WEEK 17 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, May 11, 2009
IMMERSION STORY—By midnight Friday, May 15, file your final draft in the Immersion Final Draft dropbox of D2L. BOLDFACE any changes you make so I can tell what you’ve done.
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WEEK 16 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, May 4, 2009
PORTFOLIO SUBMISSION—By the end of the day Friday, May 8, turn in your Gaylord College Portfolio submission to the computer lab personnel, along with the form I have handed out in class. You will need to choose one of the stories you wrote for this class as your submission. Refer to the instructions and use the form I passed out in class last Wednesday. If you weren’t here or have lost your form, ask Darcy or me for another copy. You must do this assignment to receive a final grade in this class.
ONLINE PORTFOLIO—By midnight Sunday, May 10, post the final version of your Trend Story in your Online Portfolio. Make any final changes and additions that you think will make you more attractive to a potential employer and impress me and Darcy when we assign grades. The Final Portfolio grade will be 75 points, which is in addition to the 75 points at Midterm.
IMMERSION STORY—Turn in your revised story, if you haven’t already. I’ll try to get my markups back to you by the end of the week, so you can work on final revisions during Finals Week. For more information, refer to the assignment guidelines handed out in class and posted on the Assignments – Features 09 page of our class website. The final draft deadline is midnight Friday, May 15.
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WEEK 15 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, April 27, 2009
IMMERSION STORY—By midnight Sunday, May 3, file the second draft of your story in the Immersion Second Draft dropbox of D2L. Unless you have made other arrangements with me in advance, it should incorporate all of your scene, summary, significance and elaboration content. See previous handout or the Assignments – Features 09 page of our class website for specific requirements. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page.
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IMMERSION STORY ASSIGNMENT
04/26/09
Pick a person, group, organization, project or process you can track for the remainder of the semester. Spend several hours every week making contact with your subject, conducting interviews and research, and recording your subject’s progress over time. Write a minimum 2,000-word feature displaying your mastery of in-depth reporting skills and descriptive, narrative storytelling techniques. For extra credit, include digital photos and other multimedia elements. Include a source list with names, email addresses and phone numbers. For this story, you should interview a minimum of five people and incorporate a variety of source material. You should include a minimum of five scenes or chapters describing what you observed and learned at different points of time in your reporting. It must be suitable for publication with all sources fully identified. This will be your biggest assignment of the semester and will have the highest point total.
Points: 250 out of 1,000
Deadlines:
• Wednesday, Feb. 4: Come up with three immersion story ideas you think you could report and write this semester. (You’ll only do one.) Describe them in a short memo and file it in the Immersion Ideas dropbox in D2L.
• Sunday, Feb. 8: Revised ideas.
• Sunday, Feb. 15: Progress report.
• Sunday, March 1: Progress report.
• Sunday, March 15: Progress report.
• Sunday, March 29: Scene 1.
• Sunday, April 5: Scene 2.
• Sunday, April 12: Scene 3.
• Sunday, April 19: Scene 4
• Sunday, April 26: First draft.
• Sunday, May 3: Second draft.
• Friday, May 15: Final draft.
Stories must contain:
• original, current reporting.
• a minimum of five scenes or chapters describing what you observed and learned at different points of time in your reporting.
• quotes from a minimum of five interviews.
• supporting facts, statistics, historical information and biographical data, as needed.
• a list of human and data sources used, including email addresses and URLs.
Stories must not contain:
• anecdotal examples using roommates, friends or relatives (unless approved in advance and disclosed in story).
• quotes from any of the above.
• quotes taken from other stories (unless approved in advance and fully attributed).
• information attributed to other news media that you could have reported yourself.
Grading criteria:
• -Idea (originality, scope, difficulty).
• -Reporting (effort, resourcefulness, difficulty).
• -Writing (creativity, structure, style, errors).
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WEEK 14 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, April 20, 2009
TREND STORY—Turn in your final draft by Sunday, April 26. File it in the Final Trend Story dropbox of D2L. BOLDFACE any changes you make so I can tell what you’ve done.
