The purpose of this task is to develop skills in transforming, adapting and editing text-types for different genres or contexts of delivery–and to reflect on the editorial skills needed to make these transitions. Adaptation is a skill that all editors require, particularly in the digital age, and this assignment asks you to think carefully about how and why editors (and writers) need to modify texts for different audiences–and the sorts of decisions they make as they engage in the process of adaptation.
Medium of delivery
For this assignment, you will need to produce a 1000-word reflective essay that includes:
a description of the short text you have chosen, its medium (where you found it: newspaper, book, internet, etc.), target audience, and purpose. In other words, who was the original text written for? Where was it published, and what effect was it meant to have on its readers? (approx. 100 words)
a description of how you developed this short text into a new genre/format. What editorial decisions did you make? Did you change the language, level of formality, tone, etc. Did you punctuate differently or use more images for effect? Did you play around with colour and font? Why? What do these changes say about the new genre? (approx. 300 words–or 1/3 of the assignment)
a reflection/conclusion on how the textual elements (language, style, formatting) of each genre differ and what must be considered in making successful adaptations. (approx. 300 words–or 1/3 of the assignment)
the newly adapted text. Please note the remaining 300 words of the task (the final 1/3 of the assignment) are allocated to this work, but you might not necessarily write 300 new words. We are allowing word count for the editing effort as well. If you do not use the full 300 words in this section and wish to apply additional words to other sections, that is fine–provided that the assignment does not exceed 1000 words–but not necessary.
Topic of Reflection
Unlike previous assignments, where you were considering how editors intervene in the text production process, for this assignment you must revise and edit as a form of adaptation. This assignment asks you to adapt a recent short piece of professional or public writing (tweet, social media post, meme, etc.) from one context to another. Your chosen text should have a recent publication date, i.e., no earlier than January 1 2024, and it should be a short piece of writing, to make the adaptation process easier. The focus here is not so much on the writing, since most of the writing has already been done, but on editing the existing text for a new genre.
For example, you might draw on a series of social media posts to craft a short speech or media release/public announcement on the same topic. Or, you could adapt a short section/paragraph of a professional article into a poster that features mainly images. Or you might adapt a paragraph of your favourite book into a format suitable for children. You might adapt a Facebook post into a tweet or an email into a text.
You should use the information from the original source for the content of your submission, but you can work creatively with additional visual, design, or other elements to achieve the adaptation. You may also need to reword the original text slightly (or change its tone) to ensure the content is appropriate for the new genre.
You should consider, too, whether/how AI technology can be used to help editors adapt texts across genres. Can a machine replace a human being? How might editors use AI for purposes of adapting text from one genre to another? What might they ask AI technology to produce on their behalf? You might include these considerations in the reflections section (on what must be considered in making successful adaptations) or in a brief concluding statement. There is no need for an elaborate discussion. One or two sentences will suffice to demonstrate your awareness of AI in the editing process.
