DOMAIN 6: CAMPUS JOURNALISM & CREATIVE WRITING

I. CAMPUS JOURNALISM
ORIGIN OF CAMPUS JOURNALISM
On a 4” x 6” sheet of paper, Samuel Fickle Fox penned the first issue of The Students Gazette on July 11, 1777 at the William Penn
Charter School in Philadelphia, USA. Published continuously until August 1778, when the British soldiers closed the school, The
Gazette is recognized as the first student publication in the English-speaking world. In the Philippines, The University of the
Philippines started publishing its magazine College Folio in October 1910 and printed the works of the first promising writers in
English. In 1912 the graduates of Manila High School published their English writings in The Coconut. The following year, 1913, the
Philippine Normal School introduced its publication, The TORCH. The UP Writers Club which was organized in 1927 had its literary
organ, The Literary Apprentice which became the most prestigious college literary publication in the country. At about this time
UST’s Varsitarian began to see publication.

JOURNALISM IN GENERAL
Definition of Journalism
The word journal comes from the Latin word diurna which means “daily.” In ancient Rome, short bulletins of battles, fires, and
elections compiled by government officials were posted up in public places. These were called acta diurna which meant “daily
events.”
Other definitions of journalism:
• The occupation of writing for publication in newspapers and other periodicals. – Noah Webster
• Something that embraces all forms in which or through which the news and comments on the news reach the public. All that happens
in the world, if such happenings hold interest for the public, and all the thoughts, actions, and ideas which these happenings stimulate,
become basic materials for the journalist.- Fraser F. Bond
• High School Journalism
• Enjoyable co-curricular activity of the school paper staff in collecting, organizing, and presenting news; in writing editorials,
columns, literary articles, and features; in copyreading, proofreading, dummying, and writing headlines – all for the purpose of putting
out a school organ. – School Paper Advisers of the City Schools of Manila

LET COMPETENCIES
1. Apply the principles and strategies in writing the various parts (e.g. editorial, news, feature
story, etc.) of a campus paper
2. Apply the theories and principles in creative writing
3. Identify the methods, approaches, techniques and strategies in teaching creative writing
4. Evaluate and analyze the creative process involved in published literary works
5. Exhibit a better understanding of literary genres, their nature, elements, and forms

Scope of Journalism
• Journalism may be divided into three areas: written, oral, and visual
• Periodicals such as newspapers and magazines fall under written journalism. A periodical, defined broadly, is a publication that
comes out at regular intervals – daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.
• A newspaper, compared to a magazine, prints more news, has no special cover, and is printed on a special paper called newsprint.
News is printed on the front page as well as on the inside and back pages.
• A magazine, on the other hand, prints more features and human interest stories, has a special cover usually with a big cut on it, and is
often printed on bookpaper. If ever news is printed, it is brief, featurized, and found in the inside pages.
• Periodicals, brochures, journals, books, and graphic arts are classified under print media. Radio falls under oral journalism, while
television, movies, and documentaries are under visual journalism.
• Radio and television are examples of broadcast media while movies and documentaries are examples of film media.
Newspapers and Yearbooks

Comparison
• both are journalistic products
• report on school scene
• reflect student thought, opinion, and taste
• give students an opportunity to showcase their best creative work

Contrast
• yearbooks serve as memory books of a certain year at a specific school
• yearbooks consist primarily of photographs
• yearbooks are considered keepsakes
• newspapers are more current events-oriented
• newspapers are issued several times a year
• newspapers use far fewer photographs and devote much more content to coverage of recent events and to reporting upcoming
activities

Functions of modern campus papers:

• Information function
• Opinion function
• Education function
• Watchdog function
• Laboratory function
• Documentation function
• Entertainment function
• Developmental function
Sections/Part of A Campus Paper
Whether it is a community, metropolitan, or national paper, its parts and sections are more or less the same.
Traditionally, these are:
A. Front Page
1. Local news – news that takes place within the country.
2. Foreign news – news that takes place outside the country.
3. Dateline news – an out-of-town news story. It is introduced by a dateline which states the place from which the story was reported,
the date, and the source of the material if not written by the local staff, as Tokyo, Japan, Jan. 25 (AP).
4. Weather news – usually a boxed forecast of the area, sometimes the temperature, wind directions, and velocities.
5. Index – a slug line indicating an important inside page story and the page where it is found.
6. Other things found on the Front Page: (Those with asterisk may or may not be present).
a. Nameplate – The engraved or printed name of the newspaper, as the Manila Times or PNC Torch.
b. Ears – The little boxes on either side of the nameplate.
c. Banner – The principal headline bearing the boldest and biggest type. It is the title of the most important news of the day which is
called banner news. It may or may not run across the page. It id does, it may also be called a streamer.
d. Running head – a head made up of two or more lines.
e. Headline – The title of any news story. The word headline is used only for titles of news stories.
f. Deck – a subordinate headline placed immediately below its mother headline, also known as bank or readout.
g. Lead – The beginning of a news story. It may be a word, a group of words, a sentence, or even a paragraph.
h. News story – The whole story of an event composed of the lead and the text which is the elaboration of the lead.
i. Columns – The horizontal division into parts of a newspaper. Many national papers are divided into eight columns while a typical
school paper is divided into five columns of 12 ems each.
j. Column rule – The vertical line that divides the page into columns. Most pages of newspaper are divided into columns by a space
usually one em wide. This space is called the sunken rule.
k. Fold – The imaginary horizontal line that divides the newspaper equally into two parts.
l. Byline – The signature of a reporter preceding a news-feature, as By Warren Cruz.
m. Box – News materials enclosed by line rules.
n. Cut – A metal plate bearing a newspaper’s illustration, also known as cliché.
o. Cutline – The text accompanying photos and other art work, better known as a caption. If written above the photo just like a
slugline, it is called an overline.
p. Kicker – A tagline placed above but smaller than a headline, also known as teaser. If it is bigger than the headline, it is called a
hammer.
q. Credit line – A line giving the source of story or illustration, as Reprinted from the “Manila Times” or Photo by MPI.

B. Front Page
1. Folio – Consists of the page number, date of publication, and name of the newspaper, usually written on top of the page. This is also
found in the other pages.
2. Masthead – The editorial box containing the logo, names of the staff members and position in the staff, subscription rate, the
publisher, and other pertinent data about the newspaper. A logo (a shorter word for logotype) is a cut which contains an identifying
word or words, such as the name of the newspaper or of a section.
3. Editorial proper – A commentary written by any of the editors who comments or gives the opinion of the staff or of the whole paper
on various subjects. It is the stand of the paper.
4. Editorial column - A personal opinion written by the columnist himself. Like the editorial proper, it may attack, teach, entertain, or
appeal depending upon its purpose.
5. Editorial cartoon – Usually a caricature emphasizing a simple point. Usually humorous, it has the function of the editorial. It stands
by itself and is not a complement of the editorial proper.
6. Editorial liner – a short statement or quoted saying placed at the end of an editorial column or editorial to drive home a message.
7. Letter to the editor – A letter sent in by the reader giving his personal views on certain aspects.

C. Sports Page
Sports stories are classified as news stories; therefore, what may be found in the news page may also be found in the sports section.
Other things that may be found in the sports section are the sports commentaries and sports features.
D. Special Features
The modern newspaper has taken some special features and eliminated some which have become irrelevant to the needs of the times.
An example of this is the
• Society page
• Life and Leisure (The arts, Religion, Entertainment and Comics) and
• Finance and Business
• The feature page may contain home and culture, entertainment, comics, shipping, classified ads, movie, TV and radio guides, and the
comics page.

The Charter of Student Press Rights

The following conditions are essential for a free student press:
• The student press, in accordance with the right of the United Nations (Draft) Convention on Freedom of Information, should be free
from regulations by any organ of the government or by the university authorities;
• The student press, except where it is an official organ of a student organization, should be free from regulations by other student
organizations;
• The student press should be free from all pressures, financial and other external groups;
• The student press should have a free access to information and the same rights and privileges as afforded to regularly accredited
journalists.

The Code of Student Press Ethics

Believing that all student publications throughout the world should respect the basic principles of human rights and that they should
maintain good quality workmanship and a high standard of conduct, the following Code of Ethics for observance by student
journalists is recommended:
• The student journalist should strive continuously to be unbiased and accurate in his reports and should equip himself adequately with
facts to support his published statements. He should realize his personal responsibility for everything he submits for publication.
• The student journalist should reveal his identity as a representative of the student press before obtaining any interview for
publication.
• The editor should not exclude a student point of view solely because it is contrary to the editorial policy.
• The editor should apologize in print at the first available opportunity for all mistakes.
• A student journalist should defend freedom through the hones collection and publication of news and facts and through the rights of
fair comment and criticism.
• A student journalist should respect all confidence regarding sources of information and private documents. He should not falsify
information or documents or distort of misrepresent the facts.
• Student journalists should be familiar with the laws of libel and contempt of court which exist in their country and should observe
the international copyright agreement unless this interferes with the freedom of the press or the need to inform the public on vital
matters. Every effort should be made to retain the independence of all students from public relations, censorship, pressure or undue
influence from any outside body, political, governmental religious or in the university. Official publications of a student union,
however, have a particular responsibility to that union.

Declaration of Principles: Aims of Student Journalists

The International Student Press Conference, considering
*That journalism plays one of the most essential roles in the life of man, i.e. the expression of thinking;
*that student journalism as a means of expressing thought tends to strengthen unity, understanding and friendship among all the
students of the world;
*that through a mandate of the press conference, it is the duty of the student press to take a position on current problems based on the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on the Charter of the Student Press;
*that in order to define the responsibility of the student press in a Code of Ethics, it is necessary first of all to establish the duties and
obligations of the student journalist and make a declaration of principles containing the aims and objectives to be implemented by the
student press, resolves to declare as fundamental principles to be implemented by the student journalists the following:

1. Culture: Student journalism must be a means of propagating culture in all its forms;
2. Freedom of the Press: it is necessary in order to insure the very existence of journalism that full freedom of the press exists in the
country in which student publications are issued because the freedom of the press exactly reflects the liberty of opinion and expression
in any democratic country;
3. Freedom of Culture: As the exchange of ideas and opinions is an effective means of obtaining understanding between all students of
the world it is indispensable for such understanding that all men have full freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
4. Totalitarianism, Colonialism, Imperialism: Student journalists should pursue and condemn totalitarianism, colonialism, and
imperialism in all their forms as these are systems opposed to the highest aspirations of students around the world;
5. Student Dignity: Student journalism, recognizing its responsibility as a medium of expression and orientation, declares that it will
try to be effective in favor of student and human rights in accordance with various resolutions of the International Student Press
Conference which says that: “… all people should have access to an education enabling them to realize their full potentialities and
available equally to all without regard for color, economic circumstances, sex, political or religious convictions and social standing;
that all people should be free to develop their educational systems in keeping with their own culture and traditions.”

WRITING GOOD JOURNALISTIC STYLE

1. Cut unnecessary fat. Preserve meaning, but prune ruthlessly.
2. Use simple, clear language. Bring meaning into focus with concrete examples and vivid writing.
3. Say what you mean.
4. Choose active over passive voice. Replace “to be” verbs with action verbs.
5. Craft transitions carefully. The most commonly used transitions are chronological (now, since, then, a few days later, etc).
6. Replace clichés and adjectives with nouns and action verbs focusing on actors and action.
7. Translate jargon by paraphrasing dull, wordy quotes.
8. Use quotes correctly.

ROY PETER CLARK: Fourteen Traits of Good Writers

TRAIT 1
Good writers see the world as their journalism laboratory, a storehouse of story ideas. If they can get out of the room, they can find a
story.
TRAIT 2
Good writers prefer to discover and develop their own story ideas. They have an eye for the offbeat and may find conventional
assignments tedious.
TRAIT 3
Good writers are voracious collectors of information. This usually means that they take notes like crazy.
TRAIT 4
Good writers spend too much time and creative energy working on their leads. They know that the lead is the most important part of
their work, the passage that invites the reader into the story and signals the news.
TRAIT 5
Good writers talk about “immersing themselves” into the story. They live it, breathe it, and dream it.
TRAIT 6
Most good writers are bleeders rather than speeders. When they write, in the words of sportswriter Red Smith, they “open a vein.”
TRAIT 7
Good writers understand that an important part of writing is the mechanical drudgery of organizing the material, what Saul Pett
describes as “donkey work.”
TRAIT 8
Good writers rewrite. They love computer terminals, which permit maximum playfulness during revision.
TRAIT 9
In judging their work, good writers tend to trust their ears and their feelings more than their eyes. Editors “look for holes in the story.”
Writers want ‘to make it sing.”
TRAIT 10
Good writers want to tell stories. They are constantly searching for the human side of the news, for voices that enliven the writing.
TRAIT 11
Good writers write primarily to please themselves and to meet their own exacting standards, but they also understand that writing is a
transaction between writer and reader.
TRAIT 12
Good writers take chances in their writing. They love the surprising and the unconventional approach to a story.
TRAIT 13
Good writers are lifelong readers, mostly novels, and they like movies. They collect story ideas and forms from other genres.
TRAIT 14
Good writers write too long, and they know it. They want their stories to be “seamless” or “connected by a single thread” or “to flow.”

