Students will receive a participation mark for the unit. This will be based on:

• Contribution to class discussion, including editing of other students' work.
• Completion and bringing to the appropriate class of four (4) copies of:
  • Exercises in Weeks 2, 3 and 4 for editing by and discussion with peers. These exercises form the basis of the narrative article assignment and are compulsory.
  • The lead of your narrative journalism assignment in Week 6 and fresh 200-word sections of your narrative journalism article in Weeks 11 and 12 for workshopping with peers; 
  • The first 300 words of the Sydney Writer's Festival article must be brought to class in Week 9, and the completed draft article in Week 10, for workshopping with peers.

Note: This course has been designed to give students assignments that build on each other. This means it is essential that students do the set exercises and bring them to class on the dates specified in the course guide. Students will not be marked on the work they bring to class; however, each failure to do this work and bring it to class in the required week will automatically result in the loss of 5 marks from the final class participation mark, unless the student can provide a medical certificate or other evidence of misadventure. By failing to complete the requisite exercises on time, students may find the writing they submit for formal assessment is not competitive with their classmates' work.

Assessment Criteria:

Students will be assessed on their attendance and participation in class discussions, as well as on their role in the workshops as readers and editors of their own and their fellow students' work. 

Students will submit a research assignment comprised of a 500-word report and at least 6 accompanying pages. The research should be original and should be conducted towards your narrative journalism article. The report should contain: Tentative title; one paragraph outline of your article giving the angle you want to pursue; names and titles (if appropriate) of the people you want to interview with a short explanation of why you want to interview them; a short description of the field work you did and why; a reference list of the articles/multimedia you used in your background research; a reference list of archival material you may have used, e.g. birth certificate, photograph, memorabilia from the archives of the State Library, etc. And an explanation of why this research is necessary and how it will be used.

Assessment Criteria: Please also see the appropriate rubric. Students will be assessed on the thoroughness of their research; their ability to draw out an angle or point around which the story can be based, and the clarity of writing contained in the report.

Submit a 1600-word original article based on the work you have done in this course, including the class exercises and the research assignment.

When writing your article, make sure you tell an interesting story that has a point. Your piece should include facts and information, anecdote, observation, and description and possibly quotes and/or dialogue. Remember to "show, not tell". Use concrete details. Write for the senses. Feel free to write passionately and to take risks with your content and expression. Work into the story any relevant insights gained from writing the reflection (see below).

While you are encouraged to show your work to your student colleagues for feedback, please be aware that the piece you submit must be your own work. Substantial editing by other people - family, friends, colleagues or professionals - is not permitted.

Append to the story a 300-word reflection on the process of writing the story. Consider:

• Why you chose this particular story/topic. Why is it important to you?
• What issues you faced in researching the story and in converting the research into a narrative.
• Whether you found it confronting to write - and if so, how you moved through that stage to complete the piece;
• Whether you faced ethical issues in the writing (what were these? how did they affect your approach? how did you ultimately resolve them?).
• Whether the types of literary techniques you used were well chosen and worked the way you wanted them to (e.g. dialogue, a seductive opening/lead; observation and description, reflection, anecdotes, structure, etc).
• What you learned from using those techniques.
• What you learned from writing this piece. Why do you think it helped you to learn this/these thing/s?
• Other comments you would like to make.

Assessment Criteria:

Please also see the appropriate rubric. Students will be assessed on their storytelling skills including: the incorporation of the research into their story; strong wordcraft; an enticing lead and engaging ending; the flow of the story; the use of place; the use of 'captured conversation'; and how effectively they have explored their topic.

The purpose of this assignment is two-fold - to encourage participation in the Sydney Writer's Festival and to give students practice in getting to the nub of a factual story quickly, interestingly and succinctly.

Students are required to attend the Sydney Writers' Festival and write a 600-word article about the seminar that they attended.

Assessment Criteria: Please also see appropriate rubric. The article should give the reader enough information to get a solid impression of the content of the seminar. It should be written with an interesting lead. The article should answer all the reader's questions regarding the who, what, when, where and why of the seminar. It should contain quotes and/or dialogue. It should be written with flair, using some of the literary techniques discussed in the course. The clarity of the writing is important, including correct syntax, grammar and spelling. While you are encouraged to show your work to your student colleagues for feedback, please be aware that the piece you submit must be your own work. Substantial editing by other people - family, friends, colleagues or professionals - is not permitted.