ENC 4212, Business and Technical EditingFall 2015 • USF Sarasota-Manatee • Instructor: T. E. Roberts

Assignment 4 (30% of grade): Three OptionsOutline Due Nov. 2, 2015 • Complete submission Due Nov. 30, 2015

Posted at http://www.todroberts.com/USF/4212_welcome.htm (This file has been updated 10-31-2015.)

Choose one of the following three options for the final assignment in the course and read the directions carefully. The first two are defined by the instructor, and the third is one that you create for yourself. Additional information about this assignment will be presented in the lectures, beginning with Week 8. This assignment counts for 30 percent of your total semester grade in the course.

OPTION 1: SETTING STANDARDS FOR PROFESSIONAL EDITING. One way that publishers and other employers of editors determine the qualifications of a job applicant is by administering an editing test. The nature of these exams varies widely, but among the skills usually being tested are the following: (1) COPY EDITING (knowledge of grammar, punctuation, spelling, word usage, quotation format, basic page layout, and typesetting); (2) NEWS EDITING (knowledge of current events and persons in the news, geography, basic math, logical organization, and critical thinking); and (3) HEADLINE WRITING (knowledge of the appropriate choice of main heads and subheads in a sample publication of around 500 words). Your task in Option 1 is to (1) research and report on five separate editing tests found on the internet; (2) prepare your own editing test using questions designed by you, not quoted from another source; and (3) administer that test to a sampling of classmates enrolled in the Fall 2015 ENC 4212 course, tabulate the results, and report on what your research reveals about the purpose of such testing and what the scores of the test takers reveal about their responses to the test. Administering the Test: As instructor, I will help you distribute the test to your classmates (the number of classmates participating will depend on how many students choose Option 1; the objective is to avoid having any individual student taking more than one test). The test should take no longer than an hour to complete; the deadline for sending the exam to classmates will be Friday, Nov. 13, 2015; the scores of the test will NOT have any bearing on the test takers’ grades in ENC 4212. You will report the results in the form of both a prose report and a website which you yourself design and publish.

OPTION 2: PLAIN-ENGLISH EXPLANATION OF SOCIAL SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFIED PERSONS IN THE METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA (MSA) WHERE YOU LIVE. To understand the geographic definition, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Statistical_Area. You will be gathering information from the internet, conversations with representatives of social service agencies, printed publications, news publications, academic experts, and other relevant sources for this project. You will play the role of a person hired as a contract (freelance) editor whose job is to consolidate and clarify potentially confusing information in a single printed and web-published information resource for economically stressed persons who need help in finding food and shelter for themselves and their families.

Most of you are probably aware that many people in our nation and in southwest Florida, despite improvements in the economy, are suffering stress as a result of un- or under-employment, unaffordable housing, and unaffordable health care. Only a few of those needing help, however, are aware of efficient and effective ways to obtain assistance that will keep them fed and sheltered until they can get back on their feet or can provide training for employment. Your job will be to create a simple brochure and website that explain the resources that are available to help such persons. Your message must be in plain, simple English that anyone whose formal education stopped at the sixth grade can understand. Note: many of the people you are trying to reach with your publication will not have easy or possibly any access to public transportation, telephones, U.S. mail, or the internet, so you must explain in a separate MS Word attachment (Lastname_4212_4_distribution.doc) how you plan to distribute it to the people who need it.

OPTION 3: DO IT YOUR WAY. You may propose any Assignment 4 project that you believe will meet the ENC 4212 learning objectives stated in the course syllabus (these are repeated at the end of these instructions). One student has suggested the preparation of a user manual for a high-technology product. Another has opted to create a prose and web-based presentation summarizing her research into the counter-technology backlash denouncing reliance on computers and the internet for educating children in grades K-12. In fact, you may choose any reasonably challenging (define this for yourself, but get my approval!) project that requires you to demonstrate the skills, concepts, creativity, and professional standards we have tried to cover in Professional and Technical Editing (ENC 4212) this semester. As in Options 1 and 2, you will need to use at least two kinds of media to communicate your project: (a) conventional prose document or brochure and (b) a website. In addition, you may use alternative media such as YouTube video, PowerPoint slides, audio podcast, web-embedded Flash video, or whatever else you think would meet your objectives. The prose document and website are, however, required. Samples of Option 3 from previous semesters are available here: http://www.todroberts.com/USF/4212_Assign4_Samples.htm

OUTLINE REQUIRED: Regardless of the option you choose, send me by 6:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, a brief description (around 150 words) of your project within the body of your email, not in an attachment (EMAIL SUBJECT: Lastname 4212 Assignment 4 topic). I will respond promptly.

