MC2010 Assignments

Be sure to check Moodle each week as we work through our online learning experience. You’ll find some materials that will help you: the week’s objectives, review materials and assignments. Click each file or folder to be sure to keep up to date.

Lesson 18: Monday-Tuesday, April 6-7
Today we discussed interviews by reviewing this presentation. We also discussed the next final feature assignment: creating a question list and a plan. This PowerPoint will help remind you of our discussion. This document also contains the same information, but in a shorter format.

We worked with our Zoom partner to create a question list and a plan for interviewing our final feature subject and the secondary source.

Lesson 17: Wednesday-Thursday, April 1-2
Today we worked through the process of creating a feature story with an ending that ties to the beginning. You can watch this video if you want a refresher. This PowerPoint will help you to review what we discussed today about weaving direct and indirect quotes together in a story.

Use this fact set to write a feature story with an end that ties to the beginning. These instructions are a review of what we discussed in class. Write the story on a Google doc (if possible) and send it to the class email..

Lesson 16: Monday-Tuesday, March 30-31
Today we reviewed quotations, attribution and feature story structures using this PowerPoint. We also discussed what’s expected for you as you begin to work on the steps for your final feature.

We also worked on a bright from the same section where we left off before the break. It’s in the back of Chapter 16 (“Brights, Roundups, Followups…”), p. 349, No. 1 “Squirrels.” Write an alternative lead and nut graf for this story.

See “How to submit a document” on Moodle for this week’s lesson, if you need a refresher. It’s best if you have a Gmail account. Write your story on a Google doc and send it to the class email at lsumc2010@gmail.com. Be sure to give me permission to edit the document. Also, be sure to add your name and a few words about the story in your file name: Dill–Drunk Baby (example). That helps me to know who wrote the story and what it’s about.

Corona-Break Update:
We’ll still use our class website for sharing material. However, you want to also spend time in Moodle, where you’ll find everything you need to keep up with class. We’re going to march forward, so you want to be ready. 

Here are some links to our PowerPoint discussions pre-break and another video that shows you the difference between heart and head statements.

It would be a good idea to review these, especially if you missed class before we all headed for the hills:

Wash your hands!

Lesson 15: Wednesday & Thursday, March 11-12:
Let’s talk more about feature story structure and alternative leads.

Here’s a PowerPoint we discussed today. It contains some examples of alternative leads. Remember: You might find 20 different leads for the same story because people create their own examples or use combinations of what we have here.

Seeing examples is helpful because it shows us what we can do. Our in-class writing assignment is on P. 349, No. 3: “Underage Driver.” If you have another edition of the book, the fact set is called “Brights” and it’s at the back of the chapter titled “Brights,  Follow-Ups, Roundups, Sidebars & Obituaries.”

Here are some pointers from our brainstorming session:

  •  Write your nut graf and the rest of the story first if you’re having trouble thinking of an alternative lead.
  • Think about the ways this story is not as it should be. Sometimes this helps you to come up with a lead:
    • People usually don’t hang on to their mommies when they go to court.
    • People usually don’ cry when they face the judge.
    • Babies aren’t usually pulled over for drunken driving.
  • Be sure you are clear that the man police stopped SAID he was Charles Todd Snyder. Also, once we know the main character is a toddler, we should call him “Charles Todd” because he is 13 months old.
  • Be sure to check names and correct errors. You won’t find Charles in the back of the book, but you can check the last name spelling and address by finding his mom.

Lesson 14: Monday & Tuesday, March 9-10
Today we’re going to break a few of our inverted pyramid rules because we are moving to alternative story structures. Now … that doesn’t mean we are going to omit AP Style, punctuation and grammar guidelines. Those are here to stay. But the way we organize our stories and craft our leads will change.

Check out this PowerPoint to get an introduction to an alternative story structure.

Use these two fact sets two write two short brights (see the PowerPoint if you need a refresher). Here are a few pointers from our class brainstorming session:

  • If you’re having trouble coming up with an alternative lead, write your nut graf first, and then write the rest of the story. Come back and put an alternative lead on top of the story. You may have to edit some of the nut graf based on what information you put in the lead, but this will give you some time and some inspiration.
  • No quotations or questions for your alternative lead. The book indicates a question would be OK, but in the land of MC2010, they are lethal. Don’t use them. That’s because 99% of the time, we would gravitate toward a question because it’s easy.
  • Endings are optional in bright because they are often too short to craft a feature ending.

No homework!