News Defined
News is an oral or written report of a past, present, or future event. It should be factual, truthful, accurate, unbiased, and interesting.
But what is interesting to one is not always interesting to another

Elements of News
• Conflict –this may involve physical or mental conflict – man versus man, man versus animals, man versus nature, or man versus
himself.
• Immediacy or timeliness – This element emphasizes the newest angle of the story. The more recent the event, the more interesting it
is to the reader.
• Proximity or nearness – This may refer to geographical nearness as well as to nearness of kinship or interest.
• Prominence – Some people are more prominent than others by reasons of wealth, social position, or achievements.
• Significance – Whatever is significant to the life of an individual is interesting to him.
• Names – Important names make important news.
• Drama – this adds color to the story. The more picturesque the background and the more dramatic the actions are, the more appealing
the story is to the reader.
• Oddity or unusualness – This refers to strange or unnatural events, objects, persons, and places. An odd story is interesting not
because of its news value but because of the human-interest side of it.
• Romance and adventure – The romance of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had hugged headlines for many years. Romance
may be experienced with other things. There were the romance of Hemingway with the sea and of the astronauts with space.
• Sex – Since the dawn of history, sex has always interested man. Stories of sex are usually related to stories of romance, marriage,
divorce, and the varied activities of men with women. This is not always the case
• Progress – The onward and forward march of civilization or the progress of a country is chronicled step by step in the newspaper.
The trend today is towards development communication. Reports on the significant changes in the established order and on scientific
achievements are in order.
• Animals – Stories of animals, especially those with talents are good reading matter because of their human-interest value.
• Number – Sweepstakes numbers, vital statistics, election results, scores in games, casualties, fatalities, price of goods, and ages of
women make good news.
• Emotion – All the other elements of news mentioned above appeal to the emotion. But the term emotion here includes the various
human responses such as the innate desire for food, clothing, shelter; the universal interest in children, animals, and nature; and the
natural feeling of love, sympathy and generosity, of fear, hatred, and jealousy.

Types of News Stories

News stories may fall under any of the following types according to:
1. Scope or origin
• Local news – Report of events that take place within the immediate locality.
• National news – News that takes place within the country.
• Foreign news – News that takes place outside the country.
• Dateline news – News preceded by the date and place of origin or place where it was written or filed: Tokyo, Jan. 20(AP)
2. Chronology or sequence
• Advance or anticipated – News published before its occurrence, sometimes called dope or prognostication. The reporter foretells
events expected to occur at a definite time in the future.
• Spot news – News that is gathered and reporter on the spot. It deals with unscheduled information demanding immediate publication.
The reporter himself is an eyewitness to the event that took place.
• Coverage news – News written from a given beat. Both spot news and coverage news are good examples of first-hand reporting.
• Follow-up news – A sequel to a previous story. Having a new lead of its own, it is a second, third or subsequent chapter of a serial.
3. Structure
• Straight News – News that consists of facts given straight without embellishment. Its main aim is to inform. It uses the summary lead
and is written using the inverted pyramid structure.
• News-feature (Featurized news distinguished from a feature article) – It is also based on facts, but it entertains more than it informs.
It uses the suspended interest structure like the narrative; thus, it cannot meet the cut-off test. In writing a news-feature, the writer may
give his impression, may describe and narrate, but without resorting to biased opinion; i.e., without editorializing. The reporter’s by-
line usually appears with his story.
(1) Single-feature or one-incident story – The story deals with an isolated event. A single fact is featured in the lead and is explained
further in the succeeding paragraphs. The story breaks logically at every paragraph; thus enabling the reporter to cut or lengthen it as
space dictates.
(2) Several-feature, multiple-angled, or composite story – Several facts are included in the lead in their order of importance. These
facts are elaborated one after the other in the body. The several-feature story aims to draw together two or more divergent aspects of
related news items separately; the writer writes them in one big story.
4. Treatment
a. Fact story – This is a plain exposition setting forth a single situation or a series of closely related facts that inform. It is written in
the inverted pyramid design.
b. Action story – A narrative of actions involving not mere simple facts but also of dramatic events, description of persons and events,
perhaps testimony of witnesses, as well as explanatory data. Sports games, competitions, accidents, and war reports are examples of
action stories.
c. Speech report – A news story usually written from a public address, talks, and speeches.
d. Quote story – Speeches, statements, and letters, and to some extent, interviews when reported, are regarded as quote stories. All are
based on recorded information, either written or spoken, and transcribed by the reporter in the form of news.
e. Interview story – A news report written from an interview.
f. Hard news– events, such as killings, city council meetings and speeches by leading government officials, are timely and are reported
almost automatically by the media.
g. Soft news – events, such as a lunch to honor a retiring school custodian or a boy scouting jamboree are not usually considered
immediately important or timely to a wide audience.
5. Content
a. Routine story – celebrations, enrollment, graduation, election stories reported year in and year out.
b. Police reports – accident, fire, calamity, crime stories, etc.
c. Science news
d. Developmental news
e. Sports stories
6. Minor forms
a. News brief – A short item of news interest, written like a brief telegraphic message, giving mainly the result with details.
b. News bulletin – It is similar to the lead of a straight news story. Its aim isjust to give the gist of the news.
c. News-featurette – This is a short news feature usually used as filler, e.g., “Quirks in the news.”
d. Flash – A bulletin that conveys the first word of an event.

WRITING THE LEAD

Kinds of Lead
1. Conventional or summary lead
This kind of lead used in straight news answers right away all or any of the 5 W’s and/or the H. It may be one of the following:
• WHO lead – Used when the person involved is more prominent that what he does or what happens to him.
• WHAT lead – Used when the event or what took place is more important than the person involved in the story.
• WHERE lead – Used when the place is unique and no prominent person is involved.
• WHEN lead – Rarely used as the reader presumes the story to be timely.
However, this lead is useful when speaking of deadlines, holidays, and important dates.
• WHY lead – Used when the reason is more prominent or unique than what happens.
• HOW lead – Used when the manner, mode, means, or method of achieving the story is the unnatural way.
2. Grammatical beginning lead
Some examples of these grammatical beginning leads are:
• Prepositional phrase lead – The phrase is introduced by a preposition.
• Infinitive phrase lead – It begins with the sign of the infinitive to plus the main verb.
• Participial phrase lead – It is introduced by the present or past participle form of the verb
• Gerundial Phrase lead – It is introduced by a gerund (a verbal noun ending in ing)
• Clause lead – The lead begins with a clause which may either be independent or subordinate; or may either be a noun or an adjectival
or adverbial clause.
3. Novelty lead
• Astonisher lead – Uses an interjection or an exclamatory sentence.
• Contrast lead – Describes two extremes or opposites for emphasis. The sharper the contrast, the more effective the lead will be.
• Epigram lead – Opens by quoting a common expression, verse, or epigram, at least familiar in the locality.
• Picture lead – Describes a person, a place, or an event, at the same time creating a mental picture of the subject matter in the mind of
the reader.
• Background lead – Similar to the picture lead except that it describes the setting which may be more prominent than the characters
and the events.
• Descriptive lead – Used when comparatively few descriptive words can vividly formulate an imagery.
• Parody lead – Consists of a parody of a well-known song, poem, lines, etc.
• Punch lead – A short, forceful word or expression.
• One word lead – (self-explanatory)
• Quotation lead – Consists of the speaker’s direct words which are very striking and which are usually quoted from a speech, a public
address, or an interview.
• Question lead – An answer to a question which is the basis of the news story.
• This will be known Aug. 8 after the final screening to be held at the PNU Gym andPerforming Arts Center.

Various Types of News Structure

1. Straight News Story
a. The summary lead answers the most important W’s depending on which of the W’s is the most prominent among them.
b. The body consists of the elaboration of the W’s and the H. News-Feature Story

News-feature should not be confused with feature articles (features) which are sometimes called special features and printed in the
features sections of the newspapers or in magazines. Human interest and news-feature stories are classified as news since both are
gathered and written daily by reporters as their regular assignments. Furthermore, both emphasize the element of timeliness or
immediacy which distinguishes news from other types of reading, although they differ in important respects from the straight news
story.
a. The single-feature story – A single-feature or one incident story such as an account of a speech, an interview, or an election, deals
with an isolated event. In writing a news-feature story with this kind of structure, include the one feature in the lead. Add in the body
details which clarify and explain the lead. See that the story breaks logically at every paragraph and that the story may be cut or
lengthened as space dictates.
b. The several-feature, multiple-angle or composite story – In a composite story, two or more divergent aspects of a news topic are
drawn together for the sake of space and coherence. In structure, the composite story may resemble that of a follow-up story in that
both of them aim to consolidate component pars. However, they differ in the sense that the follow-up story ends in a tie-in with a past
story; whereas, the composite story is composed of units, each one made up of fresh spot news frequently with reference to the future.
In writing the several-feature or composite story, include all of the feature in a comprehensive lead in the order of their importance.
The next step is to explain and elaborate in the body each of the features in the order in which they are in the lead. In doing this,
relegate less important details of each feature to less important positions. But remember that each chain of facts although covered
separately should be handled as a single, unified story.

Fact Story
This is a plain exposition of a simple situation or of a series of closely related events which conform to the inverted pyramid design
more closely than any other kind of news. The component parts are the series of facts that may be likened to rectangles of diminishing
length arranged one after the other in order of their importance.

Action Story
This is a narrative involving not merely simple facts, but dramatic actions – incidents,
description of persons, perhaps testimonies of witnesses, as well as explanatory data.

4. Speech report, quote, and interview stories

The arrangement of a speech reports, a quote story, and of an interview are to a great, extent similar. The quote story may be charted
as alternating large and small rectangles of diminishing sizes: summary, quote, summary, quote, summary arrangement. The
quotations may be direct, indirect, or a combination of both.
In writing this kind of story, the following suggestions may be helpful: 1) Write a summarizing lead in any appropriate form, 2) Write
the body of the story in a summary quote- summary arrangement. The lead may be a summarizing statement – the gist of the speech,
statement, letter, or interview; or it may be the most important quotation in the story written as a direct quote.

Organizing News Stories

Inverted –Pyramid Style – traditional news writing form in which the key points of a story are put in the opening paragraph and the
news is stacked in the following paragraphs in order of descending importance.

Outline of a Spot News Story

Spot news stories – also called breaking news stories – usually follow a standard formula for writing called the inverted pyramid.
1. Lead (1-2) paragraphs
• Sums up the focus of the story.
• Orients readers by telling them something surprising; entices them to continue reading for more details.
• Answers Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
2. Impact (1 paragraph) (Answers: How will this affect the reader?)
3. Reaction and response (1 paragraph)
4. Cosmic quote that sums up story’s focus (1 paragraph)
5. Background (1 paragraph)
6. Explication of lead, including facts, quotes, anecdotes, and other evidence that support the story’s focus.
A sidebar to a story explores an idea that, while interesting, fails to fit into the main story because it remains tangential to the focus.
Sidebars engage readers by giving more information if they want it, helping to draw them into the issues of the main story.

Hourglass Style – a style of writing in which the major news of a story is reported in the first few paragraphs and then a transitional
paragraph introduces a chronology of the events of the story.

MICRO-ORGANIZATION
1. Each sentence should contain one central idea.
2. Each sentence should lead logically to the next.
3. When necessary, transitions should ease the reader from one issue to the next and connect the main issues of your story.
4. The top of your story should include the essential information needed to inform the reader of the news and, if necessary, should
have a background paragraph, a news hook and a cosmic quote.
5. Put attributions at the end of a sentence, unless who’s saying it is more important than what’s being said.
News hook: “With only one month to go before the first votes are cast in the Student Government Executive Body elections”
Nut graph: “Never before have so many political parties contended so avidly for the votes of the silent majority which definitely will
decide the outcome of the elections.”
Background: “Largely ignored in the past, the silent majority have become the focus of government platforms of the contending
parties, the identified audience in the campaigns.”
Cosmic Quote: “This is the first time in the local executive body election since the
1980s that four political parties try to mobilize the majority to end their silence and finally speak up,” said Maritess Gomez, secretary
general of the Sprite-7up Party Coalition.
But Ms. Gomez, who is confident her party will win the elections, said she saw no cause of alarm in this. While the silent majority
“have not been mobilized in the past,” she said, “their silence has been our inspiration to speak up and stand for them.”

