Article writing

MODULE 4

practice

1. a) Which of these eight openings would you choose to begin an article entitled ‘Openings and Closings of Magazine Articles’?

1 The’opening’ is the beginning of a piece of writing (either the first sentence or the first paragraph); the ‘closing’ is the way the piece of writing ends (the last sentence, or the last paragraph). 3 Doo-be-doo-be-doo-wa, shawop bam boom! Does it matter how a magazine article starts? 4 To light a fire, take a few big logs and a box of matches. Strike a match and the logs will easily catch fire. Later, when the fire is burning well, add some smaller wood, which must be very dry. Finally, for a big blaze that will last all evening, throw a small twist of paper on top of the fire. Is that how to light a fire? Of course not. Yet how few writers start their articles with the ‘twist of paper’, the inflammable opening that would bring it to life! 7 Kane and Peters, in their authoritative work Writing Prose, include a five-page essay entitled ‘Beginnings and Closings’. The essay begins ‘The British essayist Hilaire Belloc – who knew, if anyone did, how to begin and how to end an essay – once wrote that “To begin at the beginning is, next to ending at the end, the whole art of writing.” Kane and Peters close their essay with an epigram of their own: ‘Anyone can stop writing. Only writers can finish.’

2 Two students of mine used to be great rivals at tennis, but recently Laura has become too good for her rival. ‘The only difference is my service’, she confided in me. ‘Helena’s service is so predictable that I can always return it. But mine is now stronger and more varied. She never knows what to expect.’ The service in tennis has a similar role to the opening of a piece of writing – and many writers could ‘improve their game’ by developing a range of different openings. 5 This article is about how to begin and how to end a piece of writing. 6 There are at least 15 different ways of beginning a magazine article, and a good dozen ways of ending. Not all of them are possible in every style of writing, but the ability to choose interesting and appropriate openings and closings is a very useful skill for a writer to have. 8 ‘Just take the horn out of your mouth.’ This was Miles Davis’s advice to a fellow jazz musician who didn’t seem to know how to end his lengthy solos. But when you want to end a piece of writing, is it enough to ‘just put your pen down’?

b) 1 Which of the openings in a) would you most want to read?

2 Do any of the openings leave you in doubt about the topic of the article?

3 Which of the openings gives you the clearest idea of what the writer is going to say and how the article is going to be organized?

c) Do not write the article. Just write two openings for your article, of no more than two sentences each.

1. a very bad one, so that no one will read beyond the opening;

2. a very good one, so that everyone will want to read the rest of your article.

(Advanced Writing with English in Use CAE. p.124)

2. Read the five openings, all of them introducing an article on the same subject. What subject? Then match these openings to the techniques of opening an article. Which of the openings 1-13 use quotations or direct speech? Would these openings be just as good without the quotations or direct speech?

9 As Mark Twain might have put it, reports of the death of the family have been greatly exaggerated. 11 Jane Smith is a junkie because both her parents are in the police force. She had problems at school, but when she got home she found no one to talk to. The day she broke up with her boyfriend, both her parents were working late. Jane’s parents were never there when she wanted them. If they had been, would she have needed to turn to drugs? 13 In theory women are free, yet everywhere they are still in domestic chains.

10 It’s 6.00 in the evening and Jason has just cooked dinner for two. He’s sitting in the kitchen, waiting. He’s had a long day. He got up at 7.30, ate breakfast alone, did the washing up and made his bed. He still hadn’t seen or spoken to anybody when he left home at 8.30. Jason is 12 years old. He’s waiting for his dad to come home from work. 12 Forty years ago, 75% of wives in Britain were ‘housewives’ whose husbands were working: today only 20% of British families fit this model. What factors have led to this change, and what effect has it had on society, in particular the upbringing of children?

(Advanced Writing with English in Use CAE. p.125)

3. Read the following instructions, then decide what the purpose of each article is, and what kind of information should be included.

1 You have been asked to write an article for your college magazine giving practical advice to students on how to keep up with the workload. Write your article for the magazine.

2 The tourist information centre in your town has asked you to write an article for a brochure describing two places of interest in your area. Write your article for the brochure.

3 A young people’s magazine has asked its readers to submit articles on the question: Are young people being forced to grow up too fast? Write your article for the magazine.

