News Story Standards and Revising the News Feature

These are some standards used in evaluating your work: quality of the lead and nutgraph, solid information and sources, appropriate tone, grammar, AP style, "quote worthy" quotes with proper attribution and clarity. Click on photos below to enlarge. 

Fall 2017 Syllabus

FALL  2017 

JOURN 300/CAREY — Tuesday/Thursday 4 – 6 p.m. - Integrative Learning Center S413

Open to sophomore, junior and senior journalism majors. Required for major. Fulfills junior year writing requirement.

Description and Learning objectives: Journalism 300 is a hands-on, nuts-and-bolts news writing and reporting class. Upon completion, you should be able to:

• Determine what is news

• Identify and pitch a good story

• Report and conduct interviews

• Use the news story "formula," especially leads and nutgraphs

• Have an understanding of the kinds of stories there are and how to tell them

• Write original, logically organized narratives free from clichés, euphemisms and unexamined assumptions

• Edit your peers’ pieces according to news writing standards

• Uphold journalistic principles of fairness, accuracy, telling the truth and serving the public good

Email me anytime at maryelizacarey@gmail.com, 413-588-4274 (cell)

Syllabus, schedule and assignments are posted on the class blog: Journ300.blogspot.com

REQUIRED TEXT: News Reporting and Writing, The Missouri Group 12th Edition - Bedford/St. Martin's

AP Stylebook

ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READING

AP Style Guide online, assigned readings TBA and daily newspapers and news magazines. Try to scan online and/or in print at least one of the local newspapers including the Collegian, Daily Hampshire Gazette or Springfield Republican every day. Each class, one or more students will bring in a newspaper article and comment on news coverage, structure, style, choice of stories or contrast between coverage.Being conversant with what is in the news is essential to writing it.

GRADES

Grades are based on timely and thoughtful completion of in-class and out-of-class writing assignments and quizzes, multi-media blog, attendance and in-class participation. Writing criteria include news judgment, clarity of writing, grammar, accuracy, organization, spelling, conciseness, use of AP style, and meeting deadlines. Although the big picture things like news judgment and solid reporting are important, misspelling names and other seemingly minor shortcomings can ruin a story and your reputation, so they will count. Numerical equivalent of grades: A=95, A-=92, A-/B+ =90, B+88 etc.  Explanation of how grades are calculated is in the course schedule/calendar.

ATTENDANCE

Not making appointments or missing the action will also undermine your career and the class. You MUST tell me BEFORE class if you are going to be absent for a legitimate reason. (I read my e-mail regularly and you can call my cell anytime.) Otherwise you will receive zeroes for the day’s assignments. Please do not be late or leave early. More than three absences and/or repeatedly being late or leaving early will result in a significantly lowered final grade, with the grade being lowered by a full half grade for each absence over three. CELL PHONE RINGERS MUST BE TURNED OFF. NO TAPING WITHOUT ASKING FIRST. NO READING ONLINE DURING CLASS!

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

In-class writing assignments usually won’t be longer than 2-3 typewritten pages. Most major assignments are 1,000 words or 4 pages. First drafts must be in turned in on-time for credit. Not turning in a first draft or turning in an insufficiently complete first draft will result in a zero for the first draft and a significantly lower final draft grade. Among your assignments are a profile, feature, coverage of a speech, issue piece, deadline assignments, blog, minor assignments, quizzes.

HONESTY

Any instance of plagiarism or any other form of cheating is cause for course failure.

Fall 2017 Schedule

FALL  2017 Schedule *****updated*****

JOURN 300/CAREY — Tuesday/Thursday 4 – 6 p.m. - Integrative Learning Center S413

This is a tentative schedule of topics, assignments and assignment deadlines subject to revision to accommodate the news, campus goings-on that we’ll attend and classroom visitors. Check Moodle and the blog (Journ300.blogspot.com) for updates and changes. Note: Each day two or more students will bring in an article to discuss and share an AP Style tip. One person will also bring in a news quiz. We’ll develop a schedule for these. Note that at the end of this schedule is a list of assignments and percentage of final grade each is worth. 

