Culture-oriented English practice: Writing and editing workshop

compulsory

English Studies: Literature and Culture

1st cycle

General purpose of this course is to teach students to adequately express, elaborate and organize their ideas in a short essay forms on topics connected to writing in the media. At the end of the academic year, students should be able to:

- write strong THESIS STATEMENTS

- plan and outline an ESSAY

- write strong PARAGRAPHS: introduction, developmental paragraphs, conclusion

- write the final version of an ESSAY (400-500 words), i.e. such that explains things, employing various rhetorical/development modes.

Besides writing essays, year 2BA students also need to work on a fully-fledged RESEARCH PROJECT. The primary objective of this activity is for the students to begin writing texts supported by external sources.

Year 2

Basic knowledge and skills in media writing acquired from the 1 BA media writing course

Materials available on Moodle

1. Analyzing written language from media and culture based texts, for example newspaper articles, journals, news reports, film reviews, etc.

2. Writing in timed conditions and at home

3. Editing written texts, proof-reading texts and re-writing

13 ECTS after completing all two-semester COEP courses and passing the final exam

(First semester of a two-semester course. Next semester: 15-COEP-WEW-ES-22.)

(First semester of a two-semester course. Next semester: 15-COEP-WEW-ES-22.)

Learning contents:

1. Forms of writing in the entertainment industry (film reviews, voice over trailers, entertainment based articles

2. Politics and persuasion – writing political manifestos, speeches, spin doctor writing forms.

3. Art and culture – art critic reviews, exhibition information texts, art sections in the press.

4. Mass media – news coverage prose, headline understanding, tabloid language in the press, news releases, sensationalism in media reporting, the CNN effect. Hard news and feature writing.

5. Popular culture – forms of media writing in advertising, the Internet, the press. Electronic news writing – TV and radio

6. The travel industry – written marketing material in the travel industry, Holiday destination promotion writing, Translation and texts in the travel industry

7. Gender Issues in the media – female representation, glass ceiling, discrimination, sexism.

8. Writing for social media – blogs, social media campaigns, copywriting

9. Business communication in media writing – promotional campaigns, strategies in business and communication writing

10. Public relations – controlled and uncontrolled media, public relations writing tools.

Scott A. Kuehn and Andrew Lingwall. 2016. The basics of media writing. Sage publishing.

Hicks, Wynford. 2008. Writing for journalists (2nd edition). London: Routledge

Stovall, James. 2013. Writing Like a Journalist (Tennessee Journalism Series). Tennessee: First Inning Press. Kindle Edition.

Batty, Craig & Cain, Sandra. 2010. Media writing A practical introduction. London: Palgrave Macmillan

Evans, Harold. 2000. Essential English for journalists, editors and writers. London: Random House

Upon completion of the course and validation of its learning outcomes, the student will:

1. be able to write coherent paragraphs

2. be able to write persuasively on media topics

3. have written a research paper

4. Have practiced many forms of media writing

Assessment methods:

Submitting full-length essays

Writing critical reviews (film, art review)

Submitting short texts on media related topics

Submitting a research paper on a cultural theme of choice (1, 500 – 2, 000 words)

Assessment criteria:

Very good (5.0): excellent performance on all required skills, only very few minor errors

Good + (4.5): very good performance on all required skills, only very few minor errors

Good (4.0): good performance on most required skills, few minor errors

Satisfactory + (3.5): performs to a satisfactory degree on most required skills, few major errors

Satisfactory (3.0):performs to a satisfactory degree on most required skills, several major errors

Failing (2.0): does not meet the requirements in terms of performance.