English 227--Feature Writing
Greenville College, Fall Semester, 2004
11:30 – 12:20, MWF, MH 102
Pre-Requisite: English 101
Dr.
Donna J. Hart
225 Hogue Hall
Office Phone: X 6805. Home Phone: 664-3863. Please feel free to call me at home.
Office Hours: 1:30-3:30, MWF, or by appointment.
Email: Donna.Hart@greenville.edu
Course Description:
This writing course explores research, interview, and expository techniques appropriate for periodical publications and their diverse audiences.
Required Texts:
Friedlander, Edward Jay, and John Lee. Feature Writing for Newspapers and Magazines: The Pursuit of Excellence. 5th Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004.
I’d suggest that you also get yourself a good handbook of writing. There are probably several in the bookstore.
Course Objectives: We will--
1. develop a clearer
understanding of what a "feature" article is. (IO A 2; ELAO 5, 10;
TEO 1)
2. give attention to and practice all aspects of the "process" of
writing a feature article, i.e., developing the idea, researching background
and details, interviewing, writing.
2a. identify appropriate research and interview sources, whether they be persons,
written texts, visual sources, online databases, etc. (IO A 1, 2; ELAO 1, 2,
12, 13, 14, 18; TEO 5)
2b. discriminate between credible primary and secondary sources and between
reliable and flawed information. (IO A 1, 2; ELAO 1, 12, 14; TEO 5)
3. give attention to and practice creating the various parts of a feature article,
i.e., lead, bridge, body, closing. (IO C 8; ELAO 1, 3, 5; TEO 1, 5)
4. improve our writing skills, i.e., in terms of completeness, concreteness,
clarity, coherence, conciseness, citation, creativity, and correctness. (IO
A 2, C 8; ELAO 1, 3, 4, 5; TEO 1, 5)
5. keep a portfolio of all writing done during the semester, to get a sense
of growth and improvement and to use as a source for future writing. (IO C 8;
ELAO 1; TEO 6)
6. publish one or more articles, in the College newspaper or yearbook or in
an extramural publication. (IO C 8; ELAO 1; TEO)
7. understand publishing as both an incentive to and a reward for feature writing.
(IO C 7, 8; ELAO 1; TEO)
8. understand that a knowledge of Pagemaker, Quark Express, or some other computer
publishing program is essential in preparing for the job market and seek to
use those for College newspaper or yearbook publishing. (IO C 8; ELAO 1, 15;
TEO 1)
9. examine a variety of magazines in terms of their submission policies, manuscript
format requirements, reimbursement scale, etc. (IO A 2; ELAO 1; TEO 1, 5, 6,
9)
10. develop a sense of responsibility, as a Christian, always to write truthfully,
but humanely. (IO A 1, 2 B 3, 4, 5, 6 C 7,8; ELAO 8, 18, 19 TEO 11)
Assessment Activities:
1. Objectives 1, 2,
3, 4, 8, 9, and 10 are assessed by class discussion and the papers that the
students actually produce throughout the semester.
2. Objective 5 is assessed by the student’s turning in the portfolio at
midterm and end of semester for my evaluation. (S)he will have a list of required
items that must appear in the portfolio.
3. Objectives 6 and 7 are assessed by the student’s actually having those
articles published in a popular magazine or the Papyrus or Vista.
Note on Grading: There will be no tests; this is a writing course. You will
write about 6 feature articles during the semester and at least 2 analyses/critiques
of professional feature articles. They will be graded at 50 points each, for
a total of about 400 points for the semester, this in addition to the attendance
grade.
Additional Information:
For information regarding the College’s—and MY—policies about
writing standards, portfolios, and academic honesty (plagiarism), go to the
College website at http://www.greenville.edu/academics/aa/assessment/syllabi/texts.shtml#writing
.
My Basic Assumptions:
This is a course that demands that you demonstrate:
Perspicacious Reading.
In regard to prejudices:
We all start with a set of presuppositions--Christians do (varieties of Christians do), Muslims do, Hindus do, the KKK does, the NAACP does, men do, women do, children do. Everything we read, speak, write, or think gets filtered through those presuppositions or prejudices. I intend to teach this class through the filter of what we at Greenville College call John Wesley's "quadrilateral," partly I suppose, because this is a Free METHODIST institution and partly because such an approach to academics and to life seems BALANCED to me--avoiding extremes, either to the "right" or to the "left." The "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" suggests that we make judgments based on
REASON, EXPERIENCE, SCRIPTURE, and TRADITION
(R.E.S.T. will help you remember them). These are the 4 supports I want you to use
So what do we mean
by the elements of this "Wesleyan Quadrilateral”?
To be REASONABLE means that you must objectively
consider all the spoken and written evidence. You must be attentive (give your
whole attention) to a variety of viewpoints, whether they align with yours or
not. Anger, ridicule, ignore(ance)--none of these responses allows you to be
attentive or reasonable.
