INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA ASSIGNMENTS

 

Below is a social media assignment you might give literature students to have them engage with digital communities relevant to your class.

Literature Assignment:

In this assignment, you will make your own social media account centered around a fictional character of your choosing from The Great Gatsby. You may choose to create a Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram account and roleplay as your character. 

  1. Decide the character you will roleplay for your Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/TikTok/etc.

  2. Create your social media account.

    1. The account must be public! Otherwise, it cannot be viewed/graded.

    2. Please do NOT use your personal social media accounts for this assignment. 

    3. Create a new email address to use for your account, then use it to sign up for a new Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/TikTok/etc. 

    4. Add a relevant bio and profile photo.

  3. Create at least 8-10 short posts about your topic.

    1. Posts should be substantive, meaning more than one sentence! Be creative!

    2. These posts can be about anything you want as long as they relate to your topic. Think creatively! They can be short, but each post must be substantive. If you share a post made by another account, be sure to add a substantive comment. 

      1. Consider making original posts in the voice of your character.

      2. Consider collaborating with your peers by engaging with their characters’ social media posts in-character. 

      3. Consider following related accounts.

      4. Consider sharing posts from other accounts and commenting on them in-character.

    3. Be creative! You can post about anything you want as long as it makes sense for your character to do so. 

    4. Be sure to cite any pages you consult and images you use in MLA style. You can paste these in the comments so they don’t distract from your main post.

  4. Rules about modernity:

    1. If you are engaging with modern-day concepts, please still act as your character would. For example, Nick Carraway might reshare financial posts from Wall Street and Gatsby might lament missing the invitation to Kanye’s birthday party, but keep in mind how these characters would act even in a modern context.

    2. You may also choose to totally ignore modernity and only post as if we are in the 1920s. 

  5. Submit to Canvas.

    1. Your professor will make a canvas discussion board with the assignment instructions. All you have to do is comment the link to your social media account on the post.