© 2008 Steve Campsall
© 2008 Steve Campsall
You'll probably be asked to write an article at various times in your course and in your exams. It might be for writing to persuade, argue and inform, for example. Here are some typical questions:
Write an
informative / persuasive article for…
...your local newspaper / a teenage magazine / your school magazine / a travel guide
on the topic of…
...adventure holidays / the benefits of exercise / keeping a pet /
eating healthily / cycling to school.
WHAT IS THE EXAMINER LOOKING FOR?
In this part of your exam, as well as technical accuracy (up to a third of your marks!), marks are awarded according to how well you show you have considered the following key aspects:
AUDIENCE
This is far more important to the marks you will receive than most students
realise. The examiner will be looking closely for
evidence that you have considered your audience in your writing.
What style of language will suit the type of reader you are writing for?
Would a formal style be best? Or a more informal – even chatty style?
You will certainly need to capture and hold your reader's attention and this means being lively and interesting - most especially when you begin writing (a flat sounding... y-a-w-n ...opening to any article is a sure mark loser!).
The chances are you will need to adopt a rather formal style but many modern newspaper and magazine articles often intersperse chatty, informal features to soften the formality and create a rather conversational tone; in magazines, it's sometimes almost as if the article were one half of a conversation between a friend and his or her slightly older, rather wiser friend.
PURPOSE
What style of writing will achieve the
aims of your article? Are you writing to
persuade,
inform or
explain? The Englishbiz pages on these kinds of writing should help.
GENRE
What style and form
(i.e. format) of writing
would satisfy the
genre conventions you
need to follow?
Think what
you would expect to see and read in such an article: catchy or witty headlines – maybe a
pun (i.e. a witty play on words), sub-headings to aid clarity and reading, use of
bullet points, lists, images, tables, etc.
Would the writing need to be very lively, even chatty or perhaps much more formal - perhaps a mixture of the two styles (which is an increasingly common aspect of the style of articles these days)?
CONTEXT
Where and in what situation is the article likely to be read and understood?
What language choices will help here?
What tone of voice needs be adopted to suit such a context?
Often an article is not read ‘in depth’ and at a time when full concentration is possible, so... a catchy lively style which does not demand too much of your reader and which follows a clear and logical structure is almost certain to be a good choice for many articles.
WRITING THE ARTICLE
YOU WILL NEED TO WRITE IN A WAY THAT…
...captures your reader’s eye and attention
How can you achieve this? A catchy title or headline? A suitable image or photo? Become the reader for a moment: what would catch your eye and attention?
...hooks your reader's interest
How can you hook your reader to want to read on? Make the opening sentence intriguing, lively, ‘catchy’? Give the outline facts immediately – answering briefly: What? Who? Where? When?
...is lively and interesting
How can you achieve this? A short opening sentence? A mix of shorter and longer sentences? Clear succinct paragraphs that always open with a topic sentence that gives, in a nutshell, what the rest of the paragraph will explore in more depth?
...gives the most important facts and information first
How can you achieve this? Work out what is most important and interesting and write about this first? Leave the less important aspects and the finer detail till later?
...sounds authentic and gains your reader’s trust
How can you achieve this? Sound sincere – write in a natural, lively style that avoids pretending you’re someone else; especially someone older and wiser. Write as the teenager you are. Remember that if your writing doesn't capture the trust of your reader, it won't succeed!
...sounds authoritative and is believable and persuasive
How can you achieve this? Write confidently; include made-up interviews with “experts”; use made up statistics and evidence for authoritative sources (but keep all this reasonable and believable). Use a mixture of vocabulary including a few more complex words and a few technical terms.
...avoids being overly emotional or too personal
An article has a wide and unknown audience – you do not know them and they do not know you. Write in a way you would expect to be written for: be calm; be polite; be you!
Is the writing lively? Clear? Interesting? Convincing?
Would you want to read this article? If not, now's your chance to make adjustments, neatly!
Using photos and images...
It is a feature of articles to use images of one kind or another. These help to attract a reader's eye, help clarify a point and so on. In the exam, it is important that you do not waste time drawing! Instead, simply draw a box where the image would be and label it describing what would be there - that is all that's needed.
