Now at the conclusion of the term, I have yet to surmount any such hardships. The incorporation of blogging into the class seemed like a fresh approach at first (albeit with no direct relation to proofreading or copyediting), but blogging ultimately took on an unduly pivotal role in the class, especially considering the presence of our more in-depth Online Reporting class. Indeed, most of the material we covered faintly echoed principles covered in full-fledged reporting classes. Bias, weasel words, ethics, and Internet skills were covered in superior detail elsewhere; even the fleeting instances of grammar in P & C were overshadowed by what I learned in the Foundations of Composition class last term. There was nothing on the outline that dictated more focus, but it would have been nice.
I'm curious as to why the exclusive content of the class was downplayed. Proofreading and Copyediting necessarily involves group work, which was admittedly integrated fairly frequently, but not in regards to editing. Discussing topics with classmates and posting shared ideas on a blog isn't necessarily a bad idea, but again, the topics seemed out of place. There's no law stating we should have edited each other's work more seriously with more frequency, but it would have been nice.
Fortunately, editing is something that comes largely with practice: besides a set of universal copyediting symbols that should be mastered for clarity, it can't be taught in any way but through experience. In fairness, no one promised that this class would facilitate that. But it would have been nice.
Image taken form here.
No comments:
Post a Comment