Some parting notes about our class

This semester's Media Writing students at UNH-Manchester.

Our final class was this week!

It's been quite a run this semester, but all good things come to an end.

In the next few days, I'll get any final notes to you individually as well as info about your grade.

As always, questions are welcome. Send me an e-mail at jeffrapsis@gmail.com or call me at (603) 236-9237.

Thank you so much for choosing this course and spending your Monday evenings with me since before Labor Day.

I hope we've all gained a better understanding of the role that clear thinking and writing will play in our lives and careers, even as how we communicate will continue to evolve and change.

Whatever happens, organizing your thoughts and then finding the best way to record and communicate them will remain a key skill as long as we continue to use language.

Thanks also for sharing so much of yourself in the various writing assignments we've tackled together.

For me, it's time well spent, as I find I learn more from you than you could ever learn from me. Really!

I also want to thank Erika Cohen and Matt Mowry of Business NH magazine for bringing the "Young Reporters Project" to our class.

Their input was valuable and also refreshing. Hey, even I get sick of hearing myself talk!

Thanks also to Ellen Ruggles and Jeff Klenotic of UNH-Manchester for their behind-the-scenes support of our class.

Now, as a final sign-off, here are the edited horoscopes that will appear in print in the Seacoast Scene edition of Thursday, Dec. 22.

These will be printed in a newspaper that circulates throughout the New Hampshire seacoast.

Let me know if you want a copy. Or you can check it out online at www.seacoastscene.net.

You created all of these for that last assignment. Nice work—even if some of them are a little disturbing. :)

Horoscopes for Seacoast Scene Dec. 22

By Holly
The Seacoast Region's leading astrologer
With help from students in Media Writing course this semester at UNH-Manchester

• Aries (March 21-April 19): Today you'll find yourself lost in your thoughts, which is amazing because there are so few of them.

• Taurus (April 20-May 20): You will run over someone special this week.

• Gemini (May 21-June 20): You will soon make a lot of money. Unfortunately, it will be in the form of severance pay.

• Cancer (June 21-July 22): This will be a long week filled with joy and happiness, minus the joy and happiness.

• Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): Reach for the stars. Or in your case, it's more realistic to reach for another bag of chips.

• Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): When life gives you lemons, then make lemonade. Too bad you can't stand lemonade.

• Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You are a person filled with inspiration. Wait, that damned autocorrect—I meant perspiration.

• Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Avoid friends who bring negativity into your life. Not a biggie for you due to complete lack of friends.

• Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You'll soon double your inner strength. Unfortunately, life is about to get three times harder.

• Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Your partner has some big news today. I said big news, not good news.

• Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Like a flower, you possess great beauty. Also like a flower, you lack a brain.

• Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): Your spouse will make your favorite meal today. Unfortunately, it will be for someone else.

Thanks again, have a great holiday season, keep in touch, and hope to see you around the school and beyond!

All the best,

Jeff Rapsis

On the menu for Monday, Oct. 24

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Okay, a couple of notes about this evening's class.

• For the first part, we'll be visited by Erika Cohen of Business NH magazine.

Erika runs a program that gives writing students a chance to collaborate with her in developing a piece for publication.

In the past couple of years, it's been part of the Media Writing course at UNH-Manchester. And so it shall be this semester!

Under Erika's guidance (and with my help, too), you'll each develop a short feature story for possible including in a future edition of Business NH.

In class, Erika will have a lot more details about how the program works.

In terms of how it counts as part of the classwork, it'll be included in the "writing assignment" portion of your grade.

So you will be required to complete a piece, but there's no guarantee of publication.

• Also, we'll go over the radio commercials and other recent assignments, review for the upcoming mid-term, and start discussing 'Into Thin Air.'

See you in class Monday night!

Follow-up to class on Monday, Oct. 17

From the N.H. Sunday News of Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016.

Couple of notes from last night's class.

But first, check out the above article, which is about a local road race in honor of James Foley, the reporter from New Hampshire who was killed by terrorists.

Notice the picture of the sign. They used 'that' for a person instead of 'who.'

Okay, maybe it's not a crime. But it strikes me as an unfortunate way to honor someone who worked with words.

Good writing matters.

* * *
Before last night's quiz, I neglected to hand out the usual "round-up" sheet that summarizes the week's reading and writing assignments.

A few people received it, but most of you left before I realized I hadn't passed it out.

So here it is below. Plus, I've e-mailed it to everyone just to make sure you have it.

