ENGL2310: Final Project Assignment due Wednesday, June 24, 23:59 Central PoCo Contempo UIW Online World Lit Studies http://uiwworldlitstudies.edublogs.org For this final project, you will be contributing to PoCo Contempo, the UIW Online University’s ethnographic blog on the topic of postcolonial analysis in the 21st century. Initially, “postcolonial” was applied to literature originating in the waves of independence from previously colonized regions of the world (1950s-1990s). Nonetheless, the effects of those colonial relationships are ongoing. This blog is dedicated to collecting examples of current texts (1990-present) that could benefit from postcolonial analysis. These might be instances of film, television, advertising (i.e. branding), social media, music, video games, and physical spaces, as well as more traditional forms of literature. A blog (short for weblog) is a hybrid form of writing originally used by journalists, but more recently adopted by academics to “test drive” some of their theories and experiences. It is a blend of personal reflection and analysis. Blogs act as digital portfolios that showcase work and mastery of concepts and participation in a community of practice. Because of their public nature, they can be shared as writing samples for future career steps as well. An ethnography is a study of people and cultures. So, for this project, we will be studying the people of our 21st-century world. As a multimodal form of social media, a blog incorporates elements of visual design, sound, video, and interactivity to invite audience participation and engagement. Think of it as an opportunity to display your acquired knowledge and push the ideas past our discussions of the literature. You’ll find descriptions for the three required components on the following page. Some Blog Resources and Samples: Take advantage of the links below to get a better idea of how the project could look and what blogs are meant to accomplish. If you’re new to blogs as a form of writing, join the blog early so that you have time to play around with the different possibilities. I’m available to give tips on how to make your project interactive and visually appealing. Don’t wait until the night before to reach out! Jenna Morgan‘s Final Project Kathleen Colon’s Final Project Ricardo Esquivel’s Final Project Karyn’s Example Analysis of a Text Ethnographic Blogging Why I Blog A Brief History of Postcolonial Literature Postcolonial Digital Humanities http://uiwworldlitstudies.edublogs.org/2017/04/26/pocofipro/ http://uiwworldlitstudies.edublogs.org/2016/03/03/voices/ https://postcolonialstateofmind.wordpress.com/ http://uiwworldlitstudies.edublogs.org/?p=274 http://openanthcoop.ning.com/forum/topics/ethnographic-blogging http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/why-i-blog/307060/ http://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/a-brief-history-of-pos.

1. ENGL2310: Final Project Assignment
due Wednesday, June 24, 23:59 Central
PoCo Contempo
UIW Online World Lit Studies
http://uiwworldlitstudies.edublogs.org
For this final project, you will be contributing to PoCo
Contempo, the UIW Online University’s
ethnographic blog on the topic of postcolonial analysis in the
21st century. Initially, “postcolonial”
was applied to literature originating in the waves of
independence from previously colonized
regions of the world (1950s-1990s). Nonetheless, the effects of
those colonial relationships are
ongoing. This blog is dedicated to collecting examples of
current texts (1990-present) that could
benefit from postcolonial analysis. These might be instances of
film, television, advertising (i.e.
branding), social media, music, video games, and physical
spaces, as well as more traditional forms
of literature.
A blog (short for weblog) is a hybrid form of writing originally
used by journalists, but more
recently adopted by academics to “test drive” some of their
theories and experiences. It is a blend

2. of personal reflection and analysis. Blogs act as digital
portfolios that showcase work and mastery
of concepts and participation in a community of practice.
Because of their public nature, they can be
shared as writing samples for future career steps as well.
An ethnography is a study of people and cultures. So, for this
project, we will be studying the
people of our 21st-century world. As a multimodal form of
social media, a blog incorporates
elements of visual design, sound, video, and interactivity to
invite audience participation and
engagement. Think of it as an opportunity to display your
acquired knowledge and push the ideas
past our discussions of the literature. You’ll find descriptions
for the three required components on
the following page.
Some Blog Resources and Samples:
Take advantage of the links below to get a better idea of how
the project could look and what blogs
are meant to accomplish. If you’re new to blogs as a form of
writing, join the blog early so that you
have time to play around with the different possibilities. I’m
available to give tips on how to make
your project interactive and visually appealing. Don’t wait until
the night before to reach out!
Jenna Morgan‘s Final Project

3. Kathleen Colon’s Final Project
Ricardo Esquivel’s Final Project
Karyn’s Example Analysis of a Text
Ethnographic Blogging
Why I Blog
A Brief History of Postcolonial Literature
Postcolonial Digital Humanities
http://uiwworldlitstudies.edublogs.org/2017/04/26/pocofipro/
http://uiwworldlitstudies.edublogs.org/2016/03/03/voices/
https://postcolonialstateofmind.wordpress.com/
http://uiwworldlitstudies.edublogs.org/?p=274
http://openanthcoop.ning.com/forum/topics/ethnographic-
blogging
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/why-i-
blog/307060/
http://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/a-brief-history-of-
postcolonial-literature-part-i
http://dhpoco.org/blog/
Assessment Rubric
Summary
(200 points total)

4. 25
Reflection 40
Application 60 (30 per example)
Visual Rhetoric 20
Originality 20
Interactivity 20
Documentation 15
There are three parts that you must include in your Final Project
submission:
Summary:
Provide a summary of postcolonial theory. What is it? What is it
concerned with?
How is it a tool for looking at the world today? Why is it
important? Consider when and how it
emerged as a school of thought and give concrete examples to
anchor your explanations. The goal
of this section is to demonstrate your command of the theory
and reflect on its intended purpose.
Reflection:
Choose the postcolonial theme that has most resonated with you
this term. Discuss yourself and
your experiences in relation to that theme. Be specific, taking
your reflection beyond general
observations. The goal of this section is to demonstrate in what
ways the theories have been
relevant to your life or have caused you to reflect on your
experiences.