Lesson 13: MIDTERM WRITING EXTRAVAGANZA
Don’t forget to read the chapter titled “Alternative Leads” for next week. We’ll have a quiz in class.

Lesson 12: Monday-Tuesday, March 2-3
Bring your book and study guides to the next class for the Midterm Writing Extravaganza.

Your final feature pitch is due typed and printed at the start of the next class. On the dot. Anything late will be deducted half off. Here’s what we reviewed about your final feature pitch.

We also reviewed some of the main points to remember about quotations and attribution, which will be the heart of the stories we write from now on. This reporter’s guide from the textbook is also a helpful resource for you to use as you write.

The story we wrote today is a great interview with a police officer who recounts a one-minute encounter with a man wanted for murder in Tennessee. The fact set is on p. 231, 2. “Using Quotes in News Stories.”  It’s the first one in the group and it’s about a police officer.

Here are some of the highlights from our brainstorming session:

  • Who: You have three to pick from: the police officer who avoided being shot, the murder suspect who tried to shoot him, or the police officers who arrested the suspect as he was trying to break in to a nearby house and hide.
    • Be sure to let us know the police officer was not shot. We need to be clear.
    • Also, we need to know that the suspect has been arrested — he’s not still out there with a gun.
  • Where: Cane’s parking lot on Highland Road.
  • When: 11 p.m. last night (AP problem?)

Use the lead to tell us what happened. The second graf will ID the officer. Use this graf to tell us how they got to be in the same place at the same time.

Once we know this, you can begin to use direct quotes because we

  1. know the officer’s name and
  2. we have context for the direct quotes.

Use three direct quotes from the fact set. These are statements that reveal what’s in a person’s heart and head. If each “chunk” has more than one sentence, use them. Each “chunk” is one direct quote.

  • Be sure to place attribution after the first sentence in a multi-sentence quote.
  • Follow the quote-speaker-verb order of attribution.

Lesson 11: Wednesday & Thursday, Feb. 19-20
Today we reviewed quotations & attribution, two important skills you need for storytelling for the remainder of your career. Here are the PowerPoints you can review:

Now, use what you learned to write a story using this fact set. Here are some takeaways from our brainstorming session:

  • Pick out one heart-and-head statement from each of people in the fact set. Put those aside.
  • The story is about Louisiana Rep. John Ashton and what he says about the U.S. House of Representative’s decision to deny the president’s request for $12 million in funding to monitor radio signals from outer space. So … your lead should say something like this.
  • Don’t tell us he’s unhappy. Don’t presume to know someone’s emotions. Instead, tell us what the person says or does.
  • The second graf can give us some more info: perhaps explain that NASA did get funding for its program and explain how much.
  • Now we can have a direct quote from Ashton because we have some context.
  • The rest of the story will be in inverted pyramid style, explaining the House’ decision.
  • Anywhere after Ashton’s first quote, you can quote the representative from Rhode Island.

Here’s your homework for the Mardi Gras break:

  • Tweet a G-rated photo of yourself enjoying the holiday–something you would show your grandmother or your 4-year-old niece. Use the class hashtag: #manship2010. Copy and paste your tweet onto a document. Bring it printed to the first class meeting after the break.
  • Read the chapter titled “Quotations & Attribution.” Take the pajama quiz before 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27.
  • Write Story No. 1 in “Stressing the Unusual,” about three elderly downtown residents who died in a week-long heat wave blanketing the city (use your section’s town name for this story). The section is where we’ve been working in the back of the chapter titled “Basic News Leads.”
    • Type and print the story. It’s due when class starts the first meeting after the Mardi Gras break.
    • Don’t start with this: The Podunk Department of Health held a press conference Tuesday to announce …
      • I just used more than 10 words and didn’t say anything. The press conference is one of the least important points in the story. Tell us what happened to the people.
    • Here are some brainstorming points:
      • We don’t have a specific “when,” so let’s say “over the past two days,” which is what’s in the fact set.
      • Delay ID your people and name them in the second graf.
      • Put the unusual element in the lead.
      • Think about who the “whos” are for your lead: the three elderly people, the heat wave, etc.
      • Give their names in two sentences: the married couple (with ages and address) in one sentence, and the single woman in another sentence. Don’t try to cram them all into one sentence.
      • Ask yourself: Whose fault is it that the fans and ACs weren’t installed? Well … you don’t know. So don’t assume, and don’t blame. Just say what happened.
      • Write in active voice: Not the victims were found by family members, but family members found the victims.

