Public Writing (1) Spring 2019 Room 2405

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2019.05.30

We started off this week's session reading from our text about "The Making of a Columnist." From there, we moved on to give a few classmates some feedback on their Public Writing in class.

We will continue working through the text, workshopping our writing assignments, and giving feedback for the remainder of the course. While we do not have class June 6/week 14, the writing continues, along with the first draft and feedback deadlines. If you want to talk to me about your writing other than during class time week 15, please email me to make an appointment. 

Please remember to submit hard copies of your three best pieces of writing that you want graded June 20th. Also, be sure to complete all homework assignments and have links posted to Canvas, as well as giving helpful, thorough feedback to classmates.

Have fun!

JBH
  
     
​2019.05.16 and 05.23

This week in class we spent some time giving writing feedback to a few lucky students on the big screen in class. Next we looked at the text, covering chapters on Editors and Self-editing. Then we moved to shift gears toward wrapping things up the next few weeks. 

For next week, please craft an "About Me" page for your blog/website/online presence. It should max out at 300-500 words. For some basic ideas on what to include, just think of it as an introduction to you, the writer, for a reader who has never heard of you before. This link includes some basics more from a marketing or job-hunting perspective, but you may find the info helpful to get you started. Please get your about me posted and a link to it in Canvas by midnight Sunday night, and give feedback using the sandwich method before we meet in class Thursday.

We will move on next week to write a few more blog posts/web writing on topics including Week 12 - Daily Life or Food Post (due week 13); Week 13, Sense of Place (due week 14); Week 14, an Interesting Person (profile) (due week 15), and Week 15 Open Topic (due week 16). Each week, the initial post is due by midnight Sunday, and please provide feedback to two classmates for improvement on Canvas before class meets the following week.

Including your Opinion Column, I will ask you to turn in hard copies of three pieces of your best writing Week 16 to be scored for writing quality. For full homework credit, you should post a link to your web presence in Canvas. It should include your Opinion/Editorial writing, your About Me page, and your writing for Week 12, 13, 14, and 15. Completing these writings gets you homework credit. Making them great gets you quality points.

Have fun!

JBH
   

2019.05.09

Hi Class!

I realize what a challenging skill writing is.

It can also be difficult to understand what feedback and scores mean when you are lost in the writing. I understand that and always try to make myself available for suggestions when I can.

But although I know the difference in writing quality, teaching it can be almost as tough as doing it. Everybody has blocks and they are all different.

We are all learners here always, including me. I may have more experience and have picked up a few more skills than some of you. But if you are writing for a Korean audience, you still might be able to write something that interests an audience of Korean English language readers better than I could because you know more about what attracts their attention. So it’s not just basic writing skills that make a piece of writing work better for a particular situation.

However, basic writing skills are important. They are a foundation to build on. We are not writing academic essays in this class, but the rules of grammar and style are to some extent universal in all kinds of writing. It may be tempting in this kind of class to throw away all the rules, but the basic foundations still apply. Below are some of the basic principles of writing in general, and the effect they have when I am scoring your papers.
 
1. For writing to be interesting and engaging, you usually (almost always) need to have a clear thesis or a point that you address thoroughly, in other words your writing is trying to complete a job or address a task. So the first 25 percent of your base score will reflect how well you address or respond to your writing task which is based on a scale running from 0 through 9.
 
2. Also, your writing should be unified on a central idea and have coherent, cohesive connections. The second 25 percent of your base score will be based on how your demonstration of the use of logical organization, progression, and transitions between ideas at both the sentence and paragraph level.  
 
3. Writers should also, of course, have a wide enough range of vocabulary, rich in clarity and simplicity, but not too formal or wordy. The third 25 percent of your base writing score comes from your demonstrated use of vocabulary, in terms of both range and accuracy. There is a clear difference between a piece of writing in which the writer uses simple language, an adequate but limited range of vocabulary, and using less common or idiomatic vocabulary with different levels of accuracy. 
 
4. Grammar is important, again both in range and accuracy. While many Korean writers have trouble with prepositions and articles in English, and some gaps can be forgiven, the complexity of grammar structures used as well as the number of errors are another feature that determines fourth 25 percent of your base score. Each of these four parts uses a proficiency scale of 0 through 9, so the sum of the four scores at the end of this process looks nothing like a percentage score. It’s usually somewhere in the teens or 20s.
 
5. Finally, because this is a public writing course, I am asking students to stretch a little bit beyond the basic rules. In addition to the above four criteria, which are pretty much basic expectations for any type of writing, I look for flash or panache or sparkle as well. Here I am hoping for something different from the ordinary. Unusual in a positive way, creative, interesting, whatever you want to call it. That final number ranges from 0 to 3, so it doesn’t affect the final score as much as the logical and mechanical foundations, a decision I made because it’s also not as important as the more necessary elements of writing. But that fifth score can help, and when all five numbers are combined average range of total scores might end up somewhere between 16 and 30.  
 