Please let me know any questions. More to come...

CA 500 MEDIA WRITING: WEEK 7 WRITING, READING ASSIGNMENTS
Instructor: Adjunct Professor Jeff Rapsis
E-mail: jeffrapsis@gmail.com • Phone: (603) 236-9237

WRITING: ONE ASSIGNMENT DUE via e-mail BY FRIDAY, OCT. 21

• Please write the text for a :30 radio script for Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.

Please see separate assignment sheet. I'll post some script examples on the class blog.

Format: Send to me via e-mail as a .doc attachment. Use the e-mail to explain your pitch to “Ben.”

BLOG:

• Please get a minimum of at least one post on your blog.

Also, from now on, please include some type of art in each post.

Also, from now on, please include keywords or metatags for each post, as appropriate.

Due: Friday, Oct. 21. (I'll be looking at blogs this weekend.)

READING:

• Dynamics book: Review Chapters 1-7 for mid-term. Refer to Chapter 10 for writing assignment.
• Inside Scoop book: Please read Chapters 16, 17, and the Epilogue.

NEXT CLASS: Monday, Oct. 24. See you then!

Notes prior to our class on Monday, Oct. 17

Be honest. Don't you wish we were doing this?

Hi everyone,

Okay, rounding up what we'll do in class this week.

• Go over mid-term exam. Hand out Study Guide and discuss. (It's also posted as a page on this blog.)

• Review 'Long Copy' essays from last week. Discuss Ogilvy handout.

• Review quiz essays from last week.

• Sign up for one-on-one sessions for class on Monday, Nov 21.

INTERMISSION

• Discuss 'The Inside Scoop' and assign final reading.

• Talk about script writing and "Theater of the Mind." Go over Chapter 10 in Dynamics of Media Writing: 'Writing for Broadcast.'

• Hand out script-writing assignment.

• Look at blogs and discuss, as time allows.

• Quiz!

Also, I've been going through the blogs and trying to get feedback to everyone.

If you haven't received notes from me just yet, you will soon.

See you all on Monday at 6 p.m.!

Some notes prior to our class on Monday, Oct. 3

Good morning and happy rainy weekend. We need both—the rain and the weekend.

I'm going through material for our class and wanted to chime in with a couple of things that have come up.

1. About the blogs: A few people have asked if I'm expecting a blog post for this week.

Sorry to not be clear about this. No requirement to post anything prior to our class on Monday, Oct. 3.

We'll talk about blogs and go over this in class. After that—yes, time to get posting!

However, no problem if you've already started posting. The more, the better.

2. This week's writing assignment: A reminder that I do expect you to take a stab at writing Web copy.

I expect these by end of today. If it's not clear what you should come up with, let me post one example that I've already received.

The copy below is from Joe Riley. I think Joe did a pretty good job at getting the basic info needed, and also capturing the spirit of Ben & Jerry's.

I've formatted it below, using the exact writing he submitted, with no corrections.

“Dazs” Ben & Jerry’s
Have What it Takes to Survive?

We regret to inform you, due to an unforeseen conflict, Ben & Jerry’s will have to start actively campaigning against the Pillsbury Corporation and its subsidy, Häagen-Dazs.

On March 30th, 1984 our distributors were given an ultimatum. They were to either carry Häagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry’s. The distributors were told to stop carrying Ben & Jerry’s by July 9th, or they were going to lose Häagen-Dazs for good.

The Pillsbury Corporation is a $4 billion company, it owns Burger King, Bennigan's, and our friend on the shelf, Häagen-Dazs. We own... well let’s just say, not much.

Our Distributors are vital to us and our growth. As we do not own our own distribution, we depend heavily on them to keep us in your local stores.This ultimatum not only affects us, but it affects our distributors as well. While we want our distributors to do all the they can to keep us in the store, we know that without Häagen-Dazs many of them would not be able to make a living.

What we need now is for you, our loyal customers, to help us fight the Pillsbury Doughboy. This is not only about supporting an ice cream brand, it is about sending a message. We believe in the freedom of choice. We believe in the American dream. But most of all, we believe that what the Pillsbury Corporation is doing is illegal.

So what we ask is that you do what you can to support our fight. You, the customer, the consumer, our friends, have helped us grow this business into something more than we ever have thought possible. We are indebted to the community. Pillsbury’s unfair restriction they are trying to place go against everything we believe in.