IMMERSION STORY—By midnight Sunday April 26, file the first draft of your story in the Immersion First Draft dropbox of D2L. (Refer to assignment sheet for content criteria.) It should incorporate your fifth scene and summary content. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page.
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WEEK 13 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, April 13, 2009
IMMERSION SCENE 4—By midnight Sunday April 19, file a minimum 200-word scene chapter for your Immersion Story. Put your file in the Immersion Scene 4 dropbox of D2L. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page.
ONLINE PORTFOLIO—By Sunday, April 19, post the final draft of your profile story.
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WEEK 12 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, April 6, 2009
IMMERSION SCENE 3—By midnight Sunday April 12, file a minimum 200-word scene chapter for your Immersion Story. Put your file in the Immersion Scene 3 dropbox of D2L. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page.
TREND STORY—Your second draft is due Sunday, April 12. File it in the Trend Story Second Draft dropbox of D2L. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page. (Here, again, are the general guidelines: Report and write a minimum 750-word feature providing specific, anecdotal examples of a broader topic with inherent news value. The objective is to find one or more colorful and informative microcosms that help readers better understand an important trend, event, study, statistic or other notable phenomenon in the news. The story will require a combination of authoritative and anecdotal source material. Your finished story must contain original, current reporting and quotes from a minimum of five interviews. It must be suitable for publication with all sources fully identified. For bonus points, include photos, audio clips, video clips or other multimedia material.)
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WEEK 11 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, March 30, 2009
WV CONFERENCES—No class this week.
IMMERSION SCENE 2—By midnight Sunday April 5, file a minimum 200-word scene chapter for your Immersion Story. Put your file in the Immersion Scene 2 dropbox of D2L. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page.
TREND STORY—Your first draft is due Sunday, April 5. File it in the Trend Story First Draft dropbox of D2L. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page. I expect you to report and write a minimum 750-word feature providing specific, anecdotal examples of a broader topic with inherent news value. The objective is to find one or more colorful and informative microcosms that help readers better understand an important trend, event, study, statistic or other notable phenomenon in the news. The story will require a combination of authoritative and anecdotal source material. Your finished story must contain original, current reporting and quotes from a minimum of five interviews. It must be suitable for publication with all sources fully identified. For bonus points, include photos, audio clips, video clips or other multimedia material.
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WEEK 10 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, March 23, 2009
PROFILE—Your final draft is due Sunday, March 29. File it in the Final Profile dropbox of D2L. BOLDFACE any changes you make so I can tell what you’ve done. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page.
IMMERSION SCENE 1—By midnight Sunday March 29, file a minimum 300-word opening scene for your Immersion Story. Add as much summary/significance content and additional scene material as you feel comfortable writing at this point. But at a minimum, get your real-time narrative rolling with this opening. Put your file in the Immersion Scene 1 dropbox of D2L. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page.
WV CONFERENCE—Sign up for a one-on-one conference with your professor during the week of March 30. Vieth’s office is Gaylord 3027, across the hall from the third-floor restroom. WE WILL NOT HAVE REGULAR CLASS SESSIONS NEXT WEEK.
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EXPANDED IMMERSION STORY ASSIGNMENT
03/11/09
IMMERSION STORY—Pick a person, group, organization, project or process you can track for the remainder of the semester. Spend several hours every week making contact with your subject, conducting interviews and research, and recording your subject’s progress over time. Write a minimum 2,000-word feature displaying your mastery of in-depth reporting skills and descriptive, narrative storytelling techniques. Include digital photos and other multimedia elements. Include a source list with names, email addresses and phone numbers. For this story, you should interview a minimum of five people and consult a variety of data sources. You should include a minimum of five scenes or chapters describing what you observed and learned at different points of time in your reporting. It must be suitable for publication with all sources fully identified. This will be your biggest assignment of the semester and will have the highest point total.
Points: 250 out of 1,000
Deadlines:
• Wednesday, Feb. 4: Read the sample stories handed out in class about the student preparing for the MCAT exam. Come up with three immersion story ideas you think you could report and write this semester. (You’ll only do one.) Describe them in a short memo and file it in the Immersion Ideas dropbox in D2L.
