Stars or stories? A Rough Outline

This post displays a rough outline of points to consider in planning and drafting your comparative movie reviews. The topics listed below came from maps prepared in both classes. The second option, comparing the same stories told and retold in different movies, didn't get any takers this time. So this outline focuses mainly on the stars, that is, on the same actresses or actors performing in the two or three different movies that your teams have chosen.

There are three things I'd like each team to consider while re-reading this outline from classwork last week:

1. This is not a complete outline for any particular review; it's an aggregate. Topics that you didn't announce in class may be just as important as some of those represented here, or more so. For instance, examples of genres and settings in this outline are just that, examples. You'll need to tailor topics that you chose from this outline to suit the movies that you're reviewing.
2. It isn't necessary to cover all of the points in this outline in your reviews. For instance, you needn't cover stars['] other roles, or lives outside acting. Similarly, some of the stars you'll be focusing on may not have won awards for their performances in the movies you've chosen. So please decide for yourselves whether any particular type of content will complement or support your comparisons of stars' roles, or detract from your reviews of the movies themselves.
3. The order and arrangement of topics in your reviews may well differ from those in the outline below. These are just the ideas that you and your peers shared with the class. You should consider arranging these and other topics you cover in ways that make it easy for readers to follow your ideas as you develop your reviews from one paragraph to the next.

If you have concerns or questions about possible content or organization for your joint movie reviews, please spell them out in comments on this post, activate the option to receive follow-up comments by mail, and feel free to respond to your classmates and peers in follow-up comments as well.

[438 words, including 78 in the outline]

Writing Studio Blog Awards: Best Reviews (2008)

Ladies and gentlemen!

It is a pleasure to announce the winners of Writing Studio Awards for Best Reviews, 1st semester (2008). Nominees in each class (§§ 1a and 1c) who received the greatest numbers of appropriate and timely nominations from peers are the winners. In several of the categories, nominations resulted in two- or even three-way ties.

1. Best Title of the review post,
2. Easiest to Read and understand,
3. Most Informative or Opinionated,
4. Most Interesting or Unusual, and
   
5. Most Visually Appealing - best layout.

(Best Reviews 1.0, 2008.06.04)

powered by ODEO

The animated slide show below displays certificates that winners have received. Mousing over the slides themselves will display filenames including the initials of the (co-)winners. You can view them all on the Slide.com site (View All Images, below).

[124 words]

Thank you! No further nominations, please!

Thank you for reviewing all of your active classmates' blogs, and for all of your nominations of best reviews written as fourth essays (Best Reviews 1.0 (2008), 2008.06.04). I'm closing nominations now, approximately twenty-four hours after opening them. I will disregard nominations posted after 09:00 today (JST), and notify you of the finalists as soon as I can digest all of the feedback that you have provided. Thanks again.

[70 words]

Best Reviews 1.5 (2008): Most Visually Appealing

To nominate blogs for Most Visually Appealing, post comments this post. In your comments, include:

1. the author's blog handle (typed accurately, or copied and pasted),
2. the title of the essay (copied and pasted from the blog itself), and
   
3. your own reasons (two or more) for nominating it.

Thank you.

[3 words
not used in
previous quickpost]

__________
Note: This note is to deflect criticism concerning copying, modifying, or plagiarizing my own work. In this post I reuse and create a derivative of content from (a) previous post(-s) on the Writing Studio Blog. I do so in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 3.0 License at the foot of this blog.

Best Reviews 1.4 (2008): Most Interesting

To nominate blogs for Most Interesting or Unusual, post comments this post. In your comments, include:

1. the author's blog handle (typed accurately, or copied and pasted),
2. the title of the essay (copied and pasted from the blog itself), and
   
3. your own reasons (two or more) for nominating it.

Thank you.

[2 words
not used in
previous quickpost]

__________
Note: This note is to deflect criticism concerning copying, modifying, or plagiarizing my own work. In this post I reuse and create a derivative of content from (a) previous post(-s) on the Writing Studio Blog. I do so in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 3.0 License at the foot of this blog.

Best Reviews 1.3 (2008): Most Informative

To nominate blogs for Most Informative or Opinionated, post comments on this post. In your comments, include:

1. the author's blog handle (typed accurately, or copied and pasted)
2. the title of the essay (copied and pasted from the blog itself)
3. your own reasons (two or more) for nominating it

Thank you.

