Today’s goals Introduce elements of writing style Discuss our publications and current events for the WTI essay Begin analyzing our publications to assist in creating our WTIs

Class discussion- writing style What is writing style? What elements make up writing style? What are some examples of distinct writing styles? What kind of writing styles do you prefer to read? To write? How would you describe the writing style of your chosen publication?

Writing style 4 main elements of writing style Ways of shaping sentences There will always be variation in sentence structure, but overall are the sentences longer or shorter? Simple or complex? Word choice Is the writing’s vocabulary simple or complex? Does it use abstract or concrete language? Is the language specific to a discipline or easy enough for laypeople to read? Voice Is it written in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person? Is the writer an expert or layperson? Tone: What is the writer’s attitude toward the subject matter? Are they humorous or serious? Detached or personal?

Group activity- analyzing differences in style In your unit 2 groups Read “Passage from a Scholarly Journal” and Passage from a Popular Magazine” on page 51 in A&B and answer questions 1-4 How would you describe the length and complexity of the sentences in each passage? How would you describe the word choice and complexity of vocabulary in each passage? How would you describe the author’s tone in each passage? Based on questions 1-3, who would you say is the intended audience of each piece?

Class discussion- closed form prose What types of essays have you written before ENC1930? What is the main thing that separates an essay from a narrative? What are the necessary sections of an essay? How long should an essay be? What elements do we put in the introduction of an essay? In a speech? What are the 5 informative writing skills we have discussed in class?

Closed form prose overview Introduction Hook Thesis Forecasting Body Transition Topic sentences Supporting material (Repeat for several topics/paragraphs) Conclusion Clincher

Article Vocabulary Closed form prose Thesis Hook Soft lead Hard lead Buried lead Inverted pyramid structure:

Article Vocabulary Closed form prose: a structured and more formal type of writing that is centered on a clearly stated thesis Thesis: the main idea of an essay or article usually articulated in a single clear sentence Hook: an attention grabber, usually located in the first few sentences of a piece of writing Soft lead: A strategy for starting news writing that begins with an attention grabbing strategy to pull the reader in. This is often done with description, narration, or anecdotes. This is the alternative to a hard lead. Hard lead: A strategy for starting news writing that begins with the thesis or main idea of the article in the first few sentences. This the alternative to a soft lead. Buried lead: A strategy for news writing that delays stating the thesis until the middle or end of the essay, also called delayed thesis prose. This holds the reader in suspense until the thesis is given Inverted pyramid: A structure of newspaper writing in which the most important information is given first followed by information of decreasing importance

Class discussion- article composition For the next few class periods, we will be working together to create a web article as a class to guide you as you draft your own web articles Today we will focus on selecting a topic and writing an introduction. Thursday we will focus on writing body paragraphs. Next Tuesday we will write our conclusions. Spend the next 10 minutes looking for a current event online that you find interesting. Each group may propose two current event topics and then the class will take a vote on which topic to write about. Note: This must be a “big” story that several news companies have written about

Class discussion- article composition Now that we have agreed on a topic, each group should find one article on the same current event but from different news sources. Find a web article on the topic, let the instructor know of your selected article, and then read through it together as a group

Group activity- current event research In your unit 2 groups Read through your selected article and answer the following questions What is the thesis or main idea of the article? What is the article’s hook? How does it grab your attention? Does the article use a soft lead, hard lead, or buried lead? What are the three most important pieces of information you find when reading the article? Be specific here with direct quotes or data.

Group activity- article introduction In your unit 2 groups Listen to the current event information shared by each group about our topic. Then as a group work together to create the beginning of an introduction for our web article What is the thesis or main idea of our article? How can we grab the readers’ attention about our topic? Draft a 4-6 sentence introduction for our web article that includes a hook, thesis, and a lead strategy.

Wti research instructions Find 2 articles about the same current event to serve as background research for your WTI essay 1 of the articles should come from the same publication you are using for your essay The second article can be from any other credible online publication You are encouraged to use only web sources for this assignment You will summarize and analyze these source in your next blog entry

homework Read A&B p. 50-56 Blog Entry 4 Focus: Publication Analysis First explain what publication you have chosen for your WTI essay and why you chose that publication. Next, describe the writing style and typical audience of that publication. Consider what makes this publication unique and how you can follow those conventions in your WTI essay.

Blog entry 5 Focus: WTI Research summary First, identify the names and publications for each of the web articles that you will use with your WTI essays Next, provide a brief summary of what you think are the main points of each article or what makes your chosen current event interesting. Explain any differences or similarities you find in the articles’ information Finally, what is your perspective on this topic? Which side of the issue would you support if writing about it? Note: The points for this blog entry will contribute to the final grade for your WTI essay.