Overall Grade Breakdown & Assignments
For more detailed information, see policies, individual assignment prompts (on class Drive), and the podcasting manual.
| Class Participation (incl. listening along) | 30 |
| Podcast Discussion Blogs (3, 70%) and Responses (30%) | 10 |
| Pair Podcast Story Analysis Episode | 15 |
| Group Podcast Adaptation Episode | 15 |
| Group Podcast Narrative Episode | 15 |
| Individual Wrap-Up Recording | 15 |
| Total points | 100 |
Podcast Discussion Blogs
(Each post 500 words minimum; each response 250 words minimum)
In order to familiarize yourself with podcasts as a narrative form and the creative choices podcasters make, you will be required to subscribe to a podcast of your choosing, write short reflection pieces on its arc throughout the quarter, and respond to your classmates’ reflections. Your chosen podcast can be nonfictional or fictional, but should be intrinsically based on storytelling (as opposed to informational or pure entertainment: news or comedy quiz podcasts won’t serve your purpose). Your reflection should 1) very briefly describe what the podcast is about, 2) analytically discuss the narrative features of individual episodes (think about the relationship between the content and the way it is communicated to the listener: what techniques do the podcasters use to make the story compelling?) and the ways links between each episode are created to trigger the listener’s memory and create a consistent identity. (This should go deeper than “the same person always narrates the podcast.”)
Story Analysis Podcast Episode (in pairs)
In this first episode, you and a partner from your recording group will discuss one of the Sherlock Holmes stories which we aren’t reading in class. Each of you will share an individual close reading of the story (5 minutes each) and then discuss the story and your analyses together, using our class discussions as a model.
Adaptation Podcast Episode (groups)
This group podcast episode will consider Sherlock Holmes adaptations of your choice. Your group discussion should identify specific ways these adaptations follow, resist, or transform narrative elements of the original stories, and analyze why the creators make the choices they do given cultural context and formal considerations (e.g., short story vs. movie or comic book). Each group member will then provide more detailed 4-6 minute analysis of their chosen adaptation. Citations for the sources used should be included in the shownotes for the episode and follow MLA guidelines (to be discussed in class).
Narrative Podcast Episode (groups)
Think of this episode as a comprehensive guide to a Sherlock Holmes story. Your group will read ahead in an upcoming story we will read in class. As a group, you will identify and discuss major features of the story: the narrative tools used to make a compelling detective story, and how they relate to the other stories we’ve read so far. You will also discuss cultural and historical context in terms of this story’s publication and particular references in the story which a new reader (like your classmates) might be unfamiliar with. Finally, each group member will provide a detailed individual analysis of a feature of the story (4-6 minutes each). Citations for the sources used should be included in the shownotes for the episode and follow MLA guidelines (to be discussed in class).
Individual Wrap-Up Recording
For the last episode of our podcast, each person should record a 5-7 minute discussion of the experience of this course as a whole (discussions, podcasting, reading Sherlock Holmes), reflecting on what it has taught you about narrative forms, how they work, and why they matter.