© Copyright 2011 Mrs J Parker ESHS

Feature Articles

All feature articles are about persuading the audience to a particular view point on a topic or issue.

They do this through different codes or conventions - including the choice of language that appeals to the target audience, the photos, captions and even the text size and font.

Tips for writing an effective feature article

Deciding your topic:Once you have your topic you need to brainstorm some opinions about it. * How do you feel? * How would your target audience feel about the topic? * Who is your target audience? * How are you going to communicate this? * What information do you need?

Time for research:

* What information do you need? * What opinions can you include? * What information do you NOT want to include? * DO you have any suitable photographs, diagrams, statistics or quotes that can support your opinion?

Start with an effective lead: You can: * Start by retelling a story or setting the scene, * State the argument * Question the audience with the issue * Use a quote * Use a “What If” scenario

What if we decided to have an open border

policy to any one seeking asylum? Would it really be

that bad?

Start with an effective lead:

This is where you need to make sure that your audience will be dragged into reading about your topic. You have to ENGAGE the reader. * Try foreshadowing - hinting at what the point of your article is about * Include descriptions * Make comparisons

Main body:

This needs to discuss your opinion on the issue. * include discussion on the argument * include statistics, quotes, diagrams, captions, photographs and expert opinions. * use a variety of sentence structures (mix it up!)

* use language your target audience can understand and relate to.

* if you are going to use jargon - do you need to define it? Think about how much information your audience needs to know in order to understand your article.

Conclusion: * Replay the lead - re-engage the audience to your original argument or question * Restate the purpose of the article * End with an editorial comment on the issue (you are the author - that means you can comment), a quote or a summary.

Be creative:

* Text size and font style. Does it work for your audience? * Use headings, subheadings, dot points, Italics, bold, and colour. * Your layout or composition of your article - what goes where? How are you going to present it on the page? (If you are stuck - think about how it would look in a magazine).

DON’T Forget:1. reference your sources2. make sure your quotes and statistics are accurate and suitable for your argument or point of view3. if you are going to use photographs - make sure they are clear andhave also been referenced4. when choosing a font style for the main text - choose something that is easy to read.