An Article By Any Other Name….. The Low-Down on Feature Articles

What is a Feature Article? Creative Deals with real events, issues, and trends Unlike news articles, it places emphasis on the people involved rather than on the facts Written to a specific audience Author writes to persuade readers to adopt his opinion on the topic Organized in columns with headings, bullets

The Various Feature Articles Human Interest Personality Process Analysis How to (Skill or Product) Persuasive Article Past Events Technical/Informative News Feature

How can I be creative & engage the reader? Anecdotes Vignettes Foreshadowing Descriptions Flashbacks Tables Comparisons Sketches Examples Charts Riddles Snapshots Pictures Graphs Quotes Reasons/facts

Be Creative with Text HEADINGS “Subheadings” FONTSFONTS Italics Bold print Bullets COLOR ink

The Human-Interest Feature Most common feature article Reports success in spite of great odds Recalls tragic predicament Shares continuing struggles supported only by hope and fate.

Features of “The Best” Articles Personal experience with the situation Proof, along with examples, to explain your ideas Mix of formal and informal language for effect – not by accident! Conclusion that brings reader back to beginning Catchy title

Identify Topic and Audiences Choose topic Why ? Who would want to read this article? Who is the primary audience?

Prewriting: The Feature Article Organizer

Analyze the Audience Does the audience know anything about this topic? What does the audience need to learn after reading the article?

State the Purpose of the Article Doesn’t necessarily need to appear in the article Directs the writing of the article Example: As a concerned citizen of my country, I am writing a feature article for residents because they need to know about hazardous household waste and ways to properly dispose of it. ©1997 Kentucky Writing Program

Gather Information (Research) The Library The internet? Encyclopedias Card Catalog Newspapers Magazines

Document Sources Blue “Documentation Helper” sheet Include citations at the end of the feature article

Organize the Information - Structure Headlines By-line (writer’s name) A short ‘blurb’ paragraph before the first paragraph Catchy titles Subheadings Bullets Quotes throughout A concluding paragraph will state a definite point of view

Word Process – Layout of Feature Column format Spell check Grammar check Sources listed at bottom of article

Language Features Emotive language Varied sentence length ranging from short and simple to long and complex. Short paragraphs Direct speech is used with “…”

Layout of Feature Article BIG eye-catching headline Several style and sizes of font Narrow column format First paragraph may start with a dropped capital Sections of the text may be highlighted to attract attention May include a photo with caption