SYLLABUS
MACO 451
Feature Writing
Spring semester, 2005
Dr. Lloyd Chiasson
Office: 100-A Talbot Hall
Phone: 448-4632
Office Hours: M-W-F 8:30-9:30 a.m., 10:45-11:45 a.m., T-Th 8:30-11:30 a.m, and by appointment
EMAIL: lloyd.chiasson@nicholls.edu
Course Description
Writing feature and special articles for newspapers and magazines.
Note: This is a writing intensive course.
Course Prerequisites
Mass Communication 252 or 271.
To teach beginning writers what it takes to write a successful newspaper and magazine feature articles as well as how to market what they write.
To teach the student the fundamentals of good reportage, including research, news gathering, and editing and rewriting. Emphasis will be placed upon news selection and news values, ability to get the facts, ability to tell a story, accuracy, and journalistic responsibility, e.g., ethics. Subject selection will be emphasized and discussion will center on issues that tend to be overlooked and under-reported. Story selection will be emphasized and discussion will center on choosing the large issue and how it can be localized when appropriate. Key subjects for discussion include in-depth coverage of economic, minority, diversity, environmental, ethical, and educational issues, as well as current trends in the media.
To explore the different styles which result when writing in first, second and third person, as well as when writing in narrative, descriptive and expository formats.
Materials and Textbooks
Text: Feature Writing for Newspapers and Magazines (5th edition, 1999), Edward Friedlander and John Lee.
Additional readings: Throughout the course feature articles will be made available to the students. These will be on reserve in the library or handed out in class.
Attendance
Course time: M-W-F 2-2:55 p.m.
Location: Talbot Hall 105
Class attendance is regarded as an obligation as well as a privilege, and all students are expected to attend regularly and punctually. Students with more than three unexcused absences will receive a failing grade.
Tardiness is treated as an absence unless satisfactory explanation is made to the instructor at the end of the period (not at a later date).
Absences due to authorized trips or assignment to special duties will be excused. Any missed assignments resulting from excused absences must be turned in at the beginning of the next class session. Make-up exams for excused absences will be given the next class period the student is present.
Students should understand that just one missed assignment would be catastrophic to the overall class grade.
Requirements
Students must complete all the work (i.e., tests, projects, presentation, papers, productions, writing assignments, etc.) required to receive a passing grade for this course. Completion of all the work required does not guarantee a passing grade. Failure to complete any required work will result in a grade of F for the course.
Portfolio
For print majors, MACO 455 serves as the capstone course, not MACO 451. However, students who expect to graduate at the end of this semester must put together a portfolio this semester. A portfolio is required of every mass communication student. Further details on the portfolio requirements may be found in the MACO Student Handbook or from any MACO professor. All work in all MACO courses should be corrected and archived on disk and in hard copy for possible inclusion in the studentŐs portfolio.
Procedure for Conducting Class
The class will be an interweaving of lecture, critiques and class discussion. There will be a practical aspect to the course beyond writing the articles since the students will produce articles assigned by the Houma Daily Courier. Each student will be expected to write three stories for the paper. Stories will be assigned by the Courier staff (the student may produce his/her own story ideas), therefore guaranteeing publication of good stories. These stories will be rewrites since they will be edited and graded by the professor before going to the Courier.
Feature articles will be due each Wednesday at the beginning of the class period. Lecture and discussion of story ideas for the following week will follow. Two copies must be turned into the instructor and one copy to everyone else in class (depending on class size).
The instructor will critique and grade one copy. The copies for classmates will be distributed to be critiqued for the following class. Several editors, therefore, will critique every article. In this way the students will have the opportunity to be both writer and editor.
The originals will be critiqued and graded for MondayŐs class.
Note: The student critiques serve as an exercise in editing. The critique should be a one-page typed evaluation. Commentary should center upon the (1) research, (2) organization, (3) quoting and attribution, and (4) AP style. Since social security numbers are used to identity authorship, the student, just as the instructor, never knows whom he is grading.
To give the students time to fully develop and research feature ideas, a feature will not be required every week. At times, the students may analyze selected features. Although these two written analyses will not count as much as a feature, they will be computed into the final grade.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism and other forms of dishonesty will be dealt with severely, the minimum penalty being an F in the course.
Grading Policy
Since this is an upper division course, high quality is expected. The simplest way to achieve this is for the student to begin to think of himself/herself as a professional writer.
The grade scale is as follows:
A--100 to 90
B--89 to 80
C--79 to 70
D--69 to 60
F--59 and below
Assignments, Quizzes and Evaluations
The majority of the course grade (approximately 80 percent) will be derived from the feature articles.
Critiques of feature articles, the analyses, and quizzes on the text will comprise the remainder of the overall grade.
Although no set formula can be outlined as to precise grading procedure of writing assignments, certain elements must be present if an article is to be successful with its audience. With this in mind, certain points will be emphasized in the evaluation of the features. They are as follows:
l) quality of the writing (clarity, flow, mood, style)
2) organization
3) appealing openings (leads)
4) appealing endings
5) unity from beginning to end
6) consistency in tense, person, etc.
