English 302/COA 302
Tentative Schedule of Assignments
Course objectives: By the end of this course, you should have a better understanding of the theory and practice of journalistic writing. You will develop this understanding through a two-level approach: you will read, analyze, and interpret examples of stories in the print media, and you will experiment with creating your own journalistic writing. This course is not intended to be professional training for a job in journalism; it is, instead, designed to examine journalistic writing so that you can approach the tasks of writing for and reading the print media with a deeper understanding of its methods, theories and practices. I will assess your success in fulfilling these objectives by my assessment of your exercises, tests, journalistic writing and analytical writing.
Textbooks: News Reporting and Writing, 6th edition (The Missouri Group); AP Stylebook and Libel Manual; The Lexington Herald-Leader.
Requirements of the course: You will write as many articles as I assign (the number will vary, depending on how the class develops). You will keep to strict journalistic standards in the preparation of these articles (they must meet deadline; they must follow AP Stylebook rules; they must be accurate, fair, complete, and unbiased). In addition to these articles, you will also complete assignments that ask you to analyze examples of journalistic writing. There will be a test over media law.
Evaluation: I grade on a 10-point scale (90-100=A; 80-89.99=B; 70-79.99=C; 60-69.99=D; below 60=F). The evaluation criteria will vary slightly depending on the nature of the assignment (each aligned with the expectations of the story). I will post the gradesheets on the class web site before the due date of the assignment.
Attendance: In theory, you should never miss class. Because unexpected emergencies and illnesses do arise, I will not deduct from your grade as long as you miss no more than three classes. After that, I will deduct from your grade unless you complete appropriate compensatory assignments.
Academic Honesty Policy: If I catch you cheating on any assignment,, I will fail you for the course and report your name to the Academic Dean. Be particularly careful to avoid plagiarism. For guidelines on what I consider to be plagiarism, please see http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/english/allen/plagism.htm .
Schedule of assignments: The schedule of assignments is VERY tentative. I reserve the right to make wholesale changes as the class progresses. If you miss class, be sure to check the Current Assignments link for updates and changes in assignments.
Classroom:
Ensor Learning Resources Center Room 015 (computer lab)
Professor:
Dr. Rosemary A. Allen, Department of English