The End!

Janet, Michael and I would like to thank everyone for all the hard work they put into the course this year. Please remember that final papers are due today in hard copy. Today’s presentation (notwithstanding the fire alarm - no joke!) by Stacy Allison-Cassin and Andrea Kosavic was really outstanding. If you missed it take the time to review their slides. There’s a lot of useful information about author rights and avenues for publication in our increasingly digital mediascape.

 

Final Paper Due in Lecture on 1 April

This is an important reminder to bring your FINAL PAPER IN HARD COPY with you to lecture on 1 April next week. Your paper must also be accompanied by your marked first draft as well as your research log and original approved proposal. NO EXTENSIONS. NO E-MAIL SUBMISSIONS. Happy revising!

 

Lecture on Tuesday 18 March

Take advantage of next week’s lecture on revision to help you move from first draft to final copy. Michael, who will give this lecture, has worked for years as a professional writer. Show up and benefit from his experience!

 

Tutorial Reminder

Please remember to bring a HARD COPY of your first draft with you to tutorial this week. You will need it for a peer-editing exercise that will count for 2% of your final grade.

 

Important Reminders

Here are a few important items to keep in mind over the next few weeks:

• Next week, on 4 March, we have another lecture (no tutorials/labs that week). See Syllabus for details.
• Your first drafts are due in lecture next week on March 4th. Remember that we require a hard copy of your first draft so please bring it to class with you. Electronic submissions of the first draft will not be accepted.
• Please also bring a hard copy of your first draft to tutorial/lab the following week of March 10th. These will be used for an in-class peer editing exercise. Attendance and participation in this exercise are worth 2% of your final grade. This is an easy mark but you have to show up to earn it.
• If you haven’t picked up your graded original proposal and bibliography/research log make arrangements to do so with your tutorial leader. You should have the comments we have written on these assignments as you move ahead.

 Happy writing!

 

Who is Barack Obama?

Philip Guedalla observed that “Biography is a very definite region bounded on the north by history, on the south by fiction, on the east by obituary, and on the west by tedium.” In the first half of our lecture on 26 February I’ll discuss some of the uses and abuses of biography and introduce you to a range of key tools and resources that will be at your fingertips when you need to know who’s who and what’s what. In the second half Janet will discuss the ins and outs of genealogical research: a very focused and intense type of research that often involves traipsing through graveyards and digging around in dusty archives - the sort of stuff you see Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey doing in Fool’s Gold. But without all the romance.

My jumping off point will be the following video recently posted on YouTube about Barack Obama:

 

Reading week & statistics

Have a restful (and possibly even productive) reading week everyone. See you all next week.

PS: Here is a link to Walter’s presentation slides on statistics and data for review purposes.

 

Lecture next week

Benjamin Disraeli famously remarked that there are “lies, damn lies, and statistics.” In spite of the bad rap, every professional writer needs to know how to use (and hopefully not misuse) statistics to make a point. On Tuesday 5 February Walter Giesbrecht, York’s Data Librarian, will give you an essential overview of how to find statistics about a wide number of fields including culture and the arts; business, industry and trade; crime and justice; education; the environment; health and medicine; income and labour; and population and politics.

 

 

Three sites

One of the things we’ll be working on this week in tutorial is a government documents exercise. Here are two important sites to keep in mind:

• York Libraries’ Guide to Government Documents
• Overview of the Federal Government

You might also want to spend some time familiarizing yourself the following Chart of the United Nations. The UN is one of the world’s largest publishers. You can click on any of the organs or agencies listed in this chart to be redirected to that organ’s or agency’s website. Most of these sites have links for either documents, news releases, or both.  

 

Proposal due in lecture 22 January

Just a little reminder that your proposal is due tomorrow in lecture. See the Major Research and Writing Assignment for details and the post below made on 8 January for a few hints. And remember that your proposal should not me more than one page in length.