Advanced Expository Writing
ENGL 249S-02 * Fall 2003
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Advanced Expository Writing |
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| Home | Course Description |
Grading Contract |
Required Materials |
Schedule | Assignments | Links |
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| Asst. #1 Basic Tags |
Asst. #2 Creating Links |
Asst. #3 Text Formatting |
Asst. #4 Images, Color, and Backgrounds | Asst. #5 Tables |
Asst. #6 Putting Your Site Online |
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Note that the type and version of browser one uses will determine what of an XHTML document can be viewed; AOL broswers, earlier versions of Netscape and I.E., and text browsers such as Charlotte cannot take advantage of all that the current XHTML language can offer. The most up-to-date versions of Netscape and, with certain exceptions, Internet Explorer should be able to display anything XHTML 1.0 and HTML 4.01 has to offer (including advanced graphics, animation, Java, and tables and forms). See the Links page for links to sites from which you can download the newest versions.
In this exercise, you will write a basic web page using the <html>, <body>, <head>, <title>, the headings and the list commands <ol> and <ul>. They are all pretty simple, and (except the list tags) are required commands for every page. (See Lemay pages 65-91). You will also write a short paragraph, "sign" and date your page.
Turn your assignment in at the end of class, or, if you need more time, you can turn it in by 7 pm via e-mail attachment.
Assignment 2: Links
Due Tuesday, October 28, 2003
In this exercise, you will supplement last week's assignment by adding links to your web page.
Go to your favorite search engine. Find three interesting web sites. They do not have to be related to each other at all, but you must find them interesting and/or useful. (Please do not break any university prohibitions here!) My picks would probably be Google.com, Yahoo!, and CNN--but that is me. Pick your own.
Now do the following two things:
Turn your assignment in at the end of class, or, if you need more time, you can turn it in by 7 pm via e-mail attachment.
Assignment 3: Text Formatting
Due Tuesday, November 4, 2003
Today we are going to play with some formatting commands. These include centering, alignment, bold, italics, and font commands, found on pages 127-168 of Lemay. Sick of the Times New Roman font? Change it. Want to emphasize something? Use bold or italics. Hate the location of your paragraphs? You can use <align> extensions or use something like the <center> command to relocate.
You do not have to use all of these new commands, but use at least one of the font changes (size, face), one of the alignment commands (center, align extenstions), and one of the emphasis commands (bold, italics).
Turn your assignment in at the end of class, or, if you need more time, you can turn it in by 7 pm via e-mail attachment.
Assignment 4: Images, Color and Backgrounds
Due Tuesday, November 11, 2003
On the "Links" page of our class website, you will find a section called "Free Graphics, etc." Go to that section, then cruise some of the sites and find a graphic or two that you like. Find a background image if you want one; some can be very classy, but others can be really obnoxious, and render your page illegible. Be careful.
Download these images from the free web sites (be sure to check out their terms of use and respect them!). How you download these images will depend on your browser and computer type (Mac or PC); in class you can usually "right click" on the image.
Now, go into your web page code and add the images. See pages 171-205 in Lemay for instructions. Background images need to be added differently than other images; look at Lemay pages 198-200 for help with that.
You can turn your assignment in at the end of class, or, if you need more time, you can turn it in by 7 pm via e-mail attachment. REMEMBER: your web page now contains graphics, which also must be sent as attachments in order for me to see them!
Assignment 5: Tables
Due Tuesday, November 18, 2003
This assignment will teach you about tables and internal anchors, which can be really useful for your Web Site and Directory. Neither one is really that hard, but both take a bit of getting used to.
Tables are very useful to many folks in writing their web pages. Tables aren't really hard to do, but they can be a pain in the neck to hand-code! This might be an assignment you want to start in advance, and bring your work into class to finish.
First, read pages 209-259 in Lemay on tables. Aim to make a table that will be a sort of horizontal Table of Contents to your current web page; each cell in the table will have the name of part of your page (our class web site is a good example of what I mean). It needn't be elaborate or clever; a simple table containing the names "Introduction," "Educational Links," "Fun Links," or whatever will do just fine.
Now you will link those contents' names in the table to the corresponding parts of your current page. These types of links are called, logically enough, internal links, and sometimes, anchors (my links to "Top" and "Home" are examples). They work similarly to external links, and you can find out how to do them on pages 109-116 in Lemay.
Turn your assignment in at the end of class, or, if you need more time, you can turn it in by 7 pm via e-mail attachment. REMEMBER: your web page now contains graphics, which also must be sent as attachments in order for me to see them!
Assignment 6: Putting Your Web Site Online
Thursday, November 20, 2003
This assignment is optional for class. If you are successful in uploading your site, e-mail me your URL so I can take a look. If you manage to upload your page and send me your URL before 7 pm on the last day of classes, I'll excuse one unexcused absence (or raise your lowest homework grade by one mark if you have no absences).
The easiest way to do this is to go to a free host site, such as Yahoo's GeoCities, Lycos's Angelfire or Tripod, etc., and follow their instructions. Uploading your site can take as little as 20 minutes (or less!) and costs you nothing (other than the bother of having to see ads on your page).
But there are other places available for your site as well. You have space already assigned to you on the UConn Mainframe (although the interface is a bear to work with--not recommended), and for money you can have a hosting site host your page and you can have a nice, zippy URL like "kaydelott.com."
Much of the information on how to set up your mainframe account can be found on a helpful page from the computer center. There are also friendly, helpful people at the HTML Workshop in MSB who can help you outside of class, if you need it.
If you are having trouble, and you're trying to use the UConn Mainframe, you can contact the Help Desk at 486-HELP or helpdesk@uconnvm.uconn.edu. They are there to help you.
If you need file-transfer software, such as WS-FTP for Windows, or Fetch for Macs, see the Software for This Course page on the Links page.