• Sunday, Feb. 8: Revised ideas.
• Sunday, Feb. 15: Progress report.
• Sunday, March 1: Progress report.
• Sunday, March 15: Progress report.
• Sunday, March 29: Scene 1.
• Sunday, April 5: Scene 2.
• Sunday, April 12: Scene 3.
• Sunday, April 19: Scene 4
• Sunday, April 26: First draft.
• Sunday, May 3: Second draft.
• Sunday, May 17: Final draft.
Stories must contain:
• original, current reporting.
• a minimum of five scenes or chapters describing what you observed and learned at different points of time in your reporting.
• quotes from a minimum of five interviews (a mix of experts who can discuss the trend and ordinary people who illustrate it).
• supporting facts, statistics and historical information, as needed.
• a list of human and data sources used, including email addresses and URLs.
Stories must not contain:
• anecdotal examples using roommates, friends or relatives (unless approved in advance and disclosed in story).
• quotes from any of the above.
• quotes taken from other stories (unless approved in advance and fully attributed).
• information attributed to other news media that you could have reported yourself.
Grading criteria:
• -Idea (originality, scope, difficulty).
• -Reporting (effort, resourcefulness, difficulty).
• -Writing (creativity, structure, style, errors).
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WEEK 9 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, March 16, 2009
SPRING BREAK—No assignments.
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TREND STORY—Report and write a minimum 750-word feature providing specific, anecdotal examples of a broader topic with inherent news value. The objective is to find one or more colorful and informative microcosms that help readers better understand an important trend, event, study, statistic or other notable phenomenon in the news. The story will require a combination of authoritative and anecdotal source material. Your finished story must contain original, current reporting and quotes from a minimum of five interviews. It must be suitable for publication with all sources fully identified. For bonus points, include photos, audio clips, video clips or other multimedia material.
Deadlines:
• Sunday, March 15: Submit three ideas for possible trend story subjects. File your ideas in the Trend Story Ideas dropbox in D2L.
• Sunday, April 5: First draft.
• Sunday, April 12: Second draft.
• Sunday, April 26: Final draft.
Stories must contain:
• original, current reporting.
• quotes from a minimum of five interviews (a mix of experts who can discuss the trend and ordinary people who illustrate it).
• supporting facts, statistics and historical information, as needed.
Stories must not contain:
• anecdotal examples using roommates, friends or relatives (unless approved in advance and disclosed in story).
• quotes from any of the above.
• quotes taken from other stories (unless approved in advance and fully attributed).
• information attributed to other news media that you could have reported yourself.
Grading criteria:
• -Idea (originality, scope, difficulty).
• -Reporting (effort, resourcefulness, difficulty).
• -Writing (creativity, structure, style, errors).
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WEEK 8 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, March 9, 2009
PROFILE STORY—Your second draft is due Sunday, March 15. File it in the Revised Profile dropbox of D2L. Remember to double-space, include your name in the file name, and put your name, the date and the word count on the first page.
TREND IDEAS—By midnight Sunday, March 15, file three trend story ideas in the Trend Ideas dropbox of D2L. Try to identify subjects you think you could report and write by the time the first draft is due on April 5.
IMMERSION PROGRESS—By midnight Sunday, March 15, file a short memo describing what you’ve done so far, what your first scene will describe and what additional scenes you have in mind. (I will ask you to write your first scene section by March 29.) File your report in the Progress Report 3 dropbox of D2L.
ONLINE PORTFOLIO—By midnight Sunday, March 15, add any additional items and make any changes you want us to consider when we assign midterm grades for your Online Portfolio. The midterm point total is 50 out of a semester total of 150.
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WEEK 7 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, March 2, 2009
PROFILE STORY—Your first draft is due Sunday, March 8. File it in the Profile First Draft dropbox of D2L. Remember to include your name in the file name. Remember to put your name, the date and the word count on the first page. Remember to double-space.
