Final Project: Class Publication Distilling Lexington due Dec.10 at 10am

Time table
9/25 Assignment Prompt Distributed
9/27 Initial Research Questions/story ideas due
10/2 Introduction to Archival Research–King Library
10/4 Meet in W.T. Young Library room TBD for Digital Research Workshop
10/11 Reading/Writing Logs due (mine these for story ideas)
11/1 Research Question/Story Pitch idea due
11/13 Examplar Story Analysis Due
11/15 Feedback Distributed
11/27 First submission final project due/in-class peer review
12/10 Final project submission; final writing logs; final reflective essays due.

The basics
You may choose to work individually or in a collaborative team to both analyze and produce a piece of Bourbon writing to be published in our class publication Distilling Lexington. You will identify and select the genre (memoir, podcast episode (10-15 minutes), distillery brochure, review, model itinerary, industry profile, (have another idea–just ask Dr. Jan), etc.), identify two models that you analyze, “pitch the story,”  and then write it. Note—these should be feature length and include primary or secondary research appropriate to the genre. Although you will identify and select your audience for this assignment, I would like it to be aiming at one of the following (or another not listed but approved by your instructor) groups not typically targeted by bourbon writing: women, African Americans, Latinx Americans, Jewish people, UK parents, UK students, LGBTQ individuals, other others?

Final Project 40% final due date Dec. 10 at 10am
Breakdown of  points: Pitch; genre analysis; research annotations; final submission/peer review and final reflective essay (5, 10, 5, 10, 5, 5)

The rationale
One of my goals for this assignment and class is that they help you prepare a pitch-ready portfolio that you can use to pursue further industry writing. As you heard Caroline Paulus of the Bourbon Review say and Liz Roach corroborate, every writer needs two sample stories, a pitch letter, and resume to be able to approach publications with story ideas. The story you write for this assignment will get you halfway toward that goal. (The second piece will be a review, but that prompt is forthcoming Oct. 10/9 with the assignment due 10/23). Additionally, since we’ll all be working collaboratively as a class to generate our own “Bourbon guide to Lexington”, we’ll have our own publication at the ready. After instructor and student approval, I will publish your stories (either as a node on our course site or, on the WRD site, or possibly somewhere more prominent) so that they will be stable links you can point to in your materials. Another goal is that our work will help revise, reshape, and expand the “traditional” image of Bourbon by targeting more inclusive audiences. All stories for our class publication will have this expansive angle. To do that work well, you will need to conduct some research–first by identifying the kind of writing you want to do (do you want to write an athlete’s itinerary with Bourbon as a highlight, or an itinerary for African American families visiting their students at UK, or a Queer guide to Lexington’s bourbon scene or…)?? To do any of these types of writing you will need to visit several locations, talk to people (interview bartenders, patrons, tour guides, distillery representatives, master distillers….), find and analyze models so that you can effectively employ or transgress genre conventions. While I can’t predict the type of questions you’ll research, I can say you will need to do research to write a good story. For each part of the assignment that you turn in separately (pitch, examplar story analyses/genre analysis; research annotations) you will receive a more specific assignment prompt closer to the time it is due.

Tips for Getting Started
Mine your writing/reading log. If you’re writing regularly in your log, you probably have several ideas already floating around. Write them out as research questions and start digging. Good ideas come from being curious, paying attention, and asking lots of questions. Sometime what begins as what you think is a simple question turns out to reveal a much more complicated story. Dan Pashman (James Beard award-winning host of the Sporkful podcast) says, “A good idea is essentially a good question with a surprising answer. The more questions you ask, the more ideas you’ll generate. Ideas are everywhere. BE CURIOUS. Be alive to the work around you. Condition yourself to notice your own question and act on them” (Presentation to UK 9/24/2018). Probably, you’ll want to identify and select the genre of writing you want to do–(go back to your log, what have you enjoyed reading, what do you want to learn how to write), and also identify the audience you want to write for (women, African Americans, Latinx, LGBTQ, athletes, Lexington college students, ??), and then go from there.

Evaluation Criteria
My hope is that each individual or team will tackle a different genre, so that our publication as a whole includes a variety of essays. The criteria for a podcast episode will be slightly different for say a industry profile of a master distiller.

1. That said, all writing should reflect a clear understanding of the audience targeted and rhetorical choices in organization and style, tone should reflect that rhetorically sophisticated understanding.

2. All the writing should reflect strong research. Even if you don’t end up quoting everyone you interview, it should be clear that you have done some interviews (if your piece requires it). For example, if you’re doing a travel-itinerary for the Lexington distilleries, you need to have visited all of them.

3. You should feel free to take risks in your writing. You will have at least one opportunity to revise, so the final product should reflect the incorporation of peer and instructor feedback.