Feature Story
The final assignment for the class is to write a 6-7 page feature story
based on a scientific topic of interest suitable for publication by
a news or internet source. By the ninth week in the class when the topic
is due, you will have read several articles, stories, and essays by
science writers about various issues, and you should be able to choose
a topic that will hold your own interest, as well as the interest of
readers. You could choose to write on something related to your scientist
interview or your book review, but this should be a distinct assignment,
not just an expansion of what you have already done.
Your feature story should be on current, interesting, perhaps controversial
research being carried out in the scientific community. It should be
informed and informative; in other words, you need to show that you
know what you are talking about, and you need to write in such a way
that your readers will also know what you are talking about. Use the
guidelines for a good story that we have developed throughout the semester
to help you decide what to include and what to leave out.
- Know what your audience will be interested in hearing.
- Be aware of the importance of using statistics wisely (accurately
and at the appropriate level of specificity for your audience).
- Strive to connect the concerns of the researchers, your own concerns,
and the concerns of your audience.
- Be creative when you can, but be as clear as possible in your approach
to the subject matter.
- Provide enough detail for your audience to be comfortable with their
grasp of the issue, but not so much that you overwhelm them.
- Include some discussion of how the researcher's (s') work fits into
current scientific thought. Does it map out new territory? Does it
challenge the way scientists have thought about a certain issue? Is
it a new way of looking at an old problem? Does it explain what has
hitherto been unexplained? Does it build on the work of others?
Include citations and refer to other works that might help the reader
understand the material. Use CBE Documentation Style, available from
your instructor or from these sites:
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