Revising
an Essay for the Web
Advanced Composition,
O'Donnell, ETSU, Summer 2011
Last update: July 5,
2011
I. The Assignment
Revise one of your first three essays for the web. Worth 15% of the final grade.
You will submit the revision as an html data file by
Thursday, July 7. Email it to me as an
attachment by class time: odonnell@etsu.edu.
Note: The internet is
a powerful tool. You are not required to
actually allow your essay to be posted on the internet. I will ask students who earn As to
voluntarily allow me to post their work.
However, I will absolutely not post your work on the web, unless I have
your (clearly uncoerced) permission, and only after long and thoughtful
consideration, including a careful reading, in class, of an official, legal
release form, which is written to protect your interests and legal rights.
II. Choosing Which Essay to Revise
In choosing which essay to revise, consider which of the
three would most likely find a real audience if it were posted on the web. That's not necessarily the "best
writing." Sometimes narrow or
specialized topics are more likely to find real audiences on the world wide
web. When we discuss this in class,
we'll consider the following NPR story about "how to" videos on
youtube:
III. Considerations, in Writing Specifically for
the Web
A. Search Terms/
Searchability
Include key search
terms in the title field. These will
include specific people, places,
times. Specific = proper nouns and
numbers.
Question for
discussion: What is SEO?
B. Consider Your Audience: International Strangers
A reader from
absolutely anywhere can find your writing if it's posted on the internet. What would a stranger from, say, South
Africa, need to know about your writing, if they encountered it on the
web? Implications:
1. Clear,
self-explanatory title.
2. Clear,
complete, specific author's note.
C. Readability /
Skimmability
Reading a text off
of a screen is different than reading a hard copy. Consider adapting the following
elements:
1. Summary
blurb.
2. Table of
contents.
3. Section
headings.
4. Links to
other web sites.
D. Electronic formatting
What are
advantages/ disadvantages of html, pdf?
What is an html
editor?