| |
Your Name_________________
The Date___________________
Social Studies: Islamic Civilization
A Country Issue
Editorials require research on the writer’s part in order to present the facts accurately. Be sure
you have all the information on the subject before you start writing. It is irresponsible to write about
a subject when you don’t have all the facts. Consult magazines, newspapers, or the internet. If you
need background information, use the library.
An editorial should be developed around a central theme to insure unity. A common fault is to
make the editorial too broad, which usually results in disorganization and a poor conclusion, if any.
All editorials should have an introduction, a body, and a summary ending. Editorial writing
differs from news story form in that editorials do not need summary leads. Try to make your stand in
the opening paragraph — tell the reader what you support or what you are against. A good formula
to follow is to use the first three paragraphs to tell the reader what you want him or her to know:
introduction, background, and topic. Then in the next few paragraphs give a conclusion and
summarization, repeat main points, and a solution. Be sure your conclusion makes your reader want
to take action. Your solution is important. This should be a well thought out plan for solving the
issue.
Writing an Editorial: Suggested Guidelines
1. The editorial should be short — generally no more than 300 to 400 words
2. Make sure the editorial has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
3. Avoid the first person singular (I) and second person (you). Avoid other first person
pronouns such as our and us.
4. Make the writing style dignified but readable. Keep it simple. Don’t us big words to
impress. Use easily understood words, and keep one thought to a sentence.
5. Use comparisons and contrasts. This is particularly important if you are trying to influence
the reader. If you can show your point of view by comparing it with another, the
reader is more likely to accept it if you produce a convincing argument.
6. The point of the editorial should be made without preaching.
7. Timeliness is an important factor. Don’t write an editorial on something that happened last
year unless it has occurred again. Try to base your editorials on news events.
8. All opinions should be supported by stated facts. Statements may be documented
by quoting sources and authorities. However, quotes are seldom used in editorials
unless the editorial is based on a quote.
9. Criticism should be followed by constructive suggestions.
10. Make sure praise is given where praise is due.
11. Editorials should not have bylines.
12. Editorials may deal with international news.
13. Avoid verbosity (wordiness). Make your point, support it, and quit.
14. Write an effective headline to draw the reader to your editorial.
A reminder:
The seven qualities for good writing are clarity, color, concreteness, economy, tone, tempo, and
variety whether you are writing an editorial or writing a story.
Clarity is conveying ideas precisely. This is actually a matter of word choice, or of word
organization within phrases and clauses. Avoid misplaced modifiers and dangling participles.
Color is using words that evoke images. Verbs carry the load of visual comment. For example:
The boys sat at their desks, or, The boys slouched at their desks. The verb slouched conveys a
picture as well as a meaning.
Concreteness means being specific. Avoid wordiness, and avoid using general adjectives. Avoid
words like many, several, few, and some.
Economy means making every word count. At the same time, don’t leave out words if they are
necessary to convey the true meaning of the article.
Tone gives the general impression of the writing. The tone conveys whether the story is formal,
casual, breezy, dignified, ironic, or satirical. Word choice is the principal way to determine tone.
Word choice should be appropriate to the subject and should actually grow out of it.
Tempo is a matter of pacing: in other words, how the writing moves. Does it follow through
smoothly, or is it jerky? This is usually determined by sentence length, which is usually determined
by the subject matter.
Variety is important in every form of writing. Variety in word choice, sentence length, and
sentence structure, as well as, sentence beginning. Above all, avoid redundancies
Editorials Are of different types: criticism, attack, defense, endorsement, praise, appeal, and
entertainment. The three underlined types are explained.
Editorials of criticism should avoid criticizing personal lives, but they may criticize policies or
decisions. Editorials of criticism should move toward a definite point of view. Criticism should be
constructive, not destructive. A solution to the problem should be suggested and developed.
Editorials of attack are similar to editorials of criticism except they are more forceful. Editorials
of attack should call for changes to be made immediately.
Editorials of defense stand up for an individual for a policy, or for an idea that is under attack.
This type of editorial must present reasons why the individual, policy or idea should not be under
attack.
Evaluation of a Country Issue
The Power of the Pen
An Editorial
I. Author has turned in articles to validate extent of research.
10 points _____________
A. An editorial of 300 — 400 words
1. Write an introduction, body, and conclusion
2. Avoid first person and second person writing
3. Write in dignified and readable narrative
4. Use compare and contrast if appropriate
5. Written points made without preaching
15 points _____________
B. The editorial
1. Make a stand on the topic in the first paragraph telling
what you support or what you are against.
2. Develop the background so the reader understands the
issues involved in the country. This will be the second
paragraph. Topic and issue are clearly stated.
3. In the third paragraph state what you want to see happen
in the country. A solution for the problem.
4. In the fourth paragraph give a conclusion.
5. In the fifth paragraph briefly summarize the issue with
your solution. Create a powerful ending. Convince
the reader.
