Your first major class assignment is due Wednesday. As I told you last week, presentation matters. Use Spellcheck. Pay attention to grammar and punctuation. Don’t pad your writing. Consult your stylebook.

Stylebook?

Yep, here is your very own Compendium on Style and Spelling, compiled by a venerable and venerated journalism instructor who has taught some of the top reporters and ediors in the state, some of whom have gone on to make names for themselves nationally.

Download this copy and keep it near as you write. Consult it often. Make sure that the essay you turn in this week complies with the rules compiled within it. At least until May, consider it your mini-journalistic bible.