Required texts, available at Goering's Books and Bagels:
    Amy Einsohn, The Copyeditor's Handbook (referred to in the timetable as "Einsohn")
    Brian S. Brooks, James l. Pinson, and Jean Gaddy Wilson, Working with Words (referred to in the time table as "WW"
    Diana Hackett and  Barbara Fister, Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age (referred to in the time table as "R&D")
Other required materials: one pack of 3X5 index cards; one notebook or folder for your "portfolio" (see below)                  ,

The purpose of this course is to learn what professional editors, especially the variety known as "copyeditors" or "proofreaders," do, and how to do it. The class will be subdivided into work groups, who will function as editors for several projects written by members of the group. Students will write, edit, and rewrite several items, and they will review and extend their knowledge of English grammar, mechanics, and usage.

GRADES:
15% Edited review
10% Edited proposal
25% Edited article
15% Quizzes
25% Class Portfolios  List of Items
10% Attendance
 

EXPLANATION OF GRADED ITEMS

Edited review
    Each of you will read a book related to the subject of the course and write a review of it (500-700 words). You will edit the drafts of the reviews written by all the members of your work group. Using the help the editors have provided, you will write a final edited version of your review, on which your grade for this project will be based.

Edited proposal
   Each of you will write a proposal for the article you  will later write.  This proposal should describe the article in such a way as  to persuade a publisher that he or she would like to publish an article on that topic and that you are someone who is capable of writing it.   It should be no longer than about 350 words. You will edit the drafts of the proposals written by all the members of your work group. Using the help the editors have provided, you will write a final edited version of your proposal, on which your grade for this project will be based.

Edited article
    Each of you will write an article (2000-4000 words) on a topic and for an audience of your choice. This should be the kind of article that might appear in a national magazine or scholarly journal, not a news story or a personal essay.  Look at magazines like Harper's, The New Yorker, Discovery, O,  or specialized magazines, either for the general public or for experts in the field, on a subject that interests you.  You may plan illustrations, tables, graphs, etc., for your article, but if so, you are responsible for finding out how to edit such materials. You will edit the drafts of the articles written by all the members of your work group. Using the help the editors have provided, you will write a final edited version of your article, on which your grade for this project will be based. .

Quizzes:
Times and topics are listed in the Timetable.  There will be three quizzes.

Portfolios
    Your portfolios must contain all the editing exercises you do, including the editing of your fellow students' work . Portfolios will also include style sheets, exercises from Einsohn, and copies of the earlier drafts of your review, proposal, and article. In short, each draft you write of one of your projects, and each comment you write on a fellow student's project, counts as a written assignment.  You must keep a copy of all written assignments in your portfolio.  These will ordinarily be the copies that I return to you, with comments and scores.  Note that whenever you turn in a copy of a draft of your review, proposal, or article, you will need not only a copy for me and a copy for yourself, but also copies for each of your work-group members.  When you edit someone else's work, you will need a copy for that person, a copy for me, and a copy for yourself.   NOTE: work may be circulated by email.  Moreover, work that is to be exchanged with other members of your work group and is turned in  late SERIOUSLY inconveniences everyone in your work group.  Since you ought to be able always to turn in material on time either in person or by email, there will be a grade penalty for such work when it is late.  (Work such as exercises from the texts, however, may be turned in late without grade penalty, since you then injure no one but yourself.)

Attendance
    Everyone starts with 57 points for attendance. If you are present, prepared, and participating, you receive an additional point. Since there are 43 class meetings, obviously you can achieve a grade of 100% in this aspect of the course if you attend every class. Excused absences count neither for you nor against you, but if you are absent without an excuse, a point will be subtracted from your attendance total. If you demonstrate that you are present in body but not in mind (for example, by arriving very late without a reason, by not being prepared, by wasting your work group's time), you will lose that day's attendance point.   The reason for this policy is that discussing their writing with the other members of your work group is very important to them, just as their responses to your writing can be very helpful to you.  If you are absent, your whole group is inconvenienced.  Therefore, you will need a pack of 3x5 index cards (please use correct size).  Each day you are present, you will turn in a card with your name and the date on it.  You may also write comments and questions on these cards, so that the issue you are concerned about will be dealt with in class, or by a note from me.

Extra credit opportunities:
        You may earn one or more attendance points or portfolio points by bringing in examples of bad editing that you spot in the media, textbooks, internet, etc. I may announce other ways to earn extra credit, or you may suggest them.  Extra credit will be used first to make up any deficiencies in your attendance grade; if that grade is 100, extra credit will add to your portfolio grade.

