This assignment, by Mark Sample, is from the TextGenEd collection in the WAC Clearinghouse Repository.
The abstract from the site explains:
In this assignment, students work with HTML, CSS, Javascript, and JSON templates in order to design a website that generates new content out of pre-established rules and word banks. No prior coding or web development experience is required; the free browser-based platform Glitch.com hosts the project’s templates as well as the projects themselves. The assignment encourages students to deconstruct the underlying rules, tropes, and conventions of any kind of textual genre. This assignment emerged out of an undergraduate course devoted to digital literature and poetry, but it can be adapted for many contexts, including any field concerned with form, style, and genre conventions.
Key Features of This Assignment
- Combinatory Writing and Procedural Generation
- Students use the JavaScript library Tracery to engage in combinatory writing, creating procedural texts that generate new content based on predefined rules and word banks. This approach allows students to explore the power of randomness and variability in text generation, akin to advanced Mad Libs.
- Deconstruction of Textual Genres
- The assignment involves analyzing and breaking down various genres, such as horoscopes or menus, to understand their underlying rules, tropes, and conventions. This deconstructive process helps students gain a deeper insight into the structural elements that define different genres of writing.
- Creative and Critical Engagement
- Students are challenged to not only create procedurally generated texts but also to imbue them with depth and critique. The project aims to produce generative writing that offers social commentary or narrative insight, pushing students to go beyond simple parody and create thought-provoking works.
Find the full version of this assignment at the WAC Clearinghouse.