CMST 1a03 – Introduction to Communication – January, 2008
Dr. Alexandre Sévigny
Opinion Editorial
Why write an opinion editorial instead of an essay as a final assignment?
While the greatest communication tool of the historian or the literary critic is the essay, for communicators it is the opinion editorial. This is the piece which may be published in a newspaper that gives the event/issue/cause you are representing a fair representation in the media. In an op-ed piece, you must have one clear, thesis that you want to get across. You then back it up with verifiable facts. This is a very useful tool for interacting with the media to have under your belt, even if you do not continue as a professional communicator.
Your Op-Ed Piece
You will write an op-ed piece expressing a thesis criticizing one or two of the articles from Introduction to Communication, 2nd Edition (Sévigny). You will write it from the point of view of one of the following authors: Innis, McLuhan, Pinker, Le Bon, Dornan, Lakoff, Lasch, Hebdige or Conquergood. This means that you will pretend that you are one of these thinkers and write the assignment from their perspective. This means you have to be explicit in your comments and opinions – you MUST relate them to the thinker that you are representing. USE THE MAIN THEORETICAL POINT OF THE THINKER YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO REPRESENT. DO NOT USE MINOR POINTS.
Grading
Your press release will be worth 20% of your final grade.
Your TA will use the rubric below to grade your assignment.
You will lose ½ point for each spelling or grammar error to a maximum of 4 points.
Submission
You must submit your assignment by hand and with a signature to your TA, during tutorial on the week of March 31. Failure to do this will result in a grade of ZERO.
Formatting (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT)
Communications is a very precise field. Every word the professional communicator writes can have a material impact on the institution or event that she/he is representing. As such, you are required to precisely follow formatting instructions.
You must:
· Use Times New Roman 12 point
· Have .75 inch margins all around
· Double space your text
· Do not exceed three pages.
· DO NOT INCLUDE A TITLE PAGE.
o Put your NAME, STUDENT NUMBER and TA’S NAME in the FOOTER, ALIGNED RIGHT in Times New Roman 9 point boldface.
· NOT FOLLOWING ANY OF THESE GUIDELINES WILL RESULT IN A MARK OF ZERO.
Resource Websites
Here are some good websites that describe what goes into a good op-ed piece.
eesc.oregonstate.edu/agcomwebfile/staff/Cate/Back0398.pdf
http://www.apa.org/science/editorialtips.html
http://www.greenmediatoolshed.org/training/TopTenGuidesAndTutorials/WriteanOpEd.adp
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=98204
http://www-pps.aas.duke.edu/courses/op-ed/index.html
Comments / Check / Grade (0-20)Do you have one clean, simple point that is easily identified at the beginning of your piece?
Does your op-ed piece have flow from line to line and paragraph to paragraph?
Is the length appropriate to the thesis statement you have chosen?
Have you kept sentences short? Have you used the active voice properly? Have you avoided clichés?
Have you written for an educated, but not necessarily academic audience? That is, have you avoided jargon, vague statements and overly intellectual tone?
Have you presented “both sides” of the issue you are discussing?
Have you kept a clear, persuasive tone throughout the op-ed piece? Have you avoided ranting, being shrill or too familiar?
Have you made effective use of humour?
Have you made effective use of analogy and metaphor?
Have you personalized the op-ed piece to really represent the thinker whose ideas you are representing?
OVERALL GRADE OUT OF 20