[4 words
not used in
previous quickpost]

__________
Note: This note is to deflect criticism concerning copying, modifying, or plagiarizing my own work. In this post I reuse and create a derivative of content from (a) previous post(-s) on the Writing Studio Blog. I do so in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 3.0 License at the foot of this blog.

Best Reviews 1.2 (2008): Easiest to Read

To nominate blogs for Easiest to Read, post comments on this post. In your comments, include:

1. the author's blog handle (typed accurately, or copied and pasted),
2. the title of the essay (copied and pasted from the blog itself), and
   
3. your own reasons (two or more) for nominating it.

Thank you.

[3 words
not used in
previous quickpost]

__________
Note: This note is to deflect criticism concerning copying, modifying, or plagiarizing my own work. In this post I reuse and create a derivative of content from (a) previous post(-s) on the Writing Studio Blog. I do so in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 3.0 License at the foot of this blog.

Best Reviews 1.1 (2008): Best [Post] Title

To nominate blogs for Best Title, post comments on this post. In your comments, include:

1. the author's blog handle (typed accurately, or copied and pasted),
2. the title of the essay (copied and pasted from the blog itself), and
   
3. your own reasons (two or more) for nominating it.

Thank you.

[52 words]

__________
Note: This note is to deflect criticism concerning copying, modifying, or plagiarizing my own work. In this post I reuse and create a derivative of content from (a) previous post(-s) on the Writing Studio Blog. I do so in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 3.0 License at the foot of this blog.

[+ 55 words]

Best Reviews 1.0 (2008)

Today you will have an opportunity to nominate five reviews written to fulfill fourth essay requirements this semester. You may nominate one review for each of five categories ( below), and you may nominate your own review for no more than one of them. The categories open for nominations are:

1. Best Title [of post, rather than blog],
2. Easiest to Read [and understand],
3. Most Informative or Opinionated,
4. Most Interesting or Unusual, and
   
5. Most Visually Appealing [best layout].

To find blogs to nominate:

a) browse each of the blogs in the list for your class,
b) locate the fourth essay on each blog, and
c) make sure it is a review that meets all of the following ... [requirements]:

• The review has a short, catchy title;
• It is at least 400 words in length;
• It includes no copied or machine translated content;
• It consists of at least five paragraphs five sentences in length; AND
• It has at least two labels, one of which is "essays" (the plural form, spelled accurately [emphases added]).

To nominate blogs for each category, post comments on the corresponding Writing Studio Blog posts [1.1 - 1.5: see links, below]. In your comments, include:

1. The author's blog handle (typed accurately, or copied and pasted),
2. The title of the essay (copied and pasted from the blog itself, for accuracy), and
   
3. Your own reasons (two or more) for nominating it, for:

If you have questions about the nominating process, please post your questions in comments on this post. Nominations themselves must be on the corresponding post for each category.

• Best Reviews 1.1 (2008): Best Title [of post, rather than blog]
  
• Best Reviews 1.2 (2008): Easiest to Read [& Understand]
  
• Best Reviews 1.3 (2008): Most Informative [or Opinionated]
• Best Reviews 1.4 (2008): Most Interesting [or Unusual]
• Best Reviews 1.5 (2008): Most Visually Appealing [best layout]
  

Comments on the essay posts are optional, but nice. [Please feel free to comment directly on classmates posts after class.]

[337 words
{including additions in
square brackets ("[...]"), above}]

RSS Feed Displays

RSS feed displays come in widgets of all sizes, shapes, and colors, and can provide you and visitors to your blogs with up-to-date information gathered automatically from all kinds of online sources, including blogs and wikis. There are at least four different RSS feed displays that I'm currently using on the Writing Studio Blog. There will be prizes in class for the first students to spell out in a comment on this post:

• the exact number (total) of RSS feed readers displayed on the top page of this blog, plus
  
• the title and location of only ONE (1) of those RSS feed displays.

[105 words]

Student Picks: Best Blogs in Writing IVc

Thank you for taking part in reviews today of blogs produced by your classmates and peers. As promised (Zoomerang Survey about Best Blogs, January 15, 2008), I closed the survey after classes today.

41 of 58 students invited to take part went through the survey; two left blank forms. Each of the pie charts below represents 100 percent of peer selections (32 in IVc1, and 33 in IVc2).

