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English 400, section 01 -- Editing

NOTE: This syllabus may change as class needs dictate.

1. General information 2. Course information 3. Overview and Objectives 4. Homework & schedule 5. Assignments & Grading

Required Texts:

• Scholes, Robert. The Rise and Fall of English. Yale University Press, 1999. ISBN 9780300080841
• Tatum, Beverly. Can We Talk About Race? Beacon Press, 2008. ISBN 9780807032855
• Rude, Carolyn. The Longman Guide to Technical Editing. Pearson Education, 2005. ISBN 9780321365798
  

Other resources:

• Student Technology Center, 2nd Floor, Zahnow Library http://www.svsu.edu/stc
• The Writing Center, 3rd floor, Zahnow Library http://www.svsu.edu/writingcenter/
• Research assistance at SVSU Zahnow Library here
• Information Technology Services @ SVSU here
• English Department grading rubric here [downloads RTF file]
• Your local public library *elsewhere*
• Pop Cap Games (Bookworm) here

 

 

 

 

This course helps you develop the skills for reading and writing to effect change. Revising your own work helps you to develop the skills to be an effective editor. Understanding how the reader may receive your work provides a perspective to consider in the reviewing process. The hallmark of a good editor is to be a good reader.
The magnolia tree in my back yard...	Reminders:
	Reviewing the Attendance policy, the Assignments policy, and the SVSU policies is beneficial. You will also find specifics on grading and the minimum effort.
	If you need to contact me by e-mail at "fidallas@svsu.edu," the subject line should contain your last name, course and section number [for example, using my name the subject line would be: Dallas, English 400-01] to prevent your e-mail from being misplaced as possible spam. Please ensure that you use your SVSU e-mail account for a reply within 48 hours, otherwise a reply may take up to 96 hours. If I feel the question's response would be of benefit to the entire class, I may place the anonymous question and response in a FAQ section of VSpace.

 

 

 

 

 

Rex is pooh-poohing your editing efforts...

ENGL400: Developing and applying principles of editing. Includes comprehensive editing (content, organization, form, style, and visual design); sentence-level editing (clarity and conciseness); copyediting for correctness (grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and consistency); and preparing documents for publication. Prerequisite: ENGL 300 or 301 or 304 or permission of instructor.

Overview: This course is designed to help you learn how to edit by editing your own work. Practice makes perfect, so we will apply this principle in this class. We will look at editing from three levels: 1. Developmental: comprehensive editing to look at the overall document 2. Substantive: sentence-level editing that also checks for content and meaning 3. Copyediting: checking for correctness, accuracy, and completeness And consider a fourth level: 4. Style: often depends on the audience or discourse community. This course will also help you apply the computer software knowledge of Adobe InDesign (PTW majors) or MS Word (PTW minors & non-PTW students).		animation courtesy of animationfactory.com
animation courtesy of animationfactory.com	Course objectives are designed to enable students to: develop strategies for critical reading, thinking and analysis of texts [chapter responses, analysis response] write a substantive, thorough, researched article by applying editing skills [four course project drafts and final version] gain experience in writing with a purpose or audience in mind, and receiving constructive feedback on work [in-class editing practice and editorial feedback] collaborate in groups and on project teams to encourage shared learning and experience different viewpoints [class discussions & blogs].

If you need to contact me by e-mail at "fidallas@svsu.edu," the subject line should contain your last name, course and section number to prevent your e-mail from being misplaced as possible spam.

NOTE 1: Because we will be doing much of our editing in class, you may wish to use a flash drive or other portable document carrier to have immediate access to your work. Depending on e-mail may not be wise, and leaving your work on your home computer may result in you having to retype printed documents. You can also use the "M" drive or VSpace resources section in your VSpace workspace.

NOTE 2: You may turn in your assignment early if you know you are going to miss a class. I do not accept assignments via e-mail. For each day (or portion thereof) that your assignment is late, two (2) points will be deducted. Lost flash drives, M drive problems, incompatible software versions, or 'homework on computer at home' are not legitimate excuses for late work.

