Quickie Profile, due Monday

This was one of my first assignments in my journalism class...thank you Max Utsler and Rick Musser...

This assignment gets you familiar with interviewing someone, and you get to write a little bit.

**On Friday you will find a partner, interview him/her in class and by Monday you will bring two copies of your profile to class**

The assignment: Do a profile on a partner following the magazine format you'll see when you scroll down. You'll write exactly 130-135 words. No more, no less. The following profile was written to a very specific format with pictures and text. Follow the format. Complete the assignment by Monday. Give a printed copy to the person you profiled. They will comment on it when we meet next week.

The audience: The profiles are from Ingram's Magazine. The monthly feature was written for the magazine's audience of middled-aged, Kansas City white guy business leaders with an average income of $85,000 plus and a managerial position.

The purpose: A quick read on interesting people written in an up-beat, conversational style.

Readable copy. Upbeat, 5 pts
Subject/Verb/Object construction, 5 pts
Organized well. Story has a beginning, middle and end, 5 pts
Follows Format. 5 pts

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example:

A-MUSED ARTIST: With three months of backlogged commissions, Corbin quit his advertising job eight years ago to become a full-time sculptor. "I was pretty naive," says Corbin, 40. "Now, if I don't have a year to a year and a half of projects going, the schedule seems light." Locally, the artist's work in bronze can be seen at the Firefighter's Fountain on 31st Street and at the soon-to-be-completed Children's Fountain in North Kansas City. Farther afield, his artwork appears in Singapore's Royal Sporting Club.
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Tips:

Identify students by class and hometown: Some copy editors will insist that you always do it all the first time. Example: "Michelle Sherwood, Tulsa, Okla., junior." However, some good writers know that for features and profiles you can identify them just by name and, soon after that, use a second reference like, "The Tulsa, Okla., sophomore said..."

Use last name on second reference, like so: Sherwood said that it would be hard to get a passing grade if students didn't take this class seriously. (NOT Michelle said)

Quotes should say something: Use direct quotes to advance the story. Don't use direct quotes simply to convey facts or numbers. Use them to convey emotion, opinion, or insight. Beware of empty cliches--especially things like: "I'm excited about..." or "I really love it at..."

Attach attribution to all direct quotes, like so: "Pay attention to tense when you use attribution," said Michelle Sherwood, lecturer of journalism. Do not "float quotes." Not like this: "Sometimes you use past tense and sometimes you use present." WHO SAID THAT? Attach the "source says."