© Nine ways of opening an article 1 Match the openings 1-8 in A with the folowing categories @-i, Some of the categories may have more than one example; others may havenone, a A surprising fact, perhaps including statistics. by Aaurprising, shocking or bizarre statement. The reader keeps reading out ‘of enrtosty: how are you going to continue? Do you really beligye that? What ‘on earth are you talking about? © Aquestion. This helps to define the subject of a piece of writig, Ie also starts readers thinking about the subject, making them want to reac what you have tosay A quotation. fe A story that illustrates what you are going to say. It may be a story about the subject itself it may be a story about another top that has something in ‘common with the subject of your article. f A:ttatement of the topic. The statement mentions what the topic is, and ‘often summarizes what you are going to say. This opening is often the key to the organization and paragraphing of the article ¢ Adefinition of the topic (sometimes a dictionary definition), This opening may be appropriate, but is one of the Yeast interesting. h A description or image that evokes a suitable atmosphere or syinbolizes the whole question 1 reference toa well-known phrase from literature, a song, a proverb, et ‘an allusion or ‘rewritten’ quotation Closings ‘Aleve of ring is ke a firm: a week of unsatisfying ending spoils al the good thos that wont before. The ending of@ good fim gives you 2 feding of Sallsfaction Te fim fels whale, compote How do we always recogrize the end of the flm before the words THE exo come tion the soreen? What signals doos te fim gve out to tel us is fishing? Minot makes fim fel compote? Think ofthe pot, the musical score and the images. Rotoring to specie tims you have seen, how many diferent kinds of ending can you tine O° A Six ways of closing an article 1 Return to the beginning: a conclusion paraphrasing the opening, oF a return to the imagery or words of the opening, ‘A Summary or conclusion. ‘A Question. ‘A Quotation ‘Am Image / picture, syinbolizing the end (sunset, death) oF a new beginning ‘avs, birth), 6 A short sentence to signal a break with what went efore, or to indicate the intention to finish “The closing of a piece of writing is also often signalled by certain inking words: Allin all: then: to sum trp. There is a ist on page 23.44 Don't talk about yoursolt You's verti forthe pubic, not {or your friends, Your opinions are ‘only steresting if you can explain them, justify them. oF make them centeraining. Be Interesting People don't buy magazines in ‘ordec to be bored. If your article Isnt iteresting, they won't read it and the magazine won't publish your writing again. To be ingerestng, you should: tive your article a good tte Start with a good opening, fuse concrete images and facts, hot eoncepts and generalizations 46 se precise and interesting vocabulary, «surprise the reader - or at east Say something new. ‘¢nove hen to finish ~ and finish insyle Remember who you're writing for ‘Who reads this magazine? How old are they? What nationality? What fo they already know about the Openings B Purpose The opening of a magazine artic order of importance. to tell readers what the to tell readers how th Writing for magazines: things to remember subject ofthe article, and what will ‘you ned co explain? What are you trying to achieve? ‘Are you trying to persuade the reader todo something? To inform? To advise? To recommend? To entertain? Ora combination of these? Layout Your article should normally have a tile and be writen in paragraphs. ‘Some magazine aries include Tits Tiss of instructions, lists of "tps oradvice ~ which require fraphic layout such as that used Jn Be interesting’ above. Note also the use of subtties on this page and in certain magazine articles. Organization and planning. ‘Try to say just one thing in a 250-word atte. Make notes, then suminarize what you want to say fn one sentence. You could write a plan based on that one sentence; the rest of the arile would explain and ihustate what you want tosy. to catch readers’ attention and make them want to read the rest. to tell readers what the article is going to be about ‘the topic) article is going to say (the content) article is going to be onganized (the structure) Relevance Make sure that your ate ie relevant tothe tie, end that verti within the article i + relevant to Your main ides, Longth a magazine or an English exam asks for ‘about 250 words, don't ‘write S00, The magazine woulda’t pein the article; the examiner may ‘nly read the fis half of I, and ‘You wil certaily be penalised, perhaps severely. ‘Accuracy and libel Don't present opinions, guesses and rumours as if they were foes. Such carelessness, apart from making ‘your article inaccurate Tntrustworthy and valueless can also be ilegal when printed in 3 ‘magazine, Distinguish between fact find rumour by adding a simple word or phrase: the alleged murderer, the suspected mafiso, ve heard it said that. dhere Is 2 rumour that.» the minister is said to have / rumoured to have / supposed to have taken bribes, Je has one or more purposas, in descending 11 Which of the openings in A best achieves the first purpose? (In other words, ‘which one would you most want to read?) Do any of the openings leave you in doubt about the topic of 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? the article?