100W List of Assignments

1. All About Me (250 words): write in class and e-mail to instructor.

2. Journal Writing #1 – Your Favorite Writing: Select a short piece of writing you enjoy or admire and write about 100 words explaining why you like this piece 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 include source information: the author, the title of the book or publication in which it appeared, page number and date of publication.

3. Resume & Cover Letter: Scan internship or employment listings (newspaper, monster.com, craigslist.com) for the kind of job you'd like to have for this summer or when you graduate. Write a cover letter (approx. 150 words) and a one-page resume applying for the most interesting position. Staple a copy of your want ad to your letter and resume.

4. Library Research Project (500 words; see handout)

5. Reading and Fact-Checking: Los Angeles Times - Infinite Ingress. For this assignment, you will serve as a fact checker. Here's the scenario: your editor has asked you to fact-check and update this 2004 article, in light of the new immigration legislation. You will start by critically reading this news story and highlighting key facts that need to be checked. You will then locate primary sources for the key facts in this article, and determine if they will need to be updated. For your report to your editor, you will list the key facts from this story that need to be updated and provide the current information and the primary sources of that information. (Note: you will use some of this information when you write a persuasive opinion piece related to this article later in the semester.)

6. Enterprise Article: (300-1000 words) This will be your published piece for the semester. It can be a short feature or news story, an opinion piece, or a movie, game or restaurant review. For this piece, you will need to come up with a topic and identify and target publication, write a query e-mail to the editor of your target, and write your story. You'll have a chance to pitch your story idea to a guest editor in class. You must get a piece published in an appropriate print or web publication (not including personal blogs or web pages), such as the Spartan Daily, Access magazine, and area newspapers and magazines.

7. Journal #2 - Media Audiences: Compare the news coverage of a national news story by examining its coverage in different media on the same day, as follows (250-350 words):

a. 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?

b. Television News: How many minutes is the story? How many sources are quoted? How does the detail provided on television news compare to the newspaper?

c. National Public Radio or another radio program that includes national news: How many minutes is the story? How many sources are quoted? How is the coverage on radio and television similar? How is it different? How does the radio story use background sound and/or interviews to change "the scene" in the listener's mind.

d. Web: 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? How current is the information compared to other media?

8. Term Paper: This is your major outside writing project for this class; you must successfully complete this assignment to pass the class. This project includes three deliverables: a pitch letter or proposal; a research memo or folder; and the final product, your term paper.

a. Pitch Letter/Proposal (200 words): Write a one-page letter "pitching" your idea for a term paper. Use an attention-getting lead, highlight one or two key points about this topic and briefly explain why it will make an interesting and worthwhile paper. Include specific resources and articles you intend to use. List people you intend to interview along with a brief statement citing how they are credible sources. Also attach a time line for this project, showing your proposed schedule for completing your interviews, library research, rough draft, etc.

b. Term Paper Memo (250 words): on your library research and sources: List the names and phone numbers of everyone you plan to interview, and include a bibliography listing of all periodicals, journals and web sites you plan to use as sources.

c. Term paper/feature (1,000 - 1,200 words, which can include a sidebar): It should be professional and appropriate for publication. Any mistake in grammar or spelling will significantly lower your grade, so edit it carefully. You must include a minimum of three primary interviews. You'll need to cite two scholarly journals and three periodicals or newspapers. Include a bibliography (work cited) in MLA style. Here are some considerations for selecting a topic for a research paper:

§ Select a subject that is broad enough so that you can find ample information on it, but that can be narrowed down enough to make it manageable

§ Why does this topic interest you and why is it an important subject to write about?

§ Why you are the person to write about this topic?

§ Can you tell this story in an interesting way (what makes it interesting?)

§ Assess what do you already know about this topic

§ Assess possible resources: popular (newspapers/books/magazines/web), scholarly (academic journals), first person (interviews)

§ What is the hook or the news peg? Why does this story need to be told now?

§ What publication would be interested in this kind of story?

§ This story has probably been told before ... what makes yours different?

§ How will you tell this story ... draft a brief outline.

9. Scholarly journal article summaries (two @ 250-300 words each): Following the library orientation locate and print a scholarly article of at least eight pages or more, preferably on a topic that interests you. (Be sure it is not a review or summary, since that is what we're asking you to do.) Read it and summarize it in your own words. Staple your photocopy of the original article to your summary.

