Sample Essay The Mode of Presentation of Material Determines its Shape style design

Assignment Two: GENRE CHANGE (40%)

Length: approximately 2000 words

tote: Please scan your meioses and compress large image files, and/or convert to PDF.

Components

1.       Assignment 2 is to take source information from an audio source [to be allocated], then to provide a ‘translation’, or transduction, of the material into 2of 4 possible kinds of text. The options for target genre are:

2.       Audio Source: http://www.abc.net.au/run/media report/stories/2006/1799344.htm

·   A magazine article with style guide

·   A set of ‘mobisodes’ [A 6 frame mobile or hand phone story board]

3. A 400 word commentary demonstrating your understanding of design principles and publishing issues, research skills in finding recent material in journals or media and online sources, use of academic sources to make your judgements, and your understanding of how the audience, purpose and context differ when the genre changes.

How the GENRE CHANGE relates to the course goals

The major concept in the course is genre. The mode of presentation of material determines its shape, style and design.

This assignment presents ‘the same’ material in different modes; spoken and written, print and electronic. In what ways is it ‘the same’ material? In what ways does the material differ? How does the genre determine aspects of what is and is not presented?

 

Assessment criteria for Assignment 2: Genre Change

You genre change assignment will be assessed on:

• Your comprehension of the source text, your engagement with the issues in the text, and your capacity to translate them faithfully into the target genres.

• Your flexibility in adapting the material to new forms, making the most of the opportunity to increase audience response while maintaining the integrity of the original.

• Your understanding of design principles and publishing issues as shown in your commentary, and/or as demonstrated in your applications.

• Research skills: your success in finding recent material in journals or media and online sources, your use of academic sources to make your judgements, the quality of your resources list in the commentary section.

• Your understanding of how the audience, purpose and context differ when the genre changes.

·        Editing and proofreading of final draft: spelling, punctuation and correct format.

You will not be assessed on the technical proficiency which you bring to the genre change. The assessment will not concentrate on the extent of your familiarity with the software, nor your design capability. Your intentions will be judged from your 400 word commentary.

Reading guide for genre matters

 

 

Presentation of assignments

As professional writers you are expected to deliver manuscripts and papers in an appropriate manner. General papers and assignments should be presented in the following way:

·         word processed in 11pt Times New Roman or Palatino

·         1.5 or double line space

·         3cm wide margins (for editorial comments)

·         cover sheet attached with student, course and assignment details and signed disclaimer

·         correct citation and referencing for any quoted material or references to specific authors, books, journals, websites etc; use the Harvard referencing style that can be found on Unisia's Learning Connection website or choose the ‘Harvard Unisia’ style in Endnote.

 

Presentations may also include a variety of other forms appropriate to the nature of the course and a particular publication medium.

Academic character of assignments: ALWAYS a reference list

No matter what the assignment is, it should always have a reference list.

For correct citation and referencing for any quoted material or references to specific authors, books, journals, websites etc; use the Harvard referencing style that can be found on Unisia's Learning Connection website or choose the ‘Harvard Unisia’ style in Endnote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTES

Style Guides

 

Style Guides – HOT 1

 

What are STYLE GUIDES?

 

·        guidelines to maintain consistency

·        listing of all the specifications needed in a publication

·        guidelines about the level of formality

·        decisions about spelling eg. American or English spellings

·        decisions about usage preferences eg. that or which

·        guidelines about capitalization

·        decisions about referencing and acknowledgements

·        guidelines about dates and numerals

·        etc.

Style Guides – HOT 2

 

Components which need to be considered in

STYLE GUIDES

 

·        Banner eg. name of newsletter, publication

·        Headlines eg. font, size, location

·        Photos and Illustrations eg. size, relationship to articles

·        Body copy eg. indentation, rugged RH margin, justified

·        Contents & Indexes eg. what’s inside, boxed or unboxed

·        Layout eg. columns, white space, lines, boxes

 

 

HOT 1

 

Developing a Departmental Style Guide

Ref: Jean Hollis Weber http://www.jeanweber.com/howto/styleguide.htm

 

What is a style guide, and why use one?

 

·        A Style Guide is a reference document that includes rules and suggestions for writing style and document presentation

 

·        It includes styles specific to a company or deviations from standards not in commercial guides

 

·        It contains rules (non-negotiable) and suggestions or recommendations (negotiable)

 

·        A Style Guide should be flexible to take into account changes.