SEPT 5 - Introduction - discuss leads, effective interviewing, AP Style and (briefly) the nutgraph. Email to me

at maryelizacarey@gmail.com TONIGHT 500 words about the first day of class. Should have a good lead and at least one direct quotation.

FOR NEXT CLASS: To hand in next class, a WRITTEN list of three potential speeches/presentations we can visit on campus, ASAP in the next couple of weeks preferably during class time. (We will be writing the 650-word SPEECH paper about whichever speech we attend.) In the written list that you bring into class on Thursday, include 1) who is giving the speech and 2) the topic, where/when it is being held, a brief couple of sentences of background information about the speaker and, if possible, the topic. We’ll pick one of the speeches you’ve identified to attend. NEXT: Read Chapter 8 on the Inverted Pyramid (and the LEAD)

SEPT 7 - The Lead and the Nutgraph Review leads, chapters, determine where and when we can go to a speech; determine which classmate you will interview on what subject and prepare questions. NEXT: Read Chapter 3 on interviewing

SEPT 12 - The Interview: In groups of 3-4, one student will interview another on a subject of his/her choice while a third student videotapes it using a phone or camera. Keep it around 3 minutes or under. We’ll upload them to YouTube and analyze them. (Here are some interviewing tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmHjXA8QtfY)

SEPT 14  - Analyze interviewing videos, discuss elements of a good mini-profile NEXT:Write a mini-profile of a classmate based on interview and follow-up questions. Include a photo that adds value to your story, for example more information, details or illustration. NEXT: Read Chapter 4 on Quotations and Attributions

SEPT 19: Continue to analyze  interviewing videos, if not finished.  Discuss chapters, how to write a speech story. If time, start blogs.

• TURN IN HARD COPY OF FIRST ASSIGNMENT: 400-500 written piece with photo based on your interview of a classmate. (5 percent of final grade) 
• NEXT: READ: Chapter 14 on Speeches, News Conferences and Meetings
• NEXT: Write a brief profile pitch to present in class Thursday Sept. 26. Tell us who you plan to write about, what the angle likely will be, who else you can interview about your subject. It should be about a local person and NOT a family member or friend.)

SEPT 21 ******update: ATTEND Kate Fagan event************ 4-6 p.m., Massachusetts Room, Mullins Center

SEPT 26 SPEECH PAPER on Kate Fagan event DUE (10 percent of grade)

• Present PROFILE PITCH
• NEXT:  Bring in to peer edit next class a 500-word, written “pre-first draft” profile with lead, nutgraph and quote(s). 
• Discuss feature stories. 

SEPT 28   *****update: 

• PEER EDIT hard copies of profile  pre-first drafts.
• NEXT: Read Chap. 9 on Writing to be Read

OCT 3: ****update**** In-class, deadline writing assignment: In your groups, interview 2-4 people EACH on campus on subject TBA; write 500 word story on-deadline with quotes from each of your sources and photos with cutlines. (5 percent of total grade)

OCT 5 -  FIRST DRAFT PROFILE DUE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT) Peer edit, work on blogs.

• NEXT: Read Chapter 10 on Alternatives to the Inverted Pyramid
• NEXT: Write Feature Pitch for next class. 

OCT 10: NO CLASS/FOLLOW MONDAY SCHEDULE

OCT 12 ****update: visit from UMass All Star/Greenfield Recorder reporter Aviva Luttrell****

• FEATURE PITCH 
• If time, work on blogs. 
• NEXT: write 500-word feature PRE-first draft to peer edit next class. 

OCT 17  Peer edit PRE-first draft Feature stories. 

OCT 19  In-class deadline assignment/(5 percent of total grade) 

OCT 24  FINAL DRAFT PROFILE DUE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT, 10 percent of total grade)  

• REVIEW FOR MID-TERM on readings, class presentations and common Ap Style points
• In-class work on features.

