Writing for Print and Online Media

UMass Boston || English 307 || Fall 2014 || Prof. Erin Anderson

Author: erinanderson

Blog Post #8: Titles

November 20, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Find three different titles from three different forms of media—books, articles, essays, movies, albums, etc.—in any genre, that you find particularly strong or compelling and write a brief analysis of each one. Consider the stylistic decisions behind the word choice, structure, length, punctuation, etc.: What makes these titles work—both in general and for these particular pieces? What expectations do they raise—in terms of content, tone, genre, etc.? What themes or values do they suggest? What do they leave unanswered or unspoken?

What might you take away from these examples as you [re]consider the titles of your own stories for this class?

Bog Post #7: Embedded Multimedia

November 13, 2014 / / 0 Comments

After reading/interacting with “Bulger on Trial” (David Boeri, WBUR) and “Soon There Will Be No Survivors” (Jason Florio, Tablet), choose one of the two projects and write a brief analysis reflecting on how the multimedia content shaped your experience of the story. Which elements enhanced your reading experience? And in what way? Which, if any, felt distracting or extraneous? What do you notice about how these elements were incorporated into the flow of the text? What decisions went into the design of the interface and to what effect?

Looking forward to your multimedia profile, what might you take away from these projects as you consider what kind of content to collect and how to embed it in your story?

Blog Post #6: Style in “Show Dog”

November 7, 2014 / / 0 Comments

As you read “Show Dog” by Susan Orlean, pay special attention to her use of style through particular language choices, sentence structures, etc. How would you characterize the tone that colors her writing? How does she use subtle turns of phrase to create a sense of character or commentary? Choose a short passage from Orlean’s profile of Biff Truesdale (aka “Champion Hi-Tech’s Arbitrage”), which stands out to you as particularly engaging or effective and write a detailed analysis of the stylistic decisions that make it tick. What might you take away from this text to apply to your own writing as you begin to draft your profile article?

Blog Post #5: The Art of the Profile

October 21, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Taking up the two assigned profile articles (“Bernie Goetz: Squirrel Vigilante” and “Sean Casey: Pet Rescuer”) as a point of departure, reflect on what you see as central to “the art of the profile,” as a distinctive genre of journalistic feature writing. Describe at least two key features (related to research, structure, style, content, etc.) that you believe make these profiles successful, using specific examples from the text to demonstrate your ideas. What might you take away from these two pieces of writing as you begin to propose, research, and write your profile article?

Blog Post #4: Portfolio Website Analysis

October 2, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Find a professional portfolio website for a writer or artist you admire (for example, here’s one for J. K. Rowling!) and write a brief analysis of its content and design. What kinds of information does the site present? How is that information organized? What do you notice about the language being used? How would you characterize the tone or “image” that’s being projected? How does the layout and design work to support this tone? What is most successful about this site? What might you take away from this site and apply to your own portfolio website? Please include a link to the site and at least one screenshot.

Blog Post #3: Stories in Sound

September 26, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Using Ira Glass’s principles of  storytelling as a starting point, choose one of the three assigned audio features and write a brief analysis of how the story is put together and why it works. Break the story down into its component parts—interviews, scripted narration, music, ambient sound, etc.—and consider how these pieces work together to produce a story that is worth listening to. Point to specific moments and strategies that illustrate your ideas and cite the timecode for reference. Identify at least one thing that you can take away from this story and apply to your own audio feature.

Blog Post #2: Word-Image Relations

September 11, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Select one of the images you plan to use in your photo essay and produce three possible captions for that image, using three different word-image relationships from the schema in McCloud’s chapter (i.e. word-specific, picture-specific, etc.) Embed the image in your post three times, with each caption listed below.

You should be able to identify which of the word-image relationships you are using in each caption, if asked, but please DO NOT indicate this relationship in your post. We will use your captioned images as a springboard for discussion in class.

Blog Post #1: Image Analysis

September 7, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Choose an image — one that you find particularly challenging or compelling — from any of the assigned photo essays and write a detailed visual analysis. Drawing on the supplemental readings for an analytical framework, consider (1) the key compositional elements of the image, (2) how you see the image fitting within the narrative of the larger photo essay of which it forms a part, and the (3) emotional or rhetorical effect the image evokes in you as a viewer.

Please embed the image into your post and link to the page of the photo essay.

(See the “Blog” page of the course website for a reminder of the requirements for blog posts.)

Field Guide Introductions

September 2, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Taking inspiration from the Microsoft Stories team’s “field guide” approach to “Welcome to the Garage,” post your own Garage-inspired “exhibit” or “baseball card” introducing yourself to the class. Include an image (of yourself or anything you feel represents you — as long as you own the rights to the image), at least four “stats,” and a link to a relevant website.

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