Each week students will bring multiple copies of that week's writing exercises for in-class workshopping. The exercises will comprise short pieces, ie less than 400 words, the purpose of which is to focus on particular writing craft skills.

A detailed exercise brief will be distributed in-class week 1.

At semester end, students will choose four of their semester's exercises to be submitted for assessment. They will submit those exercises in class (1pm-3pm) on Monday 25 May 2015.

This component recognises students' active participation in weekly seminars. 

Marks for this component are earned by:

*evidence of familiarity with each week's readings, demonstrated by students' ability to contribute to discussions and analysis in class

*active engagement in workshopping fellow students' exercises and major article drafts

*students' demonstrated abilities to develop and further explore ideas and themes which arise in class

*active contributions to in-class discussions

*students bringing completed exercises each week, suitably copied ready for in-class workshopping

Task: Submit a research portfolio plus 600-word research report (to be submitted in class, 1pm-3pm on Monday 20 April)

The background research and footwork is the core, the substance and the hidden bulk of any successful piece of non-fiction writing. (Insufficient research always shows – usually as repetitive, waffly, “puffy” prose.) Solid and thoughtful research is the hidden 90% of the iceberg.

Research skills are vital, but each project presents its own unique challenges. This exercise is to help you become familiar with the broad contours and specifics of researching for non-fiction writing.

Portfolio:

Portfolio must be approximately 10-15 x A4 pages in length and include at least 4 different sources of research, such as (but not limited to):

*Interview transcript/s

*Fieldwork notes

Archival research (eg photographs and other material about particular building/s and venues, maps, early drafts of playscripts, etc – ie material you have accessed at an archive)

Objects/artefacts (include written details of them)

Your own discussion of relevant films/documentaries

Photographs

Statistics (eg. from the Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Books/literature/journalism

Scholarly journal articles

Additional readings

NOTE: Please don’t include photocopies of books/articles in your portfolio. Instead include a detailed bibliography. Please don’t include your entire interview transcript; perhaps instead just select particularly relevant sections.

*NOTE: Your portfolio must include at least one of the following research sources: interview transcript/s, and/or fieldwork.

Research Report:

Submit a 600-word research report attached to the front of your portfolio. In 2 or 3 sentences, write what your creative arts journalism article will be about, as well as the central theme/idea you are exploring, or the ‘angle’ you are pursuing. Then explain the significance of each piece of research you’ve done/collected and how you will use each piece in the final article. Set out your report under headings based on each piece of research (eg ‘Interview with XXXX’) and write a few sentences under each heading.

Marking Criteria:

You will be marked on:

Demonstrated ability to conduct in-depth, relevant research using a variety of methodologies

Demonstrated ability to synthesise this research by focusing on one or two key themes to have emerged from it

Demonstrated ability to reflect on the relevance of such research to your proposed creative arts article

Development of a substantial, well-researched piece of non-fiction writing of up to 3000 words.

A detailed assignment brief will be distributed in class.

Students will submit their major article by 5pm in the boxes in the foyer of W6A.