The final mini-project is one of the required components for your portfolio. It is due May 20 along with the rest of your portfolio. I’m just uploading instructions separately. Click here for full portfolio instructions.

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More Detailed Instructions

On the instructions sheet, I’ve provided some examples of internet genres in the instructions for the project. Other scholars of the internet have identified the following as some other examples of internet genres:

• The home page
• The hotlist (hotlists are often but not always automatically-generated. examples of hotlists are your bookmarks bar, or the “frequently accessed” menu when you open a new web browser window or open Google Docs)
• The FAQ page
• The About page
• The Contact Us page
• The business email
• The academic email
• The blog post (subtypes include journal blog, travel blog, food blog, etc.)
• The spam email
• The advertising email
• The sidebar ad
• The Wiki page (both on Wikipedia and on other kinds of wikis, pages are constructed in a similar manner)

You could choose any of these, any of the examples I gave on the assignment sheet, or another genre of your choosing. (Here’s a tweet about the “genre” of “ads for bedding” — like the ads for Brooklinen, Casper, Parachute, etc. you used to see on the MTA).

Writing Your Web Genre Analysis

After you’ve collected and examined many different examples of your chosen genre, please write approximately 2 (or more) pages analyzing the rules and norms of that genre. Please write this in paragraph form.

Here are some questions to guide you:

1. How would you describe this genre to someone who has never used the internet before?
2. What kind(s) of content is included?
3. How is that content typically presented or arranged?
4. What design/formatting choices are typical of this genre?
5. What observations have you made about the style of writing in this genre?
6. If you were to instruct someone about how to write in this genre from scratch, what is the step-by-step process?
7. What is the purpose of this genre?
8. Who is the intended audience of this genre?
9. How is the genre well-suited (or not well-suited) to that purpose and audience?

Another suggestion: If you can convince someone in your life to participate, try teaching someone how to write in this genre. See what they do that feels “wrong” to you, that you may not have thought of when doing your initial analysis.