Assignment for Journalism class, Aug. 24

Journalism – Exploring Articles Online

Part A

Browse to http://ocsi-humanities.blogspot.com/ and click on “Academic Resources” at the top of the page. Scroll down through the list of links to “News Resources.”

Browse through a news website of your choice (or more than one). Look through them and list all of the kinds of articles that you see:

For the following questions, find three articles that you find interesting and answer the questions about each one.

Article One:

1. Write the title of the article and the news source where you found it.

2. In 2-3 sentences, write the main ideas of the article.

3. What do you notice about the organization and/or writing style of the article? (Examples: Does it start with the basics and then go into more detail? Does it use a high amount of technical vocabulary? Does it use a strategy at the beginning to capture readers’ attention?)

4. What do you think the purpose of this article is, and why?

5. Does this article only present facts, or is it an opinion piece? How can you tell?

Article Two:

1. Write the title of the article and the news source where you found it.

2. In 2-3 sentences, write the main ideas of the article.

3. What do you notice about the organization and/or writing style of the article?

4. What do you think the purpose of this article is, and why?

5. Does this article only present facts, or is it an opinion piece? How can you tell?

Article Three:

1. Write the title of the article and the news source where you found it.

2. In 2-3 sentences, write the main ideas of the article.

3. What do you notice about the organization and/or writing style of the article?

4. What do you think the purpose of this article is, and why?

5. Does this article only present facts, or is it an opinion piece? How can you tell?

Part B

1. From having browsed news websites and reading articles, what other things do you notice are involved in presenting news besides just writing? What are some other skills that are needed in order to put together everything you saw on the website?

2. What is the most interesting thing that you saw on the website?

3. What were some strategies that were used to get the reader’s attention?

4. Find an article that you think is interesting and that you would like the class to read for bellwork sometime in the next few weeks, print it out, and hand it in along with this worksheet.