Canadian Writers E-Zine WebQuest

Exploring Canadian Writing in Print and Online

Introduction

• The Canadian Writers E-Zine WebQuest is intended for students studying Grade 11 or Grade 12 English Language Arts.

• You will have the chance to learn more about Canadian writers, digital publishing, the writing process, and literary criticism.

• You will work together to create an original online publication (an “ezine”) which deals with Canadian writers and Canadian literature.

Zines and Blogs

• A zine is an “inexpensively produced, self-published, underground publication” (Dictionary.com, 2009).

• An ezine is “a magazine published electronically, especially on the internet” (Dictionary.com, 2009).

• A blog is “an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page” (Dictionary.com, 2009).

• Click here to read a short essay discussing the difference between zines and blogs.

• The goal of this WebQuest is to create the first volume of an ezine devoted to Canadian writers and/or Canadian Literature.

• Click here to find out more information about WebQuests.

Canlit and Canadian Writers

• “Canlit” is a term used to refer to “literature, usually in English, written by Canadians or written in or about Canada” (Dictionary.com, 2009).

• Writers such as Margaret Laurence, Leonard Cohen, Margret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Alice Munro, and George Elliott Clarke have become internationally renowned for their novels, short stories, poems, plays, and journalism.

• There are hundreds of publications both in print and online devoted to publishing the work of Canadian writers of poetry, fiction, journalism, literary criticism, and new media.

Tasks• Working individually or in groups, you will create literary criticism, original

writing, new media, and/or promotional material for inclusion in the latest edition of the Digital Canada literary ezine.

• You will provide constructive feedback on the work of at least one of your peers. Your peers will provide this kind of feedback about your work.

• After receiving this feedback you will prepare your final submission for publication.

• Once you have completed your final submission of the assignment you should prepare a brief, informal report about your experience as a reader, writer, and critic through this exercise and post it on the Digital Canada Ezine blog.

The Process• Visit one of the websites provided in the Resources page of the

Canadian Writers Ezine wiki.• Use one of the websites to locate a work of poetry, prose, drama, or journalism by

a Canadian author. • *Note: You may also choose to find a resource through Google or a similar search.• *Note: You may choose to do your work based on a printed source such as a novel

or journal. Be sure to submit a reference to the work with your completed assignment. The reference should be formatted according to APA guidelines.

• Read the work several times. Make notes as you read to ensure you fully understand the work.

• Consider the following while you read: the themes found in the work (what ideas are repeated?), the literary style used by the writer (how does the writer express his or her ideas?), the format the work appears in (book, magazine, newspaper, etc), the content of the work (what is it actually about?), and the “Canadian-ness” of the work (what about this work or author makes this a specifically Canadian text?)

Process, cont’d• Once you have chosen a work, read it, and generally understood it, you

will prepare a submission for the Digital Canada Ezine (or “DCE” for short).• You have the choice to prepare a submission as an individual or as part of

a group. • Review the Submission Guidelines and the Disclaimer on the following

slides for more details on the specific requirements for this component of the assignment.

• Once your work is finished, send it as an email attachment (in MS Word, PowerPoint, or PDF format) to the DCE Editor-in-Chief (or “EIC” for short). The EIC = your teacher and/or the DCE wiki admin.

• You will receive the work of at least one of your peers by email. You should provide a brief, thoughtful, and constructive review and return this to the EIC. *More information on this process can be found on the “Assessment” slide.

Process, cont’d• The EIC will review your submission for clarity, adherence to the zine’s

guidelines (see the following slides), and overall quality. The EIC will return your work along with feedback from at least one of your peers.

• You should take the feedback from the EIC and from your peers into account when preparing the final submission of your work.

• Send your final submission to the EIC as an attachment to an email (or as a hyperlink for those working in online formats).

• After sending your final submission, be sure to post a brief (i.e. no more than 250-word) reflection on the writing process on the DCE blog.

• Once all submissions have been collected by the EIC, a hyperlinked PDF edition of Digital Canada Ezine will be released which features the final submissions of all contributors.

• This PDF will be posted on the DCE project wiki.

*A Note on Group Submissions• The submissions described on the following slides may be completed by individuals or by

groups. • You don’t have to work by yourself to complete this assignment. You are also not required to

work as a part of a group.• All members of groups should read at least one piece of writing by a Canadian author and be

able to bring evidence of this reading to the assignment.• Groups will be required to provide a brief presentation or short (1-2 page) document which

clearly describes each group member’s role in creating the project. This Group Process Description (GPD) will need to be included with your final submission in order for you to receive full credit for your work.

