ARTICLE
CONTENT
An article is usually based on a discussion, a description or a narrative (or it may involve a combination of more than one of
these)
APPROACH
An article should catch the reader’s attention and make him or her want to read on. Think about the age group you are writing
for and ask yourself how much they might know about the subject and how you can make it interesting for them. With a light-
hearted (enjoyable, not too serious) topic, humour is often helpful. You can also make your article more lively and readable by:
· Addressing your readers directly
Questions to engage the reader:
Did you know…?
What would you do if …?
Have you ever...?
What would your life be like if...?
Are you one of those people who...?
Isn't it amazing/ extraordinary/ incredible how/ that...?
Using imperatives
Let me tell you about...
Make an effort to...
Reach out to...
Imagine if/what
· Using a personal approach
Personally, I can’t imagine anything worse!
· Giving specific examples and quotations
As Mrs X explained, ….. According to …
GENERAL STRUCTURE
· Give your article a heading or headline which makes the subject clear and also catches the reader’s attention.
· Divide the article into paragraphs to help the reader follow the argument.
· Begin with an interesting introduction – an example, perhaps, or a question.
· End with an overall comment or concluding remark.
HEADINGS
Use your imagination to make the headline catch the reader’s attention. Here are some of the ways writers do this:
· A dramatic word or phrase:
Freezing!
· A summary of the story:
My Lone Walk to the North Pole.
Rescue from the rapids
· A question:
What’s the big idea?
Just a normal day?
· A surprising fact:
Seven banks a day are robbed in LA.
You’re already well equipped to prevent crime.
USEFUL LANGUAGE
Sequencing
At first / To start with/In the beginning, ...
Then/Next/After that, ...
The next thing that happened was ...
The next thing I knew was ...
Seconds/Minutes later,
Late on/Some time later,
It wasn't until much later that ...
After some time/After what seemed like years, ...
Finally/In the end, ...
At last, ...
Simultaneous events
Meanwhile/In the meantime,
While all this was going on,
In the middle of all this, ...
During all this time, ...
Sudden or unexpected events
Suddenly/All of a sudden, ...
All at once, ...
Out of the blue, ...
Without any warning, ...
Just when I was least expecting it, ...
The next thing I knew was ...
Rapid events
As quick as a flash, ...
In the wink of an eye, ...
In a matter of seconds/minutes, ...
In no time at all, ...
Looking back
In retrospect, ...
When I think back to what happened then, ...
EXAMPLE
You have been asked to write an article describing your experience of an unusual type of holiday for a students’ magazine.
FANCY A DOWN-TO EARTH HOLIDAY?
Are you fed up with lazing on the beach? Do you want to do something a little different this year? Well, there are now quite a
number of educational holidays available and I decided to try one of these out.
I’d always been interested in history so when I saw an advertisement for a week’s break which included training in archaeology,
it seemed ideal.
There were eight of us in the group, including a retired school teacher, two American college students and an out-of-work actor.
Accommodation was simple but comfortable and the food was all home-cooked and delicious.
After some basic training, we were allowed to take part in a dig at a nearby archaeological site. It was a fascinating process and
the high spot for me was finding a tiny piece of pottery which was later identified as Roman – ‘Beginner’s luck’, according to the
teacher!
I can thoroughly recommend an educational holiday. As far as I’m concerned, learning a new skill beats lying on the beach any
day, and I still came home with a sun tan!
