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Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse : A User’s Guide For our 4th and final project of the semester, your will create a usable manual and preparedness plan on how to survive the zombie apocalypse for Purdue students. This will be a thorough, well-researched, technical manual designed in groups for the remainder of the semester, which counts as 25% of your course grade. This project will help you:

! Think rhetorically and contextually about purpose, audience, & medium. ! Write clear and concise prose, give effective technical information, &

communicate complex information in a simple, understandable form to a wide audience.

! Learn to work effectively in groups. ! Design a document that is organized, usable, easy to navigate, & attractive. ! Use evaluative processes to determine best courses of action. ! Gain experience “Red-Teaming” a project. ! Conduct thorough and diverse research in a multitude of media and sources.

Design Plan (25 pts) Each group will turn in (printed) one 1-2 page design plan / proposal of your project. The purpose of this document is to:

! Create a plan of attack ! Demonstrate your understanding of the project and its scope. ! Explain your angle for the final manual ! Outline a work plan / schedule that will guide your group efforts throughout the rest

of the semester. ! Create a contract for your group so everyone knows their responsibilities

upfront, no excuses.

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This should be a thoughtful document that demonstrates your ethos as a group. Be professional and thorough, using your worksheet as a guide. The design plan should include the following sections:

! Your angle on the project. ! Discussion of each person’s contribution / workload / How you will divide the

tasks. ! Possible meeting places (Think about technology and availability). ! How you will keep your information organized / stay connected (Will you post

notes on a Google doc? Create a Facebook Group? Etc.) ! A calendar of due dates (When sections are due for group review & when

things will be turned into me). Group Presentations / De-briefing (25 pts) Each group will be assigned a topic with which to de-brief the class. This will involve a presentation and a question and answer panel. I encourage you to think outside the PowerPoint. Each presentation is expected to last 15-20 minutes and may include various media, demonstrations, handouts, etc. The topic list will be provided on a separate handout. Document Design Printed Manual (75 pts) This manual will have two purposes: 1) as a preparation manual that users will read ahead of time, and 2) a quick reference guide as the outbreak ensues. With this in mind, you will need to create a cohesive visual design for all your materials that make them 1) easy to read, 2) easy to reference, 3) easy to navigate, 4) easy to carry, and 5) easy to identify in a bag, on a shelf, in a pile. The design, almost as much as the text, will be integral to the effectiveness of your content. Remember, when all hell breaks loose, time is precious, and electricity & internet will be scarce, so this IS NOT a document that survivors will access online. Each group will turn in one manual that is printed (in color) and bound in some fashion as a working prototype. You should be able to do this for $5 or less, but if money and print quotas are low at the end of the semester, come talk to me early to brainstorm some options. Post Mortem (100 pts) This document will act as your dissection of your own work. The Post-Mortem will be 700-1000 words where you discuss your decisions, limitations and your rhetorical awareness of the manual’s purpose and audience.

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If your design didn’t quite get to where you envisioned it, this document is your chance to show me that you understand and have thought thoroughly about the design decisions, even if your design skills may not be where you want them. This is your chance to explain all of your decisions and demonstrate your rhetorical understanding of audience, visual rhetoric, purpose, and situation; explain why you chose certain elements over others. Use this text as an opportunity to discuss the parts of the project that you were responsible for, or even why you agreed or disagreed with group decisions on the document. Your audience (for this part only) is myself, so the tone can be in your own academic voice, similar to Project 3’s Post Mortem. Each student will complete their own Post Mortem, uploaded to BB, but you may brainstorm as a group and help each other with drafts. Group Member Evaluations (25 pts) Each student will complete an online evaluation for other group members’ performance throughout the project. These responses will be completely confidential. This will be due Tuesday during finals week, after all of your group work has been turned in. Your evaluations will count for 10% of the grade for P4, so work hard and contribute. Be on time to meetings. Be responsible for your share of the project. The link to the evaluations is on BB: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CWwR-G4lFdXcfpKPwvL4xlF-5NJhh61HDpRULmLtGZA/viewform Calendar and due dates April 7: Read “THE UNDEAD: MYTHS AND REALITIES” chapter by Max Brooks. Quiz. Ethan presentation?? April 9: Work Day for Design Plan. April 11: Design Plan Due, printed. Zombie Profile De-Briefing. April 14: Read chosen chapters from Max Brooks. Reading notes due (1 for me + 1 for each member of your group). Post-apocalyptic De-Briefing. Tribe Mentality De-Briefing. April 16: Read CDC Zombie Comic, come with questions for presenters. Outbreak De-Briefing. Brainstorm Headings/ Sections for Manuals. April 18: Brainstorm Supplemental Materials. Lab Work Day. April 21: Location Safety & Analysis De-Briefing. Create Rubric, come with ideas. April 23: Discuss and Plan “Red Teaming.” Culture of Fear.

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April 25: Lab workday. April 28: Each group will bring in 4 printed DRAFTS of manual. Red Team. April 30: Red Team. May 2: Final Workday. Last day of semester. May 5: Printed Manual Due by 5pm in box on my office door, 123 HEAV. May 6: Post Mortem Due on BB, Group Member Evaluations Due, both by 5pm.