Due Sep 9

Abstract Claims & Concrete Details

Our goal this unit is to figure out how educational videos work—and how and where they fail to work. As a first step to that deeper understanding, for HW today you will write two paragraphs, each of which identifies a one key quality in a video.

Three videos to watch:

• Vi Hart, Hexaflexagons
• Nerdwriter, Inside Out: Emotional Theory Comes Alive
• Idea Channel, 3 Fallacies For Election Season!

Please watch all three, so you can provide smart feedback for other students when we meet for class. After watching all three, pick ONE to write on and watch it a second time. Make two lists: one of abstract qualities (frenetic, intellectual, etc.) and one of concrete details (focus on the speaker's face, jazz music in background, etc.). Pick out two qualities from the first list and make them each the focus of a ¶ filled with details from the second list.

Paragraph structure:

• One Sentence: After briefly identifying which video you're writing about, open the ¶ with a claim identifying one of its key qualities. Don't be too self-critical: you can (and should) experiment with re-naming this quality after you finish the next step.
• Three to four sentences: Flesh out the claim by pointing to specific concrete details that substantiate the video's "frenetic pacing" or whatever claim you're working on.

Turn your paragraphs in by pasting them into the comment box below. (If you don't see a comment box, bring your laptop to class.) Leave TWO returns between your ¶s to make the formatting look nice.