OCT 26 

• MID-TERM
• Discuss potential Issue paper topics & interviews with 2-3 "experts." NEXT: Read Chapter 5 on Gathering and Verifying Information

OCT 31 

• Discuss mid-term answers
• Work on features and blogs 

NOV 2 Massachusetts Open Meeting Law 

• FIRST DRAFT FEATURE DUE (1,000) words. 
• Firm up issue story ideas. 
• NEXT: Write issue pitch to present next class. 
• NEXT: Read Chapter 19 on Media Law

NOV 7  Issue pitch. 

• WRITE: 500-word Issue PRE-First Draft to peer edit next class. 

NOV 9 Peer edit Issue pre-first drafts. 

• Final FEATURE DUE (1,000 words, 15 percent of total grade)

NOV 14 FIRST DRAFT ISSUE (1,000 words with 4 voices, 2 of whom are "experts") due. 

• Discuss Massachusetts Open Meeting Law.
• NEXT: Read Chapter 20 on Media Ethics

NOV 16  Possible In-class deadline assignment

NO CLASS NOV 21 and 23/ THANKSGIVING BREAK

NOV 28 FINAL ISSUE PAPER DUE. (1,000 words 20 percent of total grade) 

• Review for FINAL QUIZ. 

NOV 30 END OF SEMESTER QUIZ

• Discuss summary/analysis writing. 

DEC 5 In-class deadline assignment: Watch film and write ANALYSIS (10 percent of final grade) on deadline, due at end of class.

DEC 7 - Wrap-up, finish work on group blogs

DEC 12  LAST DAY OF CLASS/ recap/ Final blogs presentations

**********GRADED ASSIGNMENTS AND FINAL GRADE CALCULATION ***********

Articles/AP tips/worksheets/blogs 5 percent – You will be responsible for all information on the chapter worksheets posted on the blog. Several times a semester you will present an article to the class as well as an AP Tip. A written summary of these is due on the day you present them. Classmates will create blogs in Wordpress. 

Interviews with your classmate (video and written) 5 percent – You will interview a classmate and the class will analyze a videotape of the interview. A short written piece is due using material from the interview and other reporting. 

Speech paper – 10 percent – A well-organized 650-750-word speech story based on a presentation that the class attends, including comments from 2-3 audience members. Must have a strong lead, nutgraph and direct quotes from the speaker. 

Deadline assignment 1– 5 percent – Pairs of classmates will conduct interviews on campus on a topic to be determined and write a 600 word piece with photos on deadline. Due by the end of class. 

Deadline assignment 2– 5 percent – Topic TBA. Due by the end of class.

Profile – 10 percent – A well-researched, multi-voice, 1000-word profile of a local person. Mandatory pre-first draft and first draft in addition to the final draft.

Midterm – 5 percent - Covers chapters and other readings, class discussions and common AP Style points

Feature – 15 percent – A lively 1,000-word piece, most likely with a scenario lead about a place, group, trend or event with four voices minimum and photos. Mandatory pre-first and first draft in addition to the final draft.

Issue – 20 percent - A well-researched 1,000 word piece on an issue of concern to the public. Must have a minimum of four voices, two of whom are “experts” on the subject, for instance a doctor, researcher or professor. 

Film Analysis/deadline assignment – 10 percent – You will watch a short film and write an analysis of in on deadline. Not a simple summary. Due by the end of class.

Final - 10 percent - Covers chapters and other readings, class discussions and common AP Style points

Fall 2017 calendar

Thanks for a fun semester!

What's coming up

APRIL 4 Peer edit Issue pre-first drafts. (Final feature deadline moved to Thursday, April 6)

APRIL 6 FIRST DRAFT ISSUE (1,000 words with 4 voices, 2 of whom are "experts") due. 
Final FEATURE DUE (1,000 words, 15 percent of total grade) If time, watch "Reporter."
Discuss chapters, Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. NEXT: Read and complete worksheets on Chaps. 26 on Taste in Journalism and 27 on Morality. If time, watch "Reporter."

