For the first six blog prompts, I have taken charge of selecting the readings and focus of discussion. I’ve asked you to blog about the relationship between objects and writing, the sources and nature of cuteness, the uncanny lure of dead things, the histories we read in old things, how we sort tools from weapons, and what we might learn from thinking about smart things.

Now it’s your turn.

Posting: Groups 1 and 2

Commenting: Groups 1 and 2

Everyone will post, and everyone is encouraged to comment this week. For the post, you will choose one text (it might be an article, a TED talk, a PBS documentary, a podcast, etc.–think multimodally!) you’ve encountered in your research for the timeline project that you think could add to our understanding of material culture studies as a discipline and expository writing as a material practice. In your post, which you can model on the prompts I’ve written, you should summarize the main points and significant unresolved questions raised by the text you’ve chosen. You should also identify two or three questions or threads for further thought that might be usefully explored in a blog discussion on the text you’ve chosen.

For the comments, read through the posts of your peers, and weigh in on which texts, issues, and questions you’d like to explore and why.

Featured Image Credit: “‘Your turn,’ she said. ‘Step up.’” by Peter Lee on Flickr.