Three blogs took top honors in Writing IVc1:

1. ★☆brass☆★
   
2. Hello Makko
   
3. ♪Welcome to my brown blog area♪

Likewise, for Writing IVc2:

• (*´▽｀)v☆*:;;;;;:*☆Welcome to my home☆*:;;;;;:*☆v(´▽｀*) (tie for 1st)
• Okey-Dokey !! (tie for 1st)
  
• madyu's room (3rd)
  

[114 words]

Zoomerang Survey about Best Blogs

In your gmail, you should have found an invitation to take part in a Zoomerang survey asking your opinions regarding the best blogs in Writing IVc (fall semester). Before you take the survey, please review all of your classmates blogs (listed in section 2.3 of the Writing Studio Wiki).

To take the survey, click on the link in the message from Zoomerang:

• Subject: Zoomerang survey for Writing IVc: Best blogs (fall semester)
• Date: January 15, 2008 22:53:31 JST

After you click on the link in that message, the web page you see should look like this (graphic, right); from there, please click on the "Start Survey" button, and respond to the three questions.

If you haven't taken the survey yet, please do so as soon as possible. I am planning to close the survey shortly after class meetings tomorrow, January 16, 2008. I'll announce results and awards here on the Writing Studio Blog after reviewing survey results.

[159 words]

BotM Award Nom's: Best Sidebars (July)

Regrettably, Blog of the Month (BotM) nominations for Best Sidebar Presentation in May-June all referred to overall visual presentations. That is, nominations in comments mentioned numerous interesting pictures in blog entries, in particular, rather that extraordinary developments of blog sidebars. So I'm making one last call for one more award this semester.

In order to nominate a blog for Best Sidebar Presentation (July), your comment must include:

1. The blog's title - linked to its URL; &
2. A rationale for nomination - describing that blog's sidebar developments.

Please note:

• You may nominate only one (1) blog for best sidebar; however, it may be your own;
• If you nominate more than one blog for best sidebar, all nominations that you make will become nul and void;
  
• You must code links in comments by hand:
• Simple URLs of blogs will not qualify;
• Links must include the blog's title (visible) and its URL (hidden in the code);
• Review recent tips on linking if necessary; and
  
• Nominations for Best Sidebar Presentation (July) close at midnight, July 26.
  

Announcing - BotM Awards for May-June!

Ladies and gentlemen!

The jury has made its decisions regarding blogging done in May and June. This time around, eight blogs received nominations for Blog of the Month (BotM) Awards from classmates and peers. In alphabetical order by titles (without special characters), these blogs are:

• Born-2-Ball
• http://born-2-ball.blogspot.com/
• Brass
• http://trumpetter.blogspot.com/
• House of Keibo
• http://houseofkeibo.blogspot.com
• Madyu's room
• http://madyu-madyu.blogspot.com
• Mami blog
• http://mami-fe06151.blogspot.com/
• Tom-room
• http://tom-room.blogspot.com
• Triphaina's diary
• http://triphaina.blogspot.com
• Yu-ri's everyday
• http://yuriseveryday.blogspot.com/

Best Book Reviews

Three of those blogs received nominations for best book review. In numerical order by review number, they are:

1. Tomoko's review of The Troy Stone (1-09, June 19, 2007), which got one nomination;
   
2. Madyu's review of Kim's choice (1-10; May 28, 2007), which got one nomination; and
3. Triphaina's review of Jane Eyre (1-12; July 3, 2007), which got two nominations.

However, since Triphaina posted her review of Jane Eyre on July 3, the Best Book Review Awards for May-June go to Madyu's Kim's choice AND Tomoko's The Troy Stone - a tie!

Best Third or Fourth Essays

Four of those blogs received nominations for best essays. That is, in alphabetical order by blog title, one nomination each for:

• House of Keibo's exposition on his Ideal family (June 6, 2007), which got one nomination;
• Triphaina's diary entry starting, I love Kumanoto, but ... (June 17, 2007), which got one nomination;
  
• Mami's blog entry on Kumamoto (June 17, 2007), which got one nomination; &
  
• Yuri's essay About Kumamoto (June 11, 2007), which got two nominations.

This makes Yuri's essay About Kumamoto the winner of the Best Essay Award for May-June!

