Random Comments on Writing and Analysis

Writing

• A "prompt" is a symbol on a display screen. This course assigns questions or topics, not "prompts."  
• Introduce quotations.  See here for more detail, despite the SW errors in using state and however. 
• Avoid  phrases such as "The purpose of this paper is . . .. " or "In this paper, I will attempt to . .  ." 
• Maintain verb tense consistency.
• Media is the plural of medium.  Data is the plural of datum. These words take plural verbs.
• Never start  a sentence with a numeral.
• Learn about the apostrophe.
• In US English, periods and commas go inside quotation marks.
• Use italics for the titles of books, magazines, and newspapers.  Use quotation marks for the titles of articles or chapters.
• For references, use Arabic numerals, not lower-case Romans. 
• In footnotes and endnotes, the author's first name goes first.
• Superscripts follow the period, not the other way around.
• Do not put superscripts together.  If you are referring to more than one source in a sentence, you may put those sources in one endnote. Here is an example:
• 7 Squidward Tentacles, I Am Superior (Bikini Bottom: University of Bikini Bottom Press, 1984), 34-36; Patrick Star, Not Reading Books (Asheville: Echinoderm Press, 1987), 21-23; Spongebob Squarepants, Candide Under Water (Hollywood: Pretense Press, 1980), 4.

Analysis

• Do not assume that ownership dictates editorial policy or that editorial policy creates bias in news coverage.
• Remember that "coverage" may consist of a set of stories, not just one.
• Be careful to distinguish hard news coverage from analysis and commentary.  Also distinguish op-eds from material by the news organization's own staff.