Assignment Every student in a CCBC Africana Studies course this semester will

contribute an article that will be compiled to create a newsletter entitled “The Drum.” You will be responsible for choosing a topic relevant to the Africana Studies discipline, conducting individual

research, and writing an original article with an appropriate image.

Assignment Requirements ØThe article must be between 300 and 600 words (no more, no less) ØThe article must be typed in Microsoft Word and submitted electronically as an attachment ØThe article must be accompanied by an appropriate image (photo, clipart, etc.) that is relevant to the

topic of the article ØChoose a specific topic that is not too broad (i.e. slavery or beauty is too broad), narrow it down ØYour topic must be approved by the professor before you turn it in. You must sign up for your topic

to ensure there are no duplications. If the topic that you hoped to chose is already taken by another student, you must choose another topic

ØYou must proofread your article for spelling and grammatical errors before you turn it in

Tips For A Better Newsletter Article

Ø Know your audience – The primary audience for “The Drum” is CCBC students, faculty and staff

Ø Have a strong, newsworthy angle – Your article should cover elements such as timeliness, proximity, prominence, consequence, human interest, or progress

Ø Write a killer headline – Keep your headline short, written in an active voice and a strong verb

Ø Follow headline with a powerful lead – Your first paragraph should hook your reader into reading the entire article with the most interesting information up front

Ø Build your angle with a quote – Use a quote to show opinion, observation and for impact

Ø Use and image to create interest – The image should be interesting and should support the story

Ø Finish your article with a call to action –If you are writing about current affairs, don’t leave the reader hanging with no direction on what to do next. For example, offer an internet site for more information.

Creating a collaborative newsletter article assignment is an effective class project that fosters skills of writing short essays on targeted topics with the ultimate goal of creating a collective tangible product. Since 2011, the Africana Studies program has published eleven editions of “The Drum” newsletter. For each edition, every AASD student must contribute an original article that is compiled to create a vehicle that communicates the content and principles of the Africana Studies discipline.

Furthermore, one of the major components of the Africana Studies discipline is community service. “The Drum” is printed and distributed to students, faculty and staff at all CCBC campuses and beyond as a community service project. This newsletter serves as a great public conduit for the Africana Studies program and fosters the practice of the principle of Ujimma (collective work and responsibility).

The newsletter is produced in both electronic and printed versions and students enjoy reading the articles of other contributors and learn about topics not addressed within the sphere of the regular course content. Overall, a collaborative newsletter article assignment both challenges students to write short and targeted essays but also results in a product that celebrates knowledge across disciplines.

STEP 1: CHOOSE YOUR LAYOUT There are several ways to lay out a multipage document. Having a consistent header unites the pages of the document and makes your newsletter look professional. Another feature unique to newsletters is the inclusion of an issue number, volume number, and the year. Aim to strike a balance between text and images in your newsletter. Images should contribute to your message, not just clutter the page. Breaking up your text into columns can make it more legible. For a letter-size newsletter, two or three columns are good choices.

STEP 2: INCORPORATE GRAPHICS AND DESIGN Creating a newsletter presents a good opportunity to cement your brand. By incorporating your department’s or school’s colors, logo, or typeface, you can increase brand recognition and improve the likelihood that your newsletter gets read. Only two typefaces are used—a serif font for the paragraphs, and a strong-looking sans serif font in all caps for headers, captions, dates, and names. By visually signaling these key points, the designer of the newsletter is giving the audience takeaways that are easy to remember. Using dark text against a light background ensures that the page is easily readable and not too busy.

STEP 3: CRAFT YOUR MESSAGE Your newsletter should be entertaining and instructive without being heavy-handed. Don’t treat the content as an afterthought: if your newsletter doesn’t inform your audience or provide useful updates, you will generate more bad feelings than good. Make sure your text is copyedited and that your articles are succinct and easy to read. For print newsletters, the page count should be limited so your audience does not feel overwhelmed. For e-newsletters, the unsubscribe process should be straightforward for your readers. Articles on a given page of a newsletter should have a unified theme.

v To extend knowledge of professional writing v To learn about rhetorical principles that apply to short essay

writing v To develop personal and audience awareness of the chosen

topic v To organize the article according to perceived audience

reaction v To explore successful research strategies for newsletter articles v To introduce the concept of teamwork in the creation of a

discipline newsletter

1. PLAN AHEAD One of the most important tips we can share is that every single essay needs to have a plan. This is almost like a road map to guide you through writing your essay. It does not need to be complicated and it should only take a couple of minutes. All you really need to do is write a few bullet points regarding what will be covered in each paragraph or section of the essay. It is a good way to make sure that you do not get off track while writing your essay by writing about things that are not particularly relevant.

2. ESSAYS NEED STRUCTURE One thing that every good essay has in common is the structure. Nobody wants to read solid blocks of text which is why we break essays up into shorter paragraphs to make the essay more readable. However, as well as breaking your text down into paragraphs you will also need to arrange those paragraphs in such a way that your essay flows in a logical manner. All essays follow a similar format, so once you know the general structure you should have an idea of how to write virtually any type of essay; introduction, body, a new paragraph for each point that you make, and a conclusion.

3. PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE As well as knowing how to structure the essay, it also pays to know something about paragraph structure. Make each paragraph count by making sure that it includes four important elements. First, make a statement which indicates the main point of that particular paragraph. You will then need to explain your statement and offer an example which backs that explanation up. This could be a quote or a statistic. Lastly, you will need to state why this particular point is important to your overall argument.

4. REVISE, EDIT & THEN EDIT AGAIN When writing an essay, you will never usually turn in the first draft unless you are writing under exam conditions. Once you have written your essay you will need to read over your work and make some changes. You should be looking for spelling mistakes and poor grammar and making sure you have not missed important points. You will want to make changes to improve the overall flow of the essay.

5. PRACTICE WRITING Like most things in life, if you really want to improve your essay writing abilities, you will need to practice. It is likely that you will be assigned practice essays in the run up to assignments and you should certainly make an attempt at such assignments.

“Until the story of the hunt is told by the lion, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”

Africana Studies (sometimes called Black Studies or African American Studies) is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of people of African descent. Africana Studies not only examines Blacks in the United States, but

throughout the Diaspora. The field includes literature, history, politics, religion, sociology, philosophy, education, entertainment and many other areas of study within the humanities and social sciences. The Africana Studies program at the

Community College of Baltimore County was created on the Essex campus in 2010.