WRITING A FEATURE ARTICLE

WHENYOU’RE

STRUCTURELEAD

THEME

BODY PARAGRAPHS:

FACTS

QUOTES

ANECDOTES

KICKER

STRUCTURE• 1st paragraph: Lead as your first paragraph

• 2nd paragraph: statement of theme (or what your article is about)

• Body Paragraphs: facts, quotes and anecdotes all of which relate to your theme...

• Last Paragraph: Kicker.

THESIS STATEMENT• The thesis statement declares

what your article is about• The thesis statement is like a

clothes line.• It must be strung throughout

your entire article.• You need to peg facts, quotes

and anecdotes to your thesis statement.

COOKING UP SOME BODY PARAGRAPHS

FORESHADOWING• Often, you will need to foreshadow your quotes or set them

up for the reader. • The following illustrates how to foreshadow:• The constant attack by the media on teenagers renders them

helpless victims of the predators lurking in the corporate world, not sufferers of playground politics. Mackay youth Joe Bloggs is fed up with the media’s constant portrayal of young people as wicked gangsters or square-eyed technology fanatics. “It’s just ridiculous that people with university degrees think it is OK to talk about all teenagers this way. People can’t be grouped. They aren’t supermarket items.”

It’s a Fact!• Facts support and enhance

your writing as well as contextualise your topic.

• This means doing some research.

• You need to select facts that support your ANGLE (opinion).

For example:• You don’t have to look very far to realise the

ludicrousness of the media’s accusations; in fact, a quick reflection on my own childhood reveals that at six I knew more about young people than most journalists today seem to. When asked by a group of girls why I only payed in the sandpit and refused to play Families under the tree, my simple reply was, “Because I’m me, not you.” What is so new-age about that?

BRING IT HOME!Introducing…

THE

• Last element of your feature article• Circular structure for your article comes into

play because the lead will relate to the kicker, and vice versa.

• Avoid weak and patronising kickers like ‘…and they all lived happily ever after’.

• When you have written your kicker, compare it to your Lead paragraph and make sure the two are closely connected, or perhaps use some common words.

REFERENCE

• Information gathered from:K. Liley at Griffith University, 2003.

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