The public version of the scoring criteria I have in mind for the first four areas I look at when I score student writing can be found at: https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/ielts_task_2_writing_band_descriptors.pdf
 
The criteria, which Cambridge refers to using the term descriptors, can give you some idea of the skills needed to succeed at writing clearly, logically, and understandably.
 
For next week, please post a revised draft of your second writing project to the class Canvas discussion site. We will look at some student writing on the screen next week and make helpful suggestions. We will also continue going over a few more chapters of The Art of Column Writing in class, talking about working with editors and getting a look at the editing process. We will finish by talking about what more we’ll be writing over the next few weeks.
 
See you in class!
 
JBH
 
2019.04.25 & 05.02 

Week 8, we handed in proposals for our opinion piece about a controversial issue. While the first papers were about lots of interesting topics, some of them seemed to be more like news report or factual ideas than personal or opinionated writing.

I’ve got comments scribbled on papers you turned in for scores, but have not finished so you can read what I wrote and am still getting my midterm scores together. But we are going to keep moving and I will get stuff back to you as soon as possible.

We have two more pieces of public writing to create that could fit in a public writing genre of one type or another – something you are interested in writing and are trying to make interesting enough so someone would want to read it, and maybe even take change their mind or take action after they’ve read what you wrote.

We’ve got one piece of writing wrapped up now and I will get you an idea of your score and suggestions soon. You should have a second piece in progress, an opinion piece on a controversial issue.

And although we talked about doing either an opinion column or a letter to the editor, the best way to write an opinion piece is to go for something a little bit longer first. So shoot for 800-1,200 words for your opinion piece. You can always cut it shorter and only use the key points for a 250- to 300-word letter to the editor, but your controversial opinion writing should be longer at first to really explain your points better.

Another thing I want to do with the rest of our semester besides these two more pieces of writing, is ask you to put together some kind of online portfolio or web presence to combine your pieces.

There are lots of things listed under online portfolio in Google. And there are tons of other options for creating webpages, blogs, or other ways to display your writing online. Please choose one that will make the end result user-friendly for English readers. DO NOT make your English-reading viewers go through a bunch of directory choices in Hangul to find your writing. 

Earlier in the course, we talked about blog posts and online publication as a kind of second choice option, and I know a few of you are working on getting stuff in print (or online) through public media outlets of one kind of another.

But this is public writing, and I want you all to put some writing out there in front of the public in some way, which means establishing an online presence. 

Don’t worry, I am not demanding that you exhibit your work in front of millions of readers on the front page of the New York Times. People really have too many other things to do to be thinking about what you are writing and publishing anyway. Nobody will notice anything you have written unless it is interesting enough to get their attention and hold it.

But I want you to make your writing available online with the three assignments from this class in some type of online portfolio. A blog, a webpage, whatever. Must be in English and accessible for English-language readers.

​Next week, keep working on your opinion piece and establish an online presence. Explore a little on your own or with classmates on Google and YouTube and give a brief “how-to” presentation to show your classmates a do-able way to get their written work online to be accessible to English readers. Three different options for this class: Teams? Ideas?
We will also move on in the text.

See you in class!

JBH
   
  
2019.04.18

In class today, we handed in our first major writing project, which took a load off our shoulders.

Then we talked about assignment number two, which should be an opinion piece about a controversial issue. It could be an opinion column, a letter to the editor, or a blog post, but it must have a point of view.

For next week's class, please decide on what kind of writing you will work on for the second assignment write a one-page proposal which includes the type of writing it will be (editorial/opinion, letter to the editor, blog post, etc.) and the intended audience.

Post your proposal to the class Canvas discussion site by midnight Sunday, April 21st and bring a hard copy to class for me Week 8. Also, please post helpful comments and suggestions to at least two classmates about their proposals on Canvas by class time Week 9.

​Below are the links we took a look at and report about to class with a brief highlights presentation about opinion columns, editorials, and letters to the editor.

See you in class!

