Assignment Sheet:
Editorial Response
300-500 words, (approx 1-2 pages); multimedia format submitted as PDF
Due Friday, October 7 by 11:55pm
For this assignment, students will respond to an article, editorial or other journalistic piece that reports on
the Millennial generation. Students will seek out on article in the press or popular media outside of class
reading that centers around the term or concept defined in his or her definition paper. Using the extensive
research and expertise accumulated through writing the definition of the paper, the student will respond
to the editorial in order to correct misconceptions, defend a specific group (such as Millennials), or present
a different viewpoint. Students should plan to compose their own original argument while countering
claims asserted in the original article.
The audience for this editorial will largely be individuals from older generations who regularly make
assumptions about "kids these days." Students will aim to both fact check the original article and to
introduce research-based counter-arguments in their short response piece.
Students will be encouraged to seek out an article or editorial that appears in an online forum (either a
digital version of a print publication or a purely online journalistic publication) and to make use of
multimodal communication techniques as a part of their response. Students' final product should include
no more than 500 words of text but may also include images, videos, links, embedded social media
content like Tweets, and other resources.
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION
Imagine the audience for this article to be largely older individuals (30+ years old) who
regularly consume news media in both print and in digital settings. This audience will have
a wide variety of educational backgrounds, experiences, demographic markers, political
leanings, and social assumptions. As such, you should plan to address this passive,
neutral, audience in an accessible, appropriate, yet engaging manner, avoiding
assumptions, jargon or other off-putting stylistic choices.
Audience
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In Blog Post 3, students will work through the article they have selected and fact check the
claims used by the original author. The student will identify each individual claim, work to
trace the source of that claim, and supply additional resources that may undermine the
claim or help the student to provide a counter-claim in his or her editorial response. It is
likely that students will accumulate more information in this post than can fit into the brief
response, so students may also use this post to begin prioritizing which claims must be
refuted or countered.
See the course blog for more details about this element of the assignment.
Preparation/Pre-Writing
Upload responses to T-Square no later than 11:55pm on Friday, October 7. There should
be 1 file that includes all of your multimodal elements. Saves files using the following
format: Last Name_EditorialResponse_Fall2016. Files should be submitted as a PDF to
best ensure multimodal elements are not corrupted or changed during submission.
Include a link to the original article/editorial in the textbox of TSquare.
Submission
ASSIGNMENT SHEET cont.
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This response should be formatted to mimic the online platform that published the original
article/editorial - you should imagine you have submitted your response to the same
website, newspaper or magazine.
Formatting conventions should follow the example of your original article and will include
the layout of the text, the integration of multimedia content, and the form of citations
(usually links within the text). Students should not submit an MLA formatted Word
document, but a document that resembles a webpage. Students may use any program to
achieve this layout/design, so long as they can export a PDF version of the final editorial
response.
Format and Design
In preparation for the editorial response, students will continue the independent research
begun for the definition paper. Students may rely upon the sources used in this previous
paper or (more likely) will need to seek out additional sources to fact check/refute the
claims in the original article or to support counter-arguments in his or her response. There
is no minimum source requirement for this assignment, but students should plant to
support each claim or counterargument with a reputable source.
The vast majority of online journalism uses embedded links to cite sources; students
should plan to use this same technique, unless their chosen article uses a different format.
If you have questions about the citation format being used in the original article, please
feel free to visit office hours to discuss your options with Dr. Fitz.
In addition to text-based sources, students are encouraged to use other multimedia
sources, such as videos, podcasts, images, and social media posts, so long as they
advance the argument the student is making, are properly incorporated into the post, and
add to the ethos of the author.
Sources
PERSUASIVE GENRES: To learn more about editorials and opinion pieces, see
WOVENText Part 5, Section 15 ("Persuasive Genres: Editorials and Opinion Pieces" pp 466-
479)
EVALUATING SOURCES: To learn more about determining a source’s credibility, see
WOVENText Part 6, Section 19 (“Process: Evaluating and Choosing Sources,” pp. 713-731).
LOCATING SOURCES: If you need help locating additional sources, contact the research
desk at the library or the LMC subject librarian, Karen Viars. You may also visit office hours.
INCORPORATING OTHERS' IDEAS INTO YOUR WRITING: For help integrating sources into
your writing, see WOVENText Part 6, Section 20 (“Process: Integrating and Documenting
Sources,” pp. 776-797).
ACADEMIC HONESTY: All content that comes from other sources (quotes, paraphrases,
summaries, images) must be properly cited. For help ensuring you meet the requirements
of academic honesty, see the visual map on avoiding plagiarism on TSquare and course
blog.
COMMUNICATION CENTER: Trained professional and peer tutors can help students with
their multimodal projects for English 1101, from the brainstorming and planning through
revision and editing stages. To make an appointment with a professional tutor, students
should visit the Communication Center website.
Resources
ASSIGNMENT SHEET cont.
This assignment is worth 75 points (7.5% of total grade) and will be assessed using the
Writing and Communication Program’s programmatic rubric (see page 4).
An A-level editorial response will clearly articulate an insightful argument appropriate for a
broad, neutral audience, including counter-arguments to the original article, will develop
that argument with clear, logical organization and carefully researched support. The
editorial response will closely mimic the style, format and layout of the target publication,
will make proficient and appropriate use of multimodal elements, including links for
citations, will be carefully designed to be both visually appealing and persuasive, and will
be free from grammatical and mechanical errors. (68-75 points)
A B-level editorial response will articulate a thoughtful argument of one of the appropriate
for a broad, neutral audience, including at least one counter-argument to the original
article, will develop that argument with a logical organization and carefully researched
support. The editorial response will attempt to mimic the stye, format and layout of the
target publication with minimal deviations, will make proficient and mostly appropriate use
of multimodal elements, including links for citations, will be designed to be both visually
appealing and persuasive, and will be largely free from grammatical and mechanical
errors. (60-67 points)
A C-level editorial response will articulate a generalized argument or multiple arguments
without a clear connection; these arguments are organized in a simplistic order or with a
lack of clear connections between points. The evidence provided is minimal but not the
best possible sources or is poorly integrated into the response. The editorial response
follows the basics of stye, format, and layout of the target publication but is overly general
or misses major elements, makes use of some multimodal elements, including links for
citations, but is not could use revision in order to be more visually appealing or persuasive.
Contains some distracting errors in mechanics or grammar. (53-59 points)
A D-level editorial response will counter some of the claims of the original argument
without creating a new, original argument; the response will lack basic organization, clear
connections between points or sufficient evidence to support counter-arguments or
claims. The editorial lacks style, format, and layout of an online text and closely resembles
a standard written essay. The editorial response lacks any multimodal elements or poorly
incorporates the few elements that are present; multimodal elements undermine visual
appeal, persuaisve appeals and author's ethos. Contains a pattern of major grammatical
or mechanical errors. (45-52 points)
An F-level response may do any of the following: not articulate an argument or fail to
address the original article, create a response that is not thoughtful or developed. The
argument may contain fallacies or be illogical, the organization may be confusing, and the
format or citation style may not be appropriate for an online publication. Papers with
grammatical or mechanical errors that inhibit readability, that do not meet the minimum
requirements of word count, citation count, or academic honesty will receive an F. (44
points or below)
Grading
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Deadline
The final version of your paper will be due to TSquare no later than
11:55pm on Friday, September 23.
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