What are your GRIPES?

1. What are your GRIPES?

2. The Editorial anarticle in a newspaper or other periodical presenting the opinionofthepublisheror editor(s)

3. Topics? Legalization of marijuana? Universal healthcare?

4. Tips of the Trade • Don’t always take the easy route Consider the less popular stand. There’s an old journalism axiom which states that the role of the newspaper is “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Don’t feel like you have to play Devil’s advocate, but don’t feel like you have to side with the majority, either. Stick to your ideals with this type of piece. 2. Take a reasonable approach There are few absolutes in life. Also, the truth to you might not be the truth to someone else. As such, avoid words like “always” and “never.” Be specific and accurate with your evidence. 3. Make sure your thesis is clear The more vague you are, the less convincing you’ll be. It’s as simple as that.

5. The Parts • The Lead… which consists of the ATTENTION-GETTER (or HOOK), the CONCESSION, and the COMMITTAL STATEMENT Where to start? Anecdote? (Jim Thompson is hungry. It’s 7:00 in the evening, and the young athlete is fresh off the heels of a varsity baseball game and can think of nothing but his grumbling belly.) Shocking statement? (Adults are stupid, plain and simple…) Direct dialogue to the reader? (Do you remember the first time you…?)

6. The Lead, continued TOPIC: No fast food for athletes on school’s watch HOOK Anecdote: Jim Thompson is hungry. It’s 7:00 in the evening, and the young athlete is fresh off the heels of a varsity baseball game and can think of nothing but his grumbling stomach. A week ago, Jim might have been pulling into a McDonald’s to fill his empty belly with a Big Mac and fries. Tonight, though, days removed from a decision by his district to prohibit student athletes from eating fast food on the school’s watch, Jim can only pine for the Golden Arches from a distance. The bus isn’t stopping tonight.

7. The Concession Why provide it? It may disarm the opposition by recognizing their viewpoint has some validity. It also acknowledges what the opposition is already thinking anyway.

8. The Concession, continued TOPIC: No fast food for athletes on school’s watch It is difficult to fault the school district on some level, because it is merely trying to protect the interests of its students. Certainly, maintaining good health is important for everyone, not just students, and a school district should make every effort to properly educate and care for those under its charge. HOWEVER…

9. The Lead, continued TOPIC: No fast food for athletes on school’s watch Committal Statement Indicate your topic and commit to your stance School districts have overstepped their bounds with regard to nutrition. In addition to students having every right to consume what they desire, there are financial implications in prohibiting students’ access to so-called unhealthy foods.

10. The Body Consists of three arguments (ideally) Sequenced from least to most “powerful” Why? 1. The reader will tend to remember the final argument longer. 2. To end with a weak argument would invite rebuttal.

11. The Body, continued TOPIC: No fast food for athletes on school’s watch Argument #1: Kids have to eat. Those who participate in sporting events and are getting home late at night are entitled to some sustenance. While some food choices are not ideal, it borders on neglect to not provide students with access to something. Argument #2: Prohibiting the consumption and/or sales of foods that are deemed “unhealthy” has far-reaching ramifications. Clubs and organizations that raise money from the sales of these foods would be devastated. Argument #3: Students, and all people for that matter, should get to choose what they put in their system. If it’s not an illegal substance, what right does a school have to dictate what an individual ingests? If it’s my body, how does any person get off telling me how I’m allowed to treat it? This is a basic violation of my rights as a human.

12. The Conclusion Revisit the thesis AND… Add something extra… Like a call to action… A vision of the future… Food for thought?

13. The Conclusion, continued TOPIC: No fast food for athletes on school’s watch Looking out for people is one thing, but it’s something else to prevent them from living the lives they want to lead. If schools are permitted to decide what its students will eat, what’s next? How far-reaching can their power be? What other rights will students lose, all in an effort to “protect” them?

14. Sample??? What might each of the editorial pieces look like if the topic were… Moving to a 4-day school week A hook? A concession? The arguments? The conclusion?

15. Try your own! On the sheet provided, and in your designated group… 1. select a gripe 2. In EIGHT minutes (yes, eight minutes), fill in the editorial template with appropriate information (hook/attention-getter, committal statement, concession, arguments and conclusion) 3. Be prepared to DEBATE, errrr, share your responses with the teacher

16. Sample Lead Jim Thompson is hungry. It’s 7:00 in the evening, and the young athlete is fresh off the heels of a varsity baseball game and can think of nothing but his grumbling stomach. A week ago, Jim might have been pulling into a McDonald’s to fill his empty belly with a Big Mac and fries. Tonight, though, days removed from a decision by his district to prohibit student athletes from eating fast food on the school’s watch, Jim can only pine for the Golden Arches from a distance. The bus isn’t stopping this time. It is difficult to fault the school district on some level, because it is merely trying to protect the interests of its students. Certainly, maintaining good health is important for everyone, not just students, and a school district should make every effort to properly educate and care for those under its charge. However, administrators have overstepped their bounds with regard to nutrition. In addition to students having every right to consume what they desire, there are financial implications to prohibiting students’ access to so-called unhealthy foods.