Jill Van Wyke, Assistant Professor

Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Teaching Associated Press Style•Breakfast of Editing ChampionsTeaching Idea

AEJMC, Aug. 6, 2009 • Boston, MA

AP Style

JMC 70/92 • Fall 2008

Van Wyke

  1. You may do this assignment alone or with a partner.
  2. I’ll give you a list of the AP Stylebook entries applicable to a category. The categories are*:

* We’ll review rules governing abbreviations and acronyms; capitalization; and numbers in class.

Jill Van Wyke, Assistant Professor

Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Teaching Associated Press Style•Breakfast of Editing ChampionsTeaching Idea

AEJMC, Aug. 6, 2009 • Boston, MA

business

composition titles

crime and courts

education

geography

history

medicine and science

military

miscellaneous (two lists)

politics and government

religion

racial and ethnic sensitivities

technology

* We’ll review rules governing abbreviations and acronyms; capitalization; and numbers in class.

Jill Van Wyke, Assistant Professor

Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Teaching Associated Press Style•Breakfast of Editing ChampionsTeaching Idea

AEJMC, Aug. 6, 2009 • Boston, MA

  1. From the list of entries for your category, you are to choose 10 that you think are the most important for you and your classmates to know. Learn the rules well enough to teach your classmates.
  2. For each of the 10 entries/rules, write a “problem statement” that requires a quiz-taker to circle the correct choice. For example:

Yom Kippur begins at sundown

a)Oct. 9.

b)October 9.

c)October 9th.

d)Oct. 9th.

  1. Write your problem statements in 12-point, Times New Roman, following the format of the above example. Turn in a hard copy and an electronic version.
  2. I will compile your 10 problem statements with those of your classmates. This collection of 100+ problems will become part of the study guide for future exams.
  3. Now choose one of your problem statements and devise a creative way to demonstrate the rule to the rest of the class. You should justify the rule’s significance while explaining its subtleties. You may use music, movies, photos, literature, dance, props, humor, whatever – have fun!
  4. We’ll take a few minutes of each class until the end of the semester to present our “lessons,” one per class period. The first one will be presented Oct. 23, the first time we meet after fall break; the last, Dec. 9.

* We’ll review rules governing abbreviations and acronyms; capitalization; and numbers in class.