The
School of Humanities and Graduate Studies
COURSE PROPOSAL, March 17, 2006
Department of English and Mass Communications
Lincoln University, PA
COM 333 —Copy Editing
Instructor: TBA
Office Hours: TBA
Office Telephone: TBA
E-mail: TBA
PREREQUISITE: ENG 330 (News Writing), ENG 316 (Introduction to Mass Communications)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course prepares students for a career in journalism by teaching skills needed to edit various publications. Students will receive instruction in various aspects of copy improvement, including headline writing, typography, and page layout and design, in the context of an electronic editing environment.
TEXTS
Required:
Fellow, Anthony R and Tom Clanin (2005). Copy Editors Handbook for Newspapers, Morton Publishing, New York.
The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual (Latest edition)
James L. Pinson, Brian S. Brooks, Jean Gaddy Wilson (2002). Working with Words: A Handbook for Media Writers and Editors, St. Martin’s Press, New York.
Readings from different texts will be distributed in class
Any paperback dictionary
Recommended (strongly):
Strunk and White – The Elements of Style
Any thesaurus
An excellent resource on the Internet:
The Grammar Lady Online – www.grammarlady.com
These materials will be supplemented by numerous handouts over the course of the semester.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students will learn how to edit print media copy for both style and content. These skills taught in the course include the following:
- Learn news judgment regarding the use of stories, graphics and photos, and the creation of effective cutlines
- Improve copy, including the evaluation and improvement of the copy of others, scanning for inaccuracies, comprehension, writing quality, and errors of usage, punctuation and spelling
- Write headlines that conform to column-width and type-sized requirements
- Work with wire-service copy, including the ability to develop roundup stories, to rewrite leads, to reorganize stories, and to edit lengthy wire stories into a column of briefs
- Work with typography, page design and layout, including the ability to crop and size photographs, charts, maps and other graphics
- Headline issues of law and ethics of journalism
- Use of the AP stylebook
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
A final project—to lay out and edit a final four page newspaper—will be due on the final day of class. This project involves:
- Choosing which stories and pictures that will go on the pages
- Laying out the pages with those stories and pictures
- Editing those stories for clarity, accuracy, grammar, syntax, AP style and length
- Sizing the photos to fit the space you have designated for them, and
- Writing the captions, headlines and deck heads
- Quizzes (6)
Six quizzes on copy editing, AP style, grammar, assigned readings, lectures and current news events will be given during the semester. You may use a style book, dictionary or other language-reference during the quiz. No makeup quizzes will be given.
- Assignments (6)
Six assignments on copy editing. One of the characteristics of a good journalist is making deadlines. To help you develop good habits, no late work or makeup work will be accepted. All editing and other writing assignments must be done on the computer and must be turned in typed, double spaced with at least 12 point type. Stories edited with a pen or pencil, other than last-minute fixes, will not be accepted.
COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Class time will be divided between instruction and the practical application of each unit of study. Laboratory sessions will offer students the opportunity to complete editing or layout assignments in a controlled setting. Since most assignments will require a computer, lab time will also be used for homework assignments.
ATTENDANCE
Regular attendance is essentially important and required. University policy allows for three hours of unexcused absences for a three credit course. Absences which exceed this limit will affect the grade.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Lincoln University’s policies regarding academic dishonesty are outlined in the Catalog and are available on the Web. With regard to this course, acts of dishonesty include, but are not necessarily limited to, cheating on tests, plagiarizing material from other sources, making up material or sources of information, and/or submitting work for this course originally completed for other courses without the permissions of the instructors involved.
GRADES
Grades are based on homework assignments, quizzes, class participation/ attendance and a final project:
Final Project
Editing/Current Events Quizzes
Assignments
Class participation
Mid-Term
Final Exam |
25%
20%
20%
5%
15%
15% |
The grading scale is as follows:
Superior
Excellent
Average
Poor
Unthinkable! F |
A 94-100
A- 90-93
B+ 87-89
B 84-86
B- 80-83
C+ 77-79
C 74-76
C- 70-73
D+ 67-69
D 64-66
F 59 and below
|
Extra credit assignments can add up to one percent of your grade.
