Goals:

• To focus on a single claim and support it
• To get you all thinking about how academic audiences are different from others
• To move you past any fear of writing for "real people" and not just teachers
• To begin exploring SL's virtual world.

Tasks:

• 1: After viewing the videos and doing the readings, your job is to consider what single feature of Second Life stays with you
• 2: Then, in a document of NO MORE THAN 300 words, you should describe SL as you now understand it, to a parent or sibling. Mention to them why you noticed what you did. Send it to this person and ask for a reply (any length is fine).
• 3: Next, rewrite your piece for a classmate in your editing group. Send it to him or her and ask for a reply.
• 4: Finally, rewrite it AGAIN for a professor other than me.  Once again, ask for a reply. Tell all three of your audiences that their replies will be shared on this wiki.
• 5: Post all three versions of your project, plus the replies, to your wiki page.  I'd prefer you put them on their own new page, linked from your main page.  At the top of this new page, in about 100 words, focus on what you had to change for each of your audiences.

Hints:

• For this project, you have no sources to cite formally.  You will for later work.
• I will grade down if you just change the words for each audience.  You have to think of these questions:
  • What about my claim would interest (or not interest) this person?
  • How can I catch their interest, given the answer to that first question?
  • How much background does s/he need to know my topic?
  • What is the order that I should give my points to keep him or her reading with interest?