JBH

Below are the links we took a look at and report about to class with a brief highlights presentation.
How to
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/direct-action/letters-to-editor/main

https://www.wikihow.com/Write-Letters-to-the-Editor

https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/480-how-to-write-a-letter-to-the-editor-and-an-opinion-editorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxflXSfOalk

https://www.ucsusa.org/action/writing-an-lte.html#.WsXOwWiWato

https://www.aclu.org/other/tips-writing-letter-editor

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/advocacyuniversity/frontline_advocacy/frontline_public/goingdeeper/editor

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/25/opinion/tips-for-aspiring-op-ed-writers.html

Great Opinion Pieces
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/30/the-60-most-read-opinion-pieces-of-2015

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/12/21/the-op-eds-that-moved-us-in-2017/

https://www.wired.com/story/the-12-most-read-opinion-pieces-in-2017/

http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/best-read-opinion-pieces-on-st
  
   
2019.04.11 

Today's class will be a workshop session on our first writing projects. Talk to each other, work on your own, and get a one-on-one with the instructor. Your final product is due for a score next week in the classroom. Please bring a hard copy and post your final draft as the last comment under your first post for this assignment in the class Canvas discussion area.

Also next week, please bring a proposal for assignment number Two. We will be writing and revising drafts, with a final version due in the near future.

We will also continue with the text when we meet next week.

See you in class!

JBH
   
        
2019.04.04 

Looked over hard copies of drafts with classmates for a few minutes.

Looked over a few on Canvas with the whole class.

Then talked about:

We did a lesson from Matt Furey on writing emails last year at this time, but I am going to stay away from selling this semester. Or at least, we’ll focus on selling ideas and action, rather than products and services.

But the lesson is the same, “Talk, Write; Write, Talk.”

Now, opinions vary on this advice, but most people agree: For the more casual type of writing we are trying to do here (blogs, columns, letters to the editor, etc.,), it’s okay to be a bit more normal sounding than when you are writing a high-level academic paper examining Dostoevsky’s rhetorical strategies or analyzing anaphoric demonstratives in classical Arabic.

In other words, while some writing teachers will intimidate students by telling them about different registers of English and suggesting they always stay in a formal academic register, in fact I do too in my academic writing classes, for this class, it’s okay to be more comfortable, more conversational, and more real.

​Write like you talk? Almost ….

https://www.copyblogger.com/authentic-writer/

https://www.thesaleslion.com/ways-learn-to-write-like-you-talk/

​Next week we'll give your improved writing another look before handing it in for a score and (if there's time) keep looking at the book.

Please crank out an authentic, conversational, revised draft for my review of your first writing assignment and bring (another) hard copy to class. This should be your best work to talk about with me.

Also, please read and review the next couple chapters on "Putting Endings First," Column Length, and "Writing Tips," and be ready to go over them when time permits.

Have Fun!

JBH
    
  
2019.03.28

We started this week off by looking at our text on column writing, covering chapters on "Beginnings" and "Telling the Story." While the points the author made were directly aimed at column writing, the ideas about getting to the point quickly and telling a story using specific, concrete points.

We then shared our ideas on what public writing is and what we are planning to write for the class. We chose a first project to woke on and are getting started NOW.

Before we meet next week, please write and post a first draft of the  project you proposed in class to the Canvas discussion area
before class time. Bring a hard copy to class with you for discussion.

Finally, think about and research where and how you might get something published in print or online media with an established readership. That does not mean post it to your own blog unless you have several thousand regular readers already. I want everyone in this class to make a real attempt to write something publishable and get it published. While you are not required to get published, you are required to go for something publishable, both in terms of quality and writing something that real people could be interested in.

See you in class!

JBH
  
  
2019.03.21

In class this week we went over highlights from the text in the chapters on "Point of View" and "Voice." We will continue next week with chapters on "Beginnings" and "Telling the Story."

We also continued refining the goal of the class, which is to write approximately 1,500-3,000 words of public writing content, whatever that is. It is up to you to define what public writing is. Please do that in writing this week

In all, 1,500 to 3,000 words this semester will be graded for quality. You need to decide what you will write to be scored in this class. A general idea of how that would be divided into assignments might be three 500- to 1,000-word writing projects, but it really depends on what kind of writing you want to do. I think a total of 1,500 words would be a very bare minimum; not really enough to fully achieve what I would hope for in this class. Aim for 2,500-3,000 words for all three assignment together.

Writing Assignment for Next Week (3 parts)
For next week’s class (3-28), please 1.) define what the term public writing means.  Please provide a general overall definition as completely as possible, including examples. Then, 2.) explain what public writing means to you and where you see the most interesting possibilities for yourself with public writing. What do you want to write in the future? What do you want to do in this class?

Finally, while I don’t expect you to complete your major assignments for the whole semester by next week, I would like you to 3.) write proposals for your major assignments as specifically as possible at this point. And please stick with your ideas. Changing your mind over and over can be a bigger problem for most students than just deciding on a topic and dealing with the topic you chose. There is no such thing as a perfect topic that can make this assignment easy. The only rule is no advertising. We will do more with ads next semester in Public Writing 2

Next week’s written assignment has no length requirement, but please address the questions as completely as possible. Post your assignment to Canvas before we meet next week and bring a hard copy to class.