• The GPD should provide a breakdown of the division of time and effort going into the project, as well as markers for task-achievement (i.e. reading, first draft, editing, second draft, uploading/publishing, etc). You may wish to include a Gantt chart as part of your GPD. Be sure to email the GPD as a separate attachment when submitting your work to the EIC.

• All group members need to make an equal contribution of time and/or effort to the project in order for the group to receive full credit for the assignment.

• Be sure to check with your English teacher or with DCE wiki admin for more details regarding the specific requirements for your group’s project.

DCE Submission Guidelines The EIC of DCE accepts submissions of the following nature:

•Profiles of famous (or not-so famous) Canadian authors. *See the Resources page of the DCE wiki for help with this.*

•Interviews with Canadian authors. *You create the questions. If you can’t reach the author to answer the questions, try and imagine how one of his or her major characters would answer your questions on the author’s behalf.*

•Create a painting, series of photographs, or other visual representation of a work by a Canadian author.*Be sure to attach a copy of the work your visual representation is based upon.*

•Write an original sequence of poems, a short story, a novel excerpt, a scene from a play, or a work of journalism which is in the style of a Canadian author. *Be sure to attach a separate page to your submission which includes the name of the author you are working from, and the elements of his or her work which you have included in your own.*

Guidelines, cont’d• Adapt a work by a Canadian author into a medium other than the one in which it originally

appears (i.e. turn a poem into a story or a short video). *Be sure to attach a separate page to your submission which includes the name of the work you are adapting, as well as the author and specific publication info (see APA guidelines for how this should look).* Note: this type of submission is ideal for groups.

• Create a “fan website” for a Canadian writer which brings together as many online resources which deal with this writer as you can find. *This page should include images of the writer, and should also include a brief biographical write-up to serve as context for the page user.* Note: this type of submission is ideal for groups.

• Write a review of a representative work by a Canadian author. *Reviews should be no less than 500 words long and should express a critical (i.e. logical, clearly-expressed, and bias-free) perspective. See the hyperlink above for information on APA reference and citation style.*

• As DCE is an online publication, we are capable of publishing material which does not does not appear in “typical” literary publications. If you have an idea for a submission which does not fit those mentioned above, please approach the EIC in person or by email to discuss this in greater detail.

*Disclaimer• DCE only publishes original work. Plagiarism is a very serious academic offence. If

the EIC suspects you have copied your work from another source without giving proper credit, your work may not be included in DCE and further action may be taken as required.

• It is strongly recommended that you use APA-style references and in-text citations for any work you create in which you quote, paraphrase, or otherwise use another writer’s work. *Note: this includes the use of websites and online journals (and ezines!).

• The DCE editorial board accepts submissions from individual authors and from groups of authors. *Note: it is best to contact the EIC regarding the requirements for group submissions before starting your work because the requirements for groups tend to be different than those for individual authors.

• It is important to contact the EIC with any questions you have AS THEY ARISE. This will ensure your work’s transition from an idea to a published piece of writing (or other kind of art) is as smooth and trouble-free as possible.

• All copyright for any work created for DCE remains with the original author(s).

Assessment• The teacher of your English course reserves the right to make this assignment

worth as many or as few marks as is appropriate to the needs of your class.• In order to receive full credit for your work you should make sure all the work

you submit contains your best spelling, grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary.

• All stages of the Process section described in this presentation should be completed to the best of your ability.

• Be sure to check the Submission Guidelines (above) and to ask your teacher if you have any questions. Questions may also be emailed to the DCE wiki admin.

• Peer feedback reviews should be no longer than 250 words per review.• Criticism of your peer’s work should be helpful and constructive. As a rule,

you should find at least one “positive” comment for your colleagues’ work for every “opportunity for change”.

Resources

• Be sure to check the Resources page of the DCE wiki for the web links you will require to complete this assignment.

• Be sure to cut the URL’s for any links you use which are not included in the DCE wiki and paste these into a blank MS Word document. You will need these when preparing your list of References.

• Before sending in your final submission, make sure you create an APA-formatted References page which includes all the links you use while completing your assignment.

• A sample References page is found on the next slide.

ReferencesFreedman, J. (2005). Zines are not blogs: A not unbiased analysis. [Electronic version]. Counterpoise, 9, 10.

Giving constructive feedback. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2009, from

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/giving-constructive-feedback.html

Government of New Brunswick. (1998). English language arts curriculum. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://www.gnb.ca/0000/publications/curric/englangartshs.pdf

The OWL at Purdue. (2009). APA formatting and style guide. Retrieved November 8, 2009, fromhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01

Wikipedia. (2009). Flag of Canada. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_flag

Good luck and have fun!