Feature & Magazine MCM 309.090 Enhanced Name: Dr. Linda Bond Email: lbond@sfasu.edu Phone: 936-468-1265 Office: Boynton 302 Office Hours: MWF: 8-10 a.m. 11-noon, 1-2 p.m. Department: Communication & Contemporary Culture Class meeting time and place: 8-9:15 a.m. Tuesday & Thursday Boynton 209 Course Description: Types of special articles and writing techniques best adapted to marketing material in newspapers and magazines. enhanced. Prerequisite: MCM 103 with a grade of C and MCM 203. Program Learning Outcomes: 1. Recognize the role and function of the news media in society. 2. Demonstrate knowledge of research and gathering information through interviewing sources and research from libraries, archives, documents, databases and electronic sources. 3. Exhibit strong journalistic writing, including command of grammar. 4. Perform within professional expectations with regard to deadlines and accuracy Student Learning Outcomes: To develop an idea for a story To find the central idea of a story To collect information for the story To construct an interesting, informative story To revise the story for clarity and correctness To develop writing skills Students will: Conduct interviews Write stories Use Associated Press (AP) style Learn to write query letters Learn how to publish features and articles Text and Materials: Friedlander & Lee, 2008. Feature for Newspapers and Magazines: The Pursuit of Excellence. Boston: Pearson. 1
Course Requirements: In class, we will cover the fundamentals of media feature writing. Generally we will work on one chapter every week. Students will have a writing assignment almost every week. Course Calendar: See below. Grading Policy: Students will do a writing assignment each week and receive a grade for that assignment. Corrections will be done on the assignments during the next class period. Students will receive 2 points added to the assignment if the corrections are done thoroughly. Weekly grades will count 80 percent of the course grade. The final exam will count as 20 percent of the course grade. Course grades will be awarded on an A through F scale. 90-100 A 80-89 B 70-79 C 60-69 D Below 60 F Attendance Policy: Excuses are considered only when conditions are clearly beyond the student s control and must be documented. A copy of the excuse will be kept in the files. In keeping with department policy for classes that meet two times a week, on the third unexcused absence, 5 points will be subtracted from the final class grade. On the fourth unexcused absence, 5 points will be subtracted from the final class grade. On the fifth unexcused absence, another 5 points will be subtracted. On the sixth unexcused absence, another 5 points will be subtracted. On the seventh unexcused absence, another 5 points will be subtracted. On the eighth unexcused absence, you will receive an F for the course. Attendance: Students who have perfect attendance (no absences, excused or not excused) will receive a special privilege. AFTER the final and weekly grades are added together the grades of those student will be rounded up; for example, from 69 to 70, from 79 to 80, from 89 to 90 or from 99 to 100. Late work: Late work is not accepted except for approved university activity, personal or family illness or other documented emergency. 2
Academic Integrity (A-9.1) Academic integrity is a responsibility of all university faculty and students. Faculty members promote academic integrity in multiple ways including instruction on the components of academic honesty, as well as abiding by university policy on penalties for cheating and plagiarism. Definition of Academic Dishonesty Academic dishonesty includes both cheating and plagiarism. Cheating includes but is not limited to (1) using or attempting to use unauthorized materials to aid in achieving a better grade on a component of a class; (2) the falsification or invention of any information, including citations, on an assigned exercise; and/or (3) helping or attempting to help another in an act of cheating or plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own. Examples of plagiarism are (1) submitting an assignment as if it were one's own work when, in fact, it is at least partly the work of another; (2) submitting a work that has been purchased or otherwise obtained from an Internet source or another source; and (3) incorporating the words or ideas of an author into one's paper without giving the author due credit. Please read the complete policy at http://www.sfasu.edu/policies/academic_integrity.asp Withheld Grades Semester Grades Policy (A-54) Please copy and paste the following information regarding Withheld Grades into your syllabus. Add additional information as needed to meet your departmental or course needs. Ordinarily, at the discretion of the instructor of record and with the approval of the academic chair/director, a grade of WH will be assigned only if the student cannot complete the course work because of unavoidable circumstances. Students must complete the work within one calendar year from the end of the semester in which they receive a WH, or the grade automatically becomes an F. If students register for the same course in future terms the WH will automatically become an F and will be counted as a repeated course for the purpose of computing the grade point average. Students with Disabilities Please copy and paste the following statement and place in your course syllabus. To obtain disability related accommodations, alternate formats and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS), Human Services Building, and Room 325, 468-3004 / 468-1004 (TDD) as early as possible in the semester. Once verified, ODS will notify the course instructor and outline the accommodation and/or auxiliary aids to be provided. Failure to request 3
services in a timely manner may delay your accommodations. For additional information, go to http://www.sfasu.edu/disabilityservices/. Acceptable Student Behavior Classroom behavior should not interfere with the instructor s ability to conduct the class or the ability of other students to learn from the instructional program (see the Student Conduct Code, policy D-34.1). Unacceptable or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Students who disrupt the learning environment may be asked to leave class and may be subject to judicial, academic or other penalties. This prohibition applies to all instructional forums, including electronic, classroom, labs, discussion groups, field trips, etc. The instructor shall have full discretion over what behavior is appropriate/inappropriate in the classroom. Students who do not attend class regularly or who perform poorly on class projects/exams may be referred to the Early Alert Program. This program provides students with recommendations for resources or other assistance that is available to help SFA students succeed. This schedule is tentative and subject to change. Date Chapter Subject Aug 31 Sept 2 Sept 7 Sept 9 Tuesday Sept 14 Sept 16 Sept 21 Sept 23 Sept 28 Sept 30 Syllabus, calendar 1 The newspaper feature story: Categories and appeals-- discussion 1 Write ideas for newspaper stories 1 Assignment: Write an article based on the categories of newspaper stories 2 Newspaper Feature story aspects of importance (human interest, proximity, etc. 2 Assignment: write feature from different aspects of importance 3 How Magazine articles differ from newspaper: Bring a magazine to class, analysis of magazine 3 the query letter Assignment: query to magazine 4 Researching how to use for newspaper and magazine articles 4 Assignment: write the article using four different resources 4
Oct 5 Oct 7 Oct 12 Oct 14 Oct 19 Oct 21 Monday, October 25 Tuesday Oct 26 Wednesday, October 27 Thursday Oct 28 Nov 2 Nov 4 Nov 9 Nov 11 Nov 16 Nov 18 Nov 23 Food writing, Student Center Food writing, Student Center Assignment: Write the food feature article 5 Interviewing 5 Assignment: Interview 6 Spicing up the lead a dozen lead categories Assignment: one story many leads Last day to apply for degrees to be completed in December 2010 6 The body of the story Assignment: the body of the story Last day to drop courses Last day to withdraw from the University without WP or WF 6 End of the story Assignment: writing the end 6 Turning the newspaper story into a feature Assignment: newspaper story into feature 7 the specialized feature story 7 Assignment: Specialized features 8 Marketing the story Writers Market Assignment: multiple queries to magazines 5
Wednesday, November 24 Nov 30 Dec 2 Dec 7 Dec 9 Monday Dec 13- Friday, Dec 7 Beginning of Thanksgiving Holiday for students and faculty, 8 a.m. DEAD WEEK REVIEW DEAD WEEK REVIEW Finals 6