To use your EXPERIENCE means to ask yourself how
being what you are (as in my case, a Christian--Southern Baptist turned Free
Methodist and married to a Roman Catholic, a white woman, a farm girl, a mother,
a remarried divorcee) informs your view of the world. What does your experience
of the world tell you that some of your classmates may not know? What does your
personal experience with God through Jesus Christ tell you?
To use SCRIPTURE means to consider carefully what
God has said through His prophets and apostles. Of course, this means you must
really seek to know WHAT HE SAID and not just what a particular denomination
(such as the Free Methodist or the Baptist) says He said. It will take your
getting back to the Hebrew or Greek and to the context in which it was written.
The Religion Department can help you do that.
To respect TRADITION means that you do not reinvent
the wheel. What have the Church Fathers (and Mothers), Catholic and Protestant,
said about this issue? What have historians, sociologists, economists, psychologists,
teachers--all scholars--said about this issue in the past? What are wise people
saying about it now? How do all these voices stand up under the scrutiny of
your own reason, experience, and Scripture?
Such an approach calls for your listening to a multitude of voices--your own
and others--and sorting through what makes sense to you in the lights of reason,
experience, Scripture, and tradition. As Andrea Lunsford and John Ruszkiewicz,
assert, "It is not a tennis match of ideas, one that will yield winners
and losers. Rather, we are interested in how we all come to know and to take
positions on various issues, how to nurture open and realistic exchanges of
ideas" (The Presence of Others xvii). Nonetheless, I agree with
John Henry Newman, nineteenth century British theologian and educator, that
we listen to all these voices--our own and others--to arrive at "the attainment
of truth, which is their common end" (PO 40).
Attendance Policy:
You can best meet the course objectives by attending and participating in class.
We cannot share information and views if you are not here. Your education depends
not only on your compliance with reading a certain number of pages or turning
in a stipulated number of papers; it also depends on the interaction between
your voice and others' voices. Thus, I will allot 2 points toward an "attendance
grade" for each MWF class session and 3 for each TR session. So,
for example, if we were to meet 3 times a week for 15 weeks, your total possible
points would be 90, which would about equal a test grade. If we were to
meet 2 times a week for 15 weeks, your total possible points would still be
90. Of course, the total will actually be just a bit less than that, because
we will dismiss class on some occasions for research, etc. Whenever you
are not in class, you will not earn the points.
ATHLETES: All athletes are excused for all games. See me about your
makeup work ahead of time. Don't expect absences on top of your games;
save your absences for your games.
***As far as tardiness is concerned, I do not intend to play that game.
If you are repeatedly late, I'll just start counting you absent.
Grading Criteria:
I designate a certain number of points to every assignment I grade, fewer points
for daily assignments or quizzes and more points for major papers. Your grade
will be based on the percentage you earn of the total number of points possible.
The percentages will be as follows: 90% = A; 80% = B; 70% = C; 60% = D; less
than 60% = F. Thus, for example, if you earn 8 points out of a possible 10 on
a quiz, you have 80%, or a B-.
Your grade for this course depends on your performance on periodic reading quizzes,
in-class impromptu essays, Blackboard discussions and peer evaluations, and,
of course, your assigned feature articles.
As far as your major features go, after several readings, I determine a "letter"
grade for your paper. This grade reflects
how it
compares with an “ideal” performance on the grading matrix (which
I will hand out to you)
how it compares with the papers
completed by your classmates.
how your paper compares to my
"Eight C's" of expectations (which I will hand out to you).
Once I decide your letter grade, I assign your paper a number of points to reflect
the "percentage" your letter grade represents.
***While I cannot
realistically assign a certain percentage worth to your class participation,
that factor is always important.
Late Papers:
Papers are due no later than 4:00 p.m. on their deadline date, unless otherwise
indicated on the syllabus.
Study Time Expectations:
College students should, realistically, expect to spend two hours outside of
class for every hour they spend in class. Frankly, when you have a test to study
for, a research paper to complete, or a feature article to finish, it will take
you more time than that.
Portfolio:
Keep a portfolio of everything you write for the class this semester, as per
the instructions I will hand out.
Tentative Schedule:
Week One—(September 1, 3)
Introduction to the class, requirements, syllabus, portfolio, etc. Decide what are the main political issues of this election year.
Receive instruction from Ms. Sara Kopesky on doing political research.
Do a survey of the political affiliations of the Greenville College student body.
Write a statement of your own political stance. Post to me on Blackboard’s Digital Drop Box by Sunday night, 10 p.m.
Week Two—(September 6, 8, 10)
Read and discuss Chapter 1 of Feature Writing, FW, pp. 1 - 36.
Read and discuss Chapter 2 of FW, pp. 37 – 45.
