ENL 3050: Freelance Writing for Print & Web 1

ENL3050.01 Freelancing Writing for Print & Web MWF: 10:00 10:50, 020 Briggs Instructor: Mike Tardiff
Course Catalog Description:
English 3050 teaches students about the challenges and possibilities of finding gainful work in writing for print media outlets, corporate assignments, and on the web in todays marketplace. This class provides an overview of todays writing careers as well as practical information about how to make a living through writing and the very real necessity of evolving with the technology to remain competitive. This course includes the following writing tasks: Composing for 21st Century digital/mobile formats; blogging (uses, formats, guidelines); managing website content and functionality; corporate writing (across media); and specific formats within each medium, including op-ed/argumentative; personal narrative/essay; the pitch letter; and critical review (writing about food, faith, and home). This class will also focus on the imperative of relevant and reliable research sources to inform each medium and understanding the power of the medium with its everlasting imprint.

My Abbreviated Description:
In this class, well work together to develop an understanding of what comprises the freelance writing market. To do this, well look at web, corporate, creative, journalistic and other types of compensated writing. The course will blend three important elements of learning and mastery: theory, practice, and praxis (reflective action). We will think. We will do. And we will reflect on both.

The Course Goal:

Students will emerge from this class with several finished pieces that they can try to sell as well as an understanding of how to pitch editors and publishers and build relationships that result in steady work.

Course Outcomes
Students Will: 1. Demonstrate an ability to write for various mediums and an understanding of their purpose in the media sphere. 2. Critically evaluate, analyze, question, and respond to readings and websites. 3. Recognize the importance of audience for their writing: identifying audience, evaluating its needs, and applying those needs to their own rhetorical goals and purposes. 4. Demonstrate competency in standard, academic and conversational/commercial language. 5. Use computers to engage in exploration and discussion of ideas and concepts. 6. Compose writing that integrates their own critical/analytical thinking about a topic with gathered evidence in order to support a claim. 7. Critique their own and other students work as part of the writing process. 8. Illustrate growing confidence and competence as a writer through revision of essays. 9. Provide reflection of individual strengths and weaknesses as a writer. 10. Develop an understanding of the role of the Internet in various careers and in business.

Assignments Overview & Weighting

1. Short Writing Assignments (400 pts.) a. Query Letter (50 pts.) b. Discourse Analyses (3 x 50 pts.) c. All others, including a review, profile, or feature (total of 200 pts.) 2. Client/Sponsor-based Work (400 pts.) a. Wikipedia or similar assignment (100 pts.) b. Service Learning Project (300 pts.) 3. Class Participation (200 pts.) a. Discussion, attentiveness, completion of in-class tasks

TOTAL: 1,000 points

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Grading Scale Grade A B C D F Point Range 1000-900 899-800 799-700 699-600 599-000

Getting an A
A quality work is outstanding. It almost always results from multiple drafts or iterations and from careful attention to reader and/or user feedback.

Assignments: A primer
I will supply a formal assignment sheet with official requirements in class. These are simply brief descriptions of each assignment. The Query Letter (1-2 pages): Query letter is the fancy word for a freelancers pitch to a potential client. Like any genre, the query letter has a series of expectations, formal and otherwise. Well take a look at the writing market, study particular publications, and pitch a story to one. Well think very rhetorically and pragmatically about how to write these letters. Discourse Analyses (2-4 pages each [x3]): Well complete a series of 3 short analysis papers. While this isnt a course in rhetorical theory, I do think rhetoric gives us a useful lens for thinking about how to most effectively sell our work. Two analyses will focus on the role of genre: What makes a review, a review? What sort of language can we expect? Is there a generic form or structure to these types of writing? Well also take a look at how various publications (creative, corporate, and otherwise) develop an ethos or identity. This paper will dissect that identity and how it is created through language and other semiotic modes.

Miscellaneous Writing Assignments (~5-7 in total; 1-3 pages each): Throughout the semester, I will ask you to complete a variety of short writing assignments. The short assignments and their relative weight will be offered at the time of assignment. For instance, I may ask you to review a recent meal at a restaurant, profile a classmate, or describe a setting somewhere in Detroit. These assignments will often provide a practical component to a recent reading and/or discussion. Wikipedia or Sponsored Writing Experience (~2 pages): The practice component of our discourse analyses, the sponsored writing experience challenges you to write with certain generic, rhetorical, and publication-specific requirements in mind. Service Learning Project (TBD): In this assignment, youll be paired up with a community organization and tasked with a freelance writing project. You will meet with your client, lay out a plan for completing the assignment, and create various iterations of this project until it is finalized. Reflection (~3 pages): At the end of the semester, Ill ask you to write a reflective essay (read: praxis) to put your work in conversation with the various theories and perspectives we encounter in the class. Youll also have a chance to provide a context for your work (what went well, what didnt go well, and what you learned from the experience).

Grading Policies & Scale

As in the writing marketplace, the reward for your work in this class is based on a contract. I will guarantee all students who complete the assignments (according to the standards detailed in the assignment sheet) a passing grade. Likewise, all assignments (except for the Service Learning Project) are available for revision. You are not required to revise, but adequate revision and a resubmission may be required to elevate your grade to meet your individual standards. [Note: Each assignment will come with a rubric, outlining particular areas of emphasis] However, if your initial submission does not meet the requirements put forth, you could receive a grade bellowing passing. You will not be allowed to resubmit. The grade becomes final. It is imperative you fulfill all of the requirements set forth.

