Creative Writing – Term Paper

The right structure will take you where you need to go. Someone likened the magazine article to a moving Van, a conveyance with much room to hold things which nevertheless has to be packed just right. A conveyance with a place to go and a reason to get there. Structure means packing properly and heading the article in the right direction. (Jacobin 1991 , p. 77) To carry the metaphor through, the type of trip you are taking would probably determine what type of van you will choose-?its size, whether it has full suspension or 4-wheel drive, and other such features.

Your subject itself will suggest the type of structure on your material. Chronological structure -most natural for an account of a trip, or a travelogue. This refers to an arrangement of events in a linear fashion, as they occurred in time. Ex. “Gauguin” by Clinton Planck Explanation-of-a-process structure -used for how-to articles; a step by step type of organization ex. ROR, Plat, Mat: Filipino Building Beliefs (2000) by Ernest Karate The book contains a wealth of information, presented in a casual, conversational style which makes for very pleasant reading.

It includes humorous anecdotes (like the one titled “Lucky Deluge,” about a contractor who, after having just turned over a 14-story office alluding to a Chinese client, learned that the valves on the overhead water tank at the building’s roof had burst, thus flooding the entire building, and ruining a fortune in tiles, carpets, curtains, etc. (Karate 2000:20-21) Body Wise by Maries Francisco (sample page) Flashback structure -used by a memoir writer; this means beginning at some point in the recent time, and then going back into the past ex.

Juan Agitation, Resin Masers, Butch Dahlias, Randy David, and Genome Bad who wrote sketches of their dead fathers. (“A Collector of Events,” “I Never Sang for My Father,” “A Gift for Words,” “One Man’s Duty and Honor,” and “One’s Secret Lifework” Parallel structure It has several stories, running side by side, with occasional cross-cutting or convergence; it is a technique that may have been influenced by the cinema. Ex. Nick Joaquin in his account of the IDEAS Revolution (IDEAS 1), The Quartet of the Tiger Moon.

Collage or mosaic structure -is a convenient structure for accounts of disasters; -it was influenced by painting and film; -it involves pasting together of small fragments, which all together build up to the total picture of what happened. -an excellent device for capturing the complexity Of an vent and also creating a sense of immediacy, of speed. Ex. “The Ruby Towers Earthquake” by Quinoa De Manila (Nick Joaquin) (sample page) Diary or log book structure -is a variation of the chronological structure, and gives a sense of immediacy to the narrative; -it also makes the narrative seem more personal Ex.

Alfred A. Hussy’s “Demagogue Diary’ (sample page) Question-and-answer structure -favored by many magazines, and is a logical choice for interview stories. -the advantage of this structure is that it allows the reader to hear the subject’s voice without the awkwardness of having to repeat ‘he said” r “she said” before every direct quotation. Ex. Interview with Diana Bonneville (see sample page) Frame, or story-within-a-story -a good structure to use when you wish to tell two stories, like in a travel narrative , where the actual physical journey is paralleled by an inner journey. Ex. One February in Katmandu” by Christina Hidalgo (an account of a first-time trip to Nepal, but Was also about the IDEAS Revolution, which was taking place in Manila while the writer was in Katmandu) In “Family Affair,” Alfred A. Yukon “frames” the account of his own boyhood and young manhood within a narrative about maintaining armory among his children. The structure is appropriate, because the narrators relationship with his sons and the type of home he has built, is being contrasted with his own relationship with his father and his own boyhood home. An interesting structure is one used by Jessica Zebra in the essay “Edema. The essay looks like a term paper or report, complete with divisions and subdivisions, and ends with a “quiz” and instructions to the reader on how to score himself. Given that the subject of the paper is a bit of contemporary slang, the structure itself is a clever joke, part of the authors characteristic humor. See sample page) A Strong, Dramatic Beginning Remember that your essay, article or narrative faces tough competition, not just from other printed material, but from the electronic media, mot, the internet, DVD’s, not to mention malls, music bars, the movies, etc.

You need to get your reader’s attention immediately, or the game is lost. It won’t do just to follow your own whims. Your audience-the readers-are the other part of the equation. If you want to be read, you need to anticipate reader’s reactions. The Title You don’t need to decide on it before the piece is written. But it’s good to have a working title; it helps you to Ochs. Suggestions regarding titles: C]Catchy and clever titles have an advantage “Bridal Registry with Distinction” is not likely to lure anyone into reading the article, let alone visiting the shop which the article is about. Chilling’ at Chills” is a cute title for an article on a new “hot” restaurant favored by all the “cool” people. Some titles derive their power from allusion to lines from titles of other works Of art as in “An Eye for an Eye”, an essay by Conrad Guiros on the debate regarding the death penalty. Titles which are too long are at a disadvantage Unless their length is part of the joke as in Alfred A. Hussy’s “The Phoenix in ’86: Seventh Heaven on the Seventh? (McCoy Badly Versus the Country’s Widow). ” Titles should not be misleading.