APRIL 11 TOPIC: ****Schedule change****Attend talk by Jose Antonio Vargas, 4 p.m. in Student Union Ballroom, email lead and nutgraph same night (counts for 20 percent of Final)

APRIL 13 FINAL ISSUE PAPER DUE. (1,000 words 20 percent of total grade) Review for FINAL QUIZ.  Ethical reporting Discuss Chapters 26 & 27; in-class work on issue paper, blogs

APRIL 18 NO CLASS (UMASS follows Monday schedule due to Patriots Day) 
APRIL 20 END OF SEMESTER QUIZ Discuss summary/analysis writing. 

APRIL 25 In-class deadline assignment: Watch film and write SUMMARY/ANALYSIS (10 percent of final grade) on deadline, due at end of class.APRIL 27 - Wrap-up 

MAY 2- LAST DAY OF CLASS/ recap/ Final blogs presentations

What's coming up

MARCH 9 Discuss potential Issue paper topics & interviews with 2-3 "experts." Review for MID-TERM QUIZ. If time, work on features and blogs 

REVIEW AP TIPS: Common capitalizations and non-capitalizations (job titles, academic subjects, seasons, official names of places etc.), numbers (in general numerals for 10 and above), dates (abbreviate months with long names when used with a specific day), time (1 a.m., 2:15 p.m., noon, midnight),  ages (use numerals, 5-year-old girl),  addresses (Main Street, 10 Main St.), titles (in quotation marks) ...Remember, periods and commas INSIDE quotation marks. 

*****SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS MARCH 14 and 16*****

MARCH 21 Midterm Part 1
MARCH 23 Midterm Part 2 Attend Mongabay panel, email me by the end of the night a lead and nutgraph

MARCH 28 TOPIC: Massachusetts Open Meeting Law FIRST DRAFT FEATURE DUE (1,000) words. Peer edit

Firm up issue story ideas. NEXT: Write issue pitch to present next class. Read and complete worksheets for Chap 20 on police, Chap 24 on Government and 25 on Reporters and the Law. Review Massachusetts Open Meeting Law.
MARCH 30 Issue pitch. Discuss chapters. WRITE: 500-word Issue PRE-First Draft to peer edit next class.



Excerpt from LA Times TV critic Robert Lloyd's review of ESPN's "June 17, 1994":

"I can't swear that this is what the director had in mind, but these are the sorts of things I thought about while watching his film and afterward: time — the blank future, the fatal moment, the irretrievable past. How life is made into ceremony, the public intersects with the private, and men turn into myths and back into men again, as Simpson's suicide ride becomes itself a kind of spectator sport, with fans and sensation-seekers lining the streets and freeway bridges, while Palmer's last round, though fraught with bad shots, becomes a loving communion of athlete and crowd.

"It is also, on an even more elemental level — as an object that itself physically exists in time — about shapes moving through space, about chaos and patterns, the random and the formal, seen up close and from high above: bodies on a basketball court, crowds on a golf-course, the unpredictable line of a quarterback cutting through his opposition, the stately procession of a white SUV leading a fleet of police cars down a Southern California freeway."

Links to Independent Media in a Time of War with Amy Goodman

This is a 2004 video, but the message is just as important today: the media has to remain independent and play a watchdog role with respect to the government. Instead of promoting powerful interests, reporters give voice to people whose stories provide perspective on the actions of those in power.

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcVDGefrbJc

Our understanding of world events is limited by what we observe ourselves or what is reported in the media. But we have to be aware of media bias. Even two divisions of the same media outlet, CNN and CNN International, report the news differently.
Is it appropriate to show "tasteless" photos of casualties of war? "War is tasteless," Amy Goodman says. But instead of the human consequences of war, we see images of war as if were a video game.
Goodman talks about the concept of journalists "embedded" with military forces. Journalism has to stay independent of the government it reports on.