NOTE 2: All responses and work for the course (course portfolio) will be burned to CD and turned in at the final examination period. The files should be PDF. This CD will not be returned, so you may wish to make a copy for yourself.

Course weekly schedule:
Activities are DUE on the date indicated by the course schedule. Please review to plan your time wisely.
Class days: W=Wednesday
Assignments: indicated by bold text
Texts: RFE=The Rise and Fall of English; CWT=Can We Talk About Race?; LG=The Longman Guide to Technical Editing

Weekly class structure for class discussions, editing, and revisions -- 10 points:

• The first segment of the class will be spent on discussing the chapter reading assignment. Use comments or thoughts from your chapter responses to contribute to the discussion. This discussion time will help you understand difficult concepts or other perspectives, and partake of the class knowledge base and experiences.
• The second segment of the class will be spent on sharing important concepts from the Longman Guide chapter, answering any questions that you may have from the reading. The tips and tools shared should help you produce a condensed version of your chapter response. This condensed version should be from 300 to 400 words, double-spaced, and printed for in-class editing.
• The third segment of the class will be spent on using the appropriate editing technique indicated on the syllabus (developmental, substantive, or copyediting). Editing guidelines will be provided at VSpace. When the in-class edit of your condensed chapter response is complete, you should incorporate revisions as you deem necessary for your course project (detail below).

Editing feedback:
In order to provide useful feedback for your editing efforts, I will comment on ten edits per week. Five comments will be on the in-class condensed chapter responses, and five comments will be on the applied editing technique.

1. Condensed chapter response: I will review the condensed chapter response that is produced during segment two and offer feedback. Please indicate the word count on the document. This should take from 3 to 5 minutes each.
2. Applied editing technique: I will review the editing guideline sheet that is used for editing a classmate's condensed chapter response, and offer feedback and points of interest. This will occur during the third segment of the class, and should take from 3 to 5 minutes each.

The editing feedback schedule for the chapter response and the applied technique will be discussed during week 1. The feedback is to help you become a more effective editor.

Assignment format for chapter responses, analysis response, and final examination:
Each chapter response will be typed, single-spaced, with one-inch margins. Use Arial 12 point, Bookman Old Style12 point, or Century Gothic 11 point fonts. The top of the paper should be formatted as such:

[your name]
English 400-01
Dr. Dallas
[date]

Then skip a line and center the title of the chapter or your title. Skip another line and begin your response. Your chapter response should be ready to be turned in upon arrival in class. For each calendar day (or portion thereof) that your assignment is late, two (2) points will be deducted. Lost flash drives, M drive problems, incompatible software versions, or 'homework on computer at home' are not legitimate excuses for late work.

Chapter responses -- five chapter responses to The Rise and Fall of English of 5 points each for a total of 25 points:
These chapter responses are to help you understand the underpinnings of English Departments and how the figuring of "correct English" may be fraught with misconceptions and omissions. Each chapter response will follow the format listed above and the response specifics below, and be two pages, single-spaced.

Chapter responses -- four chapter responses to Call We Talk About Race? of 5 points each for a total of 20 points:
These chapter responses are to help you understand the conceptual framework of race and education, and assess the delicate dance around the difficult and sensitive topic of democratic education in action--or lack thereof. Each chapter response will follow the format listed above and the response specifics below, and be two pages, single-spaced.

Your chapter response should:

1. summarize the chapter
2. offer your commentary

The chapter summary should constitute one-and one-half pages, and include:
a. addressing salient points of discussion
b. listing items of agreement
c. listing questionable concepts

Your commentary section should offer your interpretation or assessment of the chapter. You may wish to focus on a specific claim type to help you assess the chapter material.

For each day your chapter response is late, two points are deducted. I will not accept assignments via e-mail. They are due in class on the assigned day, in order to facilitate our class discussions. If you miss class, you are expected to turn in the assignment at the next class period. No edit will be done for the missed class assignment. If you miss your scheduled editing feedback session, this session will not be rescheduled.