Depth news is a king of news-feature that contains, aside from the essential facts attendant to a news story, background,
interpretation, and analyses.
It is not a news story in the traditional sense since it is not based on a timely event that answers the 5 W’s and the H. However, the
emphasis is on the elaboration of one W, the why. A depth report should be distinguished from depth treatment. The former is the
result of investigative reporting, which, as had been explained, is reporting in depth to present information on a topic beyond surface
facts and interpretative reporting which is reporting the meaning or the possible meaning of those facts.
Development Communication
Development communication is the art and science of human communication applied to the speedy transformation of a country and
the masses from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth that makes possible greater equality and the greater fulfillment of
human potentials.
The purpose of development communication is to advance development and progress. Specifically, these have to do with increasing
agricultural productivity, land reform, expanded health, medical and other social welfare services; population education, rural
electrification, nutrition education, sports and physical fitness development, and the promotion of a deeper cultural consciousness
among the people.
In a developing country like the Philippines, student editors should keep in step with developments that affect mankind and should
steer away from routine reporting. They should not limit their news stories to student politics, junior proms and other school affairs,
nor their feature articles to image building and the literary pieces to writing songs to Julieta.

Science Writing is the latest form of Philippine journalism. In this era of fast-moving discoveries, inventions, and technical
development, science reporting has become a must. The science writer, therefore, should be able to communicate clearly and
effectively so that he can popularize and translate scientific reports into stories which Mr. Average Reader, or the layman,
understands. A science reporter should be an all-around man, somewhat of a botanist, a zoologist, a chemist, an electrician, a plumber,
etc., who plays a vital role in the programs of the country not only be telling facts or information, but also by interpreting them to be
of relevance to the lives of the people. Assuming that the science reporters were all these people, how can he bridge the gap between
the scientist and the layman? As previously stated, scientists normally write using technical terms which the ordinary reader would not
understand. The science reporter’s mission therefore, is to know and understand science so that he can translate what the scientists are
talking about for the common man.

WRITING HEADLINES
The headline of the Number One story on Page 1 is called a banner. If it runs across the page it may also be called a streamer.
Among the important functions of the headline are the following: 1) to tell in capsule form what the story is all about, 2) to grade the
news as to importance, and 3) to make the page look attractive.
While the lead summarizes the story, the headline, on the other hand, summarizes the lead.
Structure of Headlines
There are different kinds of headlines according to structure. However, for the sake of consistency, only one kind should be adopted
by a newspaper. Common among these are illustrated and briefly explained as follows:
1. Flush left – Both lines are flushed to the left margin. This is also true with a one-line headline. This has no exact count for the units
in each line.
2. Dropline or Step Form - The first line is flushed left while the second is indented. It may consist of two or three, and sometimes
four lines of types of the same length, somewhat less than a column in width, so that the first line is flushed to the left, the second
centered, and the third flushed to the right.
3. Inverted pyramid – This is self-explanatory. Each of the three or four lines in this head is successively shorter than the line about it.
4. langing idention – The first line is flushed left. This is followed by two indented parallel lines.
5. Crossline or Barline – A one-line headline that runs across the column. The simplest form, it is a single line across the allotted
space. If it runs across the page, it is called a streamer. Local students join CLEAN drive
6. Boxed headline – For emphasis or art’s sake, some headlines are boxed:
a. Full box
b. Half box
c. Quarter box
7. Jump story headline – A jump story (a story continued on another page) has a headline of its own. This may be the same as the
original headline or it may just be a word, a phrase or a group of words followed by a series of dots.
Local students…
From page 1)

WRITING THE EDITORIAL

An editorial is the official stand of the paper on a relevant development or issue. It is a personal commentary written by the editor who
comments or gives the news-written by the editor who comments or gives the newspaper’s or the staffs opinion about various aspects
on an issue which is of interest and importance to the public. It is a critical interpretation of significant, usually contemporary events
so that the readers will be informed, influenced, or entertained. It is the stand of the paper, not of an individual editor.
Some authors give other definitions or explanations regarding editorials: An editorial is an article in a newspaper giving the editor’s
view or those of the person or persons in control of the paper. – A. Gayle Waldrop

It is the expression of the people’s conscience, cause, and convictions. – Joseph Pulitzer
The modern editorial includes analyses and clarifications, sometimes with no opinion given. – Arthur Capper
The editorial should provide the background in which the facts are seen in a new perspective and should express its opinion. – Rufus
Terral
Bitterness, bias, and fear have no place in an editorial. They make for weakness no matter how much they bluster. – William Allan
White
It is a presentation of facts and opinion in a concise, logical manner, or of interesting significant news in such a way that its
importance to the average reader will be clear. – M. Lyle Spencer

Characteristics of a Good Editorial

Reddick gives three qualities of a good editorial: 1) interest, 2) brevity, and 3) force. Spears and Lawshe, on the other hand,
characterize an editorial as one that: 1) must have clearness of style, 2) has moral purpose, 3) has sound reasoning, and 4) has the
power to influence public opinion. It can be added further that a good editorial must: 1) lead logically to a conclusion, 2) present only
one idea, 3) avoid wordiness, and 4) present facts and not mere opinion.

Types of Editorials
The kind of editorial to be written depends upon the purpose of the writer – whether to inform, interpret, criticize, commend, argue or
entertain. These are explained as follows:
1. Editorial of information – It seeks to give information on facts unknown to the reader. It restates the facts of news stories or adds
other facts with minimum explanation. It may define terms, identify persons or factors or provide a background; e.g., Freedom of the
Press.
2. Editorial of interpretation – It explains the significance or meaning of a news event, current idea, condition, or situation, theory, or
hypothesis. The writer doesn’t argue nor criticize, but merely presents both sides of an issue and leaves the judgment to the reader. It
merely interprets, say for example, the content of a new memorandum issued by the principal; e.g., Freedom of the Press: Two
Schools of Thought.
3. Editorial of criticism – It points out the good or the bad features of a problem or situation mentioned in the news. Its purpose is to
influence the reader. It suggests a solution at the end, e.g., School Administration Not Sincere in Press Freedom Promise
4. Editorial of commendation, appreciation, or tribute – It praises, commends, or pays tribute to a person or organization that has
performed some worthwhile projects or deeds, or accomplishments; e.g., Laurels to Barangay Dance Troupe.
5. Editorial of argumentation – This is oftentimes called editorial of persuasion. L the editor argues in order to convince or persuade
the reader to accept his stand on the issue; e.g., Freedom of the Press Not Violated.
6. Editorial of entertainment – It evokes a smile, a chuckle, laughter, while suggesting truth. Its main aim is to entertain. It is usually
short; e.g., Miniskirt, Anyone?
7. Mood editorial – It present a philosophy rather than an argument or an explanation. Oftentimes, the subject matter is nature or
emotion; e.g., those Wonderful People Called Parents.
8. Special occasion – It explains the significance of a special day or occasion; e.g., The Significance of Christmas, Au Revoir.
There is another kind of editorial known as a pooled editorial. This is written by two or more editors belonging to different
newspapers which they publish in their respective papers at the same time; e.g., Stop Tuition Fee Increase.

WRITING EDITORIAL COLUMNS

Purpose of the Editorial Column
• To form or help to form public opinion
• To inform, interpret and fiscalize
Other Purposes of the Column
1. To explain the news
a. Giving the background of an event.
b. Determining whether a certain event is an isolated case or part of the pattern.
c. Pointing out how an event will affect (or not affect) his readers.
d. Pooling together and assessing comments of readers from the different segments of society.
e. Presenting fairly the ideas in a controversy.
2. To entertain the readers

Form of Writing Used in Columns

Types of editorial column according to content:
1. The “opinion” column (also called the “signed editorial column”) – Resembles an editorial in form but, in contrast with the
editorial’s impersonal and anonymous approach, carries the personal, stamp of the writer’s own ideas. (I hesitate to use a local
example, thus a safe one is Walter Lippman’s “Today and Tomorrow.”)
2. The hodge-podge column – Where the author lumps together odds and ends of minformation, a poem here, an announcement there,
a point paragraph, a modernized proverb, a joke, or an interesting quotation.
3. The essay column (increasingly rare) – Is a legacy from a more leisurely age when writers could sit and scribble and muse in light
or purple prose. (The exponents of this form were Addison and Steele of the famed Spectator papers, Charles Lamb, Oliver
Goldsmith, G.K. Chesterton, and Christopher Morley. The Filipino columnist who best approximated this type was Godofredo Rivera
of the Graphic.
4. The gossip column – Caters to the inherent interest of human beings in human beings. Unfortunately, the reader’s eyes light up
more frequently when they spy the vices rather than the virtues of others. The society columnists (as well as the otherwise sober ones
who occasionally dabble in small talk) chronicle here the facts and foibles of the great and near-great, the social climbers, and the true
celebrities. The first example that comes to mind is Walter Winchell and his “keyhole” journalism.
5. The dopester’s column – Written by the columnist who also has his eye to the keyhole but with a more serious purpose. He uses
much the same technique as the gossip columnist but rises above the chatterbox variety of news to poke into the activities of the “men
who make the decisions.” The “victims” are usually the government’s leader-politicians, congressmen, senators, Cabinet officials,
titans of industry and commerce, and institutions which have to do with national international affairs. The columnist’s “pipelines” to
sources of information often give him the ability to “forecast” news before it happens, bare still unannounced plans and appointments,
reveal “secret pacts,” and lay bare the secrets of government and finance open to public scrutiny.

CARTOONING
• An editorial cartoon is an editorial page illustration expressing opinion and interpretation. The word cartoon is derived from two
words: caricature and lampoon.
• A caricature is an exaggerated description, generally by sketching. It is a pictorial representation of a person or thing in which a
defect or peculiarity is exaggerated so as to produce a ludicrous effect.
• A lampoon, on the other hand, is a piece of malicious writing, a personal written satire that attacks and ridicules.
• An editorial cartoon also performs any of the three functions of the newspress – to inform, influence, or entertain.
• A good cartoon appeals to the reader’s sense of humor in order to persuade him to accept an opinion; an effective social force.
• A cartoon like the top editorial, deals with only a single idea and is about political and social conditions and problems. Some
cartoons are good–natured and humorous; others are serious and sophisticated.
Cartoon ideas cover a wide range or subjects. Some may be:
Inspirational – e.g., the school represented as a mother taking care of her children
Satirical – e.g., the embarrassment of having girls wear miniskirt in the classroom.
Correctional – e.g., problems involving people taking prohibited drugs.
Suggestion for Cartooning
• should say something
• should deal with only one topic
• should limit the use of words and labels
• should use universal symbols i.e., easily understood even by ordinary reader
• should be original
• should not defame nor expose a person or object to hatred, ridicule, or contempt

WRITING FEATURES
Newspaper prints more news; i.e., report of facts about events or of information, written in straightforward manner usually answering
what happened, who said what, when, where, why, and how. On the other hand, a magazine prints more features and human-interest
stories.
• A feature article may instruct, advise, inform, and entertain
• A feature article may be of any length ranging from a rather long magazine article published to the short human interest story that
may or may not be timely
• A feature article may be written in any form and style. It rarely has a summary lead.
• A feature article to entertain rather than to inform although it may do both at the same time.

Feature is an umbrella term for a number of soft news stories that profile, humanize, add color, educate, entertain or illuminate. It
usually recaps major news that was reported in a previous news cycle. It can stand alone, or it can be a sidebar to the main story, the
main bar.
News feature is a story based upon a news event that has already been covered by the newspaper. It’s the story behind the story.
Interpretative feature analyzes the facts of a news story to explain the causes and motivations leading to the event, then discusses the
possible consequences.
Straight feature is a general category referring to any interesting story about a person, place, or event that has no “news peg” or
timeliness associated with it.
Personality feature makes the readers aware of the subject’s personality by detailing the person’s experiences, thoughts, mannerisms,
and actions.
Interview feature is usually about a prominent individual or an authority on a particular subject or event, the information of which is
obtained in an interview.
Human-interest feature establishes a mood and provoke an emotional reaction in a reader. It can be humorous or sad, suspenseful or
fast-paced.