SCENE STORY—By midnight Sunday, March 8, file your final story (unless you’re happy with the 2nd draft grade) in the Final Scene Story dropbox of D2L. BOLDFACE any changes you make so I can tell what you’ve done.
ONLINE PORTFOLIO—By midnight Sunday, March 8:
• Create a “Resume” page.
• Cut and paste or upload a current resume.
• Create one or more additional pages to display your work. Possibilities include:
o Examples
o Clips
o Mutimedia
o Blog
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WEEK 6 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
02/23/09
IMMERSION STORY—By Sunday, March 1, file a revised progress report in the Progress Report 2 dropbox of D2L. Include this information:
• detailed description of the subject
• name and bio information about the person you will observe
• short list of scenes you plan to include
• summary of reporting done so far
• and/or the date of your first face-to-face interview and scene observation
As you can tell, you need to have nailed down your subject and started scheduling interviews and scene observation sessions. If you are having trouble doing so, contact me immediately so we can troubleshoot how to proceed. I expect you to have at least one or two scenes in the bag before Spring Break. I will assign a deadline for filing a draft of your first scene shortly.
PROFILE STORY—By Sunday, March 1, file short description of the profile subject you have chosen in the Final Profile Idea dropbox of D2L. If you are having difficulty choosing your subject, contact me immediately. The first draft of this story is due Sunday, March 8. That’s less than two weeks away.
ONLINE PORTFOLIO—By midnight Sunday, March 1:
• Expand your home page to include a short welcome and at least one photo of you.
• Create a “Bio” or “About Me” page (unless covered on your home page).
• Add biographical text and contact information.
• Create the following pages to display your work
o Immersion Story
o Scene Story
o Profile
o Trend Story
SCENE STORY—Note deadline extension: By midnight Sunday, March 8, file your final story in the Final Scene Story dropbox of D2L. BOLDFACE any changes you make so I can tell what you’ve done. This is the version I will use to assign a final grade for this assignment. Remember to do all these things:
• Name the file like this: ViethFinalScene.doc
• Double-space the text
• At the top of the first page, type the following:
o your name
o date
o assignment (Final Scene Story)
o word count
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WEEK 5 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
02/15/09
DEPRESSION CHILDREN—Read the P.J. Huffstutter feature on Depression Children handed out in class Monday. Go to the website and check out the videos that accompanied the story. (I sent you the website link via email.) Come to class Wednesday prepared to engage P.J. in a conference call discussion.
SCENE STORY—File your revised story in the Revised Scene Story dropbox of D2L by midnight Sunday, Feb. 22. This is the version I will edit and assign a preliminary grade. Remember to do all these things:
• Name the file like this: ViethRevisedScene.doc
• Double-space the text
• At the top of the first page, type the following:
o your name
o date
o assignment (Revised Scene Story)
o word count
ONLINE PORTFOLIO—By Sunday, Feb. 22, read the Online Portfolio assignment handed out in class Monday. Go to WordPress.com, register as a user and create your page. Email your page URL to Warren and Darcy.
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WEEK 4 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
IMMERSION STORY—Refine your idea and get started. Consult with me or Darcy if you’re still unsure about your subject or how to proceed. File a one-paragraph Progress Report in the D2L dropbox bearing that name by midnight Sunday, Feb. 15.
SCENE STORY—Visit your scene and write your story. Remember, the goal is to turn yourself into a human handycam. File your minimum 750-word story in the Scene Story dropbox in D2L. Remember to include your last name in the document name, and to include your name, the date and a word count in the document. Be sure to double-space.
PROFILE STORY—Report and write a minimum 750-word biographical story about an interesting person you don’t already know. The subject does not need to be rich, famous or powerful; some of the most compelling profiles focus on ordinary, overlooked people. Unless I agree in advance to an exception, profiles of close friends or relatives are not allowed. Your finished story must contain original, current reporting and quotes from a minimum of three interviews. It must be suitable for publication with all sources fully identified. For bonus points, include photos, audio clips, video clips or other multimedia material.