80 points _____________
C. Seven qualities of good writing
1. Used the seven qualities found in the directions
2. Revision and Editing for mechanics and spelling
3. Writing is in the words of the editor
4. The writing reflects the authors understanding of the topic
5. Format follow that of a newspaper editorial
size 12 font, indented paragraphs, signature
at the bottom of the article
20 points _____________
Your Name_______________________________Country___________________
Grade__________/ 125 points
Model:
Evaluation of a Country Issue
The Power of the Pen
An Editorial
I. Author has turned in articles to validate extent of research.
10 points _____________
A. An editorial of 300 — 400 words
1. Write an introduction, body, and conclusion
2. Avoid first person and second person writing
3. Write in dignified and readable narrative
4. Use compare and contrast if appropriate
5. Written points made without preaching
15 points _____________
B. The editorial
1. Make a stand on the topic in the first paragraph telling
what you support or what you are against.
2. Develop the background so the reader understands the
issues involved in the country. This will be the second
paragraph. Topic and issue are clearly stated.
3. In the third paragraph state what you want to see happen
in the country. A solution for the problem.
4. In the fourth paragraph give a conclusion.
5. In the fifth paragraph briefly summarize the issue with
your solution. Create a powerful ending. Convince
the reader.
80 points _____________
C. Seven qualities of good writing
1. Used the seven qualities found in the directions
2. Revision and Editing for mechanics and spelling
3. Writing is in the words of the editor
4. The writing reflects the authors understanding of the topic
5. Format follow that of a newspaper editorial
size 12 font, indented paragraphs, signature
at the bottom of the article
20 points _____________
Your Name_______________________________Country___________________
Grade__________/ 125 points
A model from a newspaper
Evaluation of a Country Issue
The Power of the Pen
An Editorial
I. Author has turned in articles to validate extent of research.
10 points _____________
A. An editorial of 300 — 400 words
1. Write an introduction, body, and conclusion
2. Avoid first person and second person writing
3. Write in dignified and readable narrative
4. Use compare and contrast if appropriate
5. Written points made without preaching
15 points _____________
B. The editorial
1. Make a stand on the topic in the first paragraph telling
what you support or what you are against.
2. Develop the background so the reader understands the
issues involved in the country. This will be the second
paragraph. Topic and issue are clearly stated.
3. In the third paragraph state what you want to see happen
in the country. A solution for the problem.
4. In the fourth paragraph give a conclusion.
5. In the fifth paragraph briefly summarize the issue with
your solution. Create a powerful ending. Convince
the reader.
80 points _____________
C. Seven qualities of good writing
1. Used the seven qualities found in the directions
2. Revision and Editing for mechanics and spelling
3. Writing is in the words of the editor
4. The writing reflects the authors understanding of the topic
5. Format follow that of a newspaper editorial
size 12 font, indented paragraphs, signature
at the bottom of the article
20 points _____________
Your Name_______________________________Country___________________
Grade__________/ 125 points
A Model to Study: Editorial
The Rush to Hang Saddam Hussein
Published: December 29, 2006
The important question was never really about whether Saddam Hussein was guilty of crimes against
humanity. The public record is bulging with the lengthy litany of his vile and unforgivable atrocities:
genocidal assaults against the Kurds; aggressive wars against Iran and Kuwait; use of internationally
banned weapons like nerve gas; systematic torture of countless thousands of political prisoners.
What really mattered was whether an Iraq freed from his death grip could hold him accountable in a
way that nurtured hope for a better future. A carefully conducted, scrupulously fair trial could have
helped undo some of the damage inflicted by his rule. It could have set a precedent for the rule of
law in a country scarred by decades of arbitrary vindictiveness. It could have fostered a new national
unity in an Iraq long manipulated through its religious and ethnic divisions.
It could have, but it didn’t. After a flawed, politicized and divisive trial, Mr. Hussein was handed his
sentence: death by hanging. This week, in a cursory 15-minute proceeding, an appeals court upheld
that sentence and ordered that it be carried out posthaste. Most Iraqis are now so preoccupied with
shielding their families from looming civil war that they seem to have little emotion left to spend on
Mr. Hussein or, more important, on their own fading dreams of a new and better Iraq.
What might have been a watershed now seems another lost opportunity. After nearly four years of
war and thousands of American and Iraqi deaths, it is ever harder to be sure whether anything
fundamental has changed for the better in Iraq.
This week began with a story of British and Iraqi soldiers storming a police station that hid a secret
dungeon in Basra. More than 100 men, many of them viciously tortured, were rescued from almost
certain execution. It might have been a story from the final days of Baathist rule in March 2003, when
British and American troops entered Basra believing they were liberating the subjugated Shiite south.
But it was December 2006, and the wretched men being liberated were prisoners of the new Iraqi
Shiite authorities.
Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won’t
either.
\
|
|