Action Structure Story

Backgrounder – also called an analysis piece – adds meaning to current issues in the news by explaining them further. Brites is a
newspaper term for brief feature items – usually humorous. Less than 100 words, they begin with a clever lead that grabs the reader’s
attention and go on to a brief, chronological description of an event that builds swiftly to a climax – usually a surprise ending – or to a
catchy, summary thought. Ex. Reader’s Digest

An interview is an art of asking questions to obtain information. But technically speaking, it is asking questions to obtain opinions,
ideas, or special information on topics of interest to the general public from a prominent person or from a recognized authority.

Kinds of Interviews
Different kinds of interviews:
• An informative interview is conducted to obtain some information from a person responsible for a new idea.
• An opinion interview is conducted to obtain opinion.
• A feature interview is the group interview of which there are two types: the “inquiring reporter type” and the symposium type.

Single-Feature Story Structure

Quote Story Structure
Several Feature Story Structure

The Lead
Like any other news story, a sports story has a lead and a body. The sports lead is the attention-getter, the news in a nutshell.
The classic “Five W’s” appear in the sports lead as:
• Who won?
• Against whom?
• By what score?
• Where?
• When?
The lead can also dramatize other elements like:
• The key play
• The outstanding player
• Analytical approach
The Body
After the lead, the other elements follow in descending order. These will include:
• Team and / or individual standing
• Decisive play
• Best scores for the day
• Play-by-play
• Quotation
Sports Lingo and Crutches/Slanguage
• Basketball – five, quintet, shot twinner, pivot, rally, rebound, technical foul, quarter count, 15-foot line, hook shot, lay-up, ice-
breaker, tip-in, press, one defense, man to man, 30 second rule, full court, gun time, lemon time, keyhole area, long tom, tip-in,
follow-up, trey, rainbow country
• Baseball and Softball – diamond, pitcher, backstop, deep center, struck out, lower fourth, shut out, hitless inning, hit a homerun, one-
bagger, two-baggers, force out, scorcher, fly back, pitcher’s mound, upper third, lower fourth, flier, rolling ball, umpire, struck out,
bunt, slide, shortstop, fielder, southpaw, no-hit run, fanned, out-pegged at third, deep center, a scorcher to left outfield.
• Volleyball – Spikes, neat placing, change court, Chinese kill, wallop, block, scored off, straight set, two out of three, spiker, blocked
his kill, booming service, netball, return play, three out of five.
• Soccer of Football – soccerites, goalie, full back, corner kick, centrada, penalty kick, free kick, pigskin.
• Sipa – fancy kick, dead ball, ball on play, single, double, etc.
• Track:
• Dashes – 100-200-80m; Runs – 200-400;800 and1500 m;
• Hurdles – 110 m. high, 400 m low and 80 m low; Relay – 4 x 100 m and 4 x
400 m; breasted the tape, burned the cinders, clock a new record, bore down on him, home stretch, photo finish, middle-distance
runner, long-distance runner, anchor man, passed on the baton.
• Field – heaved the shotput, hurled the javelin, threw the discuss, hop step and
jump, broad jump, high or long jump, pole vault, Grecian disc • Tennis – best of three matches, surfeit services, straight set, singles,
smash
cut
• Swimming – tanker, naiads, aquabelle

PREPARING THE COPY AND COPYREADING

Preparing the Copy
In preparing the copy, the reporter should:
• Use a typewriter or a computer – never submitting it in long hand.
• Type on one side of the sheet only and double space.
• Begin his story (for news) about three inches from the top of the page
• Indent deeply – at least five spaces – the beginning of each paragraph.
• Identify on the first page the story with a slugline – the name of the paper,
words identifying the story like “Fire,” or “Student election”; the reporter and
the date.
• Type the word “More” at the bottom of each page except the last, where he
has to indicate the end of the story with a “30” or # mark.
Duties of a Copyreader
A copyreader goes over the story once to get a general idea of what it is all about. This will
likewise help him formulate the headline, which is a part of his job.
Then, he goes over it a second time to do any or all of the following as the case may be:
• Straighten out ungrammatical constructions.
• Shorten sentences and tighten paragraphs.
• See that the paper’s style requirements are strictly followed.
• Check names, addresses, titles, designations, identifications, figures, etc.
• Rewrite the story completely if it is poorly written.
• Rewrite the lead or the first few paragraphs whenever necessary, but must
never tamper with the facts unless he is sure of his corrections.
• Delete all opinion, speculations, and statements which are without attribution
or sources.
• Watch out for slanting or any attempt to present the story in a subtly biased
way.

• Watch out for libelous statements.

