News Writing (Fall 2011)

Printout of Final Project Layout

Dennis G. Jerz — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:06:00 +0000

PDF of Final Project Layout

Dennis G. Jerz — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Upload to Turnitin.com. If you are opting to do this project on paper, that’s fine, but please do submit a brief note in the Turnitin.com slot (so I have a place to leave a comment and report a grade).

Final Presentations

Dennis G. Jerz — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:00:00 +0000

8-10am.

Reminders:

In your final presentation, you will show the class your two-page layout. You don’t need to prepare a formal speech; I will ask you some informal questions if you aren’t sure of what to say. Just aim to be interesting to your fellow bleary-eyed students, and be an active respondent when your peers are presenting.

If you are doing your layout electronically, I would like a printout so that I can make notes on it, but since the copy center will likely not be open before 8am, I will accept an 8.5×11 printout.
If you are doing your layout by cutting and pasting on paper, I may make pencil marks on your submission.
If the text of your term project has changed significantly since the last time I saw the text, the presentation is your opportunity to call those changes to my attention. (You don’t have to submit another copy of your text to Turnitin.com — I can just read it on your layout.)
My intention in offering the possibility to resubmit your project after the class presentation is to relieve any stress that might otherwise cause you to panic.
However, resubmitting in order to correct a simple layout oversight (such as a typo or an uneven margin) or a content error (in AP style, or an unfinished article) will not result in a grade change.
In other words, the optional extra time is for fixing layout issues.
After all the presentations are over, I will ask everyone to submit a list of changes you would consider making, if you had more time. At that time, if you may ask for permission to resubmit. If your suggested changes are significant, we will discuss how to proceed.
If you do resubmit, highlight all the changes so I can find them easily, and include a note explaining your changes. (You can email the note with an electronic attachment, write your notes on the back of a printout, attach a list, whatever gives me the specific information that I’ll need to evaluate your changes thoroughly and efficiently.)
I will try to check my email shortly before midnight, though I’ll only have time for a brief reply.

Good luck! I’m really looking forward to your final presentations.

Final Project Layout (Draft)

Dennis G. Jerz — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Peer Proofreading Workshop

Dennis G. Jerz — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Final Exam

Dennis G. Jerz — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:10:00 +0000

Vocabulary, AP exercises, and a short essay.

Before you leave, be sure to click the button “Submit All and Finish.”

Ex 8: “I, Writer of News”

Dennis G. Jerz — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Personal Reflective Essay. (See Kershner 22.)

Length: 400 words.

Content: Using brief quotations from your essay “News, Writing, and I,” and making specific reference to your final project, write a reflective personal essay that assesses your learning in EL227.

Submit: Turnitin.com.

Feedback Workshop

Dennis G. Jerz — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:00:00 +0000

1) Upload Ex 8 into the Turnitin.com slot.

2) Pair and share — what was the main point you tried to get across in Ex 8?

3) Discuss.

Kershner 36

Dennis G. Jerz — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:10:00 +0000

Participation Portfolio 4

Dennis G. Jerz — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Instead of a full-fledged blog portfolio (in the manner of Portfolios 1-3), this assignment gives you the option instead to post a single reflective blog entry. (You may choose a normal portfolio, but if you do, please ensure that your cover blog entry provides the information I’m requesting below. Feel free to ask me for clarification.)

Format: Use the “Blog Me” button to create, on your blog, a new entry; using Kershner 36 as your launching point, identify the one homework assignment, the one in-class activity, and the one online activity that you found most helpful in your achievement of the goals of EL227.

Length: About 250 words, broken up into several short paragraphs, with links (as appropriate).

Content: In addition to making specific references to Kershner 36, please make specific reference to several of the key points mentioned in the syllabus; for your convenience, I have reproduced the appropriate section of the syllabus below.

As a student in this course, you receive my guidance and feedback, as you work your way towards these specific objectives.

Learn how to gather news and report it through writing.

Develop an appreciation for how the news educates the public (which includes you).

Demonstrate the ability to identify, comprehend, and analyze current events (as reported in the news).

Examine the role of the journalist in a democratic society.

Identify and embrace depth, balance, transparency, and accountability in news coverage.

Identify and reject shallowness, bias, opacity, and elitism in news coverage.

Demonstrate the ability to follow the grammatical and stylistic conventions of writing, according to the Associated Press Stylebook.

Meet deadlines while producing quality work for a general readership.

Contribute actively to a positive learning environment.

To achieve these objectives, you will develop your ability to write fair and balanced accounts of important issues, while at the same time cultivating a healthy skepticism of the material widely published as “news.”

The course is intended to help you achieve the following outcomes:

demonstrate a thorough familiarity with the conventions of journalism (as presented via reputable publications, as spoofed in The Onion, and as presented in your own work)

speak and write knowledgeably about important issues in journalism and how they interact with the culture at large

accurately assess the credibility of a potential source (such as a web page, a press release, or an anonymous tip)

exhibit communications skills and research methods which adhere to the standards and conventions of contemporary journalistic practice