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William J. Luther
Oct 22, 2014, 12:35:37 PM10/22/14
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As promised, I've created a few YouTube videos to help students write letters to the editor (and, in particular, to The Economist). This corresponds to an assignment I have where students write three letters in a semester. Feel free to use these to the extent that you find them useful. I plan to make a few more of these, for other assignments, so any feedback would be appreciated.
Rajaram Krishnan
Nov 1, 2014, 11:25:01 AM11/1/14
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Hi William:
Those were very well put together and I'll definitely try to incorporate them into my next Intro to Econ course. I think it is a wonderful exercise for students to frame an issue in a succinct way, even if they don't send it off to be considered for publication.
A question I have though is, do you think that there is a difference in writing letters to the Economist, vs. the NYT, vs the Indianapolis Star or Columbus Dispatch, vs. a local paper like the Palladium Item (Richmond, IN's local Gannett production). If so, could you tell us what you think that difference might be. I ask this because you direct your general remarks to "an above average" (I agree with your sense of the Economist) publication, and it will be worth having students think about the others too.
Also it might help to tell folks that they can submit their letter online. The economist solicits letters - "To share your thoughts about anything you have read in The Economist or The Economist online, please e-mail let...@economist.com and include your mailing address and a daytime telephone number." (http://www.economist.com/contact-info)Telling them that will let them know that they are invited to write.
In terms of presentation - it looks like you are reading from a script. Any way to look into the camera rather than down will make it more appealing. In my book though, essence is less important than form. But if that can be changed my sense is that it will improve the appeal of the videos immensely. And your videos have plenty of good essence.
Thanks...and looking forward to your future offerings.
Regards
Raja
Those were very well put together and I'll definitely try to incorporate them into my next Intro to Econ course. I think it is a wonderful exercise for students to frame an issue in a succinct way, even if they don't send it off to be considered for publication.
A question I have though is, do you think that there is a difference in writing letters to the Economist, vs. the NYT, vs the Indianapolis Star or Columbus Dispatch, vs. a local paper like the Palladium Item (Richmond, IN's local Gannett production). If so, could you tell us what you think that difference might be. I ask this because you direct your general remarks to "an above average" (I agree with your sense of the Economist) publication, and it will be worth having students think about the others too.
Also it might help to tell folks that they can submit their letter online. The economist solicits letters - "To share your thoughts about anything you have read in The Economist or The Economist online, please e-mail let...@economist.com and include your mailing address and a daytime telephone number." (http://www.economist.com/contact-info)Telling them that will let them know that they are invited to write.
In terms of presentation - it looks like you are reading from a script. Any way to look into the camera rather than down will make it more appealing. In my book though, essence is less important than form. But if that can be changed my sense is that it will improve the appeal of the videos immensely. And your videos have plenty of good essence.
Thanks...and looking forward to your future offerings.
Regards
Raja
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