• Recheck figures and totals.
• Cross out adjectives which tend to make a story sound over-written.
• Cut a story to size or to the required length if need be.
• Check attributions and see to it that they are properly identified.
• Challenge facts, claims, or reports when they sound anomalous, illogical, and
incredible.
• Check sluglines and paging sequences.
• Write headlines.
Layout or Makeup
Page Makeup
• Makeup – refers to the assembling of type, cuts, and / or ads on a page
• Type – refers to the texts or fonts used
• Cuts – in letterpress terminology, photoengraving of any kind which includes
photos,
illustrations, boxes, etc.
Dos and Don’ts in Makeup
A. Experiment with thumbnail dummies before deciding on the one that fits your
needs.
B. Don’t use two pictures of the same size on any one page. Try to contrast horizontal
and vertical shapes.
C. Avoid piling type blocks of similar depth on top of each other or running them in the
order of ascending or descending size.
D. Use size heads on horizontal stories that do not deserve a full line.
E. Mix vertical blocks with horizontal ones.
F. Don’t always put the most important story at the top of the page.
G. Use editorial freaks (inserts) and refers sparingly in breaking up gray areas.
H. With flush-left style do not ever center display heads.
I. Avoid clutter by avoiding doglegs. Dogleg refers to a column of type extending
down page, not squared off under multicolumn headline.
J. Use italic head sparingly, if at all.
K. Don’t use label-type heads on columns.
L. Use normal word spacing in headline types.
M. Standardize the spacing between paragraphs – make no exceptions.
N. Avoid “armpit” placement – a headline directly under a multicolumn head.
O. Take good care of the bottom of the page by placing heads and pictures there,
depending on balance with the top of the page.
A newspaper should be carefully and properly laid out for the following reasons:
• to give prominence to the news in proportion to its importance,
• to make the different contents easy to find and to read,
• to give the pages an attractive appearance, and
• to give the paper a personality of its own.
Types of Front Page Makeup
By Way of Headline and Text Arrangement
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Scholastic Journalism by Earl English and Clarence Hach gives the following types of front
page makeup by way of headline and text arrangement.
• Perfect Balance (Balance or Symmetrical) Makeup
• Brace or Focus
• Broken Column Makeup Occult Makeup
• Streamlined Makeup
• Circus Makeup
Makeup By Way of Text and Photo Combination
Another way of laying out a page is through the text and photo combination. The following
illustrations are self-explanatory:
• The X Format
• The Curve Format
• The L Format
• The J Format
• The Umbrella Format
Principles to Follow to Achieve Effective Makeup
Again, Scholastic Journalism by English and Hach gives six principles to achieve effective
makeup. These are unity, balance, emphasis, movement, proportion, and contrast.
Dos and Don’ts in Page Makeup
1. Avoid tombstoning
2. Avoid bad breaks
3. Avoid separating related stories and pictures.
4. Avoid gray areas (sea of gray).
5. Keep long columns of 6 points types and tabular material to a minimum especially on
the front page.
6. Avoid using a banner headline unless the story deserves it
7. Don’t make the page top-heavy; i.e., making the top half of the page heavy with cuts
and big headlines.
8. Avoid many headlines of the same size on a page.
9. Avoid placing small heads on rather long stories.
10. The average number of stories on Page 1 of a tabloid is from seven to nine stories.
PHOTOJOURNALISM
Picture Selection
• The newspaperman has two things to bear in mind when selecting pictures
for publication. These are the picture’s technical value and editorial value.
• A picture has technical value when it is technically perfect with proper light
and shadow, is free form smudges, and is clean and clear for publication.
• A picture loses its technical value as a result of poor screening by the
photographer, or maybe, the original picture was already dirty, faded or wornout
when it was submitted for reproduction.
• A picture, on the other hand has editorial value when it tells a story at a
glance and when it shows life’s happenings and moments of truth and
significance.
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Writing Caption
• A caption is the text or body type accompanying photos or artwork or any
pictorial illustration. It is sometimes called cutline or underline. The title or
explanatory matter above an illustration is called an overline.
• Captions should be closely related to the picture so that the reader may be
able to take in picture and caption at a glance. This explains why the caption
should be underneath the picture when there are other materials on the
page. The caption can be on the side when picture and caption are isolated.
STYLEBOOK
A stylebook does not deal with matters of literary expression. It presents rules that, when
followed, lead to consistency in punctuation, abbreviation, capitalization, and spelling.
Ten Principles of Clear Writing (Robert Gunning):
1. Keep sentences short, on the average. Sentences must vary in length if the reader
is to be saved from boredom.
2. Prefer the simple to the complex. Zinsser wrote : ‘The secret to good writing is to
strip every sentence to its cleanest form.’
3. Prefer the familiar word. The Element of Style says, “Avoid the elaborate, the
pretentious, the coy and the cute.”
4. Avoid unnecessary words.
5. Put action into your verbs. Use the active voice.
6. Write the way you talk. Avoid formal, stilted language. Be specific.
7. Use terms your reader can capture. Explain jargons.
8. Tie in with your reader’s experience. A statement cut off from context is a ‘figure”
that simply floats about.
9. Make full use of variety. Work toward and nurture a style you find comfortable with.
10. Write to express, not to impress. Inform readers, that’s all.
II. CREATIVE WRITING
Definition of Terms
I. FICTION WRITING
A. Definition of Fiction
Fiction tells an untrue story in prose. Fiction is “untrue” in the sense that it is at least partly
made up. It is an artistic creation that stands on its own no matter how much it makes use of
characters, events, and settings from life.
Simple Versus Sophisticated Fiction
• Simple fiction not only reduces the complexity of the plot , but it usually avoids
originality as well. Simple plots tend to be based on well-used conventions known
as “formulas.”
• Sophisticated fiction tends to avoid the hackneyed and the bizarre. The setting is
used as a way of increasing credibility and placing the reader in the center of the
story – regardless of whether it is based on the actual place or upon the dreamscape
of the author
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B. Forms of Fiction
The short story usually refers to a work that is from 2000 to 6000 words – from eight
to 24 pages. The short story limits the author’s ability to develop character,
interrelationships between characters, setting, and plot.
The novella is halfway between a story and a novel. It is often thought of as between
50 and 150 manuscript pages.
The novel form is really more than just a story that has been expanded beyond 250
pages – or it should be. The writer can introduce many more characters than in the
story or novella, and some of them can change and develop over the course of time.
C. Sources of Fiction
(Debra Spark, 1999))
• Finding the trigger – “benign plagiarism”
• Triggers give rise to questions
• Freedom from reality
• Selecting from the clutter
• Trusting the unknown
• Experience and invention
D. Elements of Fiction
1. Setting (Richard Russo, 1999)
• DISCOVERING YOUR PLACE – the place is character.
• INTERIOR PLACE – interior setting has come to mean, basically, an indoor
place. Good writers understand that the objects people own comment on
them, at times even define them.
• EXTERIOR PLACE – the relationship between character and exterior setting is
more mysterious. The things we own can own us in return.
• DESTINY IN A PLACE – in the end, the only compelling reason to pay more
attention to place, to exterior setting, is the belief or the faith, that place and its
people are intertwined, that place is character, and to know the rhythms, the
textures, the feel of a place is to know more deeply and truly its people.
• ADVICE – (1) Describe selectively, (2) See clearly from the start, (3) Create
distance, and (4) Use research selectively.
2. Character and Characterization (Kim Edwards, 1999)
• The ICEBERG THEORY – the idea being that what’s unstated must
nonetheless exist clearly in the author’s mind for a character to have sufficient
depth. Much of what readers know about any given character is never stated
explicitly but is rather submerged in a way the character speaks and moves
and thinks – and all of this, in turn, is shaped by the author’s knowledge of
each character.
Sudden fiction
A woman is sitting in her old, shuttered house. She knows that she is alone in the
world; every other thing is dead.
The doorbell rings.
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
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• The IMPORTANCE OF TRUTH – good fiction reveals worlds previously
unknown, or sheds new light on the familiar. Perhaps the most important truth
to begin with is the authentic transfer of emotion from author to character.
• HISTORICAL INSPIRATION – sometimes authors take the idea of using a true
fact or a true line one step further, and use an actual historical character as an
inspiration for a fictional one.
• FOLLOWING VOICE – the choice of voice is crucial to establishing character.
Voice reveals perspective and personality traits. The effect of voice is easiest
to see in first-person narration, where word choice, syntax, pacing, and
emphasis all establish the speaker’s character.
• LETTING CHARACTERS SURPRISE – like their real-life counterparts,
fictional characters have habits, personality traits, and framework of beliefs, all
of which determine their reactions to situations. Yet, there is no single way for
each character to behave. Just as we sometimes astonish ourselves, our
characters, too, must have the capacity to take us by surprise.
• LIVING IN THE WORLD – fictionists and their characters both don’t live in a
vacuum. Our interactions with the events of the world keep us in a continual
state of discovery about our own hidden selves, so, too, our characters reveal
themselves through their exchanges with others.
• BREAKING THROUGH THE ICE – characters are the beating heart of any
story. Who people are defines what they do, how they respond to a given
situation. They must step out of the icy region between the known and the
imagined, melt through barriers and emerge into the world, vibrant and radiant
and alive.
3. Point of View (Valerie Miner, 1999)
• First Person – employs the “I” voice and sometimes the “we” voice. This point
of view implies intimacy and makes a dramatic story even more immediate. A
first-person protagonist narrator often heightens readers’ sympathy with
certain characters because the storytelling appears more personal.
• Second Person – affords a different kind of intimacy, whether we imagine
“you” as listener, as the narrator’s alter ego, as a particular third party or as an
anonymous character tracing his or her way through the story. The most
familiar literary use of the second person is in romantic poetry, when a loved
one is addressed directly.
• Third Person - the two most common forms of contemporary fiction are thirdperson
limited and third-person omniscient.
In third-person limited narrative, the story is told from the point of view of a
participant in the action, although that character is not directly speaking. It
does allow more latitude than first person for physical and emotional
description.
In third person omniscient narrative, the omniscient speaker often
knows more (about tomorrow, for instance, or about the motives of minor
characters) than can be expressed in third-person limited.
My son, when you asked me this evening how many Japanese had I killed during the
war, and I answered you in the negative, I saw disappointment cross your face and a
smirk play on your lips.
“To Kill the Enemy,” Roman A. de la Cruz
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• Shifting, Multiple-Person Points of View – can reach beyond catharsis to
illustrate the multiplicity of truth. Such complex narrative strategy requires a lot
of the reader, much in the way multimedia art stimulates audience members to
use various physical senses and understanding of temporality.
• Persona – person is born of persona. Successful fiction requires the writer’s
understanding about the standpoint, character, and tone of the narrative
persona (the speaker, the actual teller of the story). It is the personality
assumed by the narrator.
4. Plot, Structure, and Narrative (John Barth, 1999)
• Dramaturgy means the management of plot and action; the architecture of a
story, as distinct from such other aspects as language, character, and theme.
• Curve of dramatic action – dramatic action is conventionally described as
rising to some sort of climactic peak or turning point and then falling to some
sort of resolution or denouement.
5. Voice (Sylvia Watanabe, 1999)
• Author’s Voice – writers have to find their voice either by imitation or by
expressive writing. In contrast to the imitative approach which attempts to
reproduce the surface features of a style, expressive writing focuses inward –
on an author’s deepest thoughts and emotions.
• The Habit of Art - a writer’s style is a cumulative phenomenon that accrues
over a body of work. “Art is the habit of the artist,” says Flannery O’Connor.
• Elements of a Story’s Voice
F Voice and Genre.
Different genres emphasize different aspects of voice; conversely, a
writer’s choice regarding voice can completely transform a genre.
F Voice and Point of View.
Classical poetics distinguishes between three kinds of voices: the egopoetic,
the narrative, and the dramatic, each with a corresponding point
of view and appropriate range of subjects. The first is somewhat
analogous to first-person or internal narration; the second, to omniscient
or external narration; the third, to limited omniscient or external narration
with limited filter.
F Voice and Use of Detail
The voice of a piece of fiction varies greatly according to the author’s
handling of detail. Detail can be sparse and unstated or meticulously
graphic. Realist fiction presents detail as a seamless surface;
postmodernist fiction, a fragmented, discontinuous surface.
• Voice Still Mystified – don’t go looking for your voice; write a story.
6. Style (Karen Salyer McElmurray, 1999)
Style is how you say what you say. Style is the way words take on an identity on
the page. It is a kind of ownership agreement , in which any given writer lays claim,
with his or her identity, to an arrangement of words turned into self-revealing lines,
turned into a “work” of fiction, nonfiction, poetry.
• Minimalism is characterized by flatness of narrative tone, sparseness of
story, a striking restraint in prose style. Sparseness in place, descriptive detail,
and characterization is balanced by emphasis on dialogue and seemingly
dispassionate narrators who experience disconcerting distance from even the
most consequential of events. Ex. Ann Beattie, Raymond Carver, Ernest
Hemingway
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o The micro level begins with a sentence – or smaller than that –
with a word. The first task is to eliminate redundancy. Make the
story, on its own minimal level, have a purpose. Apply its
specificity.
• Maximalism is characterized by profusion, is about vastness – of space, time,
vision. Narratives may occur on more than one level of time, in more than one
place. Maximalist work is vision, and vision made literal. The interior world is
not implied; it is present in the profusion of language on a page. History
becomes a palpable presence, a ghost of memory visible. Time becomes fluid,
not a question of length, but of depth and density. Ex. Cormac McCarthy, Toni
Morrison
o The macro approach implies attention to the larger question of
story intent, or the “heart” of the story. Follow, as Socrates said,
where the question leads. Your story is about what? And then
what? And then?
o The boundaries between minimalism and maximalism are
permeable. One kind of style enhances another, and just as there
are no hard-and-fast rule for when to use a particular point of view
or a particular plot structure, style itself is a mystery that evolves,
as the skills and voices of writers evolve, with practice and
experimentation.
E. Varieties of Plot Patterns
The flashback is a simple method of inserting an episode that occurred previous
to the main flow (or base time) of the plot.
The multiple flashbacks are sometimes used when the author wants to suggest a
complicated set of clues leading to a symbolic or a literal trial.
The flash-forward or prolepsis gives the reader a sudden, clear-eyed glimpse
into the future.
The frame story traditionally refers to a tale told by a character appearing in a
larger work, such as the separate narrations within the Canterbury Tales, A
Thousand and One Nights, and Arabian Nights.
The figure eight loops time around a central moment or keeps returning to the
same image or central event. A story begins at one point in time, then leaps backward,
returning gradually, in scenes, to the story’s opening, then continues forward to show
more scenes that follow the events of the opening and have been irrevocably affected
by it.
The reverse order marches the characters into the past. This technique depends
on the power of the stories behind a story. Examples are Charles Baxter’s First Light
and Martin Amis’ Time’s Arrow.
The out of sequence works best when the information is scrambled, or given out