Best Sidebar Presentations

Unfortunately, the jury has decided that, this time around, the nominations for blogs with best sidebars matched a previous BotM Award category, Best Visual Presentation (April), rather than Best Sidebar Presentation (May-June). The rationales for those nominations all referred to pictures in blog entries, rather than exemplary sidebar developments.

So we will reserve the award for best sidebar presentation until the month of July, and call for nominations immediately in comments on a subsequent post.

It's time again for BotM nominations!

It is time, once again, for Blog of the Month (BotM) nominations. This post explains how to make nominations for May - June.

Rules
You may nominate individuals (classmates, peers from other classes, and yourself) for no more than one award each. If you nominate anyone more than once, all of your nominations of that person will become nul and void.

Categories
Awards for May - June will reflect upon three categories of writing and blog development. They are:

• Best book review (May or June);
• Best sidebar presentation (as of date of nomination); &
• Best third or fourth essay (for Writing IIIc: 3. individual choice of topics, or 4. novel perspective on Kumamoto).

How to make nominations
Please make nominations, one at a time, in individual comments on this blog post. I will consider only accurate and complete nominations. All nominations for any category (review, sidebar or essay) must include the following information, namely the:

1. Category: Review, Sidebar, or 3rd or 4th Essay;
2. Blog title (for best sidebar) - linked to its URL, or post title (for essay or review) - linked to its URL; &
3. Rationale for nomination.

To make a link in a comment may not be as easy as it is to do in a blog post. In comments, at present, you must encode links by hand. There is a recipe in the ltdproject wiki for a URL link and display text that you can use in a comment. Last, but not least, please remember to include rationales when you make nominations for any category of blog posting in May or June.

Deadline for nominations
Nominations for the months of May and June will close at midnight, July 6, 2007 (JST).

Blogs of the Month Awards (April)

Ladies and gentlemen!

Please allow me to introduce some of the finalists for the April Blogs of the Month Awards. Two blogs received three nominations each:

1. Brass, for best book review (1) and best visual presentation (2); and
2. Anya's field, for best essay (1) and best visual presentation (2).

Four other blogs received two nominations each:

• CHINA's BLOG, for best visual presentation;
• Cooking, for best essay; and
• Kana's blog and Triphaina's diary, for best book reviews.

Best book reviews

The second runner-up for best book review in April is Kana, for her review of Tinker's Island. The first runner-up is Asumi, for her review of Babe - Pig in the City, and ...

The best book review award for April goes to...

• Chiaki - for her review of Jane Austen's Emma (Triphiana's Diary, Book Review 1-01)!

Best essays

Runners-up for best essay are Hiroko, for her introductory essay about her favorite things (Cooking; April 11, 2007), and Toru, for his essay about himself (In the Clover, April 11, 2007).

The best essay award for April goes to...

• Luca - for her introductory essay (Sleeping Luca; April 11, 2007)!

Best visual presentations

Now, for the last of the awards for April, the second runner-up for best visual presentation is Chinami, for China's Blog. First runner-up for best visual presentation in April is Anna, for Anya's field, and ...

The winner of the best visual presentation award for April is...

• Asumi, for Brass!
  

Blog of the Month nominations, please!

I'm opening nominations for the first Blog of the Month - best in class - awards. I invite you to nominate your peers (classmates) for their creation of outstanding blogs and posts in April.

Remember, you can find classmates blogs through the class links in the Welcome message. You can also find them in the RSS feeds bubbling up through widgets at the top of the sidebar.

You may make nominations for just one, two or all three categories (max.: one each). To frame your nominations, please cut and paste the following outline into a single comment on this post.

=====

1. For the best book review:
• Blog title (copy & paste or type here): XXX
  
• Blog URL (copy & paste blog address here): YYY
  
• Why you think it's the best (explain briefly): ZZZ
  
2. For the best essay:
• Blog title (copy & paste or type here): XXX
  
• Blog URL (copy & paste blog address here): YYY
  
• Why you think it's the best (explain briefly): ZZZ
  
3. For the most attractive visual presentation:
• Blog title (copy & paste or type here): XXX
  
• Blog URL (copy & paste blog address here): YYY
  
• Why you think it's the best (explain briefly): ZZZ
  

==========

Thank you in advance for thoughtful and timely nominations! This assignment is optional (extra-credit). The deadline for nominations [extended by 24 hrs. due to the holiday on May 1] is midnight, May [2], 2007. [Nominations for April are now closed.]