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NZpM7E4v6A

We have to remain skeptical of media that promotes the agenda of those in power without analysis. News organizations shouldn't mindlessly adopt and promote the Pentagon's euphemistic titles  like "Operation Iraqi Freedom."
The "daily drumbeat" of who gets covered on the front pages of the established media helps solidify power in the hands of the few.  Media should provide (truly) diverse perspectives.

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl5Y1j-9XxU.

"Reporters' role is to go where the silence is to bring us the voices of people who are at ground zero," Goodman says. Reporters have to tell the stories of people who are not in a position to tell their own.
But much of the media is controlled by large corporations in whose interests it is to squash dissent. The media has to remain independent.

Deadline Assignment 1 example

Summer Curtin

Moose Chaudhry

Ryan Coterie

Have We Fallen Out of Love with Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day may be known for candies, roses, and candlelit dinners spent with that special someone, but to a significant amount of UMass students, this past Tuesday was just another cold winter day filled with classes. 

It seems as though the feeling was more passive than passionate this year, especially to the students who spent the day single.

             “I don’t celebrate it because I don’t have anybody to love,” said Becca Demedeiros, a junior animal science major from Fairhaven, rather solemnly.

The general sentiment at UMass does not appear to be one of passion, but of apathy. While there were some who opted for a hopeful night out with friends, the vast majority instead went for the bare minimum, and either got small gifts if they were seeing someone, or simply did nothing at all. In the era of hook-ups and casual affairs, the love may be lost, and it seems as though UMass students have dumped Valentine’s Day.

Those who did not partake in the holiday opted for a far different kind of Valentine’s Day than expected. Some were surrounded by chocolates and flowers, while others, like S., opted for other special treats; the marijuana edibles she made with her friends.

S. spent the day with her closest friends getting high. She does not celebrate Valentine’s Day, and even considers herself to be “anti-Valentine.” 

“I won’t support a day for love when we should be celebrating love every single day, not just one day in February out of the entire year,” she said.

One of those friends getting high with her had a similar sentiment on the romantic holiday. “I spent the whole day high,” said M. M. considers herself “anti-Valentine “There’s just no point to be honest,” she said.

“I don’t see the point in spending a ton of money on commercial products and chocolates when we could be spending money on more important things to help society,” S said.

Other students see Valentine’s Day as a capitalist scheme as well.

The idea that big businesses and corporations flourish off the purchase of cards and flowers seems too shallow to some people, and often times is the source that turns them away from celebrating this day at all. 

Muntaha Elsir, who perhaps rather ironically was campaigning at a heart covered table, filled with free donuts, was blatant about her feelings toward the idea of Valentine’s Day. “I think it’s stupid. I don’t celebrate it because it is purely based off capitalism, not love,” she said.

Elsir (left) sits at a campaigning table in the Student Center

Valentine’s Day comes across as forced for some, and becomes a holiday where expectations are at an all time to high to spoil their significant other.

“In my past relationships it’s been kind of chill,” said Dianna Sorto, a UMass student. She also noted that she spent this past Tuesday in an exam. 

Sorto’s boyfriend, Anthony Tejada, a kinesiology major from Somerville sat across from her. “I just go along with it,” he said. “I just gave her some flowers and candy.” 

Tejada explains the passiveness of the Holiday. “I think it’s just expected that you have to get them a small gift. It is what it is,” Tejada said.

Donna Sorto (left) and Michael Tejada (right) sit for lunch at Blue Wall

As Valentine’s Day continues to be commercialized, many think the day has lost its luster. However, there are still those out there looking for a romantic rendezvous. Student Erica Luttazi, from Franklin, has not given up on the day just yet. 

“It is a bit overdone, but I still went out though.” Luttazi attended a Frat party on Feb. 14 Although this might not be the most ideal place to look for true romantic love, she still gave it the good old college try.

