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