Department of Communication Studies
College of Arts, Media, and Communication
California State University, Northridge

Christie Logan, Ph.D.

Communication Studies 454
Communication and Technology

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Tips for Written Assignments
(online and hard copy)

Writing Quality Counts

Newsgroup posts are written assignments and should be free of errors. Compose your posts in a word processing program, spell check and edit to correct all errors, and *always* save it to a file - and then copy and paste it to the newsgroup. Beware - Formatting doesn't always translate easily. Before you post, use the "preview" function in the "compose" window of the newsgroup to be sure your formatting is correct. The first time you post, you might want to use the "for practice only" section of the newsgroup to make sure you're doing it correctly. Also see Ben Attias's Internet Style Guide for great advice on formatting. In all cases, test your links to make sure they're live.

Mechanical & Stylistic Competence is Required: Students are responsible for proper spelling, grammar, usage and syntax in all posted and hard copy assignments. If you need help in these areas, I urge you to use the services of the Writing Lab of the Learning Resource Center located in the Student Services Building, room 408. Workshops and individual tutoring are available free to all CSUN students. There is even an online writing lab. In-class Free Writes will not be graded on mechanics.

Papers submitted in hard copy must be double-spaced, with headers and numbered pages.

Use full & correct citations: Consult UC Berkeley's Resource Page for Citing Resources [Print & Electronic] for what's required in a citation. Web pages generally have authors, titles, dates, etc. All the proper information may not be there but you must cite the information that is available rather than just the URL. For this class, use Modern Languages Association [MLA] style manual format - print out this MLA template for citing various kinds of sources.

Substance and Quality of Your Thinking Counts

Construct Clear Claims and Support Main Points with Evidence: Be sure that the topic of your work is significant, relevant and clear to the reader. Explicate your perspective and position clearly and thoroughly. In your analysis be sure that you are rigorous in your thinking and specific in your language. Be sure that the substance of your argument is logical and persuasive. Avoid relying on unsupported assertions. At the very least cite specific examples and other forms of evidence to support your claims.

Title your presentation thematically: Okay, so this is "DQ #3" or the "Issues" paper -- what distinguishes yours from the others? What theme are you exploring, what idea are you promoting, what issue are you raising? Your title is the first impression an audience has of your work - draw us in with something interesting and thought-provoking. Titles like "Internet Dating" provoke a barely stifled yawn whereas titles like "What's Love Got to Do with It: Virtual Mates or Real Mistakes?" make me want to read more.

Write Scholarly Essays, not Pop Reviews or Advertisements: It is fine to talk about the wonders of iPods or NetNannies, but please remember that your overall goal is to assess the significance of the issue you're addressing in a scholarly context (focusing especially on the impact on communication.) You are not getting paid by Apple or Microsoft to proclaim the wonders of their products; you're a researcher and analyst, an academic working for and with the class.

The Devil is in the Details

Post to the proper section of the newsgroup: The newsgroup sections are organized by assignments - please be sure you post your assignments to the correct section of the course newsgroup in order to receive credit for your work. Each assignment should be posted to a separate section (topic heading) of the newsgroup. Also, please title your post in the subject heading.

Follow Assignment Guidelines: The Issues Paper and Final Project are research assignments. These are meant to be more than your personal reactions to the issue (although these are important too). Demonstrate that you have surveyed relevant research on the topic as indicated by the assignment, and cite your sources when quoting or paraphrasing. Add a bibliography or a list of links to relevant sources to your work. These links can be incorporated into the text as it is organized or included in a list at the end. Use full web addresses using the http:// format and double check for typos (see above). Please be sure that your work satisfies the requirements of the assignment before posting it to the newsgroup and handing it in.

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Last update: February 5, 2005