Assignments

Journal Entries and Blog Posts

Word of the Week: Add 10 new words to your vocabulary — two per week, starting in the second week of class.

For this assignment, you can use any word that’s new to you … from reading a book, newspaper, magazine or web site. (Note: Words that refer to diseases or medical conditions are not eligible.) Please post these assignments on your blog. Here’s the format to use:

Word #1 (make the title of the assignment the title of your blog post)

  1. Your Word
  2. Where you read it (source info).
  3. The entire sentence in which you found this word.
  4. Dictionary definition for this word; part of speech (noun, verb, etc.).
  5. Use the word in a new sentence. Your sentence should make it clear that you understand the meaning of this word and know how to use it.

Blog Post #1 – All About Me (200 words): Tell me a bit about yourself: What is the most interesting thing about you? What’s the most exciting thing you’ve ever done? What makes you unique?

Blog 2 – Your Favorite Writing (200 words): Select a short piece of writing you enjoy and admire and explain why you like it and why you think it’s an example of good writing. It can be any kind of writing: news, fiction, non-fiction, ad copy, poetry — whatever appeals to you. Be sure to list source information (author, publication, etc.) to identify your piece of writing, including: the author, the title of the book or publication in which it appeared, page number and date of publication.

Blog 3 – Comparing Media (300-500 words): Compare the news coverage of a single national news story by examining its same-day coverage in different types of news media (compare at least three), as follows: Please note that this assignment is to be turned in as a hard copy AND as a blog assignment. Follow the proper formatting rules for each.

  • Newspaper: How long is/are the article(s) on this issues? How many sources are quoted? How many articles are there? Are the stories accompanied by charts, graphs or photos?
  • Television: How many minutes is the story? How many sources are quoted? How does the detail provided on television news compare to the newspaper?
  • National Public Radio (or another radio program that includes national news): How long is the story? How many sources are quoted? How is the coverage on radio and television similar? How are they different? Does the radio story use background sound and/or interviews to change “the scene” in the listener’s mind?
  • Online News: How does online news coverage of this issue compare? How long is the story? How many sources? Is it more like print or broadcast coverage? Or different from both?

Blog 4 – A Fly on the Wall (200-250 words): Go out into the world, pick an interesting spot, and act like a fly on the wall. Observe the scene around you and take copious notes. Think in terms of all five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Feel free to include snippets of nearby conversations, if applicable. Later, go through your notes and decide which details are the most “telling details” – that is, which would help someone visualize this. Then use those details to write your “Fly on the Wall” vignette. If you can give it the feel of a very short story … even better.

Blog 5 – Mystery Character (150-250 words): Your mystery character can be any well-known entertainer, athlete or politician — someone living or dead — even fictional. The catch? You must describe your mystery character without actually saying who it is. Instead, make your description do the work by using telling details that will help readers recognize your character from your description alone. You may want to show how your character moves, sounds, gestures, talks, dresses — focus on whatever you think are the most telling details about that person. Omit any personal or professional information that would be a “dead giveaway” for this person. Remember, I’ll be looking for description, not a biography.

When you send the email with the URL for this assignment, put the mystery character’s name in the text of the email.

Blog 6 – IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) #1: For this assignment, you’ll pick a current news story that really get you fired up and write a 350-400-word blog post. For example, if the health care debate really lights your fuse, write an opinion piece about that. Of course, to make your opinion pieces credible, you’ll need to be organized and back up your points … not just rant. That means you’ll need to do some research and provide links to the original article and to any other sources you use.

Blog 7 – Japanese Internment Memorial essay (500 words): Before our field trip to the Japanese Internment Memorial, you’ll need to do some online research and answer the following questions:

  • What was the Japanese Internment and why did it happen?
  • Who is Ruth Asawa?
  • What happened locally (San Jose) during the internment?
  • How did SJSU factor in?

During the field trip, take careful notes on the vignettes at the memorial. Afterward, write an essay describing two or three of the vignettes that you found most compelling. Draw upon your research to explain their significance. Consider: Do you think something like this could happen again?

Blog 8 – IMHO #2 (see Blog #6 for details)

Assignments

  1. Resume and Cover Letter: Scan internship or employment listings (newspaper, monster.com, craigslist.com, jmcjobs blog) for the kind of job you’d like for this summer or when you graduate. Write a cover letter (approx. 150 words) and one-page resume applying for the most interesting position. Staple a copy of your want ad to your letter and resume.
  2. NPR Radio interview analysis (350-500 words): Listen to and analyze an interview on an NPR program such as Fresh Air or All Things Considered. Your professor will give you a choice of two or three current interviews to analyze. In your analysis, please consider the following

What did the interviewer know about the subject before the interview?

