Reflective Journal #2

5% (50 Points)
DUE: March 3, 2025 (11:59pm, EST)

In preparation for your essay composition, you will create several reflective pieces about the items you are either reading or viewing.

DIRECTIONS: Create five entries. Each entry should be roughly one paragraph (6-10 sentences) long. The materials have been selected for use in Essay One. The entry discusses why and how you plan to use the materials for Essay One. Be sure to provide complete bibliographic information for each entry!

  • One for each source that is being used that from the Readily Available Materials of any Case Study or Supplemental Materials (at least two sources, total).
  • One for each source that is being used from Find it in KSU Libraries of any Case Study or Supplemental Materials (at least two sources, total).
  • One for Derf Backderf’s Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio:
    • one that discusses the book’s content, as a whole (what’s the book about?)
    • one that discusses your ideas for your paper, about this book

NOTE: You can lift sentences from your journal entries to put into your essay!

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES: you may take both opportunities.

  1. Watch the documentary film, Fire In the Heartland: Kent State, May 4, and Student Protest in America, and add an additional entry to your journal (such as a comparison/contrast between the book and the movie). This is worth 5 points extra credit toward your Reflective Journal #2.
  2. How’s it going? Teaching and learning are two sides of the same coin, and just as I give you feedback for your writing, I’d like a little feedback for my instruction. This information will help me to help students succeed in the class. Let me know how you’re feeling about your learning experience with me by taking this Ascend Survey   (available February 24 to March 9). I will know that you have taken the survey, but not which student gave which answers. This is worth 5 points extra credit toward your entire course grade. NOTE: The questions on this survey are identical to the questions on the first survey. The point is to see how your mind might have changed about your class experience(s).

How to Submit Your Work to Me

You are not required to use KSU Google Docs for this assignment. You have several options:

  1. a series of five entries, each one labeled for the item under review
    1. Via KSU Google Document (see “How to Use KSU Google”).
    2. As a well composed email (sent to clrobins@kent.edu).
    3. As a document (PDF or a word processor document) attached to an email sent to me (clrobins@kent.edu)
  2. a 1-3 minute video (in which you talk and/or show items, such as images, quotes, charts, graphs, etc.) that discusses at least five sources
    1. Via KSU Google Drive: upload it to your Drive account and then share it with me (clrobins@kent.edu)
    2. Via YouTube as an unlisted video
    3. Microsoft One Drive
    4. Dropbox
  3. a slide print presentation of five slides (made with Google Slides, MS PowerPoint, or something similar, that combines printed words with images, quotes, charts, graphs, etc.)
    1. Via KSU Google Drive
    2. Microsoft One Drive
    3. Dropbox
    4. Convert the slides to a PDF and attach that to an email to me

Once I have received an email–either with the assignment attached or with notification that you have shared it with me–I will send you confirmation of receipt for that assignment, usually within 48 hours of receipt.

How Your Work Will Be Evaluated

Your assignment will be evaluated for clarity of thought expressed, and it must be thorough—fully responding to the topic. It must demonstrate critical thinking skills, particularly as they are tailored to the communication parameters of the medium/media under analysis (media literacy skills).

RUBRIC

An A Level Journal contains five well developed entries that demonstrate depth of thought in a coherent and concise manner. It is very clear what each entry is about. There are two entries from the Readily Available Materials, two entries from the Find it in KSU Libraries materials, and two entries specifically about The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. It is clear that the materials have been selected for use in Essay One. The entries discuss why and how you plan to use the materials for Essay One.

A B Level Journal contains five fairly well developed entries that demonstrate depth of thought in a coherent and concise manner. It is mostly clear what each entry is about. There are two entries from the Readily Available Materials, two entries from the Find it in KSU Libraries materials, and two entries specifically about The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. It is clear that the materials have been selected for use in Essay One. The entries somewhat discuss why and how you plan to use the materials for Essay One.

A C Level Journal contains five somewhat developed entries that demonstrate hints of depth of thought in a coherent and concise manner. It is somewhat clear what each entry is about, but there is a lot of vagueness. There are two entries from the Readily Available Materials, two entries from the Find it in KSU Libraries materials, and two entries specifically about The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. It is not clear that the  materials have been selected for use in Essay One. The entries somewhat discuss why and how you plan to use the materials for Essay One.

A D Level Journal contains five under-developed entries that barely demonstrate any sort of depth of thought in a coherent and concise manner. The entries are vague. It is not clear that there are two entries from the Readily Available Materials, two entries from the Find it in KSU Libraries materials, and two entries specifically about The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. It is not clear that the  materials have been selected for use in Essay One. The entries do not sufficiently discuss why and how you plan to use the materials for Essay One.

An F Level Journal contains some entries that barely demonstrate any sort of depth of thought in a coherent and concise manner. The entries are vague. It is not clear that there are two entries from the Readily Available Materials, two entries from the Find it in KSU Libraries materials, and two entries specifically about The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. It is not clear that the  materials have been selected for use in Essay One. The entries do not sufficiently discuss why and how you plan to use the materials for Essay One. Bottom line: the journal is gobbledygook and empty rhetoric.