For this and all written assignments that you hand in on paper, please use Times New Roman 12-point font. Double-space your work so we can write comments on your paper between the lines.

Repeating the specifics for next week: Please pre-read and be prepared to go over highlights of chapters on Beginnings and Telling the Story (through page 42). Everyone should have read the pages and be familiar with the topics, but a few lucky people will be chosen to lead the class by going over the chapters in class.
Also, please explain in writing what public writing is. Continue by being specific about what the term means to you personally and the type of public writing you plan to do this semeester. Write proposals for your major assignments in this class to be completed this semester to total 1,500-3,000 words.

Remember, you decide what kind of public writing you want to learn by doing, and you decide what the topic of your assignments are.

Please post to Canvas and bring hard copies with you to class next week.

See you in class!

JBH
       
       
2019.03.14

This week we got a better idea of the kinds of things we will be writing this semester. And the instructor encouraged students to think seriously and make a commitment to themselves, if to no one else, about writing for a public audience.

Think about it.

This class is Public Writing. This semester I will write _______________.
This will be my best attempt to write something for a real audience.

What will it be like to have your work read, not just by a teacher who is required to read your work and gets paid for doing so? What if it wasn't just classmates who read your work to get credit for giving feedback? What will happen if you try to write something that people actually want to read?

We talked in class about possible formats or genres of public writing that students could write in, from blog posts to news stories, ads to TV scripts. What we will focus on in this class are the kinds of writing that can loosely fit into the categories outlined in The Art of Column Writing.

If you aren't sure whether what you are writing fits within the class suggested guidelines, let's talk about it in class before you take it too far.

And it will really be great if you go for it and actually get something published, either offline or online, that can actually find an audience.

I'm going to do that this semester. You can too.

For next week, everyone should continue reading in the text on Point of View and Voice.

Groups will be responsible for covering the highlights of these chapters in class, but we all should read them and be ready to talk about and ask questions about the points they make.

Also, please write a proposal of something you can write (a column, letter to the editor, profile, feature, etc.) and a solid game plan for how it can find an audience in print or online. Post your proposal to the class Canvas discussion site and bring a hard copy to class. One solid idea is great, but if you still have a couple ideas to talk about with the class, that's okay too. Please don't bring more than one or two.

See you in class!

JBH
   
 
2019.03.07

This class is about writing for readers.

Writing to convince others to agree with your opinion, writing to sell them an idea, or just writing to inform them of knowledge about something you understand that they need to learn.

What does Public Writing mean to you?

In this class, we will be exploring how to express ourselves clearly in writing to people we may not know.

We will look at selling our arguments, selling products, and selling our ideas about the way things are.

We need to  get and hold people’s attention, present convincing arguments, and make our messages clear, concise, and on target. It's going to be a challenge, but it’ll also be fun.

Every week, we’ll be writing something. We will be writing something new or improving something we’ve already written.

This is because writing takes time. No writer pumps out perfect prose on the first run-through. Even Especially the fastest writers need to revise, edit and clean up their copy.

You live in South Korea, but I guess you already knew that. That means that you are in one of the world’s most interesting places right now. Kim Jong-un vs. Donald Trump, the power of big brother China in Asian geopolitics, Hyundai, Kia, Samsung, K-pop, Korean dramas, lots of things about Korea are of interest and importance to the English-speaking world.

So go for it, try to think of things you could write about that would interest readers. Not just Korean readers. Go beyond the frog in the well mentality and explore topics that will interest readers from elsewhere. That means no Dokdo.

The text is The Art of Column Writing by Standring. Get it ASAP on Amazon Kindle or however you can.

We will start by basing the course on the book about column writing, along with several other resources that can help us see things more clearly.
​ 
This week, please read the Prologue, Introduction, and first unit of Section 1 on Point of View. In other words, read, review, and be ready to discuss the text through page 17 when we meet next week.

I also want to see a Proposal from everyone about what kind of Public writing they plan to do this semester. I see an initial focal point being somewhat journalistic or opinion column-ish, but you may have other ideas. I think you have a unique place in the world to be writing from with lots of opportunities to write about things that others might find interesting. And interesting counts

The  North Korean geopolitics as seen from Seoul, Trump as seen from Seoul (the good, the bad and the ugly); Korean thoughts about the current situation in China, whatever you like

Write in class about:
  1. Your interests and background knowledge (in terms of useful writing topics for this class)
  2. Possible topics
  3. Who would you be interested in writing for?

Homework:
*Read Text through page 17, Prologue, Intro and Point of View
*Address questions 1-3 above in the class Canvas discussion area, and respond, conversation-style, to at least two classmates. For the discussion subject or title use "Your Name/All About Me." Please write 150-300 words.