Hi all,

Want to meet for a half hour WITH BOTH LABS (Tuesday and Thursday’s group) at the Digital Media Lab at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

(Thursday group, if any of you have other obligations at that time, please send me a note immediately).

Reason for the change is to give both labs equal time with this week’s assignment, as well as ample time to research/report your features. This will be the last in-class assignment of the semester.

Assignment: Go down to Happy Park (Sun Yat Sen Square) and spend at least15 minutes standing or sitting in one place and write down what you observe – be as specific as possible so you can set the scene for your reader who won’t have the chance to see what you see.

WRITE THREE DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPHS

Deadline: For both labs due by 9 p.m. Friday. Name document: Park (“Your name here”) with the same subject line: Park (Your Name Here)

COMMENTS:

Use all your senses – smell, too!

Be wary of making assumptions, and avoid stereotyping

-       details can avoid that

-       show don’t tell! Stereotypes tell, details show!

-       What’s a “foreigner”? “Non-Chinese”? That fair?

Cultivate an obsession with details

-       if there are shadows/clouds, what shape are they?

-       If someone has a handbag, what color is it, how heavy does it look based on how it’s being carried?

-      Eavesdrop! Listen to what others are saying. What’s going on?

Reading – details in feature stories.

Have a read of this incredible story series, which won the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing last year: http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/9151

Note the incredible detail, and more importantly, imagine all the questions the writer must have asked and researched to get this level of detail.

Feature story drafts – if you want me to review a draft of your feature, please send the draft no later than Friday April 20 at 9 p.m.

Final draft of your feature story is due by 11:59 p.m. Friday April 27.

Questions? Let me know.

-Kevin