Exemplar Analysis and Story Pitch due Tues. Nov. 13
Overall Timetable for Final Project
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)
11/13 Research Question/Story Pitch Exemplar 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
For this assignment you will complete two important and related tasks. First you will identify and analyze two “exemplar” stories for the type of article you wish to write. For example, if you wish to write an itinerary, you will identify two sample itineraries and analyze them. Your analysis does not have to be a formal written rhetorical analysis essay, but it should be 500-700 words, identify the publication date, place, and author. It should identify the target audience, the rhetorical goal of the writing, and the relative success of the essays for their respective intended audience. You will highlight two examples from each exemplar of writing you’d like to emulate. For example, you might quote from the introduction and explain “I like the way this introduction works to create a mood by including rich, descriptive language such as, “…..” In my essay, I hope to…. You will also identify two things from each example that don’t work so well, and explain why and how you will try to avoid such misfires in your own story. You may include as many examples of writing you like or find interesting, as you wish, as long as you include interpretive analysis that explains why. Same goes for the examples of things you don’t like or about which you feel ambivalently.
Once you’ve performed your exemplar analysis you will be better prepared to write your story “pitch.” Your pitch should be no more than 500 words, and it is probably better if it is more like 250-300, and it should carefully identify the following: your audience, your rhetorical purpose for writing the essay, how the piece fits within the overall audience/goals of our class publication “Distilling Lexington,” the research you’ve already conducted (be specific, i.e., I interviewed the bartenders at Goodfellows and the Town Branch Distillery sampling bar to learn more about cocktail construction and ascertain recommendations for the recipe, the research you plan to conduct (be specific; i.e., I’ve visited Town Branch Distillery, and I plan to visit Bluegrass Distilling, Old Pepper Distilling, and Barrel House to do a full review of Lexington’s distilleries), additional exemplars you plan to read, quote, or incorporate, and the total word count you anticipate. Remember final completed stories should be a minimum of 1000 words.
Following the directions in the link below, submit your “pitch” as an email to Dr. Fernheimer. In your pitch include a link to a shared Googledoc named as WRD225_ExemplarAnalysis_Yourfirstnamelastinitial, so I can comment directly. Share it with me with editing privileges turned on.
The pitch and exemplar analysis are worth 15% of your final grade for the course.
Tips for Getting Started
- Read a lot of different types of stories, or similar stories for different venues.
- Try to get a sense of the rhetorical moves common to the genre/medium.
- Do your exemplar analysis first, and use it to build your credibility in your pitch.
Read the following for how to write an effective pitch
https://medium.com/@jfagone/how-do-you-pitch-a-freelance-story-to-a-site-or-a-magazine-f02e8f4fecfa
Evaluative Criteria