Lesson 10: Monday & Tuesday, Feb. 17-18
Today we reviewed inverted pyramid writing and discussed the previous assignment about the burglary from the “Stressing the Unusual” section in the back of the chapter titled “Basic News Leads.”

We used Fact Set. 4 in the section to write another story stressing the unusual element in the lead. Note: These stories will be longer than what we’ve done in the past, so use the number of grafs you need to tell the inverted pyramid story.

Today’s story is about a driver who rear-ended a pickup truck during rush hour. Here are some takeaways from our class discussion:

  • Delay ID the characters because our town doesn’t know them.
  • Be sure to specify this happened during afternoon rush hour because the audience can quickly identify this time of day. You can use the specific time later.
  • Use a well-known landmark, if you have one. If not, use the specific street in the lead. For our story, let’s say it happened near the Mall of Louisiana. We can use the specific streets in the second graf.
  • Avoid that word “only.” (She sustained only bruises…) Think about what you are saying. It sounds like you’re saying, “Cheryl, shake it off. It’s only a few bruises.”) The word “only” is an opinion word.
  • Ask yourself this question: “When was the last time I told my friend, ‘I have a laceration. It hurts.'” Well … chances are you haven’t said that recently, if at all. So don’t say it in a story.
  • Tell your audience the year the Louisiana Legislature (write it like this) passed the law banning cell phones. Don’t say “last year.” Just give the year.
  • And watch passive voice. Write in active voice: “The Louisiana Legislature passed a law in 2019  …”

Lesson 9: Wednesday & Thursday, Feb. 12-13: Game Day!
Today we played AP & Grammar games in class. Check out Moodle for a list of practice quizzes, which you can take as many times as you’d like.

Lesson 8: Monday & Tuesday, Feb. 10-11
Here’s the presentation on AP Style 3 (nationalities-yesterday) we reviewed in class. Follow this schedule for your pajama quiz on these terms:

  • Sections 4 & 10 (M/W): Deadline 11:59 p.m. Tuesday
  • Section 13 (T/TH): Deadline 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

We are now going to write longer stories of about 3-4 paragraphs using fact sets from Section V: Stressing the Unusual. Each story in this section has something unusual beyond the story — and you should include that unusual element in your lead.

Today’s assignment is fact set No. 5…about a widow who’s home was burglarized. Here are some takeaways from our brainstorming session:

  • Answer the W’s and the H in the lead.
    • You have multiple “who’s” here: the widow, the burglars and even the home.
    • Use the “where” in the lead — either the street name or the specific address. If you don’t use the specific address in the lead, be sure to put it somewhere else in the story.
    • Include the unusual element in the lead. (I’m not going to tell you what it is. You figure it out.)
    • Include the “when” in the lead.
    • The what: burglars stole more than $8,000 in electronics and household items. Always include a money amount when you have one. It gives the audience an idea of what happened.
  • The rest of the story:
    • Write an inverted pyramid story and include everything from your fact set. That’s the beauty of inverted pyramid. You can put everything pertinent to the story.
    • The only thing worth omitting is the address of the funeral home. It’s not important.
    • Include the details: the list of stolen items … the fact that neighbors saw a truck parked in the driveway…that she’s a Madison Elementary School sixth grade teacher. Think of parallel structure when you write the list of stolen items. These can be written in two sentences.

Here are a few reminders for the rest of the week:

  • Attend one of the SI sessions and get extra credit. Check your LSU email box for details.
  • Sign up for the AP and Grammar exams next week.
  • AP Smackdown: Sunday, Feb. 16, 5 p.m., Holliday Forum.
  • Manship Movie Night: Thursday, Feb. 13, 6 p.m. Holliday Forum.

Lesson 7: Wednesday & Thursday, Feb. 5-6
giphyToday we wrote a story from p. 152 in the textbook: Section II, Story 2: about a sheriff’s deputy who was struck by lightning. Here are a few takeaways from our brainstorming session:

  • Delay ID your two characters in the story because they are most likely not well known in the community. Unless you live in a small town, you won’t know the names of your sheriff’s deputies. (Notice where I put the apostrophe in sheriff’s.)
    • Use Delay ID if you have more than one person in a lead. It allows you to get more content in your lead.
    • Name your people in the second graf. A helpful hint: Use the same order of introducing your people in the second graf as you do in the first graf. So, if you start with the LSU student in your lead, then name her first in the second graf. This helps your audience, and it helps you as the writer.
    • Use “Wednesday” for your “when” and “near Tiger Stadium” for your “where.”
    • Use “LSU student” for the student’s ID and “Baton Rouge sheriff’s deputy” for the deputy’s ID.
    • Use all that we know about the circumstances in your lead: he was struck by lightning while directing traffic during an electrical storm. Don’t skimp on details in your lead because they give us context and put us with the characters in the moment.

