Spring 1999 Class Schedule and Assignments

Note: Do the assigned reading before coming to class.

• Thurs. 21   What is a newsmagazine today? What is newsmagazine style?
• Tues. 26   Read: "Anecdote" handout, "Hard-News" handout, and Zinsser: Introduction and Chapters 1-3.
• Thurs. 28   Read: "The News Wars" (handout), "The Consumer Awakes" and "Why Today's Journalism is Vulnerable" from Tabloids, Talk Radio and the Future of News (online)* and Zinsser, Chapters 4-5. Due: Short assignment #1: Classmate anecdote.

• Tues. 2  Due: Read: Zinsser, Chapters 6-7 and "The Man Who Invented the Web" (handout).
• Thurs. 4  Read: "Writing About People" (handout), and Zinsser, Chapters 11-12. Bring one anecdote lead and one hard-news lead from newspapers or magazines or online sources. Due: Short assignment # 2: Rewrite of classmate anecdote.
• Tues. 9  Due: Short assignment # 3: Crichton piece. Read: Zinsser, Chapters 8-9.
• Thurs. 11  Read: "Many Lives of Madeleine" (online or handout).
• Tues. 16  Read: Zinsser, Chapter 10, and "Road Rage" (handout).Due: Short assignment #4: Interview memorandum.
• Thurs. 18  Read: "Description" handout, Zinsser, Chapter 13, and "Tough Talk" handout.
• Tues. 23   Read: Scientific handout and Zinsser, Chapter 15.
• Thurs. 25   Due: Short assignment # 5: Find an article in a medical or scientific journal and rewrite it in two or three paragraphs of lively newsmagazine style. Read: The Introduction and Document Tags section from the HTML Tutorial at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HTML/htmlhome.html

• Tues. 2   Due: Cover Stories. Bring 15 copies in print form.
• Thurs. 4     Workshop for First Editing Group. Read class stories and write comments page. (To be handed out.) Bring two copies of this comment page to class. Read: Zinsser, Chapters 16 and 20.
• Tues. 9    Workshop for First Editing Group. Read class stories and write comments page. Bring two copies of this comment page to class.
Read: Zinsser, Chapters 21-22.
• Thurs. 11   
Finish First Editing Group workshop.
• Tues. 16    Spring Break
• Thurs. 18    Spring Break
• Tues. 23 Workshop for Second Editing Group. Bring two copies of comment pages to class.
• Thurs. 25
Workshop for Second Editing Group. Bring two copies of this comment page to class.
• Tues. 30   Due: First Editing Group rewrites of cover stories. Bring 15 copies in print form.

• Thurs. 1  Second workshop for First Editing Group.
• Tues. 6   Second workshop for First Editing Group.
• Thurs. 8 Due: Second Editing Group rewrites of cover stories. Bring 15 copies in print form.
• Tues. 13  Second workshop for second editing Group.
• Thurs. 15 Second workshop for second editing Group
• Tues. 20 TBA
• Thurs. 22  Final cover stories due on disk and as hard copy.
• Tues. 27 Read: Zinsser, Chapters 23-24 and "A New Kind of War" (handout).
• Thurs. 29   TBA

• Tues. 4   Wrap-Up.

  Back to Newsmagazine Writing Class Page