of sequence. An example is William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” which relies in part
upon the suspense created as information is slowly given to the reader.
The chronological order is a narrative device used in our oldest stories. The
innovative writer Gilbert Sorrentino favors chronological order “because then the
reader doesn’t know what is going to happen next.”
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F. Characterization
• Characterization is an illusion based on three elements :
o Consistency refers to patterns of behaviour, outlook, dress, and the like.
Consistency of character is one of the basic assumptions we make about
people in real life, and it is also the fundamental assumption upon which
fictional characterization is built.
o Complexity develops more than one aspect of a character. You can do
this by establishing a pattern, countering it in some way, and then showing
how both elements are a part of the whole character. Complexity, then,
involves adding at least one other aspect to the character’s original
pattern.
o Individuality is simply a function of complexity. A many-sided character
who remains credible is apt to seem individual or unique. Often it is the
unlikely occupation, the unusual commitment, the striking disability that
serves to make a character vivid and memorable.
• Techniques of developing characterization:
o Direct analysis of character
o The use of significant action
o The use of dialogue and thoughts
o Physical descriptions
o Blending the various techniques
G. Narrative Tension
• Tension is the recurring force that maintains the sense of forward motion
throughout a story or novel.
• Techniques in creating tension:
o Dramatic conflict is the mainspring of simple fiction and drama.
Sophisticated fiction often combines some type of visible, external conflict
with inner conflict.
o Arousing curiosity can be done by means of dramatic question (also
called the hook) and by suspense and shock. The element that arouses
curiosity is the dramatic question. Suspense is simply a heightened form
of curiosity. Shock is also used to create tension, but it cannot be
sustained; it’s generally a single flash.
o Irony and satire. Verbal irony occurs when characters make statements
that are knowingly different or even opposite of what they really mean. In
casual conversation we sometimes call it sarcasm. Dramatic irony is
similar except that the character making the statement does not
understand that it is ironic. It is also called unconscious irony.
H. Theme, Tone, Symbol, and Style
• Theme, also called the central concern, serves as a reminder we are not dealing
with something as logically specific as a thesis or as ethically concerned as a
moral.
• Tone is a variable regardless of the subject matter. It is the coloring of the
emotion.
• Symbol is any detail that takes on a range of meaning beyond and larger than
itself.
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• Style is determined by four factors : (1) diction – word choice, (2) syntax (sentence
structure), (3) the balance of narrative modes – dialogue, thoughts, action,
description, and exposition, and (4) tense (present or past)
I. The Sources of (Bad) Fiction (Stephen Minot, 1988)
• The High-tech melodrama. A melodrama is any piece of fiction or drama that is
overloaded with dramatic suspense. Unlike true drama, it is overdone. The
competitive nature of television keeps many scriptwriters hovering on the border
between drama and melodrama.
• The Adolescent Tragedy. The adolescent period is an excellent one for
sophisticated fiction as long as you keep your material genuine and fresh in detail.
But there are three dangerous pitfalls: lack of perspective, unconventional
borrowing from slick and conventionalized fiction, and sentimentality.
• The Poe Gimmick. Edgar Allan Poe was a master of the strange, the bizarre, and
the surprise ending. His stories remain popular, but they provide poor models for
contemporary writers.
• Mock Faulkner. Imitation deprives writers their own voice at best and sometimes
results in unintended satire. Hemingway’s sparse style can be a problem, but
Faulkner’s opaque scenes of the southern decadence and occasional violence
simply self-destruct when imitated in short stories.
• The Yuppie Gone Wrong. This is done of the most common patterns in college
writing courses. The protagonist is a young, upwardly mobile individual who has
put career and love of material object ahead of personal relationships and spiritual
values.
• The Trials and Tribulations of an Incorruptible Writer. The protagonist walks
up and down a beach , planning a great novel. The protagonist resists the
invitations of fun-loving friends and spurns an offer to join a major advertising firm.
In the end, he sticks to his principles.
• The Free-Flying Fantasy. This technique of aimless composition is not to be
confused with stream of consciousness writing.
J. Six Critical Questions
1. Are the primary characters convincing or, in the case of satire, effective?
2. Is the story constructed successfully?
3. Does the story contain the type of tensions that keep fiction alive and
interesting?
4. What is the theme? Is it sophisticated enough to be fresh and evocative.
5. Is the setting vivid, and does it contribute to the theme?
6. Is the tone effective?
II. Poetry Writing
A. What is a poem?
• Four Characteristics of Poetry (Stephen Minot, 1988)
1. line length - Poets determine the length of each verse they write; it is part of
the art form itself. Meter is based on a specific number of stressed and
unstressed syllables in each line, so the length of the line is determined in
advance by the metrical scheme the poet adopts.
2. the heightened use of sound – rhyme is a device that ends two lines with
the same sound ; it can be muted to keep it from becoming obtrusive. There
are other ways to link words by sound : alliteration (matching the initial
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consonant sounds of words), alliteration ( internal syllables which echo each
other).
3. use of rhythm – rhythm is a systematic variation in flow of sound. Some poets
use a recurring pattern based on the number of syllables per line. Others
arrange long and short lines on the page in such a way as to highlight certain
phrases or even trip the reader.
4. compression – poems usually say a lot in a few words. This is done through
the use of language which suggests much more than the immediate, surface
meaning.
B. The Language of Poetry (Stephen Minot, 1988)
• Levels of usage
• Poetry often deals with personal feelings and insights, so it frequently uses
a vocabulary that is more varied and phrasing that is denser in implication
than what we might use in a casual letter to a friend.
• The poet’s task is to find the appropriate words and phrases, not
fancy ones. What is appropriate for one poem may not be for another.
• Effective language is that which is appropriate to the tone of the poem and
to the persona.
• Four primary dangers in poetic diction
1. Cliché is a dying metaphor; an expression that was once fresh enough to
create a clear picture in the reader’s mind but has now lost its vitality through
constant use. Examples are – nip in the bud, busy as a bee, packed like
sardines, clean as a whistle
o Dealing with a cliché: (1) work hard to find a fresh simile or metaphor,
(2) drop the comparison completely and deal with the subject directly,
and (3) twist the cliché around so that it is reborn in some slightly altered
form.
2. Hackneyed language includes not only the cliché but the far broader areas
or phrases that have simply been overused. It also include description that
has been seen in print too long to provide impact. Examples are – golden
resplendent, magnificent, or richly scarlet to describe the sunset; radiant,
infectious, or glowing to describe smiles.
3. Abstraction and sweeping generalities – it is equally dangerous to allow a
poem that was originally inspired by some genuine experience or personal
reaction to slide into generalities.
o Try to deal with the details as precisely as possible.
o Find a set of images that will make the familiar abstraction fresh and
convincing.
4. Archaic diction – takes the form of time-honored dated contractions such as
“o”er” and “oft” as substitution for “over” and “often.” It also includes the use
of words like “lo!” “hark” “ere” and even “O!”
• Achieving vitality in language
o Look for phrasing that will catch the attention of readers. Give them
fresh insights and new ways of looking at the familiar.
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o Find nouns that are solid, specific and visual. Take a second look at
every adjective in your draft and see if selecting a different noun will
do the job. Examples – big hills (mountain), howling wind (gale)
o Find verbs that are specific. The right verb rarely needs to be
modified.
o Use the language of your own age, and adapt it to your persona.
o Compress. Compress. Compress.
C. Images (Stephen Minot, 1988)
An image is any significant piece of sense data. It includes objects seen, sounds heard,
texture felt, odors smelled, and objects tasted. An image refers to an object seen or
perceived by the other senses regardless of whether that word is used literally or
figuratively. Images tend to be concrete nouns.
• Using all five senses
• Images as figures of speech - images also serve as the concrete element in almost
any figure of speech. Figurative language usually takes the form of the simile and
metaphor.
o Tenor – describes the poet’s actual subject of concern
o Vehicle – the image associated with it
o Mixed metaphor – is one with two contradictory vehicles
• Building image clusters – images may also appear as a series of related details or
interlocking images.
• The image as symbol – A symbol is a metaphor in which the meaning (tenor) is
implied rather than stated. Public symbols are widely known and are often
hackneyed from overused. Poets construct their own, private symbols.
D. The Sound of Words
Poetry has its roots in the oral tradition.
• Rhyme – a device which consists of two or more words linked by an identity in
sound which begins with an accented vowel and continues to the end of each word.
• Nonrhyming devices –
o Alliteration – is the repetition of consonants, particularly those at the
beginning of words
o Assonance – is the repetition of similar vowel sounds regardless of where
they are located in the word.
o Consonance – is the repetition of consonantal sounds; usually refers to
sounds within the words.
Images
The song you sang you will not sing again,
Floating in the spring to all your local places,
Lured by archaic sense to the wood
To watch the frog jump from the mossy rock,
To listen to the stream’s small talk at dark,
Or feel the springy pine-floor where you walk –
If your green secrecies were such as these,
The mystery is now in other trees.
“Local Places” – Howard Moss
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o Onomatopoeia – a word that sounds like the object or action it describes.
• Muting sound devices –
o Run-on line – is one in which the grammatical construction or the meaning
continues to the next line.
o A more radical method of muting rhyme is simply to separate the rhyming
lines. The rhyme is muted still further if you have certain lines unrhymed
(abcb).
o Slant rhyme (also called off rhymes) are similar but not identical in sound.
Examples : barnacles – snails, stone-gone
E. Rhythms of Stress
Rhythm is a systematic variation in the flow of sound
• Meter – a system of stressed and unstressed syllables
Meter example
iamb (iambic) unstressed, stressed accept
troche (trochaic) stressed, unstressed widow
anapaest (anapestic) 2 unstressed, stressed disappoint
dactyl (dactylic) stressed, 2 unstressed happily
spondee (spondaic) 2 stressed heartbreak
Pyrrhic (phyrric) 2 unstressed in the
• Feet – the conventionalized units of stressed and unstressed syllables
Two feet to each line (rare and usually comic) dimeter
Three feet to each line (fairly common) trimeter
Four feet (sometimes combined with trimeter) tetrameter
Five feet ( most common in English) pentameter
Six feet (less used in this century) hexameter
Seven feet (rare) heptameter
Eight feet (a heavy, very rare line) octometer
• Free verse – verse written without meter
o Typography – the technique of arranging words, phrases, and lines on the
printed page to create a rhythmical effect
o Syntactical rhythms – is achieved by repeating or balancing a particular
grammatical element such as a question, phrase, or clause
o Syllabics involves counting of syllables (like the haiku). Breath units are the
loosest form of rhythm in poetry today. Essentially, the line is broken at the
point where the reader might be expected to take a breath.
F. Poetry Starting from Scratch (Michael A. Carey, 1989)
1. Basic Tools
• Create a festive atmosphere
• Show, don’t tell
• Do more with less: Say the most you can in the fewest words.
• Start with the basics, not rhyme
• Match sounds with meaning
• Sounds
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i. If you want to say something tender and loving, you might want to
use liquid consonants like l, f, s, w, h, or y, or long vowels like a, e, o,
or maybe a(hs) or o(ooos).
ii. If you want to say something with conviction o emphasis; if you want
to be didactic, or use a lot of energy, then perhaps you should use
short vowels like í in pit and harsh consonants like : z, k, t, ch, p, and
b.
• Rhythm and line breaks
The silence between words is also important in a poem.
• Comparisons
Simile – like, as, -- stated, direct
Metaphor – (lie) (is) – implied, indirect
• Sideways thinking
i. “rational” or “straight thinking” – teaching students to funnel or channel
and departmentalize their thoughts
ii. “irrational” or “sideways thinking” – you are expanding thought instead
of funnelling it
2. Extending the Metaphor
You can extend a metaphor or simile by simply asking, “What if it were true?”
3. Dramatic Irony – the audience knows more than the characters involved in the
poem
• Organizing principle – every good poem has its own prosody
• Imagery – we dream in images not in written words
4. Intimate Conversation
• Talking to friends you haven’t met
• What would you say to your future partner, future children, your in-laws, your
pet, your sunglasses
• Be specific : your audience must taste, touch, feel, smell, hear, and see
5. The Senses and Memory
• Synaesthesia is the describing of something through one of your five senses
that is usually described through another one of the five senses.
• Memory – writing is physical memory
Ask students to remember the first time that they did something, then ask them
to make it come to life.
6. Vivid Imagery
• Poems from pictures
7. Poems from Music
The students are made to realize that anything and everything can trigger a poem.
8. Student Reading
A poem should always be read out loud.
9. Formal Verse
• The villanelle is an old French form, the lines may be of any length, there are
19 lines divided into six stanzas (five triplets and one quatrain), turning on two
Synesthesia
I feel blue
The light exploded into the room
I can almost thumb his grief
She was pink with happiness
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rhymes and built on two refrains. The refrains consist of lines one and three.
Line one reappears as lines 6, 12, and 18; line 3 reappears as line 9, 15, and
19.
10. Catalog Poems
• Things – to – do poem
11. Editing Tips
• Is there any word I can take out without ruining the poem?
• Did I say the most I could in the fewest amount of words?
• Is there anything that should be in the poem that is missing?
• Did I use the right word?
• Am I really getting across what I want to say?
• Does the sound of my words reflect the feeling I want to instill in my audience?
• Do the lines flow from one to another?
• Does the opening catch one’s attention?
• Does the ending have an air of finality about it.
• How does the poem look on the page?
III. Playwriting
A. Definition of a Play
A play is a structured and unified story, comic or dramatic, complete in itself with a
beginning, middle, and end, that expresses the playwright’s passion and vision of life,
shows unfolding conflict that builds a climax, and deals with dimensional lifelike humans
Villanelle
DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT
Do not go gentle into that good night 1 refrain 1-------a
Old age should burn and rave at close of day, 2 ------------------b
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 3 refrain 2-------a
Though wise men at their end know dark is right, 4 ------------------a
Because their words had forked no lightning they 5 ------------------b
Do not go gentle into that good night. 6 refrain 1 ------a
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright 7 ------------------a
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, 8 ------------------b
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 9 refrain 2 ------a
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight 10 -----------------a
And learn, too, late they grieved it on its way 11 -----------------b
Do not go gentle into that good night. 12 refrain 1 -----a
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight, 13 -----------------a
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gray, 14 -----------------b
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 15 refrain 2 -----a
And you, my father, there on the sad height, 16 -----------------a
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. 17 ----------------b
Do not go gentle into that good night. 18 refrain 1-----a
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 19 refrain 2 ----b
- Dylan Thomas
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who have strong emotions, needs, and objectives that motivate them to take action. It is
constructed with a plausible and probable series of events, written to be performed and
