On Being Presidential: New thread for Monday, Nov. 15, blog assignment

Hello, everyone.

Here's a new thread for your 600-word presidential speech analysis posts. Refer to Wilcox Chapter 15 and go to External Links on the course Blackboard site. Refer to the Boston Globe file Alyssa provided. Also revisit the sites we accessed in class to hear and read the speeches. The JFK speech is 14 minutes; the Obama speech about 20 minutes. You'll find the text of the JFK speech at www.bartleby.com, along with many other writing references.

Feel free to write up to 1,000 words for extra credit. You also may want to comment on the San Francisco mayor's veto of the McDonald's Happy Meal ban some of you cited in last week's thread. Hmm. What do you think happened there from a public relations standpoint?

Here's to clear thinking and concise writing. Let me know if you have questions about what to do.

P.S. We'll have a guest lecturer in class next week: Peter Grefrath, vice president of corporate communication at Trust Company of the West (TCW). He'll present an overview of financial writing.

Now, back to blogging.

New thread for Monday, Nov. 8, blog assignment

Here's a new thread for your Monday, Nov. 8, blog assignment. You may respond to your classmates' posts or suggest a new topic within your post. Write a total of 600 words in one or more blog posts between now and 6:20 p.m. Monday. Feel free to write more. You'll get extra credit for thoughtful topics and well-written posts up to a total of 1,000 words. That's not as much copy as you think.

Good luck and good blogging. I look forward to reading your posts.