 

 

HOT 2

 

Developing a Departmental Style Guide

Ref: Jean Hollis Weber http://www.jeanweber.com/howto/styleguide.htm

 

Purposes for style guides:

 

·        To ensure that documents conform to corporate image and policy, including legal requirements

 

·        To inform new writers and editors of existing style and presentation decisions and solutions

 

·        To define which style issues are negotiable and which are not

 

·        To improve consistency within and among documents, especially when more than one writer is involved or when a document will be translated

 

·        To remove the necessity to reinvent the wheel for every new project

 

·        To remind the writer of style decisions for each project, when on writer works on several projects that have different style requirements

 

·        To serve as a part of the specifications for the deliverables, when writing for clients outside your company or when outsourcing projects.

 

 

 

HOT 3

 

Developing a Departmental Style Guide

Ref: Jean Hollis Weber http://www.jeanweber.com/howto/styleguide.htm

 

What topics should not be in a Style Guide?

 

·        Process information (how we do things in this company or this department)

 

·        Design information (what our documents should look like)

 

·        Grammar and writing tutorials (the advice about the use of the conventions of writing, spelling and punctuation)

 

·        Rationale for decisions (why specific choices were made)

 

 

 

 

HOT 4

 

Developing a Departmental Style Guide

Ref: Jean Hollis Weber http://www.jeanweber.com/howto/styleguide.htm

 

What topics should be in a  Style Guide?

 

·        The version of English to use

·        The system of measurement to use

·        Any reference materials specifying variations

 such as industry standards

·        Which template to use for each type of

     document

·        What document elements eg. turtle page,

     preface, contents page etc. are needed

·        Content of headers and footers

·        Chapter and section numbering

·        What legal elements are required eg. copyright

·        Glossaries, bibliographies, footnotes and

     references

·        Caution, danger, warning notices

 

 

HOT 5

Developing a Departmental Style Guide

Ref: Jean Hollis Weber http://www.jeanweber.com/howto/styleguide.htm

What topics should be in a  Style Guide? (cont.)

·        Style of capitalization to use

·        The style of punctuation to use for lists

·        Minimum level of information to include

·        Content templates or outlines

·        Style to use for cross-references or clickable

     links

·        Whether to use within-document navigation or

 long Web page

·        Captions for illustrations and tables

·        When to use various types for highlighting

·        When to spell out numbers and when to use

     numerals

·        What to do about single source references

·        Word use (company or product specific)

·        Writing style and preferred usage

·        Acceptable jargon

·        Spelling, capitalization of names and terms

·        Abbreviations

·        Page numbering

·        Special requirements

 

HOT 6 Criteria for web evaluation:

Ref: http://webdesign.about.com/library/weekly/

aa0171801a.htm

 

·         Web evaluation must be considered in     relation to purpose and audience

 

·        Should include the following

considerations:

v            Appearance

v            Structure and navigation

v            Content

v            Usability

 

·                                          Overall design goals

v                                                               Simple

v                                                               Clear

v                                                               Consistent

v                                                               Appropriate

v                                                               Appealing

v                                                               Usable

 

 

HOT 7          Some useful web sites

 

Developing a Departmental Style Guide Jean Hollis Weber

http://www.jeanweber.com/howto/styleguide.htm

 

Style design, and process guides Jean Hollis Weber

http://jeanweber.com/howto/guides.htm

 

Criteria for Web Site Evaluation: points to remember when

performing a site critique

http://webdesign.about.com/library/weekly/aa071801a.htm

 

Style your sheet

http://www.links.net/webpub/style.html

 

Style Guide for online hypertext  W3C

http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/Overview.html

 

Writing Well for the Web  Catherine Titter

http://www.webreference.com/content/writing/

 

Columbia Guide to online Style

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/basic.html

 

Open Directory - Computers: Internet: Web design and

Development: Authoring (links to many sites)

http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Authoring/Style_Guides/

 

 

 

 

Editing and proofreading

 

Editing and Proofreading - HOT 1

 

The role of the editor

·        orders the structure and sequence of the manuscript

·        corrects grammar faults and problems in the use of conventions

·        watches for libel, obscenity, plagiarism, breach of copyright

·        provides advice to the writer re plot development, characterisation etc.

·        check illustrations and placement of them

·        prepares brief for the designer/illustrator

·        marks up the manuscript for the printer

·        writes cover blurbs and advertising material

·        manages the schedules, timelines and budgets

·        checks proofs at every production stage

·        maintains a record of corrections for future reprints or new editions

See The Australian Editing Handbook p.7 for a more comprehensive list.

 

Editing and Proofreading - HOT 2

 

Ref: OWL at Purdue University

 

Higher Order and Lower Order Concerns

 

Some Hocks

·        Thesis or focus

·        Audience and purpose

·        Organisation

·        Development

 

Some Lochs

·        Sentence structure

·        Punctuation

·        Word choice

·        Spelling

 

 

Editing and Proofreading - HOT 3

 

Ref: OWL at Purdue University

 

Proofreading strategies

 

General strategies:

·        Read aloud

·        Read with a 'cover'

·        Role-play

 

Strategies which personalise proofreading:

·        find out what errors you typically make

·        learn how to fix those errors

·        use specific strategies

 

Organisation and paragraphing

·        Thesis/Focus/Main point

·        Paragraph clarity

·        Overall coherence

 

Usage and sentence structure:

·        Subject/Verb agreement

·        Pronoun reference agreement

·        Parallel structure

 

Editing and Proofreading - HOT 4

 

Ref: OWL at Purdue University

 

Proofreading Strategies (cont.)