therefore told with speeches and actions plus silences and inactions, projected by
actors from a stage to an audience that is made to believe the events are happening as
they watch.
B. Types of Plays
1. Monodrama –
• a one-character play, also known as a theatrical monologue, a one-person
show, or (in an evocation of vaudeville) a solo turn
• can be a powerful theatrical work, often using elevated language and powerful
images to create poetic enlargement of the character or subject
• playing time can vary from ten minutes to several hours
• although only one character is onstage, others can be implied offstage
• may or may not have a conflict but often conclude with a snap, a piercing
insight
• examples : Talking With… (Jane Martin), Mark Twain Tonight! (Hal
Holbrook), Drinking in America (Eric Bogosian)
2. One-Act Play –
• a theatrical version of the short story
• a compressed dramatization of a single incident or sequence of action
• playing time is from 30 minutes to over an hour; most are around 40 minutes
long
• John Millington Synge’s Riders to the Sea is often considered the formal
beginning of the modern form
• The number of characters may be two to four
• Maintains unity of action, focused on one particular conflict; unity of place,
within a single physical location; and unity of time, without changes of time
• Examples : Hopscotch (Israel Horovitz), Minnesota Moon (John Olive), The
Zoo Story (Edward Albee) Pvt. Wars (James McLure), The Dance and the
Railroad (David Henry Hwang)
3. Full-length Play –
• Requires a number of actions or incidents to show the play’s theme and
conflicts, the development of an involved story, complex character evolution
and change, and possibly movement in time and space
• Usually two to two and a half hours of playing time (exemption: Morning
Becomes Electra (Eugene O’Neill), The Life and Adventures of Nicholas
Nickleby (David Edgar)
• Has two or three acts; the five-act form, once standard, is out of style. An act
is the largest division of the play consisting of a unified group of activities and
containing smaller divisions such as beats, segments, and scenes
• Has one major through-line conflict, typically involving a protagonist fighting to
achieve a goal against determined opposition
• The conflict starts early at the point of attack, is continually refreshed and
refocused at the climax with complications, and finally reaches its peak
• Uses secondary conflict or subplot directly related to the single basic struggle
• Examples : A Soldier’s Play ( Charles Fuller), Crimes of the Heart ( Beth
Henley), A Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry)
C. Special Attributes of Drama
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1. Drama is by definition a dramatic art. It generally has an emotional impact or
force, and (in the case of comedy) vitality.
2. Drama is a visual art. Action on the stage is usually a significant and organic part
of the whole production. Other parts include the set, the lightning boards, projected
images, and experiments in mixed media.
3. Drama is an auditory art. Except for stage directions, every word is dialogue and
intended to be spoken out loud. In theatre, silence can have as much dramatic
impact as a shout.
4. Drama is physically produced art. Playwrights have an intense, almost personal
contact with their audiences which is entirely different from the indirect connection
fiction writers have with their readers.
5. Drama is a continuous art. The audience must receive the play at whatever pace
the playwright sets.
6. Drama is a spectator art. Playwrights often revise when their work is in rehearsal
and after the opening-night reviews and even later if changes seem necessary.
D. What Makes a Play?
• A PLAY IS NOT A NOVEL.
o A play is a blueprint for actors and directors.
o A play speaks to a group consciousness.
o Plays communicate with dialog and action.
o Plays are set in the present, moving to a future.
o Play’s movement in time and place
o Plays show, not tell.
o The play’s objective and collective point of view
o Plays are written for actors to communicate to the audience’s eye
and ear.
o A play faces added revisions.
• PLAYS REQUIRE CONFLICT.
o Conflict is force against force.
o Opposing forces have equal strength.
o Conflict expresses the play’s meaning.
o Conflict and abstract forces
o Conflict creates dimensional characters.
o Conflict provides the structure of a play.
• DRAMA IS AN INTERPRETATION OF LIFE, NOT REAL LIFE.
• PLAYS ARE COMPLETE IN THEMSELVES.
• PLAYS HAVE BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END.
• DRAMATIC ACTION MUST BE POSSIBLE, PLAUSIBLE, AND PROBABLE.
• PLAYS ARE ENTERTAINMENT.
• PLAYS COMMUNICATE WITH EMOTIONS.
• PLAYS COMMUNICATE TO THE IMAGINATION.
• UNITIES OF TIME, PLACE AND ACTION
o Unity of action is most important to the playwright.
o Scenery shifts for time or place are distracting.
• THE FOURTH (AND MOST IMPORTANT) UNITY : PLAYWRIGHTS’
PURPOSE
E. Creating Characters
Characters and plot work together. Plays that involve characters in conflict are more
effective than plays that do not.
Clues to character :
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• What the character does; action
• What the character will not do; action through inaction
• What the character says
• What the character does not say: communication through silence
• The character’s emotional range
• What the character wants: goals
• Why the character acts, speaks, or seeks a goal; motivation
• How the character responds to stimuli
• Self-description
• Description by others
• Stage directions, descriptions
• The play’s environment
External qualities: the actor’s “outside-in” technique
• Age
• Physical mannerism
• Vocal mannerism
• Overall appearance
• Names
Play’s environment: an “inside-out” method
• Environments : time, physical, educational, economic, social, political,
religious
• Action
• Biography
• Description by other characters
• Character’s self definition
F. The Dramatic Plot
• A good dramatic plot starts with a concept. A concept includes a basic
situation, some type of conflict or struggle, and an outcome.
• In full-length plays, the word scene is generally used to describe
subdivisions of acts. Often they are written into the program notes and may
involve a lapse of time or even a change of setting.
• For dramatists, scene also refers to each unit of action that begins with an
entrance or an exit and ends with the next shift of characters on the stage.
To avoid confusion, think of these as secondary scenes.
• A secondary scene may have a strong dramatic unity. It may build to a
climax that is dramatically punctuated by the departure of one or more
characters.
• Dramatic questions are provided to hold the interest of the audience.
1. Will he come? 5. Will a compromise be found?
2. Who did it? 6. Will this episode end in violence
3. Will he or she succeed? 7. What’s happening?
4. Will he or she discover what we know?
• The opening dramatic question is the hook. It arouses interest from the
start.
• Most plays move from one dramatic question to the next so that the
audience is kept wondering about immediate outcomes as well as what the
ultimate resolution will be.
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• Pace is all-important in a play.
1. Traditional plays. Rising action accurately describes the mounting
complication with which many plays from all historical periods are
begun. In full-length dramas, problems may be compounded with
subplots involving secondary characters acting as foils to highlight
or set off the major characters. The crisis is not the very end but the
turning point at which the protagonist’s fortunes begin to fail. From
there on we have falling action, which in tragedies results in a
catastrophe – often the death of the hero.
2. The onion approach – focuses on characterization. A series of
scenes exposes the inner life of a character or a couple like peeling
the layers of an onion. Ex. Eugene O’Neill’s The Icemen Cometh
and Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
3. The Grand Hotel pattern or the episodic plot. This approach
weaves together many parallel plots and lends itself to longer plays.
The pace in plays like this is controlled not by the rise and fall of a
protagonist, but by a series of dramatic questions based on the
problems faced by a number of different characters.
4. Some plays control the pace without following any classifiable plan.
In Edward Albee’s The Sandbox, the pace is controlled by the
unusual tonal shift than by action.
• Comedy also has a plot. Three closely related and frequently overlapping
types are used: humor, wit, and satire.
1. Humor tends to be warm and appreciative and usually focuses on
character. The playwright adopts a fond tone and the audience in a
sense laugh with the characters rather than at them.
2. Satire is a form of wit. It involves two basic elements :
exaggeration and ridicule.
• Comic relief is the use of light touches here and there, or in longer plays,
comic characters used as contrast with the protagonist. Such comic
elements are one of the best ways to counter the risk of melodrama in a
highly dramatic plot.
G. Conflict
• Simple conflicts are used in simple dramas. They erode characterization
and reduce the work to a fight between good and evil.
• Multiple conflicts may be dramatized through one or more subplots
involving secondary characters who echo, amplify, or contrast the conflicts of
the main plot.
• Inner conflicts are another effective method at achieving subtlety. The very
phrases with which we describe such indecision suggest dramatic tension : a
character is “of two minds,” “struggling with himself,” or even “at war with
herself.”
• Triangular conflicts provide an additional dimension. Examples are love
triangles or a couple threatened by a third party. Sometimes the malevolent
agent is not another lover but simply an evil force, as in Othello.
• The individual against society - conflict between individuals is often given
greater resonance when it is played against a larger struggle with society.
H. The Beginning, the Middle, and the End
1. Beginning – introductory materials
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• Inciting incident is the major event that happened before your
play began. It can provide the point of attack.
• Exposition gives the audience background information regarding
situation, characters, relationships, time and place of action, and
the like.
• Foreshadowing is a classic device that creates suspense by
warning the audience to expect certain events such as a
conflict, crisis, complication, entrance of a major character, or
an emergency. A companion to foreshadowing, a plant refers to
a physical object that will be important later.
• A sense of equilibrium – a play starts with a certain balance.
Forces may be aligned equally or might be unbalanced but at
rest.
2. Middle – struggles and actions
• Point of attack begins the play’s action, stimulates the
protagonist to drive for a goal, introduces the play’s major
dramatic question (MDQ), and shifts the play from neutral to
forward gear.
• The protagonist’s goal – in the uneasy balance before the point
of attack, the protagonist is static, with no reason to take action.
The point of attack gives the protagonist a goal, which provides
the action of the rest of the play.
• Major dramatic question is a central force that unifies all action
and refers to the basic reason you write the play. The MDQ is
answered at the climax, ending the action.
3. Ending – a sense of finality
• Denouement is the final knitting together of loose ends.
Denouement in modern drama tends to be brief, some using
analogies or implications.
• Catharsis may be better understood as the conclusion of the
emotional aspects of the action and characters.
I. Visual Impact
• Three types of stage sets : (1) realistic, (2) symbolic, and (3) bare.
• Lighting is used for emphasis and symbolic suggestions.
• Costumes in non-realistic plays take on a symbolic significance.
Inciting incident
In Hamlet, the combination of Hamlet’s father’s death and his mother’s
remarriage to Claudius form the inciting incident. Hamlet discovers the
importance of that incident when the Ghost appears
Denouement
ESTRAGON : Well, shall we go?
VLADIMIR :Yes, let’s go.
They do not move.
“Waiting for Godot” – Samuel Beckett
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• Action – most plays are divided into a number of secondary scenes. Those
units are begun and ended by entrances and exits. “Stage business” is a
minor activity added by good directors to enliven a static scene.
IV. Writing Creative Nonfiction
A. Definition of Creative Nonfiction
Creative nonfiction is nonfiction prose which utilizes the techniques and strategies of
fiction. Creative nonfiction requires the skill of a story teller and the research ability of a
reporter (Rees Cheney, 1991).
Creative nonfiction combines the authority of literature and the authority of fact. It
demands spontaneity and an imaginative approach, while remaining true to the validity
and integrity of the information it contains. Creative nonfiction differs from fiction
because it is necessarily and scrupulously accurate in the presentation of information; a
teaching element to the readers is paramount. Creative nonfiction differs from traditional
reportage, however, because balance is unnecessary and subjectivity is not only
permitted but encouraged (Gutkind, 1997).
The key word is “personal.” The writer of creative nonfiction presents the world – or that
slice of it that he/she wishes to focus on – through the prism of his/her own personality.
(Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo 2003)
B. Types of Creative Nonfiction
It covers a large field that ranges from the literary journalism or new journalism – writing
in a personal way about facts in a news event – to the literary memoir.
• the magazine feature article
• the newspaper column as cultural commentary
• the review
• the interview story
• the character sketch
• the biographical sketch or profile
• the personal or familiar essay
• the autobiographical sketch
Stephen Minot in Literary Nonfiction identifies six basic forms of literary nonfiction.
1. Personal experience
2. Biographical sketch
3. Personal opinions
4. Reflections
5. A slice of history
a. ceremonies
b. role reversals
c. moments of sudden growth
d. moments of high emotions
e. reversal of expectations
C. The Essay and the Feature Distinguished
• The essay is generally used to refer to a prose piece that is more personal
than objective or verifiable than a feature article.
• A feature refers to an article in a magazine or newspaper or e-zine. It tends
to address a specific type of reader (the particular market or audience of the
periodical or website) which it appears.
D. STRATEGIES IN CREATIVE NONFICTION
Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo (2003) identified ten strategies in her Creative Nonfiction
Manual for Filipino Writers.
1. Approach and Point-of-view
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Approach has to do with how a writer handles the subject, the angle used. It may
be objective or subjective.
2. Tone and Voice
Tone has to do with the writer’s attitude towards the subject. It includes one’s
choice of words.
Voice is related to tone. It is also related to style. Voice, like tone, is obviously a
metaphor from the human voice.
3. Structure
Organization may be suggested by the subject, such as:
• Chronological
• Explanation-of-a-process
• Flashback
• Parallel structure
• Collage or mosaic structure
• Diary or log book structure
• Question-and-answer structure
• Frame or story-within-a-story
4. A Strong Dynamic Beginning
• Action
• Listing or cataloguing
• Striking statement
• In medias res
• Context
5. Rhetorical Techniques
• Definition`
• Comparison and contrast
• Illustration or example
• Classification
• Enumeration
6. Character
• Character in action
• Description of physical appearance
• Reconstruction of the subject’s special setting or ambiance
• Presenting characters through the eyes of other people
• Dialogue or monologue
• Idiosyncratic behaviour
7. Concrete and Evocative Details
• Details should be accurate and informative first. They must be suggestive
or evocative.
8. Scene
• The chief distinction between traditional reportage and creative nonfiction is
the use of scenes or dramatic writing.
9. A Convincing Ending
• Thesis
• Dramatic denouement
• Joke
• Moral or lesson
• Anecdote
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• Reiteration of a point made at the beginning
10. Revision
• Edit for grammar and syntax
• Edit for clarity
• Edit for conciseness
• Edit for style
E. The Elements of Creative Nonfiction
In their book The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of/on Creative Nonfiction
(1999), Robert Root, Jr and Michael Steinberg listed down some elements of creative
nonfiction.
¨ Personal presence – whether the subject is the writer’s self or an objective,
observed reality outside the self, the reader is taken on a journey into the
mind and personality of the writer.
¨ Self-discovery and self-exploration – in much bof the best creative
nonfiction, writers use self-disclosure as a way of opening their writing to a
more expansive exploration.
¨ Flexibility of form – contemporary writers “stretch the limits of the form” and
“are developing a nonfiction prose that lives along the boarders of fiction and
poetry.” Creative nonfiction writers are likely to innovate and experiment with
structure.
¨ Veracity – because it sometimes draw on the material of autobiography,
history, journalism, biology, ecology, travel writing, medicine, and any
number of subjects, creative nonfiction is reliable factual, firmly anchored in
real experience, whether the author has lived it or observed and recorded it.
¨ Literary Approaches to Language – the language of creative nonfiction is as
literary, as imaginative, as that of other literary genres and is similarly used
