Adobe Voice, Yakit for Kids, Tellagami, and Voki.
- create sonnets with the Poetry Engine, an online interactive.
- create their own magnetic poetry with these themed sets (mustache, nature, geek, love and poet).
Task:
Submit a poem that displays your knowledge and understanding of descriptive writing that includes figurative language and imagery. You should be using new media tools to develop your poem.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student demonstrates critical, creative, and reflective thinking to construct a deep understanding of sense of place. There is a clear connection and engagement with the topic to use descriptive language.
Written Expression: Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. The poem is presented using a new media tool that effectively supports the content.
Submission:
Use the "3.4 Descriptive Writing" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.
ASSIGNMENT 5: Editing Forum
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Task:
Go through the 3 Grammar Resources listed under Course Resources (on the side of the course). These sites are from an online Grammar textbook called The Bare Essentials. There are examples, practice exercises, and practice tests.
Do the practice tests in UNIT 2 (SENTENCES) and UNIT 3 (GRAMMAR). If you are not achieving 100% on these tests, review the lesson in the EXAMPLES and the do some practice EXERCISES to review.
In this forum, comment on which of the tests/concepts you found easiest. Which one was most difficult? Was there a concept in these practice tests that was unfamiliar to you? How might you begin to apply these learning lessons into your own writing? Can you see where you might use some of these conventions of language? Provide a discussion of your results and their applications into your speaking and writing. Comment on another's post. Did you get other ideas for applying these grammar lessons into your own writing?
There are TWO activities in a FORUM:
- Go to the main page of the course and click on 3.5 Response Forum. Start a new discussion topic by clicking on Add a New Discussion Topic.
- Reply/Respond to someone else's discussion topic by clicking on their topic and selecting Reply. Your response should provide an analysis of the discussion in the post and some original ideas. Try using the following prompts to guide your response to another post. "I wonder…" "I know…" "I can…" Don't just agree or disagree.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student has carefully considered prior and new knowledge of sentence construction including run on sentences, sentence fragments, modifiers, and parallel structure. Student has carefully considered prior and new knowledge of grammar rules including use of verbs and pronouns. Student demonstrates clear understanding of personal learning.
Response/Reply: Exemplary (6/6): The response/reply is thoughtful, insightful and respectfully exchanges ideas and viewpoints. Student demonstrates an exceptional level of understanding and communication of shared information.
Submission:
Use the "3.5 Response Forum" link on the main page of this section of the course to post your forum response to your teacher for marking.
ASSIGNMENT 6: PROJECT - Writing a Personal Narrative
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Task:
A personal narrative is an essay about personal experience that tells a story, so it is usually written in the first person. A personal narrative is a true story about something that happened in your life. You might share an exciting, surprising, or scary experience, like the time you went camping and saw a bear. Or you might share a moment when you learned an important lesson.
To maximize its impact, the essay should:
- Be written to have an emotional impact on the reader
- Include a lot of references to sensory perceptions and emotions
- Use vivid details and imagery (descriptive language)
The best personal narratives include many details, helping readers to feel like they are a part of the story, too.
In this unit, you will write a true story from your own life in way that makes it come alive once again!
HINT: Read more Tips for Writing a Personal Narrative. If you need more clarity on writing a personal narrative, there is a "book" at the top of the course called Writing a Personal Narrative.Your project for this unit is to write a personal narrative that is based on the many creative ideas found in using new media. Write a multi-paragraph composition on one of the writing prompts below. Connect not only to your own experiences but also to ideas/themes commonly found in using digital technology. You may agree or disagree with the prompt.
- People learn from a variety of sources.
- Challenging circumstances lead to positive actions.
- Keeping an open mind allows for growth.
Step 1: Generate Ideas
Before you begin planning your personal narrative, spend some time thinking about events (big or small) in your life that were meaningful or formative to you. It might be something you decided not to do and regret. It might be something you almost didn't do but are so glad you did. Maybe you learned something about yourself?
Step 2: Connect one of your experiences to a prompt to SHOW how the prompt is true or not true.
Step 3: Write the rough draft
Step 4: Proofread and Edit. See the checklist on Editing and Proofreading in Class Handouts
Step 5: Write the final draft.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student demonstrates exemplary personal narrative writing skills. Final product demonstrates a thorough understanding of the format of the multi-paragraph composition. There is a clear main idea that connects to one of the prompts. Body is developed with engaging and convincing support. The concluding idea makes a strong final statement of the main idea. Student demonstrates exemplary use of descriptive language to convey emotion.
Ideas/Content: (Exemplary (6/6): Exemplary development of ideas. Content contributes to the central idea and makes insightful connections. Support is engaging and convincing. It is logically developed to show the main idea. Accomplishes the purpose with originality, individuality, maturity, and sophistication.
Reflection and Insight: (Exemplary (6/6): Complex emotional connections and original ideas are included in a thoughtful response that includes specific example(s) of the student’s learning with connection to meaningful personal experiences. Development and support indicate exemplary reflection and insight.
Written Expression: (Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.
Submission:
Use the "3.6 PROJECT: Writing a Personal Narrative" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.