TIMETABLE

Week One (August 23-27) Role of the Copyeditor

For Wednesday: Read Einsohn 1-28.  Begin learning copy-editing symbols and procedures.  See WW inside back cover, Einsohn 29-39. 
                           First portfolio assignment.  Turn in copy-edited version of this this syllabus.    look for typographical errors, ommissions, and inconsistencies.  Some are deliberate; you may also catch some I made by accident.  Ignore issues of spacing betweeen entries, but do not ignore inconsistencies of indentation.  Remember to use queries instead of marking the same item repeatedly.

For Friday: Begin Editing Exercise 2.  Print out a copy to bring to class.  It is available here
                  Bring in the book you plan to review.    You will find an annotated bibliography of appropriate books on pp. 62-65 of Einsohn and  an unannotated bibliography on pp. 353-356 in WW.  You will probably want to avoid books with any of the following words in their titles: Dictionary, Encyclopedia, Guide, Handbook, Manual, Style Book. Such books are usually intended to be consulted, not read through.  To find other possibilities, including books published in the past year, find out the subject heading for a title that interests you and see what other books are available when you search under that heading, either in LUIS or on the internet.  Amazon.com is a useful source for current titles; the books they sell are usually described and sometimes reviewed or excerpted.  Only one person in a group can review any given title.

Week Two (August 30-September 3) Other Editorial Tasks 

For Monday read Einsohn 39-53, 377-84; check out one of the web sources listed in WW, p. 183.

For Wednesday: turn in a brief description of the book you have selected for review; you should be at least half-way through it.
                        Turn in completed version of Editing Exercise 2. 

For Friday portfolio work: practice with editing symbols. Today, if not before, you should begin discovering what you already know and what you have to learn.  General note:  The safest assumption is that there will be some form of portfolio work every day, except the days on which there are announced quizzes. People may make up portfolio work missed because of absence only if the absence is excused. Download and begin working on Editing Exercise 3

Week Three (Sept.6-10) Identifying and punctuating independent sentences. 

Monday: Labor Day, No Class

For Wednesday: Read: Einsohn 71-78, 111-13, 114;  WW 16-22.
 

 For Friday:  TURN IN your review, draft 1; include copies for everyone in your workgroup, as well as one  for me.  Be sure to keep a for yourself.
  If you turn in this or any other material by email, send the file in RTF format to me and to all the members of your group.  Print out copies of your own review and those of your colleagues if they are sent by email.  You will need a paper copy for class discussion.Week Four (Sept. 13-17) Joining clauses. 

Read: Einsohn 78-86, 104-06; WW 23-25, 99-101, 164-68. 

On Monday,TURN IN edited copies of the reviews written by all the other members of your work group.  You will need one copy for the author of the  review, one copy for me, and probably one for yourself.  In class, you and the other members of your group will discuss what the editors suggested and how they suggested it.  Your goal is to help each other become better editors, as well as better writers.
Also, add Exercise A in Einsohn to your portfolio.  Note: All exercises in Einsohn have answer keys in the back, so they are not opportunities to score points for a grade. They are like physical exercises, opportunities to learn. Suggestion: make three copies of each exercise. Do the exercise once without looking at the key. Then check your work against the key. Circle any difference between your work and the key that surprises you. Look up the same points in WW; compare the information there with the information in Einsohn. Make an entry in the notes you will keep for yourself about your own problems with correctness--everyone has a personal set. Wait a while. Then try the same exercise again. Compare your new effort with the key and with your first effort. If you still have something to learn, come back to copy three. At least one completed copy must be in your portfolio. You will receive portfolio points for doing the work, not for getting the answers right.

On Wednesday:  the grammar and punctuation of clauses, especially independent clauses.

For Friday:  TURN IN Editing Exercise 3

Week Five (Sept. 20-24) Setting off phrases. 

For Monday: Read Einsohn 86-92, 95-104; WW 175-80. Do Einsohn exercise B

For Wednesday: TURN IN draft two of your review (copies for all as before).

On Friday: practice quiz on editing punctuation and other portfolio work.

Week Six(Sept 27-Oct 1): Indicating omissions and creating compounds 

For Monday: Read Einsohn 92-95, 106-111;  WW 34-35, 86-89,  180-81.  Look over list in WW pp. 1196-214.

For Wednesday: TURN IN edited versions of draft 2 of work group members' reviews, two copies. 