WEBSITE COMPONENT IN ALL THREE OPTIONS: All web-posted material must work properly; technical flaws in design or navigation will have a negative effect on your grade. (Review the Week 6 lecture and the relevant links on the course website for tips.) All students have free access to USF web-hosting services, but you are free to use your own commercially available web host or a host such as WordPress if you wish. See: https://mmc4120.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/how-to-connect-and-upload-to-the-usf-server/ for guidance or contact the IT Help Desk (mailto:help@usf.edu).

ENC 4212, Fall 2015 - Instructions for Assignment 4 (due Nov. 30, 2015) - Page 1 of 2

Whichever you choose, it must work as intended -- this is not just a draft or storyboard that you sketch out on paper. It must be accessible and navigable on the web. If you have never done a website, you should budget time to learn the basics. You may also want to consult with USFSM IT support specialists for assistance. If you are a web-creation novice, I encourage you to use WordPress (www.wordpress.org) for your website because it is free, effective, and fairly easy to master for an assignment such as this.

FORMAT AND CONTENT IN HARMONY. The format is to some extent open for this assignment. Obviously, Option 1 will require you to use PowerPoint for the presentation, but you have freedom in the way you design the title slide and body slides and in the notes you use to accompany the slides. For Option 2, you may emulate examples of well-written and well-designed publications in print and on the web which will achieve your objectives of communicating helpful information to persons who are not reading for pleasure or edification but for survival. Do not, however, COPY such publications -- this constitutes plagiarism, which will be severely penalized. Option 3 gives you freedom, and therefore responsibility, for creating a format that fits your message and recipient, within the limits described above. As mentioned earlier, all three options require you to create and post a website, but the actual content and design of that site are entirely up to you. Remember that ENC 4212 is a fourth-year undergraduate course; all of you are expected to be at an advanced level of knowledge and experience and ready to succeed in the marketplace.LENGTH OF SUBMISSION. The length and complexity of your submission should be measured in time rather than word count. How long will it take your intended recipient to comprehend and make effective use of your communication? How long do you think it should take for this to happen? I remind you of an old quotation attributed to various wits, including Mark Twain and the ancient Roman orator Cicero: “If I had more time, I would write you a shorter letter.” Writing concisely does take more time and effort than writing verbosely, but it also produces much more effective results. The idea that “more is better” is anathema in professional communications. In fact, perhaps in emulation of Robert Browning’s fictitious artist Andrea del Sarto or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the Bauhaus School of Architecture (1919-1933), just the opposite should be your goal: “less is more.”

THE POINT OF THIS ASSIGNMENT. This assignment calls for you to meet successfully a challenge that bedevils professional editors every day -- namely, balancing the pressure of deadlines, the limitations and expectations of readers, and the complexity of the message that you are trying to deliver. The quality of your balancing act will depend upon a combination of creative problem solving, wise management of time and effort, astute understanding of your readers, and effective use of language and other media. Your final product should be something you will be proud to share in your professional portfolio.

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES IN ENC 4212 (from the course syllabus)The objectives of ENC 4212 are for each student to meet the following objectives by the end of the course:1. Show ability to create clear concise, and complete messages that meet needs of intended users and readers. 2. Meet stated deadline for assigned project. 3. Show ability to create and transmit messages in such diverse media as print, audio, video, in-person presentation, and internet. 4. Show knowledge and sound judgment in using effective communication concepts, theories, tactics, and strategies appropriate for intended project results. 5. Show ability to interpret and edit messages from advanced Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) and transmit said messages effectively to non-expert users.

ENC 4212, Fall 2015 - Instructions for Assignment 4 (due Nov. 30, 2015) - Page 2 of 2