English
405: Advanced Professional Writing and Editing
Instructor:
Bryan Fry
Office:
Avery 371
Office Hours: MWF
12:00-1:00 pm
Practicum Assignment
Practicum:
You will complete a 50-hour practicum working under the
guideance of an editor, a writer, or a professor. This work can take
place on- or-off campus. The practicum length is calculated on
approximately four hours per week for twelve weeks. Most students
choose to work for one of the following academic or literary
publications:
- Blood Orange
Review (Editor, Bryan Fry)
- Voices
(Editors, Heloise Abtahi and Rachel Sanchez)
- Landescapes
Literary and Arts Journal (Editor, Peter Chilson)
- The Palouse
Review (Editor, Annie Lampman)
- ESQ: A Journal
of Ninteenth-Century American Literature and Culture (Editor,
Heloise Abtahi)
- The Daily
Evergreen (Editor, Jen Ladwig)
- Washington
State Magazine (Editor, Larry Clark)
- Kairos:
Rhetoric, Technology, Pedagogy (Editor, Mike Edwards)
To create flexibility in the
course, students may work for a "non-listed" editorial-based
publication. For example, a history major might wish to edit their
department newsletter. Other students may propose working outside of a
publication, perhaps writing and editing social-media content for a
non-profit organization or working one-on-one with an author who is in
the middle of revising a manuscript. The practicum experience is really
up to you, but there must be some sort of editorial work involved.
For example, working as a tutor in the writing center doesn't meet the
requirements for the practicum because the work tutors do differs
vastly from the work editors do. If you have questions or concerns
about your practicum choice, you can use the editorial task checklist
below.
During the course of your
practicum, you should complete at least one of the following tasks:
- Review and proofread work for publication
- Use a style sheet to edit drafted content
- Edit text or visual images for clarity,
coherency, consistency, and correctness
- Fact-check names, titles, dates, etc.
- Design layout, marketing materials, web pages,
or
technical documents
- Use hand-mark symbols and/or track-changes to
edit print and/or digital documents
- Select and package content for a particular
audience
Students
often ask if they can combine a practicum with a job they currently
have. The answer is yes, this is your practicum. However, you might
keep in mind that this is a chance to gain experience that you can add
to your resume so I suggest you think about the experience you want and
select your practicum wisely.
Major
Practicum Requirements:
Progress
Memo (worth 7% entire grade): During the middle of the semester,
you will email a progress
memo detailing your practicum information. This memo is due by a
specific day and time (see schedule).
Completion
Memo (worth 8% entire grade): At the end of the semester, you
will email a completion
memo detailing the final results of your practicum information.
This memo is due by a specific day and time (see schedule).
Final
Presentation (worth 25% of entire grade): At the end of
the semester, you will use PowerPoint to present a summary of your
practicum and your practicum accomplishments to the class (see Presentation
Grading Rubric).
Back
to Schedule