As part of section B of paper 2, you may be asked to write a newspaper article. This sounds easy, but isn't actually that simple to master. There are a few errors that you often make when writing newspaper articles - I've counted them up over the past few years! Here are your most common errors:
Newspaper articles should focus on the 5 Ws, with a clear leaning towards sensationalist language to draw in your audience. You have a chance to play with words here - don't lose it! You can experiment with different DAFORREST techniques to draw in your audience. Compare: HOVE PARK SCHOOL BEAT BY KING'S SCHOOL IN FOOTBALL There was a football match at 3pm today at Hove Park School. It was the third match of the season and it was won by King's School. It is the first match that King's have beaten Hove Park in. The main goal scorer was Jimmy Rogers who scored three goals. Another goal was scored by Roger Jimmies. There was a goal scored by Hove Park earlier but it was not enough. HOVE PARK HUNG OUT TO DRY BY THE NEW KINGS Tempers flared at Hove Park School last night as the reigning champions were taken to the cleaners by new upstarts King's School. After claiming a winning streak over the new free school, the Hove Park lot were embarrassed to lose 4-1 to the team they previously wiped the floor with. Man of the Match Jimmy Rogers gave everyone a lesson in beautiful footwork, scoring a hat-trick in the first twenty minutes of the game. As you can see, the second article is much more engaging. It uses a wider range of language and creates a sensational event out of a local football match - not easy to do! A good idea would be to write consciously and give yourself time to go back over the things you've written, asking yourself - have I made this sound like a story, or a report? This video has more tips to help you succeed:
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Direct address is a great technique to engage an audience and to make them want to listen to what you have to say.
It encompasses the use of personal pronouns: you us we our your yours ours Direct address is perfect when you want to be inclusive and have the audience believe that you care about their opinions and feelings, or that you want the same things as them. Direct address used well Martin Luther King Jr is the king of inclusive rhetoric. Consider: I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But 100 years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. Notice how at the start of the speech, King immediately includes the audience members and joins himself to them with the use of the inclusive pronoun "our". This creates a sense of community and ensures that the audience feel like King is one of them. The continued use of "we" sustains this idea and so, subconsciously, the audience feel connected to King. When you use direct address, it is important to do so in a manner that is respectful of the audience members and sensitive to what it is that you have been asked to do. Direct address used poorly Think about this extract from a speech regarding the building of a supermarket on a local playing field: You may think that you know better than we do, but you're wrong. You are nothing but corporate bigots and you will regret this choice. Notice the aggressive tone. This writer has immediately threatened the audience and therefore abandons the sense of community that they should have been aiming for. This means that the audience's feathers are ruffled, and in the wrong way. Direct address should be used to promote, not berate. TL;DR When writing non-fiction, direct address is a gift. However, be careful not to use it threateningly as this will ensure the reader switches off! Excellent speeches that use direct address: Winston Churchill - We shall fight them on the beaches... Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement address Carl Sagan on humanity Transactional writing tasks are asking you to communicate an idea to a specific audience, for a specific reason. When you tackle one of these tasks, it is a good idea to remember a few things that can help you strive for success. T A P Text Type, Audience and Purpose: WHAT are you being asked to write (what form)? WHO are you writing for or to? WHY are you writing this piece? Understanding these three things is imperative. Take this task, for example: Your headteacher has made the decision to introduce a strict ban on mobile telephones for all students during school hours. Write her a letter to your headteacher explaining your thoughts on this idea. Compare this to: Your headteacher has made the decision to introduce a strict ban on mobile telephones for all students during school hours. Write a speech to deliver to your school council, arguing why this is a bad idea. On the surface, the two tasks are very similar. However, the first task is actually asking you for something completely different. If we TAP the tasks, you can see, immediately, the differences: Task 1: T - A letter A - The headteacher P - To express my thoughts and opinions Task 2: T - A speech A - The school council (a group) P - To argue the decision So, with just a small bit of time taken, we are immediately a lot clearer on our approach to the task. We now know WHAT we have been asked to do, WHO we are writing for and WHY we are writing. You'd be surprised how many people fail to do this! FORMALITY Once you know who your audience are, you can then make a decision about the formality of your writing. If you don't know your audience, then you can't tailor your language and style accordingly! For example, your language would be very different in a speech to your headteacher than it would be in an article for teenagers. Don't forget formality! D A F O R R E S T Direct Address Anecdotes Facts Opinions Repetition Rhetorical Question Emotive Language Statistics Triples (Three in a row) DAFORREST is a useful acronym to remember when you're writing non-fiction. I will put together a more detailed post explaining the nuances of this in the future, but for now, it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with these techniques. DAFORREST techniques are all proven to draw in an audience, and ensure that you keep them hanging on your words. SUCCESS STORY: Aiden P Task: There is a plan to build a new supermarket on a playing field in your local area. Write a speech to present at a public meeting, giving your views on this idea.
Aiden's work was the highest-marked in the year at this mark point. It's important to recognise Aiden's successes in order to improve your own work. 1. Clear introduction Aiden uses a clear introduction to explain to the audience why he is there. Immediately, he establishes the reasons for the speech and we as readers can see from the opening statement that Aiden has written a speech. That's not to say that it doesn't need work - "Hello" isn't exactly a great opener and doesn't establish formality particularly well. However, this overview statement has led us quite nicely into Aiden's speech and clearly establishes his viewpoint. 2. Clear structure Aiden has clearly planned this speech to be concise and to-the-point. He begins with an anecdotal account of the village of Glendale, explaining with some vivid detail the benefits of a supermarket on the village. Note words like "thriving", which immediately show a strong grasp of language and appropriate vocab. Pitfalls here often include:
Note that Aiden's speech isn't long. It's concise and clear, which is much better. 3. Appropriate and sophisticated vocabulary Aiden's words are not overly ambitious. They are appropriate and succinct, meaning that the audience clearly understands his message without feeling patronised. A problem many students have is that they get lost in fancy language and the overall meaning of their words is lost. Be careful of this! Less is more, as the saying goes. 4. Appropriate tone Aiden's tone is friendly, yet firm. Too many students make the mistake of mis-judging the tone and therefore mis-firing when it comes to crafting the speech. Go back to your TAP and explore what it is you've been asked to do. If you're writing to persuade, then threatening your audience, or using negative language isn't going to get you what you want! You need to show the examiner that you are aware of what is being asked of you, and remember - you're being marked on your ability to communicate effectively, at the end of the day. 5. A well-rounded speech Aiden's speech has a clear beginning, middle and end. This is due to clear and detailed planning. You can see that before he began to write, he had a clear direction. This is why planning is essential. Too many times, I see students losing track of their ideas due to poor planning. Remember: Proper planning prevents poor performance. 6. Excellent SPaG Finally, Aiden's speech uses punctuation accurately and effectively. This means that he doesn't haemorrhage marks because he can't handle a semi-colon. 40% of the marks you get in this piece are for SPaG, and if you can't SPaG correctly, then you can't get more than 6/16. Aiden gets 10/16 marks because his punctuation is accurate and controlled. To earn more, he needs to begin using punctuation for effect - to manipulate and control the reader's speed and the tone of the piece overall. TL;DR In a nutshell, for those of you skimming this piece, what you need to remember is to TAP, walk through DAFORREST and create an effective PLAN, with a little sprinkle of SPaG for good measure. |
In a Nutshell...Paper 2 is a BEAST of a paper. In it, you have to read two non-fiction pieces, before analysing the language and structure of one and evaluating the success of a writer's techniques in the other. To finish, you have to compare the two texts thoroughly, looking at methods and techniques. Archives
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