Write a feature about the political make-up of the GC student body. Post to me on Blackboard’s Digital Drop Box by Sunday night, 10 p.m.
Week Three—(September 13, 15, 17)
Read and discuss Chapter 3 of FW, pp. 65 – 78, 96 – 111. See also Chapter 7 of FW, pp. 232 – 248.
Write a person feature. This may be a political piece, focusing, for example, on someone “local” (from GC or Greenville or from your hometown) and their involvement in politics. Or it may be a more generic character sketch.
Post this on the Blackboard class site, under the Discussion Board feature.
Everybody evaluate one other person’s paper.
No class on 15th; it is All-College Hike.
Week Four—(September 20, 22, 24)
Guest Speaker: Perhaps the local Democratic Party Chairman? Talk about what issues are important ones this year--locally, statewide, and nationally.
Read and discuss Chapter 4 of FW, pp. 113 – 122, 137 – 138.
Write a response paper regarding this politician’s visit. Post to me in the DDB.
Gather information from both the Democrats and the Republicans on one of the main political issues.
Collate your notes into a report of your findings. This will be placed in your portfolio, perhaps for later use.
Week Five—(September 27, 29; October 1)
Guest Speaker: Perhaps the local Republican Party Chair. Talk about the same things as above.
Write a response paper regarding this politician’s visit. Post to me in the DDB.
Read and discuss Chapter 5 of FW, pp. 139 – 179.
Read and discuss Chapter 6 of FW, pp. 181 – 208.
Week Six—(October 4, 6, 8)
Make an appointment with someone in the newspaper or magazine business, and interview them about how they do their job.
Write a report of your most interesting findings. Post to me in the DDB.
This would also be a good time to work on revisions of anything you’ve written so far.Monday is Fall Break; no class. MY SON’S GRADUATION FROM The Marine Basic School IN QUANTICO, VA, ON OCTOBER 7. I WILL ATTEND THAT. So we will also not have class on Wednesday or Friday.
Week Seven—(October 11, 13, 15)
Read and discuss Chapter 8 of FW, pp. 259 – 284.
Write a place feature. It could be political, focusing, for example, on the response of some particular community to a political candidate or political issue. Or it could be more generic, a story about some interesting place you went this summer—or your favorite place.
Post this on the Blackboard class site under the Discussion Board feature.
Everybody evaluate one other person’s paper.
Gather information from both the Democrats and Republicans on still another of the main political issues.
Week Eight—(October 18, 20, 22)
Read and discuss Chapter 9 of FW, pp. 285 – 305.
***No formal class on W and F, so that I can catch up on commenting on your papers and so that you can work on revising any of your features so far. Conferences welcome!!!
Week Nine—(October 25, 27, 29)
General discussion of what we know so far about the two Parties’/two candidates’ positions on several political issues. Discuss topics for possible feature articles.
Write an event feature. It could be political, focusing, for example, on something that happened at one of the party conventions or during the debates. Or it could be more generic, focusing on some activity that you like, some party you attended, some sports event, etc.
Post this on the Blackboard class site, under the Discussion Board feature.
Everybody evaluate one other person’s paper.
Gather information from both the Democrats and Republicans on yet another of the main political issues.
Week Ten—(November 1, 3, 5)
Read and discuss Chapter 10 of FW, pp. 311 – 324.
ELECTION: November 2. VOTE!
Guest Speaker: Someone who does feature writing for a living.
We will analyze a feature from a major publication.
Week Eleven—(November 8, 10, 12)
***No class this week. Your going out to do an interview is very important.
Make an appointment with someone else in the newspaper or magazine business, and interview them about how they do their job.
Write a report of the best things you learned.
Week Twelve—(November 15, 17, 19)
We will analyze a Christian magazine feature article, one that deals with politics and one that doesn’t.
Write a feature in which you formulate a Christian’s response to some political issue or an issue of concern in the Christian community as a whole.
Week Thirteen—(November 22)
We will analyze a popular women's magazine feature article, one dealing with politics and one on another woman’s issue.
Write a feature in which you address what a woman’s response should be to some political issue or other, more generic issue of concern to women.
Thanksgiving Break! Be safe going and coming back.
Week Fourteen—(November 29; December 1, 3)
Guest Speaker: Someone else who does feature writing for a living.
We will analyze another feature article from a major publication.
Work on your revisions and your portfolio.
Week Fifteen—(December 6, 8, 10)
We will look at the current Writer's Market. We’ll discuss what publications you think would be appropriate for the kinds of features you've written. Or what market might you most easily break into.
In-class peer editing session.
Work on your revisions and your portfolio.
Week Sixteen—(December 13; EXAMS.)
Work on any final revisions you want to do.
Turn in your entire portfolio of feature articles, including (clearly marked) your first and all subsequent drafts. This will be your final exam.