Post by Tovarisch on Jul 31, 2009 16:44:37 GMT 10
How To Write Articles and Add Citations
How to write articles
When attempting to write an opinion piece, make sure that it is your opinion. Don't steal from other people's ideas or work. It is okay to have the same ideas, but don't copy their work. Writing opinion pieces is very simple, all you have to do is make sure you think things through. Write about somthing you feel strongly about, it is much easier to do this.
This will be added to when i have more time.
Here are some things to help bring your articles to the next level...
Persuasive language
- Alliteration: Repeating and playing upon the same letter. eg: 'a back-breaking job'. Persuades by adding emphasis and reinforcing meaning.
- Anectdote: A short account or story of an entertaining or interesting incident. eg: 'In my experience . . .' Usually makes reader sympathetic and receptive to the point.
- Bias: One-sidedness in presentation of view/opinion. Can influence the reader by intentionally only presenting one side of the argument.
- Cliches: Worn-out, over-used expressions. eg: "Fit as a fiddle", "Turning over a new leaf". Are familliar, often colloquial, a shortcut to convey meaning.
- Colourful words/ descriptive language: Words that are heightened, lively, vivid and full of interest. Eg: hot = blistering, sultry, muggy, suffocating, steamy, wilting. Produce a picture and/ or induce an emotion. Engage the reader.
- Emotional appeals: Play on peoples emotions such as fears, insecurities, desires, hopes and values. Can target moral values, patriotism, a sense of justice or injustice, family values, customs & tradition. Can manipuate the reader by triggering an emotional response.
- Emotive language: The deliberate use of strong emotive words to play on people's feelings. Language that carries strong emotions Eg: words like sleazy, slimy, vicious, disgusting,outrageous. Evoke a strong emotional response in a reader to coerce/force agreement.
- Evidence: Information, facts or statements used to support a belief, opinion, point of view or proposition. Eg- statistics, research, expert opinion, facts. Positions the reader & adds weight to the author's argument.
- Exaggeration: Overstatement, stating the case too strongly, magnifying importance. Eg: "I'll die if he finds out!" Exaggeration makes a point dramatically to reinforce it.
- Generalisation: A general statement that claims that whatever is being said is true for most or a majority. Eg: "Children see too much violence on TV".
- Inclusive Language: Includes reader/audience, engages them, sounds friendly. Eg: "We all know that ..."
- Repetition: Repeated words, phrases, ideas. Eg: "Never, never, never to be released." Gives emphasis & prominence to a point/idea, repeats ideas to reinforce point & make reader remember it.
- Rhetorical Questions: Questions that have the answer embedded in them. Eg: "Are we going to accept these third-world hospital conditions in our country?" The answer seems obvious, so this is a very powerful manipulating device.
Structure
Articles are best structured in essay format. This format starts with an introduction, then your paragraphs and finally a summary/outro.
The introduction should outline what you are going to talk about in a very brief summary.
Each paragraph should have a theme, each leading on from the other. What I mean by this is, each paragraph needs to have an element of the one before. At the end of each paragraph there should be a segwey, which introduces the next paragraph, the segwey has to tie the two paragraphs together.
The outro should summarise the entire article whilst introducing nothing new. The outro is the last thing people read, and as such, needs to pack a punch to make the reader think.
What are citations and how do I add them?
Adding citations is not part of the criteria when submitting an article, but it does take it to the next level.
A citation is a link to a quote or statistic you have used. This is highly recommended if quoting.
To add citations, you add "[insert number here]" to then of the quote.
Example: "A citation is a link to a quote or statistic you have used. This is highly recommended if quoting."[1]
Here is how to add a hyperlink:
[url= URL LINK HERE][number here][/url]