SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communications

PR 191- Grading & Assignments

Cynthia A. McCune, Lecturer

PR 191 syllabus | PR 191 class schedule | My Faculty Page

 

 

                         

 

Major Writing Assignments:

In addition to analyses of various types of collateral public relations materials and in-class writing exercises, you will complete several major writing assignments, including the following:

 

Grading Criteria

Your grade will reflect the completeness and quality of both your work and your participation in the class. To give you a better idea of how I will evaluate your writing assignments, here are my grading criteria:

To receive an "A," your written assignment must be clear, accurate, well organized, and free of grammar, spelling and AP style errors. It must meet all the requirements of the assignment and be "ready to go." Likewise, presentations must be well organized, clear, accurate, informative and engaging, and well supported by examples and visuals.

"B" work demonstrates the same competence and completeness as "A" work, but with some slight weaknesses (e.g., some minor problems in organization, grammar or AP style, or in presentation or visuals).

"C" work meets all of the basic requirements of the assignment, but shows weaknesses in the fundamentals (e.g., a weak lead/intro, poor organization and development, lack of research, significant grammar and/or AP style errors).

"D" work neglects one or more elements of the assignment, and is noticeably superficial in its treatment of the assignment. It may contain multiple AP style errors and/or serious errors in grammar, mechanics and usage that may render some sentences incomprehensible.

"F" work fails to meet the assignment's basic requirements and contains serious grammatical, mechanical, and/or usage errors that render some sentences incomprehensible. Fact errors (use of incorrect information, omission of key facts, misspelled names or institutions, etc.) will also result in an "F" for the assignment.

Flunk-the-class errors: Fabrication, plagiarism, and other forms of cheating will result in a "zero" for the assignment and may result in failure of the class (see Academic Dishonesty below).

Revisions: The best way I know to improve your writing skills -- and your grade -- is to revise and rewrite your work. You can earn back up to half of the points missed on your original grade by doing a good revision. Revisions must be submitted within one week of the date the assignment was handed back to the class.