 

Spelling and punctuation

·        Check individual words

·        Compound sentence commas

·        Introductory commas

·        Comma splices

·        Fragments

·        Run-on sentences

·        Apostrophes

·        Left-out words/omissions

 

 

Editing and Proofreading - HOT 5

 

Ref: OWL at Purdue University (with additions from elsewhere)

 

Other issues

·        Quotation marks

·        Capitalisation

·        Active rather than passive verbs

·        Verbosity or wordiness

·        Clichés, colloquialisms or idiomatic expressions

·        Abstractions

·        Headings

·        References or acknowledgements

 

(See OWL at Purdue University paper - Editing and Proofreading Strategies for Revision)

 

Editing on-line texts - HOT 1

Will Web Publishing Change the Way We Edit?

·        Editing must change for the web, but the principles are the same

 

·        The purpose of a document is an important factor in determining the level and thoroughness of editing e.g. an internal memo may not need as close an editing as a formal annual report posted out or placed on-line to shareholders

 

·        The more formal and the more public a document is the greater the need for close editing

 

·        Need to establish a Style Guide to determine the standards and guidelines for an organisation's publications

 

·        One important differences about editing on-line and hard-copy is that on-liner documents can be changed, corrected or updated immediately while hard-copy documents have to wait until the next print run or edition

 

·        'Part of the editor's job (on paper or on-line) is to be an advocate for readers.' Keith C. Wiley

                             http://www.eeicommunications.com/eye/utw/95sep.html

 

Editing on-line texts - HOT 2

Editors checking organizational structures

·        Chunking information - small units of information are easier to assimilate and navigate

 

·        Need for a solid organisational backbone

 

·        Four basic steps in organizing information:

divide it into logical units

establish a hierarchy of importance and generality

use the hierarchy to structure relationships among the

 chunks

analyse the functional and aesthetic success of the system

 

·        Add in appropriate web links (4 or 5 is adequate)

 

·        Keep text short (but don't artificially divide it)

 

·        Organisation of information has to match users' expectations and feels natural to them

 

·        'The goal is to produce a well-balance hierarchical tree that facilitates quick access to information and helps users understand how you have organised things.'

http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/sites/site­_design.html

 

Editing online texts - HOT 3

Design features editors need to consider

·        Home page - graphics that take a long time to load but capture the attention of casual browsers; fast loading print text for browsers who know what they want.

 

·        Hierarchical or other design structures:

sequence

grid

hierarchy

web

or a blend of all four

 

·        Relevant links

 

·        Menus and submenus 

 

·        Bibliographies, indexes, appendices

 

·        Visual logic - balance between visual sensation and graphic or text information

 

·        Balance in the page design - including organization, typography, location of graphics etc.

 

·        Accessibility - including download time (critical for highly graphic menu screens).

 

Editing online texts - HOT 4

Taking into account the reader

·        On-line text read on-line needs to be concise with finely tuned graphics which complement the text, not distract from it

 

·        Pdf files to be down loaded as hard-copy can be more complex and detailed

 

·        Check that the text is consistent with how readers read e.g. left to right, top to bottom - consistent with the Gutenberg principle

 

·        Be consistent - lack of consistency distracts or confuses the reader

 

·        Ensure scan ability - 60 to 70 characters per line

 

·        'Think in screens of information, not pages.'

 

·        Ensure headers and footers provide the information readers need

 

·        Avoid all caps headings - harder to read

 

·        Avoid headings with each word beginning with a cap. - disrupts the flow of the reader's scanning

 

·        In general use down style headings - capitalize only the first word - improves legibility and hence readability

 

 

Editing on-line texts - HOT 5

Pattern and page design - advice from

      http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/sites/site­_design.html

 

 

·        The reader's eye scans the page first as a purely graphic pattern, then begins to track and decode type and page elements

 

 

·        The regular repeating patterns established through carefully organised pages of text and graphics help the reader to quickly establish the location and organization of your information

 

 

·        Patchy, heterogeneous typography and text headers makes it difficult for the user to see major patterns quickly, and makes it almost impossible for the user to quickly predict where information is likely to located in unfamiliar documents.

 

 

Editing on-line texts - HOT 6

Pattern and page design (Cont.) - advice from

     http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/sites/site­_design.html