Grissom's Grammar and Composition

This blog is for any student writing papers for college, for current and former students in my Communications Cluster at Lindenwood University, and my students at St. Charles Community College.

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Monday, January 19, 2009

All Students: The Reporter's Questions

Here is a visual diagram of the Reporter's Questions.

Use the questions to help brainstorm on topics and discover what you know about them.

Short Paper 1 is due tonight. Please put it in a two-pocket folder with your name on the front, and include any drafts. Print it before you come to class, and make sure you follow MLA formatting.

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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Journal 3 - The Reporter's Questions

Your Journal 3 is a brainstorming exercise for Short Paper 2. Choose a topic and then answer the reporter's questions to see what you know about your topic. Below is my example.

Reporter's Questions:

Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?

For example I might choose overweight teens as a subject. Then my answers would be -

Who is involved with my topic? Overweight teens, their parents, doctors, friends, clothing designers, counselors, nutritionists, school officials....

What is involved with my topic? Emotional problems, fashion issues, bullying, eating disorders, social stigma...

When? In the last the last two decades, obesity in teens has tripled. Today 16% of children are overweight.

Where? The U.S., Australia, Great Britain have to biggest problems, but other countries are catching up

Why? Decreased access to exercise, processed food, bad school lunches, video games, social pressure to be too thin

How? We can help them by supporting them emotionally, easing up on body image, accepting them regardless of weight, helping them wear clothes they like...

It's just to help you divide up your topic. So I might look at the answers and focus on one area I wanted to discuss in a short paper. I choose my audience from the who - maybe overweight teens themselves, then I focus on one aspect, like fashion, and talk about finding the best plus size outfit for their body type.

There are no wrong answers for this exercise. It just shows you what you know about your subject and helps you zero in on what aspect you want to discuss.

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