184 WRITING COACH Sample task The school magazine of your English partner school has started a series of articles on creepy places around the world. You have decided to send them an article about a creepy place you have recently visited. In your article you should: present the creepy place describe your visit specify why you think it is creepy Give your article a title. Write around 250 words. Article An article is an independent piece of writing intended for publication in a journal, newspaper or in an online magazine, often as part of a series of similar articles focusing on a specific topic. Its purpose is to inform, entertain, persuade or simply engage the readers of the magazine who are interested in a particular subject. To attract the readers’ attention, the article needs to have a catchy title which gives them an idea of what it is about. This can be a question or a surprising/provocative statement. Readers should be drawn in from the start and never lose interest while reading the rest of the article. Descriptions, anecdotes, examples and the writer’s opinion can be included when appropriate. The ending should give readers a sense of satisfaction that reading the article was time well spent. It could be a question, an answer to a question or a summary. It could also give them something to think about or encourage them to take action. To achieve all of the above, lively and expressive language should be used. The readers can be engaged by using direct and rhetorical questions, imperatives and exclamations when the article calls for it. Depending on the subject and the audience, the language can range from objective and formal to neutral or personal. See also p. 47. Articles in a nutshell: Give your article a catchy title. Write a clear, powerful and well-defined introduction that draws the reader right in. Involve your readership with direct and indirect questions when appropriate. Start a new paragraph for each new aspect or idea given in the content points (bullet points). Link the paragraphs so that the reader doesn’t lose interest in what you are writing. Finish your article in a powerful way, for instance by giving the reader something to think about. Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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