RFE & CWT analysis response -- 5 points:
This analysis paper offers an insight into a claim and provides discussion to support the claim. This one-page, single-spaced paper should address some link or connection between the two texts. An in-class discussion and consideration of multiple connections will be held at Week 11. Bring pencil and paper to take notes.

Course project -- 25 points total; four rough drafts worth 15 points and final version is worth 10 points:
One major outcome of this course will be to produce a newsletter that provides an opportunity for you to exhibit your editorial skills. The focal point will be the analysis response of week 13, while the condensed chapter responses (the full 2-page chapter responses are homework assignments, while the condensed responses are completed in class) will be support information. But since you will be reading and providing chapter responses first, you will have to think of this project as working backwards.

This project will also provide the opportunity for you to practice and become competent as a intermediate user of Adobe InDesign (PTW majors) or MS Word (PTW minors & non-PTW students). Students will have the opportunity to learn some of the features of the software programs in class, but you should expect to commit some of your own time to mastering the tools needed for the course assignments. Drafts in the incorrect software format will receive two (2) fewer points than indicated below:

Rough draft 1: Create a name for this document, depending on the audience you envision reading it. Compile the condensed, edited versions of the first three chapter responses of RFE in the document, using Adobe InDesign or MS Word as appropriate, into a one-page draft. This rough draft should be formatted for the appropriate audience, is worth 2 points, and due week 4.

Rough draft 2: Continue the document format from draft 1, and compile the condensed, edited versions of the last two chapter responses of RFE and the first chapter response from CWT in the document, again using Adobe InDesign or MS Word as appropriate, into a two-page draft. This rough draft should be formatted for the appropriate audience, is worth 3 points, and due week 7.

Rough draft 3: Continue the document format from draft 2, and compile the condensed, edited versions of the next three chapter responses of CWT in the document, again using Adobe InDesign or MS Word as appropriate, into a three-page draft. This rough draft should be formatted for the appropriate audience, is worth 4 points, and due week 10.

Rough draft 4: Continue the document format from draft 3, and compile the edited critical analysis of RFE & CWT, again using Adobe InDesign or MS Word as appropriate, into a four-page draft. This rough draft should be formatted for the appropriate audience, is worth 6 points, and due week 14.

Final version: Compile the completed document from draft 4, including all edited versions RFE & CWT chapter responses, and the critical analysis of RFE & CWT, again using Adobe InDesign or MS Word as appropriate, into a four-page document. Review and incorporate editing comments and feedback as necessary. This final draft should be formatted for the appropriate audience, is worth 10 points and is due week 15.

Course Portfolio -- 5 points:
Your chapter responses, editing feedback, analysis response, course project drafts, and final course project will be burned to CD. Your work should be saved as .PDF files. This item is due at the final exam period. This CD should be burned before the final examination period, and you should verfiy the readability of the contents by checking on a computer other than the one used to burn your files--if you can't read it, neither can I. The assignments and corresponding file names are as follows:

RFE chapter 1 response -- rfe1.pdf
RFE chapter 2 response -- rfe2.pdf
RFE chapter 3 response -- rfe3.pdf
RFE chapter 4 response -- rfe4.pdf
RFE chapter 5 response -- rfe5.pdf
CWT chapter 1 response -- cwt1.pdf
CWT chapter 2 response -- cwt2.pdf
CWT chapter 3 response -- cwt3.pdf
CWT chapter 4 response -- cwt4.pdf
RFE & CWT analysis -- rca.pdf
Course project rough draft 1 -- cprd1.pdf
Course project rough draft 2 -- cprd2.pdf
Course project rough draft 3 -- cprd3.pdf
Course project rough draft 4 -- cprd4.pdf
Course project final -- cpf.pdf

Final exam -- 10 points:
You will be given a two- to three-page document to retype and edit. Undertaking the developmental and substantive edits on the original document will save you time when retyping for copyediting purposes. The original and edited documents will be turned in at the end of the final exam period. Follow the assignment format above for preparing your response. Check your print balance before the final examination to ensure that you will be able to print and turn in the final response.