Tentative Class Schedule
Week 1:
- Introduction to copy editing and proofreading,
- Distinctions among copy-editing work for newspapers, magazines, and books
- What is a style book? Readings: Fellow & Clanin, Chapter 1
Week 2:
- News judgment, copy editing, AP style
- Development of a Copy Editor's Sensibility: An Overview
Assignment#1 is due Copy editing basics and news judgment
Reading: Fellow & Clanin, Chapter 2
McAdams, "Words About Words" (A Copy Editor's Vocabulary)
Strunk & White, Chapters I, III, and IV
“Copy Editing," Chicago Manual, pp. 40-47
"Workers on Copy and Proof," Words Into Type, pp. 57-61
Week 3:
- Standard Reference Books
- Abridged and unabridged dictionaries
- “Words Into Type” and Chicago Manual
- Webster's Biographical and Webster's Geographical Dictionaries
- Associated Press Stylebook
- When and how to use a reference book
- Becoming familiar with your frequent references
Quiz#1
Readings: Fellow & Clanin, Chapter 3
McAdams, "Reference Books" (A Bibliography for Copy Editors)
Week 4:
- Copy editing, AP style
- Headlines, Captions, and the Vocabulary of Printing
- How to write headlines, captions
- Type fonts and styles, case, accents, and special typographical symbols
- Printing measurements (points, picas, and ems and ens)
- Widows, orphans, bad breaks, and white space
- Other terminology and definitions (e.g. gutters, rules, slugs, dropout type, pullout quotes)
Assignment#2 is due. Headlines and captions and different styles
Readings: Fellow & Clanin, Chapter s 4 and 5
Week 5
- Wire services and headline writing
- Electronic Copy Editing
- Differences between editing on a computer screen and editing on paper
- Coding for typography and layout
- Special aspects of copy editing "live" on the screen
- The "cold read" compared with reading against copy
- Cost and time differentials between in-house and outside typesetting
Quiz#2
Readings: Fellow & Clanin, Chapters 7 & 8
Week 6
- Common Problems in Spelling and Punctuation
- Spelling test (commonly misspelled words)
- Strategies for improving one's spelling ability
- Common punctuation errors
- Rules of punctuation
- Debates about comma usage
Assignment#3 is due. Common Problems in Copy Editing
Readings: Johnson, Handbook of Good English, "Punctuation," pp. 81-218 Handout: A Spelling Test
Week 7
- Copy editing, Page Design, AP style
Quiz#3
Readings: Fellow & Clanin, Chapters 10 and 11
Week 8
- Subject-verb agreement
- Sequence of tenses
- Modifier placement
- Grammar "watch list"
Assignment#4 is due. Copy Editing and Page Design
Reading: Johnson, Handbook of Good English, "Grammar," pp. 1-79
Week 9
- Syntax and structural problems
- Keeping an eye peeled for scrambled syntax
- Pitfalls of antecedents
- Sneaky danglers
- Mixed metaphors
Quiz#4
Reading: Johnson, Handbook of Good English, "Revision," pp.
278-91
Week 10
- Editing and current events
- Capitalization, numbers, abbreviations, hyphenation, foreign words, etc.
- Developing a house style where none exists
- Writing a style book
Assignment#5 is due. Writing a style book
Reading: Johnson, Handbook of Good English, "How to Style Written English," 219-59.
Week 11:
- Fact checking and queries / consistency / word usage
- How much should you check?
- Balancing time against quality
- When to check and when to query
- Sexist language and racism
Quiz#5
Week 12
- Ethics, libel, photos, AP style
Assignment#6 is due. Ethics, libel and photos
Readings: Fellow & Clanin, Chapters 6 & 9
Week 13
- Ethics, libel, photos, AP style (continue)
Readings: Fellow & Clanin, Chapters 6 & 9
Quiz#6
Week 14
Guest speaker
Week 15
Review for exam
Final project due
Week 16
Final exam