Here is the PowerPoint for AP Style: days/dates-names.

Here are some calendar reminders:

  • Take the pajama quiz open through 11:59 p.m. Friday on these terms.
  • Read Chapter 7. We’ll have a quiz at the start of the next class. Then, we won’t read for awhile because we’ll park here.
  • Sign up NOW for the AP & Grammar exams in the testing center. These are two multiple-choice exams with 100 questions that cover all the entries in your study guide.
  • Attend the AP Smackdown (not mandatory) on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 5 p.m. in the Holliday Forum. You’ll get 2 points added to each of the exams and 3 points if you’re on the winning team.
  • Attend Manship Movie Night (not mandatory) on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 6 p.m. in the Holilday Forum. We’ll watch the movie “Spotlight.”

Lesson 6: Monday & Tuesday, Feb. 3-4
Be prepared for a pajama quiz on AP Style guidelines “abbreviations-courtesy titles.” You can refer to this presentation for review. Here’s the pajama quiz deadline schedule:

  • Sections 4 & 10 (M/W): 11:59 p.m. Tuesday
  • Section 13 (T/TH): 11:59 p.m. Wednesday

Also, read Chapter 4 “The Language of News” in the textbook for a quiz at the start of the next class.

Check out the Twitter page on this website for your class Twitter schedule and assignment review.

We wrote one story today using the delayed ID technique we discussed in our lead writing review. The story is on p. 151 (12th edition), “2. Writing Leads, Section II Condensing Lengthy Leads.” We wrote story No. 1 in this section about a family who returned from a shopping trip to find their home on fire.

Here are some reminders of our discussion today:

  • Ask yourself this: “Do I delay ID or immediately ID” the family. In this case, you would delay ID them.
    • Use some form of ID for them: a Baton Rouge family of five, a Baton Rouge couple and their three young children … something like this. Don’t say “the Shattuck family” because that’s a problem if you have more than one of this type of family in the town.
    • Then, name them in the second graf. Use their ages as set up in the book. This is a good way to write names and ages, so just copy what’s in the book.
  • Don’t forget the when and the where.
  • Use the specific address at some point in your story. You can say “Third Street” in the lead and use the specific address in the second graf, or you can just use the specific address in the lead.
    • Think about the “who” in your story — it can be the family, the firefighters or the house. You can try each one to see what’s the easiest to say everything.
  • Don’t be dramatic. Just say what happened and we can add the drama words in our own minds.
  • Don’t omit details because they add to the human element of the story.
    • they returned from a shopping trip
    • they had a two-story frame house
  • Don’ blame the firefighters. They were unable to save the house. We don’t know why, but that’s what happened.
  • Let us know in the lead what ultimately happened: the house was destroyed. You can word it any way that you’d like, but that’s what ultimately happened, and we should know it right away.

Lesson 5: Wednesday & Thursday, Jan. 29-30
We took our Chapter 3 quiz today. Here are some assignments to know:

  • Pajama Quiz: Closes tonight at 11:59 p.m. The quiz will cover “problem words” accommodate-flyer on the Grammar & Punctuation Study Guide. The password is “super bowl.”
  • Quiz Monday-Tuesday in class: Problem Words 2 emigrate-your on the Grammar & Study Guide.
  • Quiz Wednesday in class: Chapter 4

We wrote two stories for our class meeting. Here’s where you’ll find the fact sets in the 12th edition:

  1. p. 151, 2. “Writing Leads, Section I: Condensing Lengthy Leads. Story 2”: about a group of angry parents who meet with the school superintendent.
  2. p. 152, “Section IV: Combining Multi-sentence Leads, Story 2”: about stats of adults who served time in prison.

Here are some takeaways from our discussion about Assignment 1:

  • Ask yourself: What is the story about? In this case, the story is about the meeting between the superintendent and the angry parents. Why are they angry? What’s scary about their situation?
  • Don’t start with “the local school board called a meeting …” That’s the boring stuff. Start with another “who.” Start with what’s happening. The fact that the board called the meeting is the least important fact — and you can put it in a very tiny second paragraph.
  • Fill your lead with as much information as possible. A story of this length should be top heavy.
  • Here are some “banned words”:
    • local: Instead, say the name of the school board (the Baton Rouge School Board) and capitalize it on first reference.
    • incident: If you stub your toe, that’s an incident. Everything else is too important to summarize with that word. Just tell us what happened. Otherwise, we will always imagine it the wrong way.
    • last: As in “last Friday.” Only use the word “last” in time if it’s actually the last Friday on Earth and Armageddon is around the corner. Otherwise, just say “Friday.” The past tense verb will tell us when that particular Friday occurred.

