Points to Ponder:
· Does the writer convince you of anything?· What structural elements holds this essay together? Try printing the essay and connecting structural elements with circles and lines. · Do you think the writer goes overboard with his illustrations? If so, can you say what you would leave out? · The writer insists on a difference between “hard news” and the kind of thing he sees on the news program. Is it clear what the writer means by “hard news”? Would it be more fair if the writer provided us with a good definition of what “news” really is? · Should the writer do a more scientific or statistical survey of news programs — using a stopwatch, perhaps, watching other channels and sampling the news on several different evenings over a period of weeks or even months? |
Here is a brief essay developed by means of a series of examples about how language has changed so dramatically in our century. Try to point to that place in the essay where you know what the writers want you to believe and what they want you to do about it