FRIDAY: Quiz 1, Editing Punctuation
 

Week Seven (October 4-8) Spelling and Capitalization

For Monday: Read Einsohn 121-70; WW 184-93, 214-16.   Examine pp. 343-52; most of the wire service "rules" are acceptable or preferred by other publications.  Do Einsohn exercises C, D, E, and F.
                    For portfolio: Turn in the call numbers for all items in our library in one section of the research bibliography section of  R&D.  Verify the web addresses for the web sources in your section.  Each person will be assigned a different section.  If you have a preference, let me know ASAP.

For Wednesday: Read "Writing a Proposal'" in Thinking like your Editor, by  Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato (on reserve)

For Friday: TURN IN draft 1 of your article proposal--copies for all.   This proposal should include a cover letter indicating what (real or  imaginary) magazine or journal you are writing for.

Week Eight (October 11-15) Quotations and References

Read: Einsohn 196-215, 274-296; WW 169-75; R&D 1-30,65-66, 101, 126, 176, 209, 232.  Scan R&D 259-end for future reference. Do exercises I and M. 

For Wednesday: TURN IN acceptance or rejection letters for each proposal written by a member of your group.  These letters should be helpful; if you think a real editor would turn the proposal down, explain why; if you think it would be accepted, say so, but make clear what you like and expect.  Acceptance of a proposal does not necessarily mean acceptance of the article, so, as an editor or agent, you try to avoid wasting your own time, as well as the  author's, by giving good feed back at this stage.

Friday:  Practice quiz on spelling, capitalization, and methods of including quotations.  In groups, exchange quizzes and try to identify what each person should review for the real quiz on Monday.  If you have no other problems, review the "frequently mispelled words" lists.
 

Week Nine (Oct. 18-22)  Forms for Citing Evidence; 

MONDAY: Quiz 2, Editing spelling, capitalization, quotations

Wednesday: Select your preferred format for notes and bibliography.  Be sure you KNOW the material in the quick reference guide relative to that format.  Read carefully the detailed description.  Practice with formats. 

Friday: Other technicalities: Read: Einsohn 216-41; skim 242-270.
            TURN IN draft 2, article proposal
 

Week Ten (Oct. 25-29) Grammar: Content words; placement of modifiers 

Monday: Read: Einsohn 335-60

Wednesday: Read  WW   27-53, 55-95
                    TURN IN edited versions of group's proposals
 Friday: Problems with modifiers and verbs.

Week Eleven (November 1-5) Function words; connections and consistency 

Read: Einsohn 361-76;  WW 96-100.

Wednesday:  TURN IN draft 1, Article.  Since this project is longer, each of you will be the primary editor for only ONE member of your workgroup.  You will need only three copies of the drafts of your article: one for yourself, one for the student editor, and one for me.

Friday: practice editing grammar.

Week Twelve (Nov. 8-12) Beyond grammar; usage, fairness, style

MONDAY Quiz 3 - Editing grammar

W: Read Einsohn 384-420
    TURN IN edited drafts of the articles. Make a copy of your edited version for me, as usual, {The remainder of this assignment will be replaced with in-class discussion on Monday} but give the copy you have made for the author to another member of your group.  That person should read the edited version and make a list of questions for you and for the author -- possible overlooked errors, proposed changes they don't agree with, reactions to the tone of queries, and suggestions for strengthening the article. Make a copy of this list for the editor, one for the author of the article, and one for me.   On Monday your whole group will discuss each of the articles, trying to help each author write a great second draft.   In these comments, however, you will also be trying to help the editors improve their editing skill.s
F: No class--Homecoming. 

Week Thirteen (Nov. 15-19) Usage
   M:   Read WW 102-104, 221-34.
         Discuss  editing of articles.  Receive your edited article.

W:  Read WW, lists of misused words and terms, beginning on pp. 104, 113,  233, 240, 283
Browse through the list looking for surprises, and in your personal notebook, list not only things these authors teach you that you need to know, but also tricky words you come across that they omit. One omission is "disapprove of/disagree with." 

Friday: TURN in draft 2 of articles.  

Week Fourteen (Nov. 22-26) Working with authors

M:  Bring  in edited copy of your colleague's second draft. Author conferences.
W.  In class: discuss improvements for final drafts. Possible extra-credit grammar quiz.

NO CLASS Friday (Thanksgiving)

Week Fifteen (Nov. 29-December 3) Putting it all together

M. In class: practice job test.  Go over portfolios.
W. Discuss final drafts of articles in groups.
F. TURN IN portfolios, except for material due next week.TURN IN Final versions of reviews, proposals. In class, go over portfolios. 

Week Sixteen (December 6-8):
M. Turn in  final version of reviews and proposals.  Q&A time.
W. TURN IN Final versions of articles.  In-class editing exercise.