Deadlines:
• Sunday, Feb. 15: Submit three ideas for possible profile subjects. File your ideas in the Profile Idea dropbox in D2L.
• Sunday, March 8: First draft.
• Wednesday, March 11: Second draft.
• Sunday, March 29: Third draft.
Stories must contain:
• original, current reporting.
• quotes from a minimum of three interviews (in addition to the profile subject, a mix of friends, family, associates, competitors, critics, experts and others, depending on the subject matter and type of profile).
• biographical and historical information, as needed.
• supporting facts and statistics, as needed.
Stories must not contain:
• profiles of roommates, friends or relatives (unless approved in advance and disclosed in story).
• quotes from any of the above.
• quotes taken from other stories (unless approved in advance and fully attributed).
• information attributed to other news media that you could have reported yourself.
Grading criteria:
• -Idea (originality, scope, difficulty).
• -Reporting (effort, resourcefulness, difficulty).
• -Writing (creativity, structure, style, errors).
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WEEK 3 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Monday, Feb. 2, 2009
IMMERSION STORY—Pick a person, group, organization, project or process you can track for the remainder of the semester. Spend several hours every week making contact with your subject, conducting interviews and research, and recording your subject’s progress over time. Write a minimum 2,000-word feature displaying your mastery of in-depth reporting skills and descriptive, narrative storytelling techniques. Include digital photos and other multimedia elements. Include a source list with names, email addresses and phone numbers. For this story, you should interview a minimum of five people and consult a variety of data sources. It will be your biggest assignment of the semester and will have the highest point total.
Deadlines:
• Wednesday, Feb. 4: Read the sample stories handed out in class about the student preparing for the MCAT exam. Come up with three immersion story ideas you think you could report and write this semester. (You’ll only do one.) Describe them in a short memo and file it in the Immersion Ideas dropbox in D2L.
• Sunday, Feb. 8: Revised ideas.
• Sunday, Feb. 15: Progress report.
• Sunday, March 1: Progress report.
• Sunday, March 15: Progress report.
• Sunday, April 5: Progrss report.
• Sunday, April 12: Story top.
• Sunday, April 26: First draft.
• Sunday, May 3: Second draft.
• Sunday, May 10: Final draft.
Wednesday, Feb. 4
SCENE STORY—Pick a street. Go there and find a good scene story. Write a minimum 750-word story based on real-time observation of a person, event or process as it is occurring. The objective to transport your readers to the scene of the story by capturing its sights, sounds, smells, characters, voices, atmosphere, mood, color and action in vivid descriptive detail. Unless I agree in advance to something else, your story must contain the voices of one or more real people. Don’t write an OU campus story. Don’t write about someone or something you already know. For bonus points, include photos, audio clips, video clips or other multimedia material.
Deadlines:
• Sunday, Feb. 8: Read the boat show, kiddie play and fish market stories handed out in class. Write a one-paragraph description of the scene you have chosen for your story and file it in the Scene Idea dropbox in D2L.
• Sunday, Feb. 15: First draft.
• Sunday, Feb. 22: Second draft.
• Sunday, Feb 29: Third draft.
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WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
NONE (Ice Storm)
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WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENTS
JMC 3023 Feature Writing
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009
SELF-BI0—Write 500-word self-bio. Make it interesting. Write it like a feature story. Use a creative lead. Make it revealing. Tell me something distinctive about you. Consider using one of the universal themes that resonate with readers—turning points, crossroads, successes, failures, struggles. Your self-bio doesn’t need to focus exclusively on your interest and experience in journalism or your career goals, but mention them in passing so I’ll know where you are headed. Let me know how this class fits into the overarching trajectory of your life. If you have written a self-bio for me in a previous class, pretend you’ve never met me before. Include your cell phone number and preferred email address. Put your Word file in the Self-Bio dropbox in D2L by the end of the day Friday.
RANCH STORY—Read Vieth’s ranch story. Pay attention to the way it is structured, the kind of information it includes and the number and type of voices it contains. Try to figure out why your professor would spend time on something like this instead of doing something more productive. We’ll talk about this masterpiece in class next Monday.
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