What kinds of questions did they ask?

How did they build up to questions? How did they follow up to questions?

Did the interviewer appear to have a strategy?

How were inadequate or evasive answers (if any) handled?

What was the apparent relationship between the interviewer and interviewee?

What did you learn about interviewing from this interview?

  1. News Release (200 words)
  2. Scholarly journal article summary (600-800 words): Locate and photocopy a scholarly article of at least eight pages or more, preferably on a topic that interests you (even better, find articles that are related to your final feature so you can use them for that assignment too). Be sure the article is not a review or summary, since that is what we’re asking you to do. Read the article and summarize it in your own words. Staple your photocopy of the original article to your summary.

Classmate Profile (A) or Personal Obit (B): (instructor’s choice; for either option, write 350-500 words) A. Interview a classmate and write a short profile of that person. During your interview, look for themes and “common threads,” not just good quotes. Remember to observe and describe…show me your classmate, don’t just tell me about him or her. B. Write your own 350-to-500-word obituary. Make sure to lead a full life and fulfilling life…and have some fun with this assignment. (Also, be sure to write an “editorial style obituary,” not a family-style obituary notice.

  1. Targeting Audiences (250-350 words): Find two full-page advertisements in a magazine (include a copy of each in your journal), and use the following factors to analyze it:
  • Study the magazines and the ads to determine the intended target audience’s demographics: age, gender, occupation, education level, income, marital status. Based on the ads, describe the target audience’s lifestyles, attitudes and values.
  • Next, describe each advertisement’s key message(s). Is it information rich and directed at an involved audience, or does it feature more peripheral qualities, such as graphics or pictures, to attract a less-involved audience? Is there a source (celebrity or expert) in the advertisement? If so, why do you think the source might influence the target audience?
  1. – Fish Out of Water (350-500 words): Attend a political, cultural, or social event focused on a racial/ethnic group to which you do not belong, and write a critical review of the event, including an analysis of the experience of being an outsider. Consult the Spartan Daily, local newspapers, bulletin boards, etc., for free events. You may attend with another student, but you should each write your own review. Describe the event and its impact on you; analyze your participation/observation as an outsider to this culture. By definition, reviews are subjective – it’s your opinion. However, a review should include a summary of the event so the reader can learn about the event as well as the author’s response to it.
  2. Final Feature (1,750-2,000 words, plus 500-word sidebar and short broadcast script): This feature, profile or trend story is your major outside writing project for this class; you must successfully complete this assignment to pass the class. This project has four deliverables, as follow:
  • Your pitch letter – see notes below
    • your feature or trend story
    • a sidebar to accompany your feature or trend story
    • a 60-to-90-second broadcast script version of your feature or trend story (125-200 words). You’ll record your script using iMovie, upload it to YouTube or another video hosting site, and post it on your blog. (You’ll find instructions on how to record a broadcast/video and put it on your blog on the Texts/Resources page of this blog under “Other Resources.”)
    • Notes and considerations — Final Paper a.k.a. Feature/Trend Story): This is your major outside writing project for this class; you must successfully complete this assignment to pass. This project has three deliverables: a pitch letter, a research memo, and your feature or trend story. Here are some considerations for selecting a topic:
    • Why does this topic interest you? Why is it worth writing about?
    • Is this topic broad enough so that you can find ample information on it, but narrow enough to be manageable?
    • What makes this story newsworthy? What is the hook or the news peg? What publication would be interested in it?
    • Assess what you already know about this topic and possible resources: popular (newspapers/books/magazines/web), scholarly (academic journals), first person (interviews). What qualifies you to write on this topic?
    • Can you tell this story in an interesting way? What makes your approach different?
    1. Pitch Letter/Proposal (200 words): Write a one-page letter “pitching” your idea for your final paper — a feature-style news or trend story. Be sure to address your pitch letter to a specific publication of your choice, such as the Daily, Access Magazine or the Mercury News. As you write your pitch letter, remember to use an attention-getting lead, include a local angle, highlight two or three key points about your proposed topic, and very briefly explain why this topic will interest the publication’s target audience.