Out-of-Class Story #1 -- The Rewrite

Some general observations on your first rewrite:

Doing rewrites helped your grades. The average grade on the original story was a 2.7. The average rewrite grade was nearly a 3.2. That raised the overall average final grade for this assignment to a 3.0. And that's no small increase, given that just one out-of-class story is equal to 10 -- yes, 10! -- practice stories that we do in class.

Don't simply correct what I note. Take the opportunity to step back and look at your story in total. You're not writing it from scratch, so you have the time to just read it and see if it sounds like a sensible story to someone who may be encountering your topic for the first time and who has no prior knowledge of anything you're writing about.

Ask yourself, does it flow the way you want it to? Is it logically sequenced? Do any changes you make create the need for a restructuring of your story to make it read the best? Would it make sense to your grandmother if you gave it to her to read?

Don't be afraid to play with your story a bit and to fine-tune it beyond my suggestions. The worst thing that could happen is that your grade would be no worse off than before.

Make sure you spell people's names correctly! Someone fataled the spelling of a name. I know that because I compared the person's name to what was listed at MSU People Search.

That person received a major break because I did not catch the same fatal on their original paper. This one time only, I will not dock the person for the original fatal. The next time, your grades will be subject to revision if I subsequently find a fatal that I missed while originally grading the assignment.

Whenever you interview any subject, don't assume you know how their name is spelled. Ask them to spell it out for you. Each time. Every time. You know what happens when you assume.

Make sure that you get contact information for your sources, and that you list their contact info after your story! First, you should be getting contact info in case you have questions later. Second, I want to be able to contact your sources randomly and verify the information you gathered.

Neutral experts help! One of you did a story on the lawsuit against Taco Bell, alleging it uses subpar meat. You got statements from the lawyers behind the suit. And Taco Bell. And an MSU professor who specializes in food law!

Another one of you did a story on STDs, and you found a professor in Alabama who happens to head an international STD association. That person was able to help rate a vaccine that was developed by a pharmaceutical company that has a profit motive in touting the drug. The prof, of course, has no similar motive. He's just calling it like he sees it, based on his expertise.

Good gets!