7) accuracy
8) spelling
9) grammar and punctuation
AND MOST IMPORTANT
10) research (story development)
Last day to drop with a W
April 7
1. Students in this class who publish several articles (and each student will) have the opportunity to win several writing contests. The Bonnie Toups Wells feature writing prizes are $350 and $150 (and must deal with the Louisiana French culture (see below), and the Hearst Foundation Journalism awards offer prize money and national recognition.
2. Students should enter all published work in these or other contests. These include the William Randolph Hearst, the Scripps Howard, and the SEJC contest.
3. For example, students published in Chez Nous have a good chance of winning any of these contests, even after they graduate. Unless the student specifically says so, articles like this will be entered for them after graduation.
Three story ideas are already taken care of for you.
Examples: people (the story of a sugarcane farmer, for example) economics (crawfishing, for example), histories (The history of a plantation, for example), boucharies, folklore, religion, customs, superstitions, etc.
3. Every student will write one feature that deals with diversity/minority issues or with the environment. Choice of topic within these broad categories is up to the student.
Other key points:
*Issue-oriented stories should be emphasized. Look for stories that have a timeless quality and that can be developed on a local, regional or a national level.
*The student should ask three questions regarding an idea for a news article. (1) Is this worth writing about? (2) Will it interest an audience? (3) Does it warrant 900 words?
*If the answer to any of these questions is no, the student would be wise to reevaluate his subject matter. In short no fluff.
*Students must make a duplicate of each article.
*All articles must be presented in a professional manner.
Length and style:
1. Regular newspaper features are to be a minimum of 900 words and should be doubled spaced.
2. Two short magazine features (minimum of 2,500 words) will count as four writing assignments. Words, not pages, are the criteria in regards to length for all articles.
Note: If an article does not meet the required length, it will not be accepted.
3. No cover pages, not titles, no names. In the upper left-hand corner of every page, write the final four digits to your social security number.
-Under that write your slug.
-Under that write the word count.
Note: Every feature will receive two grades that will be averaged into one. The first grade is for research; the second grade is for writing.
General Class Policies
1. Make-up assignments. It is the student's responsibility to meet all deadlines. If this course is to prepare the student for the "real world," then real world standards must be applied; therefore, unless you have an official excuse–a darn good one–donŐt expect me to act any differently than your real world boss.
2. Students are encouraged to meet with the professor to discuss feature ideas, story development, grading policies, or any aspect of the course that the student deems pertinent.
3. Students are expected to show common courtesy to one another and to the instructor. For example, do not read in class; do not chit chat in class; do not pack up book before the lecture is completed.
Course Outline
Note: This is tentative and subject to change depending on class progress.
Week 1
The difference between hard news and features; ethical issues
Week 2
Developing the subject matter; thinking about issues and ideas; research--visit the library
Ten ideas for feature stories (two for an Chez Nous magazine)
Quiz on chapters 1 and 2
Feature No. 1 (student may drop this grade)
Mining features; quiz on chapters 3 and 4 Feature No. 2
Week 5
Organization; quiz on chapters 5 and 6
Feature No. 3
Week 6
Interviewing, attribution; quiz on chapters 7 and 8
Analysis of three features
Week 7
Quoting, paraphrasing and summary; quiz on chapters 9&10
Discussion of magazine feature; Magazine feature synopsis
[1] angle [2] organization [3] probable sources
Week 8
Developing pace and unity in writing; quiz on chapters 11 and 12
Feature No. 4: THE FIRST MAGAZINE FEATURE
Week 9
Ethical issues revisited; marketing your work; quiz on chapters 13-14
Analysis of magazine features by the students
Week 10
Quiz on Chapter 15
Feature No. 5
Week 11
Review of truth in citation, in characters, in tone, etc. Feature No. 6
Week 12
List of questions about writing Discussion about the environmental magazine feature
Week 13
Open discussion Analysis
Week 14
Student critiques of magazine features
Feature No. 7 [MAGAZINE FEATURE]
Week 15
Magazine critiques
Extra credit feature [optional]
Bibliography
Research is at the core of good nonfiction writing. Therefore, it will be imperative that the student becomes familiar with resource materials available in the library. Students will use both primary and secondary sources.
Library materials often are used in gathering data for feature articles are:
a) national and local newspapers
b) special-interest consumer magazines
c) business and trade journals
d) academic journals
e) government publications
f) indices
g) books
h) biographical collections
i) and yes, even dictionaries
Specific materials include: The Essential Feature by Vicky Hay, On Writing Well by William Zinsser, Creative Interviewing by Ken Metzler, Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote, Write to the Point by Bill Stout.
Final Comments
[Although students are expected to find their own story ideas, the following is offered simply as a starting point for discussion in and out of class.]
1. Descriptive piece (A museum, science lab, hospital, etc.)
2. Interview piece (This comes down to selection of someone who is interesting, does something interesting, was involved in something of interest, e.g., historical events.)
3. Historical piece (The list is endless.)
4. Creative piece (All writers yearn to stretch their creative abilities. Look for the story that would lend itself to a creative approach. Experiment. Try different styles. And remember creativity is hard work.)
5. Topical piece (Where do you find a good topic that is recent? Try reading the newspaper, magazines, trade and academic journals. Keep abreast of what's going on around you.
6. And then there is you. (What interests you? Your friends? What kinds of things are happening in your life? Theirs? Look into them. Research them. Then write about them.