Here are some takeaways from Assignment 2:

  • This is a little easier to write because it’s straightforward.
  • Start with one of the stats. Don’t start with the long name of the organization. That’s boring and doesn’t tell us anything.
  • What one-word verb can you substitute for “released a report”?
  • This will be a two-graf story. It’s too much to fit into the lead.
  • But … make this top-heavy. You have space in the lead to tell us more than one stat.

Lesson 4: Monday & Tuesday, Jan. 27-28
For Wednesday, read Chapter 3 in the textbook. We’ll have a short quiz. Also on Wednesday, we will have a quiz on problems words accommodate-flyer.

Today, we wrote a short inverted pyramid story — really, only the lead because the fact set was so short. We worked on page 152 of the text book, which is in the back of Chapter 7. Use this fact set to write a short story: Section 3 “Emphasizing the News,” Fact Set 1– about a study of risk factors in heart attack patients.

Your story should be top heavy, which means your lead should be longer than a second paragraph. In fact, you probably won’t have a second graf here because you can fit everything in your lead (first sentence).

Here are our non-negotiable about a lead:

  • write one sentence, 30-35 words
  • do not use semicolons
  • don’t start with an intro phrase/clause
  • NEVER start with the when or the where. Put these in the middle of the sentence.
  • write in active voice
  • consider the first 8-10 words of your story. We should know what you’re getting ready to tell us by the time we are finished with these first words.

Write a slug at the top, double-space your work, and put an ending mark (-30-) at the end of the story.

Check out this PowerPoint called “Six Guidelines for Writing Straight News Leads.”

Lesson 3: Wednesday & Thursday, Jan. 22-23
We will have a Pajama Quiz (deadline Friday, 11:59 p.m.) on the material we reviewed in class:

Also, for the first class next week, read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 in the textbook. We’ll have a short quiz and review on these. Bring your book to class. We will begin to use it for our exercises. If you have problems with the book, please let me know.

Finally, don’t forget to sign up and take the Manship Assessment, which closes on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

Lesson 2:
Thursday’s sections: Here’s your homework before we meet again:

Lesson 1: Wednesday & Thursday, Jan. 15-16
Welcome to Media Writing. Today we reviewed our syllabus and some other items you need to know about the semester. This agreement spells out the most important details. If you missed class today, be sure to carefully read and initial each point, sign and date it, and bring it to class on Wednesday. Note: You should always read over your syllabus for each class. It’s your teacher’s agreement with you.

Here’s a link to get you started on the Testing Center website. Use it to sign up for the Manship Assessment, which is open Jan. 15-24. The testing center hours are 9 a.m.-2 p.m. You have plenty of time before the testing window closes. This is your responsibility, and the Manship School requires you to take it.

Here’s your autobiography assignment. It’s due typed and printed by the start of the next class.

You are responsible for whatever we discuss. Know that anything we cover in class might pop up on a quiz. Media writing is the foundation for your career. So, here are some reminders from our class contract. This PowerPoint has a few more items that you should know about our class.

Here are some highlights from today. You will have a pajama quiz due 11:59 p.m. Friday on commas, collective nouns, apostrophes, hyphens and dangling modifiers. More information is available on your Grammar Study Guide, which we handed out in class.

  • Commas are the paper clips of the writing world. Check out this presentation if you want to review what we did today.
  • Modifiers & Collective Nouns Watch out for weird dangling or misplaced modifiers. Read out loud to help.
    • Collective nouns are singular, even though they represent more than one. Some common collective nouns are words like class, family, council, board, jury, committee, etc. They take singular verbs and singular pronouns (it): The jury reached its decision Tuesday.
  • Apostrophes & Hyphens Use apostrophes to make single letters plural (A’s), to show possession (Jack’s friend), and to replace missing letters/numbers (I won’t go. We like ’80s TV shows.)
    • Hyphens are used in compound modifiers before a noun (The 7-year-old boy has a part-time job.)

For Monday/Wednesday sections ONLY:
Prepare for a Pajama Quiz, deadline Tuesday, 11:59 p.m., on colons/semicolons, and quotation marks. Click on these links for easy-to-follow PowerPoints on these subjects.

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