Deadline assignment 2

Deadline story ideas:

• What do students think about the guest policy that will be in place for Blarney Blowout? Is the policy effective? Can students think of a different approach?
• Are students looking forward to Blarney Blowout; do they plan to participate or do they think it's stupid or passé? What do you think the attraction of it is?
• Are you planning to go to the free concert? If it started later than 10 a.m. would you be more likely to go? If there were different acts would you be more likely to go even though it's at 10 a.m.?
• How do you like the unseasonably warm weather?
• Are you a big fan of the four seasons?

Deadline assignment

In your blog groups:

•  Interview at least two people EACH, IN PERSON Ask them an initial question on the topic to be determined. Develop a few follow-up questions and engage them in conversation for a few minutes, so you have a meaningful exchange.

 • Write down exact quotes, but be prepared to paraphrase most of their responses and just pick the best one or two sentences to directly quote. 

• Ask how to spell their names. (Double-check that you wrote it down correctly using UMass.edu Peoplefinder.) Ask them where they are from and what their majors are. Ask if you can take their photos and share them online.  Finished pieces must include photos with captions 

• Try to interview a diverse bunch of people – different majors, different hometowns, different nationalities, gender and race etc

• Ask if you can snap a photo. Use your people skills to encourage them to say yes.

• When the group re-convenes in the computer lab, talk about the responses everyone got. See if you can make some kind of assertion in your lead BASED ON YOUR REPORTING. 

That is, you will probably have some kind of guiding ideas about, for instance, if you were doing a story about what seniors are going to do when graduate whether seniors are likely to know what they are going to do after they graduate.

But DON’T write a lead based on speculation, and DON’T write a generic, non-reported lead like, for instance: As graduation approaches, college seniors face the daunting prospect of figuring out what to do with the rest of their lives. 

Instead, review all the responses you got and SYNTHESIZE some of the information. For instance, if you interview 10 people and 8 say they have a job, while 2 say they are going to decide what to do next and where to go the day after graduation, you could say something like: Some UMass seniors have already lined up jobs after graduation, which is a mere six weeks away, but a few are waiting until the day after the graduation festivities to decide their next move.

•  After the lead, include a nutgraph saying about how many people were interviewed and characterize the range of their responses. In the body of the paper, mention each of the people you interviewed in a paragraph dedicated to him or her.

What's coming up:

MARCH 2 In-class deadline assignment/(5 percent of total grade) Next: Read Chaps. 11 on layered reporting and 14 on sources. 

MARCH 7 TOPIC: “Layered” reporting FINAL DRAFT PROFILE DUE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT, 10 percent of total grade)Discuss Chapters 11 and 14. In-class work on BLOGS

MARCH 9 Discuss potential Issue paper topics & interviews with 2-3 "experts." Review for MID-TERM QUIZ. If time, work on features and blogs 

*****SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS MARCH 14 and 16*****

MARCH 21 Midterm Part 1
MARCH 23 Midterm Part 2 Attend Mongabay panel, email me by the end of the night a lead and nutgraph

MARCH 28 TOPIC: Massachusetts Open Meeting Law FIRST DRAFT FEATURE DUE (1,000) words. Peer edit

Firm up issue story ideas. NEXT: Write issue pitch to present next class. Read and complete worksheets for Chap 20 on police, Chap 24 on Government and 25 on Reporters and the Law. Review Massachusetts Open Meeting Law.
MARCH 30 Issue pitch. Discuss chapters. WRITE: 500-word Issue PRE-First Draft to peer edit next class. 

Feature assignment

Features

Your feature should be 1,000 words (include a word count) with photos and include a minimum of four voices. 

Pre-first draft due: Feb. 28 --  First draft due March 28 -- Final draft due: April 2

A feature describes a group of people, place, event, subculture, trend or just about anything you can think of. Should be visual, with concrete, specific language, anecdotes and examples and a lively mix of voices. 

• Write your feature with the idea that you will try to get it published. Don’t include material that will appear “dated” or as if it’s “old news” a few weeks from now. If your feature is about an event that is coming up, mention the date and time of the event high in the story.

