New Blog Assignment

For Sept. 13^th, I would like you to post your opinion on some aspect of the news in your blog. You could comment on online articles from news sources, such as USA Today, the Collegiate Times, the Roanoke Times, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, among others (I would steer away from news satire, which would include papers like the Onion). The articles can be about anything that interests you: world news, national news, local news, sports, economics, entertainment, science, technology, etc. I am looking for is clear and concise writing and interesting/critical thinking. I have posted an example on my blog with the title: "Surveying Our Times," which is the post below this one.

Keep the following in mind:

• You should cite/hyperlink the original article you read as well as any supplemental reading, and make sure that your audience knows what you are talking about from the beginning of the blog post. For example, notice in my blog that whenever I use information from a source, I create a link in my text that goes to that web page. If you’re confused about how to create these links, tell me and I will cover it in class Thursday.
• Don’t summarize the article, but make sure that your opinion takes the forefront. Think of yourself as having a discussion with the author of the article. The way you’ll know that your writing has your opinion is that someone else would be able to argue against the point your making. In my case, someone might make an argument against me that I am only focusing on the negative aspects of technology (forgetting about how it served Egypt’s revolution) or that capitalism and democracy were never in balance, or perhaps when we use the word democracy we aren’t talking about equality, but about a specific system type of governmental representation.
• Take your time and read around about the issue you’re interested in. Also, I suggest reading a little of the news every day. It’s important to stay up to date and anticipate changing events either in your field or the world at large.
• You need to have the blog entry posted before class on Tuesday Sept 13th.
• If you aren't sure how to post on Blogger, see http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41378
• If you need more information or would like to work on your template, see http://www.google.com/support/blogger/?hl=en