Semester Overview of readings Category

See note from last week.

See note from last week -- the same division in readings will apply.

Your production lab report is written as a 400-word hard news story, covering your contributions to the latest issue of The Setonian. Although I have placed this page on the course web page for Sep 20, the assignment is not actually due until the following week, after the paper comes out. So if you are looking at this age, but haven't yet done anything for the paper, you still have time to contact the editor and find out what the production schedule is.

Write it as a third-person, objective news story, not a first-person essay.

Begin with a lead, follow the inverted pyramid, and include direct quotes from at least three sources (one of which can be yourself).

Example:

An editor's car trouble, a power outage, and a pet rodent on the loose didn't sink last week's homecoming issue of the Seton Hill University newspaper, thanks in part to some timely assistance from freshman Gertrude Griffin.

"When my tire went flat at 2am, I thought I'd never get back to school on time, but Gertrude was there for me," said editor-in-chief Nate Gruff.

Griffin, a journalism major from Philadelphia, was getting ready for bed when the lights went out early Monday morning.

"I couldn't see very well, but I grabbed my my computer bag when Nate called," said Griffin. "I didn't know  Squeaker had climbed inside."

Most lab reports won't be this dramatic, but you get the idea.

In this example, Gertie Griffin has actually interviewed her editor, Nate Gruff, and she is filling out the story with made-up quotes from herself. (That's fine for this exercise, where the point is for you to practice the form of a news story, but would be completely unethical in a real news organization.)

While it's OK to toot your own horn a bit in an exercise like this, you'll need to talk to your editors and peers to supply the quotes that fill out the story.  Be accurate, and be realistic.  (Note that the example says Griffin is "in part" responsible for saving the issue. It would be inaccurate to suggest she saved the paper all by herself.)

See the full rubric for the lab report assignment: EL 200 Lab Report.doc

Again, if you have not taken EL200 before, you will always read and reflect about Haiman. If you are a Setonian editor, you will skim Haiman, but read and write about how Coffey illuminates an issue Haiman covers.

Due by 12:30pm.

First-timers Only (if you have not taken EL200 before): Read Haiman 1-16, and post a 200-word reflection in a comment on this page. (You may want to draft your comment in a word processor first, just in case you have trouble posting it on this page.)

Setonian Editors Only: Skim Haiman 1-16; read Coffey iii-21; and post an entry on your own blog about how Coffey illustrates an issue Haiman covers; post a brief comment and link here.

Note:

• If you have not taken EL200 before, you will always read and reflect about Haiman.
• If you are a Setonian editor, you will skim Haiman, but read and write about how Coffey illuminates an issue Haiman covers.