Week 17
News writing
Slide
AP style practice
1.Warner Brothers bought the rights to the broadway hit to make a movie. (2)
• He robbed the money and jewels. (1)
• The college station, kdne, pronounced kidney, is the only station in the U.S.
named after a body organ. (2)
• He traveled from New Orleans Louisiana to Orlando florida on his way to his
hometown of Naples, FL. (4)
• He asked for your phone no. early this am. (2)
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
AP style practice answers
Warner Bros. bought the rights to the Broadway hit to make a movie.
He stole the money and jewels.
The college station, KDNE, pronounced kidney, is the only station in the
United States named after a body organ.
He traveled from New Orleans to Orlando, Fla., on his way to his hometown of
Naples, Fla.
He asked for your phone number early this morning.
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
AP style quiz
1. Air conditioning was not invented by the Fourth Century ad. (2)
2. The story package will effect the number of awards the paper will receive,
the advisor said. (2)
3. The Democratic party considered convening in Toronto, Canada but
chose Columbus, the capitol of Ohio, instead. (2)
4. The Captain loved to eat French fries. (2)
5. 1,000 bushels are a good harvest. (2)
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
Grammar practice
Instructions: Please correct the errors in the sentences below. Do not try to avoid the grammar issue by
rewriting a sentence. Instead, try to keep the words in the same basic order, but correct the various issue(s).
Plurals and Possessives
The class’ problem was that the instructor left college in the middle of the semester.
Pronouns
A college graduate should have a mind of their own.
Subject-Verb Agreement
A deer live in the meadow near my house.
Everyone in my biking club are an experienced rider.
Comma Errors
Finally the car careened to the right, endangering passers-by.
Three industries important to Florida are citrus fruit, phosphate mining, and tourism.
Misuse of who/whom
Kennedy’s son John, who the old man pushed to be president, was popular with women voters.
Whom founded the Hewlett Packard Corp.?
Parallelism
The graduating senior said she looked forward to getting a job, sleeping more and more trips to faraway
places.
The Tigers used excellent hitting, pitches and fielding to defeat the Royals in Monday’s game.
Dependent/Independent Clauses and their punctuation
She can guess what will happen today her sister will speak softly, stand alone and leave early.
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
Grammar practice answers
 The class’s problem was that the instructor left college in the middle of the semester.
 College graduates should have minds of their own.
 A deer lives in the meadow near my house.
 Everyone in my biking club is an experience rider.
 Finally, the car careened to the right, endangering passers-by.
 Three industries important to Florida are citrus fruit, phosphate mining and tourism.
 Kennedy’s son John, whom the old man pushed to be president, was popular with women voters.
 Who founded the Hewlett Packard Corp.?
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
Grammar quiz
Plurals and Possessives
The baby’s smiles are beautiful.
Pronouns
All together, the audience surged toward the stage, trampling over everything
in their path.
Subject-Verb Agreement
My chief executive officer, along with other business leaders, oppose the new
law.
Comma Errors
This courageous smart unrelenting teacher became the first in her profession to
attempt a space mission.
Misuse of who/whom
The city editor promised to tell us whom his choice is for the city hall beat.
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
Writing style practice
 Wordiness and Redundancy
 Instructions: Please eliminate the unnecessary words in the sentences below. Don’t try to avoid the issue by
rewriting a sentence. Try to keep the same word order, but omit needless words or replace long words or phrases
with shorter words or phrases.
1. Soldiers living in close proximity in barracks need to cooperate together if they want to avoid problems.
2. The final scene definitely shocked us totally.
3. The students enjoyed watching television more than they enjoyed reading textbooks.
 Clear Writing
 Instructions: Please clarify the sentences below. Don’t avoid the issue by rewriting a sentence. Try to keep the
same word order while making sure the meaning of the sentence is clear.
 4. There are similarities between the two plays, which are indications of the influence Shakespeare had on
Miller.
5. “All the President’s Men,” made by Alan J. Pakula, argues investigative journalism is needed to monitor
governmental power. .
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
Writing style practice answers
Soldiers living in barracks need to cooperate to avoid problems.
The final scene shocked us.
The students enjoyed watching television more than reading textbooks.
The similarities between the two plays indicate the influence Shakespeare had
on Miller.
The film “All the President’s Men,” directed by Alan J. Pakula, argues that
investigative journalism is needed to monitor governmental power.
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
Writing style quiz
Sentences 1-3 : Wordiness and Redundancy
Instructions: Please eliminate the unnecessary words in the sentences below. Don’t try to avoid the issue by
rewriting a sentence. Try to keep the same word order, but omit needless words or replace long words or phrases
with shorter words or phrases.
At this point in time, it is necessary that tests be run for the purposes of measuring
the student’s academic strengths.
In this day and age, students have it easier than their parents did.
Cheap gasoline was available at that point in time.
Sentences 4 and 5: Clear Writing
Instructions: Please clarify the sentences below. Don’t avoid the issue by rewriting a sentence. Try to keep the
same word order while making sure the meaning of the sentence is clear.
I loved my grandfather more than my brother.
Dewey’s philosophy is easier to understand than that of Aristotle.
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
Beat Story #1
The story’s disadvantage
The story’s advantage
Consider everything and anything:
 lead
 nut graph
 headline (if applicable)
 quotes, attribution
 AP style
 Grammar, punctuation, redundancy, cliches, wordy sentences,
passive voice, SVO sentences, and other stylistic elements.
 Accuracy, fairness, and balance
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
Beat Story #2
The story’s disadvantage
The story’s advantage
Consider everything and anything:
 lead
 nut graph
 headline (if applicable)
 quotes, attribution
 AP style
 Grammar, punctuation, redundancy, cliches, wordy sentences,
passive voice, SVO sentences, and other stylistic elements.
 Accuracy, fairness, and balance
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide
Beat Story #3
The story’s disadvantage
The story’s advantage
Consider everything and anything:
 lead
 nut graph
 headline (if applicable)
 quotes, attribution
 AP style
 Grammar, punctuation, redundancy, cliches, wordy sentences,
passive voice, SVO sentences, and other stylistic elements.
 Accuracy, fairness, and balance
McGraw-Hill
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Business
You must submit both an electronic and hard copy version of your stories.
A hard copy version still means it's typed and will be handed in to
me on the last day of class, June 27, during the first 10 minutes
of class.
An electronic version can be submitted via email as one
attachment (that means put all three news stories in one
document) OR via the assignment form on the class's respective
website (still put all three news stories in one document).
If you use the submission form, make sure your English name,
email address, and the document itself are clearly labeled.
Submit the electronic version by Thursday, June 27, 5 p.m.
Assignments
Final portfolio
 Deadline: Thursday, June 27, in class
Additional office hours:
 Tuesday, June 24, 10 to noon
 Wednesday, June 26, 10 to 2 p.m.