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Policies and Procedures

Class Participation This class requires active and engaged participation. It is expected that students will participate in ALL classroom activities and discussions. That said: I understand that we all have different personalities and ways of participating in class. Your participation grade will be calculated by assessing the sum-total of all channels of participation: class discussion, attending office hours, blog-writing, etc. Effectively, class participation reflects effort and should be thought of as such. If, at any time during the semester, youre interested in your participation grade, please see me. Peer Review We will devote a substantial amount of in-class time to peer review. Accordingly, this time needs to be used productively. I ask that at the end of every peer review day, you leave class with a thoughtful and comprehensive revision strategy based on any feedback youve received. Attendance Attendance is mandatory. You may miss only three classes without penalty. For every absence beyond two, I will deduct 15 points from your final grade. Tardiness will also not be tolerated. Be on time its the least you can do. Every two tardies equals a full absence and will affect your grade as stipulated above. Of course, life happens. Should you need to miss class, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can make alternative arrangements. You are always responsible for what has been covered in a missed class. Good Citizen Policy Well be talking about a wide-array of issues in the class, from gender to race to sexuality. Its expected that youll conduct yourselves maturely and civilly in class. You must respect others opinions, but, please, feel free to share yours as well. Each voice in our class is powerful, but should not drown out others. All I ask, as clich as it sounds, is that you treat others as youd like to be treated. Work Submission Policy All assignments for this course must be submitted on the due date, unless alternative arrangements have been made, or they are subject to a letter grade deduction for each calendar day they are late. All assignments must be submitted through e-mail to tardiffmt@udmercy.edu or posted to the class website, depending on what the assignment sheet calls for.

University Policies
Compliance with UDM Student-Related Policies Students of the University of Detroit Mercy are expected to comply with all policies and practices established by the College and/or University. Listed below are a few specific UDM policies, however the list is not intended to be exhaustive. A complete listing of all UDM policies can be found in the UDM Student Handbook, and students are expected to be familiar with all UDM student-related policies. Student Course Evaluations Student course evaluations are an important source of information for curricular and teaching improvement in the College of Liberal Arts and Education. As such, all students enrolled in CLAE courses are strongly encouraged to complete an online course evaluation. Course evaluations are completed during the week preceding final exams each semester. Information is provided to students through email explaining how to complete the evaluation online. Available Support Services The University of Detroit Mercy has a wide array of support services available to all students that include the library, media center, tutoring (UAS, 3rd Floor of Library) and Writing Center (Briggs 135). The UDM Student Handbook contains complete information regarding location and hours of operation of the Universitys support services. Students are encouraged to utilize the support services provided by the University, as needed. UDM Policy on Plagiarism and Academic Integrity As members of an academic community engaged in the pursuit of truth and with a special concern for values, students are expected to conform to a high standard of honesty and integrity in their academic work. The fundamental assumption under which the University operates is that work submitted by a student is a product of his/her own efforts. Among the most serious academic offensives is plagiarism, submitting the style of another author or source without acknowledgment or formal documentation. Plagiarism occurs when specific phrases or entire passages, whether a sentence, paragraph or longer excerpt, are incorporated into ones own writing without quotation marks or documentation. One also plagiarizes by paraphrasing the work of another, that is, retaining another writers ideas and structure without documentation. Students are advised always to set off another writers exact words by quotation marks, with appropriate references. Students avoid plagiarism by concentrating on their own words and ideas and by fully crediting others words and ideas when they find their way into the writing. Whenever in doubt, cite the source.

ENL 3050: Freelance Writing for Print & Web 7 Students that purchase essays from other students or agencies or who copy from one another or from prohibited sources, commit the most serious type of academic dishonesty. The consequences of plagiarism, or any act of academic dishonesty, may range from failure on an assignment or in a course to dismissal from the University. Disability Support Services and Accommodations If you need course accommodations because of a disability (including a physical, mental, or emotional disability), if you have emergency medical information to share, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please contact Emilie Gallegos, Director of University Academic Services/Disability Support Services at gallegem@udmercy.edu or (313) 578-0310 to schedule an appointment. University Academic Services is located on the 3rd Floor of the Library on the McNichols Campus. Students with special needs are urged to identify themselves to the faculty to discuss their concerns. However, faculty cannot provide disability accommodations without official notification from the Disability Support Services office.

Disclaimer
**Changes to the syllabus are possible, at the instructors discretion.**

UNIT SCHEDULE

UNIT #1: WHAT IT TAKES TO WRITE IN THE LATE AGE OF PRINT: Early Semester Self-Assessment & Working Plan (2 weeks)
TOPICS Digital technologies & their effect on being a writer The core competencies of a 21st century writer ASSIGNMENTS A self-assessment/skills inventory A plan for the semester Short blog assignment(s)

UNIT #2: CHARTING THE LANDSCAPE OF GENRES, PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA: Using a rhetorical lens to understand how they each inflect one another (5 weeks)
TOPICS Publications: Magazines, blogs, newspapers, websites/corporate writing Genres: Features, profiles, reviews, op/ed Rhetorical theory & its role in freelancing Interviewing techniques & tricks Transport power of narrative ASSIGNMENTS Analyses of a genre, a publication, and a website. A Wikipedia entry. A short reflective exercise

UNIT #3: MAKING THE PITCH: Selling your work to others & Developing a writerly identity (4 weeks)
TOPICS Client research Knowing your audience Personal branding & web presence Research techniques Peer response & its importance to freelancers Search Engines & Their Roles ASSIGNMENTS The Query Letter Blog/Response to Personal Website Short Bio Writing Exercise

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UNIT #4: WORKING WITH CLIENTS & MEETING THEIR NEEDS: A practicum & reflection (4 weeks)
TOPICS Prototyping & the Design Process Visual rhetoric Negotiating ideas & visions ASSIGNMENTS Client project TBD A reflection & plan of action