for lyrical, narrative, and dramatic effects.
F. One Writer’s Secrets (Donald M. Murray, 1999)
• Attitudes That Allow Writing
o No publication is the final theological word on a subject.
o There is no need to be consistent. Learning does not stop with publication.
o Ask your own questions and find your own answers.
o Use the mail. Submit.
o Start at the top. Maybe the best journals will not publish your stuff, but at
least they’ve had their chance.
o Remember what Al Pacino said, “Forget the career and do the work.” The
doing is far more satisfying than the done.
o If it isn’t fun, don’t do it.
• Some Tricks of the Academic Trade
o Keep a planning notebook with you to play with at the office, at home, in
the car, on the airplane, etc.
o Write daily: never a day without a line.
o Pick the best time for your writing and try to protect that time. Be selfish
o Read widely as well as deeply: read writing as well as writing about
writing.
o Keep a list of questions to which you want to seek answers, answers for
which you wish to form questions, territories of fascinating ignorance you
wish to explore.
o Put yourself on the spot. Be a working member of the profession.
o Respect your own judgment.
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o Write for yourself.
o Write early to find out what you know and what you need to know.
o Yet be patient. It takes time for ideas to be planted and cultivated.
o Write to discover what you have to say.
o Write without notes.
o Lower your standards.
o Write easily. If it doesn’t come, don’t force it.
o Write with your ear. Voice is the magic ingredient in writing.
o Write writing.
o Reach out to colleagues.
V. Creative Writing Exercises (Checkoway, 1999)
o First lines (Kyle Torke)
Steal the first sentence of a published story you haven’t read. Write the first page or so.
o Writing What You Know (R.A. Sasaki)
Recall a moment in your childhood when you discovered a secret or realized
something momentous about yourself or an important figure in your life. Describe the
event that day. What triggered the discovery.
o Writing the Recurring Dream (Susan Hubbard)
Recall a recurring dream. (If you can’t remember any, start keeping a notebook and
pen by your bed, and record dreams when you waken.) Try to write the recurring
dream, making details as vivid and precise as possible.
o Sketches and Portraits (Liz Rosenberg)
Do three portraits and seven sketches of people you know well, or barely at all. The
difference between a portrait and a sketch is mostly one of intensity and speed.
o Borrowing Characters (James Reed)
Take a favorite TV or movie character and place him or her in a context completely
outside that of the television how or movie. Use what you know about the character to
be consistent with the original context and also to develop the character within this new
situation.
o Inventing a Life (James Plath)
Select one of the personal ads from a local newspaper or magazine and construct a
life for that person : background, family, personality traits, hobbies, phobias, etc.
Although you may choose to write it out, you may also do this in a bulleted list, rather
than paragraphs.
o Disaster Scene (Susan Hubbard)
This one is just for fun. Write a disaster scene set at a restaurant. Any sort of disaster
will do, but those of a personal / psychological nature tend to be more intriguing - or at
least more subtle – than the Pulp Fiction type.
o Sudden fiction (Lance Olsen)
Write a sudden fiction of an event that in real time would take five or ten seconds to
occur – a death, a fall, a dazzling realization – that takes five pages in your fictive slomo.
o Short-Shorts (Robin Sterns)
Take a “finished” piece of more than 1,500 words and cut it to 250 words. Don’t just cut
sentences and paragraphs : Weigh each phrase, image, and word with a view to
creating the tightest kernel of a story you can. The point? To find and polish the central
point while cutting the unnecessary, the verbose, the carelessly expressed.
o The Unexpected Point of View (Ewing Campbell)
Take a story you might be tempted to write – say , the experience of suffering at the
hands of a bully and the way that conflict was resolved, or any other commonplace
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story – and invert it, presenting the story from the unexpected point of view (in my
example, the bully’s).
o Binary Vision (Cynn Chadwick)
Write a story – in the first person – from the point of view of the victim and then from
the viewpoint of the perpetrator of a crime.
o Questioning Your Character (Lucy Ferriss)
Interview your narrator or protagonist. If you ask the right questions, these people will
have plenty to say to you.
o Word Choice (Julie Schumacher)
Choose an eclectic batch of nouns, verbs, and adjectives from the dictionary or from
memory; then dream up a minor character who would use all the words (not
necessarily correctly) in a single short paragraph. Write the paragraph.
o Now and Then (David Baker)
Write a four-page story in which the plot proceeds in chronological order. Now, rewrite
it so that it moves backward in time, from the most recent to the most distant moment.
Rewrite it a final time, in which the sequence is out of order entirely, making
connections by association and memory rather than by the clock.
o Making Simple Actions Symbolic (Michael Martone)
Attempt to narrate or describe simple actions (the turning on of a light switch, say) to
find, in the difficulty of such simple rendering, the possibilities in the things we take for
granted.
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Part I: Sample Test Items
1. What is the beginning employed in the piece?
A. action C. in medias res
B. cataloguing D. striking statement
2. In the headline BANKS PEG INTEREST RATES, peg means:
A. keep at a fixed amount C. control the increase
B. hold at present level D. increase gradually
Part II: Analyzing Test Items
1. Used to spend more time reporting on club activities like elections and parties, a young
writer has included his community in his beat. He sometimes touches on topics of national
significance. What function of modern campus paper does the case illustrate?
A. watchdog B. education C. laboratory D. developmental
2. Modern campus publication is both a school paper and a community paper thus its content
is similar to that of a metropolitan paper. What part of a metropolitan paper does a campus
paper usually do not have?
A. business and agricultural sections C. classified adds
B. shipping, movie, TV and radio guide D. all of the above
3. In the headline BRITISH RAIL TO SHED 5,000 JOBS, shed means:
A. control B. suspend C. get rid of D. create
The correct answer is C – in medias res which means “in the middle of things. The character is already
pregnant, what comes before and after will be essential in the piece. A, B, and D are not supported by
the excerpt.
December 1958. I lie on my back on my back on an examination table in a Missoula
clinic while the middle-aged doctor whose name I found in the Yellow Pages inserts his
speculum and takes a look. He turns to the sink and washes his hands.
“Yes, you’re pregnant, “ he says. “Congratulations, Mommy.”
His confirmation settles over me like a fog that won’t lift. Myself I can manage for, but for
myself and it?
“The Unwanted Child” – Mary Clearman Blew
The correct answer is B. Pegs are used to hold tents; these are sticks that hold the tents to avoid it from
being carried by the wind.
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4. Which of the following articles do not use the lead?
A. news feature B. feature story C. editorial D. straight news
5. The sights and sound feature and the I-account story are related because both rely heavily
on the on-the-scene observations and on narrative style. In what ways do they differ?
A. in point-of-view and in technique C. in depth and in length
B. in scope and in subject D. in purpose and in structure
6. In this type of feature, the reporter is duty-bound to make special stress upon the personal
traits, characteristics, point of view and philosophy, as well as achievements, of a
personality.
A. human-interest sketch C. biographical feature
B. personality sketch D. feature interview
7. What is the prime function of the editorial page?
A. provides legitimate place for the expression of opinion and exposure of bias
B. shows leadership, entertainment, variety and interpretation of the daily events
C. declares the newspaper’s policies and principles
D. weighs both sides of a controversy with broad perspective and deep
understanding
8. Read the headline of a front-page news of the Philippine Star dated March 30, 2009.
In the headline, the colon functions as
A. a trim B. an attribution C. a cue D. an ascription
9. It is the greatest service an editorial writer can perform and it is where the prestige and
respect that are reflected through public confidence in and acceptance of the press
lie.
A. truth B. service C. fairness D. accuracy
10. It is considered the highest expression of press freedom in different newspapers in the
Philippines.
A. editorial writing B. news writing C. feature writing D. column writing
11. What could be the values that would benefit writers from the rejection of their works?
Palace: Lacson politicizing a criminal issue
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said yesterday Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s repeated
accusations that Malacañang was behind the criminal charges against him were
clearly an attempt to politicize a criminal issue.
Ilocano writer Bernardino Alzate wrote, “I would advise young
writers in Ilocano to pursue the dream they have chosen, because writing
benefits not only the readers but also the writers. If your works are rejected
at the start, you should not be discouraged. It is in the rejection that you
learn, and in the writing that you develop personal values and qualities.
In Our Own Words, - Isagani R. Cruz
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A. Writers develop self-confidence, courage, and honor.
B. Writers acquire fairness, independence, and patriotism.
C. Writers hone creativity, integrity, and optimism.
D. Writers gain discipline, honesty, and humility.
12. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Style develops through experience. C. Technique exists out of emotion.
B. Emotions are good selling points. D. Dinner stories lack sophistication.
12. According to Edilberto Tiempo, how does a writers workshop help young writers?
A. Writers workshop introduces young writers to the seasoned writers.
B. Young writers develop the critical aspect during writers workshop.
C. Participants in writers workshop fuse intuitional and critical acts.
D. A writing workshop is the best method in teaching creative writing.
14. What principle in writing is stressed by Chekhov in the passage?
A. show, don’t tell C. be specific
B. revise, revise, revise D. dramatize
15. The audience of a play should know factual information such as names, relationships,
situation, conflicts, and the like. To do this, playwrights give the audience important
information several times in the course of the play. This technique of repetition is called
A. mask of dramatic action C. the rule of thumb
B. response of audience D. the rule of three
When asked on the connection between teaching and learning to write well,
Edilberto K. Tiempo responded thus,
“Yes, I realize that my critical insights are better now than ever before, so I
feel I can produce even better stories. As I teach, I learn that creative writing is
really the result of two acts, one the intuitional and the other the critical. The writer
does not consciously think of a fusion of the two, so that’s why a writers workshop
does a lot for young writers.
Conversations with Filipino Writers, - Roger J. Bresnahan
In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are
essential. God save us from vague generalizations. Be sure not to discuss your
hero’s state of mind. Make it clear from his actions.
Anton Chekhov
F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote to a student :
You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little
minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might
tell at dinner. This is especially true when you begin to write when you
have not yet developed the tricks of interesting people on paper, when you
have none of the technique which it takes time to learn. When, in short,
you have only your emotions to sell
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Part III: Enhancing Test Taking Skills
1. Which novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a loser title of A Very Long Time Alone?
A. Love in the Time of Cholera C. The Autumn of a Patriarch
B. Chronicle of a Death Foretold D. One Hundred Years of Solitude
2. What is the objective of this activity?
A. handling the problem of time and space C. suiting the sentence to its
meaning
B. identifying story scenes and setting D. bringing abstract ideas into life
3. This remark harkens back to the favorite plot used in Greek plays called
A. peripeteia B. en medias res C. amarrita D. stichomythia
4. What is being developed in this writing practice?
A. to develop consistency of character C. to be conscious of word choice
B. to keep the story readable D. to limit the theme of the story
New York magazine has published a competition. One example is a game in which
people are asked to change some famous title just enough to make it a loser rather than a
winner. Below are some examples:
The Nude and the Deceased - The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer A Good-bye to
War - A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Minimal-Income Young Women – Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
In a creative writing exercise, the students wrote the following answers:
Poverty : going house to house to collect garbage every morning
Racism : not sitting next to a Mangyan on the LRT
Tyranny : suspending from school a mentor for teaching outside
“Plays and short stories are similar in that both start when all but the action is
finished,” said Angus Wilson in a Paris Review interview.
The following is a student’s work in a creative writing activity:
She would see the red dress and the red bow in her dreams, the white socks up to
her knees. In her dreams, she would stand at the top of the stairs in the front hall. She would
smell smoke and start to howl. The scars would not have come yet, not the pain.
- Anne Brashler
.
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5. What is implied in Genoveva Edroza Matute’s pronouncements?
A. Writing does not allow printing “unprintables.”
B. Matute belongs to a crop of hypocritical writers.
C. Literature reflects a writer’s time and milieu.
D. Generation gap is ably depicted in literature.
6. In the first scene of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the witches said, “Something wicked
this way comes.” What plot element is employed here?
A. exposition C. plant
B. foreshadowing D. suspense
7. Which is true about the monologue and the soliloquy?
A. Monologue is spoken when no one else is onstage like the soliloquy.
B. Monologue refers to speeches less poetically constructed than soliloquy.
C. Monologues are for the classics, while soliloquy is for more modern plays.
D. Monologues are shorter in length than the soliloquy.
8. Which of the following in not true about the inverted pyramid?
A. It makes makeup easier.
B. It satisfies curiosity in a logical way.
C. It delays the reader to get the information.
D. It makes the work of the copydesk easier.
9. It is the greatest service an editorial writer can perform and it is where the prestige and
respect that are reflected through public confidence in and acceptance of the press lie.
A. truth C. fairness
B. service D. accuracy
10. It is considered the highest expression of press freedom in different newspapers in the
Philippines.
A. editorial writing C. feature writing
B. news writing D. column writing
11. The copyreader decides to have the first line of the headline printed flushed left and be
followed by two indented parallel lines. What structure of a headline does the copyreader
follow?
A. dropline or step form C. flush left
B. hanging indention D. inverted pyramid
12. An advance story is one type of sports story that builds up enthusiasm for coming events.
It can be effectively written using various types of writing a story except for:
A. straight news story C. background story
B. feature story D. prediction story
“No,” I said, “we’re not hypocrites, it was just the way we were brought up. You were
brought up differently, and now you feel free to use anatomical terms, obscenities, and
vulgarities. That’s your orientation, but our orientation was different. There were certain things
we tagged as “unprintables” because in the first place, they weren’t fit to be printed. It wasn’t
because we were hypocrites.” Sometimes, young people ask hair-raising questions, but it’s
also amusing to see how things have changed and how the generation gap has widened.
- Genoveva Edroza Matute
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13. A well-made page that produces an agreeable overall pattern that makes text easier to
read can be achieved by:
A. balancing and contrasting the different typographical elements
B. appropriately positioning the haft tone color
C. avoiding clashes between editorial and other content displays
D. all of the above
14. The placement of the story on the front page of the newspaper should be determined by:
A. the importance of a news story C. the length of a news story
B. the recency of a news story D. the proximity of a news story
15. Which of the following is not the duty of a proofreader?
A. sees to it that the headline is typographically correct and well-written
B. checks whether erratic compositions like transposed or inverted letters and
loose types are set right
C. rewrites the story completely if it is poorly written
D. All of the above