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Advanced Strategies for Rhetoric and Research
The Practices of Memory
English 190.9
Spring 2004

Writing Project 5: Social Memory Display

For the MOO Project, which you’ll be able to do a lot of in class, I want you to create a MOO space that introduces and comments upon some of the major issues involved in your research topic. In other words, you’ll use a room or a series of rooms to create an environment appropriate to your topic and you’ll place objects in those rooms to inform your readers about your topic and, possibly, persuade them in some way.

For instance, I had a student who wanted to create a space that reflected Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “The American Scholar.” In that essay, Emerson argues that we learn from nature, from the past (through books), and from experience. To represent the idea of education through nature, she made a room named “Emerson’s Garden” and used the $thing to make a number of different flowers. The description of each flower quoted a different passage from Emerson’s section on education by nature. In effect, by reading each flower — by “observing” nature — you learned that Emerson believed we can learn about ourselves, the world, and God’s plan by observing nature.

Requirements
Your MOO project should contain the following:

• at least one room, named and described in such a way as to reflect your topic.
• 4 - 6 objects that provide information about your topic, only one of which can be a $note or a slide projector with slides. If you have more than 4 objects, you’re free to use additional $notes or slide projectors.
• For each object, the @integrate_room object message should be set and it should be written to help explain the purpose function of the object (see examples).
• For each object, the @describe message can provide more detailed information and commentary.

Getting Started
It’s best to plan your project out before you begin making a room and creating objects. First, think about what ideas you want to get across, what information you want visitors to your room to learn. Then think about an overall theme that can let you present that information (i.e. A garden with flowers to represent nature) and the objects you’d like to use. Also decide if you want to use more than one room and how you’ll connect the them together. For instance, the student who worked with Emerson’s “American Scholar” had a central room, described as “Harvard Auditorium” as the starting point because the essay was originally given as a speech at Harvard. A $note object, described as a program, explained the context of the speech and it’s main points. From the auditorium, you could visit the three rooms that helped explain education by nature, by the past, and by experience. You'll want to consider the following:

• Purpose: What, exactly, do you want to do with your project? What information do you want your readers to know once they've visited your MOO space?
• Material: Once you’ve decided your purpose, you’ll want to think about what you need to include. What information do you need to present? What ideas do you need to demonstrate? What arguments do you need to make? What supporting evidence do you need to provide?
  
• Structure: Once you’ve decided upon the material you need to use, you’ll need to determine an overall structure to your project. How many rooms will you need and how will you control navigation through your MOO project? Will you have your audience walk through your project in a linear fashion, or will you create a hub-and-spoke or Web structure that lets them explore?
  
• Presentation: How will you present your information, your arguments, and your ideas? What will you include in room descriptions? What will you include as objects? Do you want to create a MOO slide show? Do you want to have narrator objects narrate text? Which objects should be @integrated into your room’s description and which objects should not?

Don’t forget that you can be as creative as you want with this. Rooms can be a museum, a village, a meadows, the inside of a beer can, or even the inside of someone’s brain! They must, however, make sense. If your project is about the Holocaust, the inside of a beer can or "Joe's Love Shack" aren't likely settings for your project.

You can also be creative with objects. A cork board can be a tree that has signs nailed to it, and a narrating machine can be a t.v. or a holographic projector. You could even make a conversational bots which discuss ideas with each other, or use animatronics and random narrators to quote sources. It’s up to you. The one thing you must remember is that you need to justify your choices in the write up of your project, which means that while you can be creative, you need to make sure you don’t undermine your project by doing something silly just because it’s cool. In other words, while creativity is encouraged, make sure it makes sense.

If you want to see three sample rooms, walk to the Eastern Permanent Collections Room (#14165) and visit the Emerson University Library, the Anchorhold, or the Res of Memory.

Digging Your Space
Once you’ve planned your project out, you're ready to dig your first room. You will dig your project from one of three Special Exhibit Rooms located in Staefgeard Hall. Room assignments are:

Don't forget to make sure no one else is using your exit name before you dig your first room.

Write Up
Your write up should include the following:

1. A hardcopy log of you walking through your project as if you were a reader examining it.
2. A explanation of your goal for the assignment (What you wanted your readers to get from your MOO space).
3. A description of the overall structure of your project and the reasons for structuring it the way you did. (Why did you used the number of rooms you use? Why did you link the rooms together the way you did? How do the rooms develop or support your purpose? How does the way they are linked together best serve your purpose? Etc.)
   
4. A room by room description of how your project meets your goals. (Discuss the rhetorical choices you made in descriptions, in the objects you use, in the way you include or don’t include quotes from your sources. Discuss how you believe you’ve developed your ethos, your pathos, and your logos. Etc.) Include a list of rooms (by name and object #) and the items in each room (again by name and object #).

Peer Review Draft Due: 27 April 2004

For the peer review, bring two copies of sections 2-4 of your write up.

Final Portfolio Due: 4 May

Based upon your peer-review, revise any part of your project that needs revision and create your hardcopy log. Your Project 5 Portfolio should include:

• the final draft of write up,
• the peer review write up and peer review comments
• any prewriting you may have (including notes, maps, diagrams, descriptions, etc.),
• and a brief cover letter discussing:
  • what changes you made after the peer review and why you made them,
  • and such information as:
    • resources which you drew upon,
    • what you struggled with,
    • what you think you learned,
    • what writing and rhetorical issues you focused upon, etc.
  • This cover letter should be professional, clearly written, and well organized.

Last Modified: 12 April 2004

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