5. Application:
Locate two (2) 21st-century texts that you find promising for
postcolonial analysis, and perform
a succinct analysis of each. Remember that a text is any cultural
artifact (see the list on the earlier
page). What themes emerge, and what are the messages about
those themes? How does the
theory illuminate your experience of the text? The goal of this
section is to take the theory
beyond the texts to identify how the concepts apply to the world
around us.
Joining the blog:
I’ll add students to the blog manually at the start of Week 7, but
you can also reach out to
be given access earlier. You’re encouraged to start putting
drafts together and exploring
the blog capabilities at any time, but please don’t publish posts
way before the due date
without checking with me. Save them as unpublished drafts to
help avoid confusion.
You can find a great visual tutorial on how to create a blog post
here.
https://help.edublogs.org/writing-your-first-post/

6. Final Project Assessment Rubric
Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Deficient
Su
m
m
ar
y
Posts present a clear, concise, and
thorough explanation of
postcolonial theory, providing useful
context and vivid illustrations.
25 22 20
Posts present a solid understanding of
postcolonial theory, providing some
context and illustrations, though minor
thought gaps are apparent.
19 16 13
Posts show rudimentary
understanding of postcolonial
theory. Key information is explained
in vague terms and/or major thought
gaps are apparent.

7. 12 11 9
Posts demonstrate a weak
understanding of postcolonial
theory. Explanations are extremely
vague and/or include
misunderstandings of key concepts.
7 5 3 1
R
e
fl
ec
ti
o
n
Posts demonstrate deep
engagement with the theme via
concrete textual examples,
in-depth analysis, and thorough
explanations.
40 37 34
Engagement with the theme is
demonstrated through thorough
concrete textual examples, though

8. analysis and explanations remain
superficial
31 28 25 22
A theme is discussed quite generally
and/ or with very limited concrete
examples. There are some thought
gaps or misunderstandings of
postcolonial theory.
19 16 13
There is no attempt to take the
theme beyond general and
superficial observations. There
are thoughts are disjointed and/
or a complete
misunderstandings of theory.
11 9 7 5 3
A
p
p
lic
at
io
n

9. Posts offer clear and systematic
analysis of two selected texts,
including specific support for
interpretations. Each example is
presented with thorough
development and analysis.
60 55 50
Posts offer limited textual support for
the interpretations, but thoroughly
cover the relevant theme. There may
be minor lapses in development for
one work.
45 42 39 36
Posts include general references to
texts with some lapses in
development for more than one work.
One work may be missing.
30 27 24 21
Posts do not make reference to
contemporary texts and/or no
explanation is given.

10. 20 17 14 11 9
V
is
u
al
R
h
et
o
ri
c
Posts are well-written with careful
attention to stylistic conventions for
online and mobile reading. Posts
demonstrate careful consideration
for visual appeal including purposeful
use of layout, color, images, and text.
20 19 18
Posts are well-written with attention to
stylistic conventions for online and
mobile reading. Posts demonstrate
consideration for visual appeal
including purposeful use of layout,
color, images, and text
17 16 15

11. Posts are written with some attention
to stylistic conventions for online and
mobile reading. Posts attempt visual
appeal but are not entirely successful.
14 13 12 11
Posts are written with little attention
to stylistic conventions for online
and mobile reading. Posts
demonstrate no consideration for
visual appeal.
8 6 4 2
O
ri
gi
n
a
lit
y
Posts are creative and unexpected,
demonstrating remarkable
innovation in thought and
presentation.

12. 20 19 18
Posts display some originality, in
thought and/or presentation but it
may not be consistent.
17 16 15
Posts display little originality in
thought and/or presentation.
Ideas are trite, cliché and/or
regurgitate typical postcolonial tropes.
14 13 12 11
Posts reflect limited
inventiveness, rarely pushing the
ideas and/or presentation beyond
traditional postcolonial tropes.
8 6 4 2
In
te
ra
ct
iv
it
y
Posts are multimodal and highly

13. engaging, taking advantage of
interactive tools like hyperlinks,
keywords, tags, widgets, add-ons,
and invitations for audience
response. Navigational features are
appropriately incorporated for ease
of use.
20 19 18
Posts are multimodal and engaging,
taking advantage of some interactive
tools like hyperlinks, keywords, tags,
and invitations for audience response.
Navigational features are appropriately
incorporated for ease of use.
17 16 15
Posts are somewhat multimodal, taking
advantage of interactive tools like
hyperlinks and invitations for audience
response. Navigational features are
attempted for ease of use.
14 13 12 11
Posts are monomodal (completely
text-based) and not at all engaging.
Navigational features are not used.
Audience is not invited to

14. participate.
8 6 4 2
D
o
cu
m
e
n
ta
ti
o
n
Proper citation format and
conventions are consistently upheld
throughout posts. All media are
appropriately and consistently
documented. No evidence of
plagiarism and/or copyright issues.
15 14
Proper citation format and conventions
are largely upheld throughout posts.
Most media are appropriately documented.
No evidence of plagiarism and/or
copyright issues.

15. 13 12 11
Citation format and conventions are
somewhat upheld throughout posts,
albeit inconsistently. Some media are
appropriately documented. Evidence of
plagiarism and/or copyright issues.
10 9 8
No citation format and
conventions in posts. Media are not
appropriately documented. Evidence
of plagiarism and/or copyright
issues.
6 4 2