10. STD News Story & Press Release (400-500 words): from handout.

11. Journal #3 – NPR Radio interview analysis (250-350 words): Listen to an interview on an NPR program such as Fresh Air or All Things Considered. Your instructor will give you a choice of two or three specific interviews along with a link to hear them; pick the one you like best and write an analysis of it. In your analysis, please consider the following:

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

· What kinds of questions did s/he ask?

· How did s/he build up to questions? How did s/he follow up to questions?

· Did the interviewer appear to have a strategy?

· How were inadequate answers (if any) handled?

· What was the apparent relationship between the interviewer and interviewee?

· What did you learn about interviewing from this interview?

12. Newspaper Opinion Piece: 350-400 words. Select one of the problems cited in the “Infinite Ingress” article that you’d like to solve. Come up with a solution to the problem and give detailed information on how you would implement your solution. You’ll have to do an ample amount of research to do this. If the problem you intend to solve is crowded freeways, your solution cannot simply be put as: We need to build more freeways. You have to determine what they cost and how you’d pay for them. Try to think creatively and when possible, keep it green.

13. Journal Writing #4 - Mystery Character (150 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 physical details about that person. Omit any personal or professional information that would be a "dead giveaway" for this person. Remember this is supposed to be a physical description, not a biography. Michael Jackson and Mr. T are off limits.

14. Journal #5 - 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, and 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.

15. Journal #6 – 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.

a. Study the ads and try to describe 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.

b. Next, describe each advertisement's key message. Is it information rich and directed at an involved audience, or does it feature 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, how and why do you think the source might influence the target audience?

16. Retarget Ad Copy: (50-100 words) Choose one of the magazine ads you analyzed for Journal #6 and retarget the ad copy for a completely different audience. For example, rework a Banana Republic clothing ad in Elle for Maxim, or an iPod ad in MacWorld for Newsweek.

17. Broadcast Presentation (200 words = approx. 1-1/2 minutes): You'' work in pairs to prepare a feature story for broadcast. You'll need a teaser, a sound bite, a 30-second advertisement, and a short news story. You'll present your story to the class. It needs to "sound" like a story we'd hear on a TV news show such as Dateline or 48 Hours. You can use cue cards and visual aids to enhance your broadcast. Remember that broadcast style uses the present tense whenever possible.

18. Web Writing (500 words) – Edit a fairy tale for the web. In this exercise, you'll break up a well-known children's story into web-sized "chunks" of "linked pages." You'll include graphics/art and links to additional resources/information as appropriate. (Your instructor will provide a link to the fairy tale and instructions in class, or may instruct you to use these two links: 'Little Red' and directions for completing this assignment.)

19. Japanese Internment library research (500 words): Before the field trip to the Japanese Internment Memorial, you'll need to 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?

· Correlation exercise: Could it happen again? Is there a correlation between the Japanese Internment and what's happened since 9/11?

20. Japanese Internment Memorial vignettes paper (250-350 words): During the field trip, take careful notes on each of the vignettes at the memorial. Afterward, write a paper explaining the significance of three of the vignettes.

21. Classmate Interview (50-100 words): For this exercise, you will interview a classmate in class, using the skills discussed during the lecture. Then you will write the opening two paragraphs of a profile on this person. Prepare your questions ahead of time.

22. Obit (250-350 words): This will be an in-class writing assignment. Write an obituary for yourself. This might sound morbid at first, but students usually have fun with this assignment. Be sure to live a long, full and rich life. Think of it as your lifelong “to do” list. Format and details for this paper will be given in class. You are not allowed to die while on your way to your 100w class.

23. Synthesizing Ideas: (600-800 words) This assignment is based on the outside reading of: Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer. Identify your own list of coming of age novels and movies to share with classmates. In groups, discuss the life transitions of Dina in the title story, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. What does the title mean to Dina? In a personal essay, consider your own coming of age story and the types of transitions they have had, their significance, and how you think your college experience will change your life. What are some of your favorite images in the collection? Discuss how the metaphors contribute to the stories themes. How does Packer use descriptive/telling details, quotes and anecdotes to establish her characters’ character, set the scene and/or convey a sense of place? Provide examples and explain what each tells you about the character or setting.