Join the fight, toast the Doughboy

So if you're feeling clueless, Joe did a good job at coming up with something that would work well for a Web announcement.

Take special note of how the copy is broken into chunks. And also how long each chunk is.

Any questions, please let me know.

See you all on Monday evening for more writing adventures!

Round up of assignments for Monday, Oct. 3

Hi everyone,

Okay, following up after our non-class on Monday. Hope everyone is having a good first full week of autumn!

I wanted to confirm the reading assignments for this week prior to class on Monday, Oct. 3.

And I'll also add in a writing assignment that I'd like you to compete prior to our next class.

Because I'm getting it to you late, I'll give you until Sunday, Oct. 2 to get the writing assignment to me. Hope that seems fair to all

So, to repeat the reading assignments:

• In "Dynamics of Media Writing," please read chapters 7 and 8. We'll talk about this material in class next time. Chapter 7 focuses on legal issues and is particularly rich with important info.

• In "The Inside Scoop," please read through the end of Chapter 9. Pay attention to their dispute with the Pillsbury Corp. We'll use that as the basis for several writing assignments.

Speaking of which...here's the writing assignment:

• Chapter 6 of the "Dynamics" book is about writing for the Web. We'll talk more about this in our class on Monday, Oct. 3.

But for now, I'd like you to try to write some Web copy for Ben & Jerry's. Your job is to help them out in their dispute with the Pillsbury Corp. as described in Chapter 9.

In the "Inside Scoop" book, go to Page 110. The second-to-last full paragraph describes how Ben Cohen and Chico Lager felt about doing battle with a giant corporation:

"Even before we determined that what they were doing was illegal, we knew it was immoral. If we could get the word out, we felt confident that other people would react the same way we had—with disbelief, followed quickly with a sense of outrage."

So your assignment is to help them get the word out by writing up the situation from their point of view. And you'll write this specifically for the company's Web site.

(Yes, I know they didn't have a Web site in the early 1980s. This is just an exercise to work on writing copy for the online world.)

So please write up copy for a single Web page that explains the Pillsbury Corp. dispute from the perspective of Ben & Jerry's.

Can you lay it out to cause a reader to see it the way Ben and Chico do in the above quote from the book?

Please read through all of Chapter 6 in the "Dynamics" book and try to follow the guidelines of effective writing for the Web.

To help you, here's a short list of requirements for this assignment, and for Web writing in general:

1. Come up with a great headline that invites visitors to read further and learn more.

2. Break up the copy into screen-sized paragraphs, also called chunks. Generally, that means just one or two sentences per paragraph.

3. Keep it short and to the point—no more than seven or eight "chunks" or paragraphs in total. But include as much detail as you need to make the case.

4. Explain this dispute for a general audience. Use simple vocabulary.

5. And overall, do what you can to provoke the reaction that Ben and Chico want: "...disbelief, followed quickly with a sense of outrage."

What information can you include to create these feelings in your audience? What can you say?

Format: Please submit this assignment as a .doc file attached to an e-mail. Please get it to me no later than Sunday, Oct. 2 at 9 p.m.

Questions? Please don't hesitate to ping me. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do!

Blogs: I'll address these in a separate post tomorrow. For now, I just wanted to get the above assignment out to you.

Thanks and more tomorrow!

Jeff R.

Class cancelled for Monday, Sept. 26

Apologies for the short notice, but I've been called out of town today and I'm afraid I won't be available for our class scheduled for Monday, Sept. 26.

So no class this evening. On the plus side, you won't have to worry about missing any of this evening's exciting presidential debate!

I'll post more information about what I'd like you to do this week in advance of next class.

I've received almost everyone's blog info and many of them look great. Looking forward to seeing them get built out.

For this week, we will have a writing assignment. More info on that later.

And you'll need to get further with reading in the "Media Writing" textbook as well as the "Inside Scoop" book.

Specifically:

• In "Dynamics of Media Writing," please read chapters 7 and 8. We'll talk about this material in class next time. Chapter 7 focuses on legal issues and is particularly rich with important info.

• In "The Inside Scoop," please read through the end of Chapter 9. Pay attention to how their dispute with the Pillsbury Corp. unfolded. We'll be using that as the basis for several writing assignments.

And I'll post details about the writing assignment a bit later on, and will sent it by e-mail as well.

Any questions, please don't hesitate.

Thanks for bearing with me and my unpredictable schedule.

Jeff R.