Assignment 4: First Person Flickr!

First Person Flikr! (aka A Flickr is Worth a Thousand Words)

Hi Everyone,

In honor of our transition into the First Person text, we will be composing miniature first-person stories for our minor assignment this week. For assignment four, you will be experimenting further with image and text as you create a layered image that tells a first-person perspective story about some event in your life that has been significant or meaningful to you. Remember that a first-person perspective is told from your personal perspective and is characterized by pronouns such as “I, me, my” etc. Using the note tool available in Flickr, you will need to annotate the image to provide information about the story your particular image is telling (remember that the critical elements of story are character, conflict, and environment). Choose a photograph of suitable size and complexity and add at least four layered notes with textual information that frames or situates the reader within your story. Feel free to be creative –it is not necessary to use a photograph with people in it to complete this assignment (though there is nothing wrong with this if you prefer to use this method). You could tell an equally complete and engaging story using a photograph of old farm equipment, stars in the sky, a musical instrument, or a picture of your first automobile. It is up to you to choose visual content that you feel frames a defining moment or important instance from your past.

Detailed Instructions:
1. Create an account at http://www.flickr.com/.
2. Login, then upload a photograph to your gallery (direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/upload/).
3. Write a single paragraph that explains your selection of photograph and discusses the source of conflict in the photograph.
4. Click on the photograph to bring up the editing pane.
5. Using the “Add Note” tool, add four different notes to various parts of your picture, annotating the image. You may choose to add text that explains the story you believe the photograph is telling, to give the subjects within the photograph dialogue, or to extend or define the narrative in any other creative fashion. Feel free to experiment with notes until you find an overall effect you like.
6. Add any tags to your image that you feel are relevant. Include one tag named “fil5810.”
7. When finished with your editing and tagging, copy the hyperlink from the URL address bar of your browser and embed that link (using Insert, Hyperlink, or CTRL+k) into a Word file. Below the link, paste the paragraph you wrote in step three.
8. Post your paragraph and a link to your Flickr image to your personal blog. Feel free to comment on others’ pictures!

Learning objectives: By completing this assignment, you will learn to:
1. Use the online image sharing and manipulation tool Flickr
2. Select and evaluate visual media for narrative appropriateness and complexity
3. Annotate visual narratives with textual information to focus the experience of your reader(s)

Rubric (out of ten points):
__ / 7: Document (text+image) communicates in a narrative fashion, conveying a definite sense of conflict, character, and environment
__ / 2: Document is linked from personal blog and a paragraph description and hyperlink (in a Word file) are uploaded to WebCT
__ / 1: Image is tagged with fil5810 and any other appropriate tags

This assignment is due to be posted to your personal blog and uploaded to WebCT by Sunday, June 24, at 11:55pm.

Here is an example of something that would be appropriate for this assignment: rodeo days. Remember that you also need to provide a brief paragraph explaining your selection and discussing the source of conflict. Have fun with this assignment, and let me know if you have any questions!