Homework 1

The purpose of this homework is to:

1. demonstrate a mastery over the use of styles
2. demonstrate an understanding of how to insert graphics and manipulate them in a complex document
3. demonstrate a mastery over Word's citation/reference management capabilities
4. demonstrate a mastery over Word's automatically managed table of contents feature
5. demonstrate a mastery over Word's figures management

Due Date: This homework is due February 10th, before midnight (the midnight which starts February 11th).

So, what exactly will you be doing? I want every student to take a previously typed/prepared/submitted report from another class that they have done (or from a suitable online source) and adapt it using the new features that we have learned in class. So basically, you won't have to write any new content (at least, you won't write a significant amount of new content). Details are below.

The report, before modification, should have at a minimum 3 pages of content (NOT including the title page and bibliography/list of works cited) and will probably look something like this (if you're unsure whether your original report satisfies the requirements, email or see me):

1. Page 1: Title page / author information
2. Page 2: Main content 1 with references, a header or footer, and possibly footnotes
3. Page 3: Main content 2 with references, a header or footer, and possibly footnotes
4. Page 4: Main content 3 with references, a header or footer, and possibly footnotes
5. Page 5: List of Works Cited with a header or footer

If you don't have an old report available that you want to manipulate for this class, there are some other options. You can:

• use a friend's report (be sure to give credit somewhere on the final homework)
• use a suitable Wikipedia article (e.g., Barry_Manilow
• email me/see me, and we'll come up with another idea if nothing interests you

If you use one of the alternative options, you may have to do a little bit of reformatting to get things looking like the example layout seen above (e.g., add a title page, add a header or footer, etc.).

Here is exactly what you should do. Not following these instructions will result in a loss of points:

1. Find an old report of yours that you have previously typed up (perhaps earlier in college, or even in high school). Obviously, you'll want the electronic copy. If you don't have anything like this available, or you don't want to convert an old report, see the above notice in the previous section about alternative options.
   1. the report should NOT use styles or citations which are automatically managed by Word. Therefore, most hand written reports which use manually typed in citations will work fine
2. Save a backup copy of the original report (File, Save as). This is so I can compare your submission with the original report.
3. Save another copy of the report (File, Save as). Be sure that you're saving in the .docx format. This is the copy that you will work on and edit. WARNING: Be sure that you are working on an actual file in the .docx format, or else all of your hard work (citations, styles, etc) will not be properly saved. If you're unsure whether you're doing this right, see/contact me.
4. Using Word 2007 (or 2008, if on a Mac) use Word's citation management features and enter in the bibliography information that the report already uses but which was previously manually entered.
5. Then, replace the hand-typed references in the body of the report with automatically managed references.
6. Get rid of your bibliography/list of works cited page and instead insert one which is automatically managed by Word.
7. Assign to every piece of text an appropriate style. For example, your title page might use the "Title" style. Quotes in your report, if they exist, might use one of the quote styles. Normal text (i.e., the bulk of your report) should use the "normal" style.
8. If your original report does not feature any images (graphs and tables do NOT count towards the requirement of at least 2 images), find and insert at least 2 somewhat relevant images or pieces of clip art into the body of the report. For the purposes of this assignment, you don't need to tell me where you found them. I realize that it may be difficult to find an image which "fits" with the look of your document, so don't worry if the image looks out of place.
9. Copy the images which are in your report and put them in a new page past the bibliography/list of works cited page. This is so that you can change the images in your document and I can compare with the original images.
10. Use Word's picture formatting capabilities to edit how the images in the report's body look. You can change as much or as little as you want, but I should be able to see which changes were made and the changes resulted in a better looking report. You should however do MORE than simply resize and position the images. If the changes are subtle or hard to notice, on the page which has the original copies of the images, feel free to type up a quick description of what changes you made and why you think they are good changes (e.g., state that you adjusted the contrast, etc.).
11. Custom design a style that you like, basing it off of an already existing style. Your entire report should automatically be updated to reflect the style changes you choose. On the page containing the original versions of your images, briefly mention what your style is based off of and how you changed it to be your own (e.g., "Based off of the default Word style, I chose a new title font, and changed the spacing of normal text.").
12. Now, go to where the images are in your report. Make it so that the images appear as automatically numbered figures (e.g., "Figure 1" and "Figure 2"). In the text somewhere, insert a reference to the new figures. E.g., insert something like the following sentence (once for each figure): "Figure 1 shows an example of a kitten taking a nap on a puppy dog." The words "Figure 1" should automatically reflect whatever the caption is of the appropriate figure. Don't worry if the text reference to the figure seems out of place. I don't care about the writing quality of your report.
13. In between the title page and the start of the body of the report, insert an automatically managed table of contents. If your report already has a manually typed up table of contents, get rid of it.

You should then email both your original report and your new version. When you email me, I will respond telling you that I received your 2 files.

The above instructions are, although a bit wordy, not very detailed. If you've come to class, paid attention, and retained what was taught I expect the instructions will not be vague and you will know exactly what to do.

I realize that people are not perfect. To a certain extent, I have purposefully left the instructions vague. However, if you are unsure that you are doing the exact right thing, do not hesitate to see or email me.