4 The company you work for is looking for representatives in other countries and has asked you to write a profile of the company for a leaflet which will be distributed abroad. Write your profile for the leaflet.

(Successful Writing. Proficiency. St’s book. p.139)

4. Complete the headlines, using each word once.

explore

cloning

vaccination

repair

implants

transplant

cure

regrows

a At last: a complete …… for cancer

b MALARIA ERADICATED BY NEW …… AGAINST DISEASE

c Artificial heart …… ‘now as good as human hearts

d Doctors use nanotechnology to …… inside organs

e AGEING FILM STAR ‘looks 20 again’ AFTER FACE …… FROM MODEL

f STEM SELLS TO …… DAMAGED BODY PARTS

g Identical Millions? …… of Human ‘Now Widespread’

h Man Who Lost Upper Limbs …… New Arms

(IELTS Masterclass. p.33)

5. a) Match the titles (1-5) with sentences from the opening paragraphs (a-e) of various articles.

1. Desert Adventure

2. Danger in the Skies

3. Alone in a White Wilderness

4. Stranded!

5. Money to Burn

a) Just imagine you are traveling through some remote corner of the world. You hop off the train at a small station to buy something to eat, only to find on your return that the train has departed. There is no sign of habitation for miles. This, of course, is exactly what happened to me.

b) Who in their right mind would choose to cross the snowy wastes of Alaska on foot and with only a pack of Huskies for company?

c) Supposing you had won the lottery and had one million dollars at your disposal. What would you do first?

d) Have you ever asked yourself what you would do if the plane you were traveling on was hijacked?

e) When a friend invited me to join him on a trek across the Sahara, I presumed he had gone insane.

(New Proficiency Writing. St’s book. p.39)

6. a) Read the task and the three introductory paragraphs (a-c) below. Which paragraph would make a good introduction? Why? What is wrong with the others?

Task: A travel magazine has asked readers for contributions for a special holiday edition entitled ‘A Great Way to Travel!’ Write an article describing a trip you have made that was both pleasurable and eventful, giving reasons for your chosen means of transport.

Use this guide to help you.

A good introductory paragraph to an article should:

• be relevant and to the point.

• grab the reader’s interest.

• be longer than one sentence in length but should not be ‘waffle’ (a long stream of words that do not say anything important).

a) One of the biggest problems about planning a trip, whether it be for pleasure or for work, is to decide how to travel. You have to decide whether a plane is too expensive compared to a train and whether a coach will take too long. I had just this problem when I decided to travel across Eurupe last summer and it took me a very long time to make up my mind how to travel because there were advantages and disadvantages to a lot of different forms of transport, so it was hard to decide.

b) If you were planning a trip to some far-flung corner of the globe, what means of travel would you choose? Would you be one of those intrepid types who set off with nothing but a backpack, a map, and a prayer? Would you whiz across the globe on a supersonic jet? Or would you opt for a long, languorous sea crossing on a luxury cruise liner?

c) Last year I went on trip that was both pleasurable and memorable and I would recommend it to all the readers of this magazine.

b) Look at the task again, then read the three concluding paragraphs (a-c) below. Which paragraph would make a good conclusion? Why? What is wrong with the others?

Use this guide to help you.

A good concluding paragraph to an article should:

• give the reader a sense of closure.

• carry a punch, instead of ending a boring and totally predictable way.

• be longer than one sentence in length.

a) So take a tip from me when you come to plan your grand tour. If you want to savour the experience to the full, while having the time of your life, take the train. You don’t believe me? Just try it for yourself. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

b) To sum up, my trip was pleasurable and eventful and I think I chose the best way to travel. I think any reader who wants to travel should do what I did.

c) We spent the last part of our trip on a beach in Thailand. We arrived home from our trip after midnight and we had to start work the next day, so we were very tired.

c) Read the model article below. Then use these questions to help you to decide if the writer has produced a good text.

Has the writer:

1. covered all aspects of the task?

2. written too few words? (Don’t count them, just estimate.)

3. written anything that could be considered irrelevant?

4. forgotten to start a new paragraph for each change of topic?

5. written topic sentences for each paragraph?

6. written any one-sentence paragraphs?

7. developed each of her paragraphs?

8. used mainly vocabulary that is very basic in level?

9. made a lot of simple grammar or spelling mistakes?

10. punctuated the article correctly?