Week 7 – 11 th November

1. Week 7 – 11th November

2. Letter to an Editor! • Newspapers and magazines invite readers to write a letter to the editor offering their opinion on different events in the news • Sometimes, people offer their memories that surround an important event in the news

3. Let’s take a look at an example! In this letter, a local Councillor expresses his views on the problematic build of the new Bristol Arena Plans for Bristol Arena were announced in March 2003. The arena, to be built next to Bristol's largest railway station Temple Meads, was planned to have 10,000 seats and host music concerts as well as sports and conferences. It was originally planned to open by 2008 to coincide with the city's bid to be European Capital of Culture.

4. Feature Spot! • On the next slide is a list of the ‘things’ that a letter to an editor needs to include or typically has • TASK: Annotate the example letter with the features that you can spot!

5. Features of a Letter to an Editor Formal/impersonal Vocabulary appropriate to the issue Use of examples Use of statistics Use of irony to provoke a response from the readers Emotive words and phrases with persuasive power Repetition of key words and phrases Clever use of words – simple but persuasive

6. Week 9 – 25th November

7. Magazine Articles • An article is a piece of writing that discusses recent news of general interest or a particular topic. • An article can contain eye witness statements, photographs, facts, figures, interviews and even opinion polls. • The basic structure of an article is to answer the following questions; who, what, when, where and how.

8. Magazine Article • When reading a text, it’s important that you are able to FLAP! • F = Format (what is the text?) • L = Language (formal or informal?) • A = Audience (who would read it?) • P = Purpose (what is the job of the text – entertain, argue, persuade, advise?) TASK: Take a quick glance over the text and then apply the FLAP rules! This is a really useful thing to do when you are asked to read a specific type of text in an exam or assessment!

9. Read the Article! Then… Write 3 questions about the article – some can be one word responses where as other questions could require the reader to really think about the author’s thoughts and feelings Example: For how long has Musharaf suffered with a stammer? THEN, swap your questions with the person sitting next to you or someone from the next table. You then need to answer their questions… You could even use a quotation from the text in your answer!

10. Feature Spot! • Here are a list of the typical features within a magazine article, see if you can spot any in the article that you have just read… • A title that sums up the message of the story • a mixture of information and opinion • quotes from people; direct quotes personalises the topic • a conversational style, as if the writer knows the reader personally • longer paragraphs than a news story • descriptive writing • may use a mixture of formal and informal language including everyday expressions and colloquialisms • Facts support the writer’s opinion about the topic • Rhetorical questions direct the reader's thinking about the topic • Emotive words engage the reader's feelings about the topic • Effective use of imagery and description engage the reader’s imagination