TaskSummary and Tasks
Now, you are to write a direct lead for a newspaper article you will write in this lesson. Your news story must be about an imaginary event that occurred on the subways of Chicago.
Visit the Chicago Transit Authority. At this website, you will learn that the public transportation of Chicago falls into two categories: the subway and the "L" which is the short name for the elevated train systems of the city.
Your news event can occur either on the subway, or the L trains. Look at the Transit Authority website and pick out a route for your imaginary news story.
For your news event, you have an endless number of story possibilities. You could write about any of the following:
- Train derailment
- High-jacked train
- Murder on a train
- Large amount of cash found on a train
- Child left unattended on a train
- Hazardous material spill on a train
- Spontaneous concert on a train
- High profile wedding on a train
- Even… an alien on a train…
You do not have to choose one of the options listed above, but you certainly may use the ideas for inspiration.
First, decide upon all the details of your news event.
- Who?
- What?
- When?
- Where?
Then, fill in the added details that will make the story interesting, such as:
- Names and details of the eye witnesses
- Police report information
- Details told by the workers on the train
- Quotes from citizens nearby the event
- Timeline of events leading up to the news happening
Your resulting news article should be at least 300 words long. It should contain a direct lead at the beginning that reveals the important details. The second paragraph should begin giving the interesting details listed above.
You will submit your completed news article to the 4.03 News Article Dropbox.
This assignment is worth 40 points. You will get 15 points for the information included in your direct lead, 15 points for the details that add information in the following paragraphs, and 10 points for your grammar, punctuation and article length.
 |