• Do NOT lead with a sweeping, unreported generalization; plunge right into the reported material

• Describe/SHOW vs. Tell

• The more reporting, the better. You can’t make up for a lack of reporting by trying to write cleverly. You need several voices, so that you’re not going back to the same source for more than a couple or so paragraphs. Every page should have a lively, dynamic mix of voices – not just one person!

• Eliminate wordiness! Do NOT repeat anything!!

• Paraphrase or rewrite rather than using parentheses/brackets. You should only need to use parentheses once or twice a year – NOT once or twice in a single paper. 

• Keep quotes short so that they have a greater impact. Paraphrase!!

• Don’t jam together, spliced by a comma, two complete and unrelated sentences. For instance, don’t say something like, “Wearing her black moccasins, Jane Doe is a graduate of UMass.” Avoid getting into traps like this by using SVO.

Link to fake, false and real news explainer

Simple explainer by Dan Kennedy at Media Nation of fake, false and real news: https://dankennedy.net/2017/02/27/fake-news-what-it-is-what-it-isnt-and-how-to-avoid-it/  Here's his definition of real news:

Real news: Stories produced by news organizations that practice journalism as a “discipline of verification.” The goal is to inform the public as truthfully as possible. Errors are corrected.

Photos from Journalism alum's visit

Good analysis of "spin" tricks

This is a good analysis of verbal tricks, such as deflecting by picking a keyword in a question, repeating it and then using it to go off on a tangent: http://www.vox.com/videos/2017/2/13/14597968/kellyanne-conway-tricks

Feb 14 on cliches, euphemisms, etc

Today, we'll talk about cliches, euphemisms and empty language. We'll peer edit the profile pre-first drafts and brainstorm ideas for Thursday's in-class deadline assignment.

http://journ300.blogspot.com/2015/09/cliches-euphemisms-stereotypes-and.html

Quotes from George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language":

"In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of the political parties. 

"Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. 

"Defenseless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification. Millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population or rectification of frontiers. People are imprisoned for years without trial, or shot in the back of the neck or sent to die of scurvy in Arctic lumber camps: this is called elimination of unreliable elements. Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental pictures of them."

Peer edit profile pre-first drafts

Brainstorm topics for Thursday's in-class deadline assignment.

Deadline assignment:

In your blog groups:

•  Interview at least two people EACH, IN PERSON Ask them an initial question on the topic to be determined. Develop a few follow-up questions and engage them in conversation for a few minutes, so you have a meaningful exchange.

 • Write down exact quotes, but be prepared to paraphrase most of their responses and just pick the best one or two sentences to directly quote. 

• Ask how to spell their names. (Double-check that you wrote it down correctly using UMass.edu Peoplefinder.) Ask them where they are from and what their majors are. Ask if you can take their photos and share them online.  Finished pieces must include photos with captions 

• Try to interview a diverse bunch of people – different majors, different hometowns, different nationalities, gender and race etc

• Ask if you can snap a photo. Use your people skills to encourage them to say yes.

• When the group re-convenes in the computer lab, talk about the responses everyone got. See if you can make some kind of assertion in your lead BASED ON YOUR REPORTING. 

That is, you will probably have some kind of guiding ideas about, for instance, if you were doing a story about what seniors are going to do when they graduate.

But DON’T write a lead based on speculation, and DON’T write a generic, non-reported lead like, for instance: As graduation approaches, college seniors face the daunting prospect of figuring out what to do with the rest of their lives. 

Instead, review all the responses you got and SYNTHESIZE some of the information. For instance, if you interview 10 people and 8 say they have a job, while 2 say they are going to decide what to do next and where to go the day after graduation, you could say something like: Some UMass seniors have already lined up jobs after graduation, which is a mere six weeks away, but a few are waiting until the day after the graduation festivities to decide their next move.

•  After the lead, include a nutgraph saying about how many people were interviewed and characterize the range of their responses. In the body of the paper, mention each of the people you interviewed in a paragraph dedicated to him or her.

It would be great to submit one or more to the Collegian or Amherst Wire!