COMM-200 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Wordpress, Vivid Band, Test Act
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
COMM-200
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Communications 200-002
Professor Young
January 19, 2017
-Good writing is:
●Simple
● Efficient
●Precise
● Clear (no ambiguity)
● Modest-not showing off how “smart” you are
● Authoritative
●Writing to inform, not to impress
-Basic techniques:
●Write simply
●Use simple sentences- use active voice constructions (subject-verb-object)
○Ex: Billy hit the ball. (active) VS The ball was hit by Billy. (passive)
●Vary sentence type and length
○Don’t be predictable
○Varying structure provides cadence, pacing
○Use combination of sentence types to keep readers engaged
●Embrace brevity
○Use the minimum number of words to make your point
○“Less is more”
●Eliminate jargon, cliches and bureaucratese/corporate-speak
●Nouns and Verbs
○Strongest words in the English language
○Most important tools in writer’s toolbelt
○Writing that relies on adjectives and adverbs is weak and ineffective
○Verbs describe action-the best ones paint a picture in reader’s mind
●Writing for Mass Media
○Subject matter
■Writers must take on a variety of topics and deliver across a variety of
topics
○Purpose
■Writing for communications has 3 major purposes:
○Writing environment
○Audience:demographics, interests, medium, device, investment
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Today, American University campus police arrested five students for disorderly conduct and
charged several others with organizing a public meeting without a permit to do so, after more
than a thousand students gathered outside MGC to support university workers.
-Homework: Read chpts 1-3, do exercises 1.9 on pg.10, 1.13, and 1.14; and prep for new quiz
January 22, 2018
Stages of writing:
●Gathering information
●Thinking and planning
●Listing
●Writing the message as you would tell it verbally
●Rewriting
●Sharing/reading aloud
●Editing/polishing
Grammar and Good Writing:
●Subject/verb agreement
○Ideally, you should include only one or two ideas per sentence MAX.
○Dependent clauses
○Keep your subject and verb close to each other
○Subjects and verbs often get separated in writing, usually because we want to tell
the reader something about the subject before we get to the verb. When we do
this, even for good reasons, we risk confusing the reader
●Subordinate clauses
○Use them sparingly
●Subject -verb-pronoun agreement
●Singular pronouns: anyone, anybody, each, everybody, everyone, somebody, someone,
no one, nobody, neither, either
●Media is plural, medium is singular; data is plural, datum is singular
●Active/Passive voice
○Ok to use passive voice when the subject isn’t clear or important OR to emphasize
the importance of the object
Homework: complete exercise 1.15 “autobiography” print out and bring to class on Friday; read
ch.4
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Modest-not showing off how smart you are. Use simple sentences- use active voice constructions (subject-verb-object) Ex: billy hit the ball. (active) vs the ball was hit by billy. (passive) Use combination of sentence types to keep readers engaged. Use the minimum number of words to make your point. Writing that relies on adjectives and adverbs is weak and ineffective. Verbs describe action-the best ones paint a picture in reader"s mind. Writers must take on a variety of topics and deliver across a variety of topics. Writing for communications has 3 major purposes: Today, american university campus police arrested five students for disorderly conduct and charged several others with organizing a public meeting without a permit to do so, after more than a thousand students gathered outside mgc to support university workers. Homework: read chpts 1-3, do exercises 1. 9 on pg. 10, 1. 13, and 1. 14; and prep for new quiz. Writing the message as you would tell it verbally.
