Your Task: For the first assignment, you will write a personality/feature profile of another student in the class. Focus on something unique or interesting about the individual (a hobby, accomplishment, habit, etc. -- not just where the person lives), and stick to it throughout the story. DO NOT give a person's life story; find a focus.
You'll need to interview the person you profile and two people who are appropriate secondary sources. Apply your curiosity and eye for detail, as well as your skills as a writer. Treat all your interviews, work and notes professionally.
Minimum requirements: 500 words (Times New Roman 12 point font, double-spaced)
Peer Edits Due Date: Friday, Jan. 29
Due Date: Friday, Feb. 5
Your Audience: Readers of the features section of a Sunday paper, either in the subject's hometown or in the local area, your choice.
Preliminary Memo to Features Editor: A typed memo about your profile person will be due prior to the story completion. It should include the following:
- The full name of the person you will profile
- The names and job descriptions/relationships of the two secondary sources who know the person you are profiling
- What you think might be the focus of the piece
- The locale of the newspaper; name the profile's hometown paper, size of its readership, and publication cycle
- A few sentences justifying why your profile person deserves space in the features section of the Sunday paper.
- Background information and context
- Probes for interesting focus/issue, following up with related details to add depth
- Rapport with the profile subject and secondary sources