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Essay question, advice, reading list

This essay explores how journalists use grammar, punctuation, word choice, tone of voice, and stylistic devices to produce effective writing. It references print and online articles, as well as academic texts. The essay provides practical advice and examples, along with a reading list for further exploration.

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Essay question, advice, reading list

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  1. Essay question, advice, reading list

  2. Essay Discuss the ways in which journalists use grammar, punctuation, word choice, tone of voice and stylistic devices such as metaphors to produce effective writing. Refer to print and/or online articles as well as academic texts in your answer. 1,500 words To be handed in by Tuesday of Week 13. January 11, 2011 Details of this essay were included in the PowerPoint for the Week 6 class.

  3. Essay advice • You should look at the use of effective sentences in journalism • Where do journalists usually put the subject (in the grammatical sense) in a sentence to get most impact? • Show how they don’t use comma splices and fragments • Give examples of main verbs in sentences; talk about how they give a sentence its power. • Look at the use of subordinate clauses • Look at the way journalists use such subordinating conjunctions as after, unless, although • Look at the way journalists in news writing use subordinate clauses to pack their sentences with information while keeping them relatively short and clear. • Show examples of journalists in magazine and feature writing using very short, simple sentences for dramatic effect, or comedic effect, or to build up description

  4. Essay advice 2 • Show how journalists use a style of writing that suits the subject they are tackling - show how they achieve the right tone. • Look at word choice in a piece of journalism. Show how journalists tend to use short, uncomplicated words. Have they used a particular range of words to suit the subject ? For instance, Charlie Brooker and his emergency address to readers. • Find examples of journalists using imagery (Mailer’s “quivering jelly,” Brooker’s “cloud of noxious thickery”– to make a subject more vivid. • Finally, if you can find examples of journalists making grammatical errors, mention those in your essay. You might find examples of these in the Waterhouse, Humphreys, Evans and Truss titles on the reading list. • Make sure you don’t make grammatical errors in your essay writing. You can bring in essay plans/drafts for advice from your tutor

  5. Reading list The full reading list can be found in the module guide but here are a few of the titles that are particularly useful for the essay. • Bagnall, N. (1993) Newspaper Language. Oxford: Focal. • Phillips, A. (2006) Good Writing for Journalists. London: Sage • Bainbridge, J, Goc, N, & Tynan, L. (2008) Media & Journalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. • Bender, J., Davenport, L., Drager, M., Fedler, F. (2010) Reporting for the Media. Oxford: Oxford University Press. • Lanson, J & Stephens, M (2008) Writing and Reporting the News. Oxford: Oxford University Press. • Evans, H. (2000). Essential English: For Journalists, Editors and Writers. London: Pimlico • Waterhouse, K. (1993) Waterhouse on Newspaper Style. London: Penguin.

  6. Reading list (2) In your essay you are required to provide examples of journalistic writing. You can, of course, quote from newspaper and magazines – either in print or online. You can also find examples in the anthologies of journalism on the module guide reading list. Here are some examples of those: • Glover, S . ed. (1999) The Penguin Book of Journalism. London: Penguin. • Brooker, C. (2005) Charlie Brooker’s Screen Burn. London: Faber and Faber. • Carey. J. (ed.) (1987) The Faber Book of Reportage. London: Faber and Faber. • Silvester, C. (1998). The Penguin Book of Columnists. London: Penguin. • Coleman, N. & Hornby. N. (1996) The Picador Book of Sports Writing. London: Picador. • Ramachandra, R. (2001). The Picador Book of Cricket. London: Picador. • Fisk, R. (2008) The World of Robert Fisk Volume 1: 1989-1989 From Beirut to Bosnia. London: Independent News and Media. • Fisk, R. (2008) The World of Robert Fisk Volume 2: 1999-200 From Kosovo to Baghdad. London: Independent News and Media. • Shepherd, C and White,C. eds (1992) Essential Articles: The Journalism File (Vol 1). Cerel Press. • Shepherd, C and White,C. eds. (1992) Essential Articles: The Journalism File (Vol 2). Cerel Press. • Thompson, H.S. (1972) Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. London: Paladin. • Marsh, D. (1983). Fortunate Son: The Best of Dave Marsh. New York: Random House. • Kent, N. (1994). The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music, 1972-93. London: Penguin. • Hemingway, E. (1970). Hemingway Byline. London: Penguin. • Hoskins, B., (ed.) (2003). The Sound and the Fury: 40 Years of Classic Rock Journalism. London: Bloomsbury.

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