Friday, October 02, 2009



Mr Davies Y10 English Group:
Original Writing Coursework

lightingfools

Please post your Original Writing Coursework here: your magazine response to the Daily Mail article which suggests there is a link between violent computer games like Grand Theft Auto and violent crime amongst teens.

Here are some tips again in case you've forgotten:

Opening paragraphs- 7 'lead hook' devices, with examples:

Descriptive



Look along the shelf of any teenage boy’s bedroom. What do you see? A few Shoot annuals; a school textbook or two, maybe a DVD of Transfomers – and of course, a copy of Grand Theft Auto.

Strong Quote


“Games such as Grand Theft Auto lead to criminality amongst the young and should be banned,” said the Prime Minister at a news conference on juvenile crime today.


The ‘drop’ intro


The light of evil mischief blazed in his eyes. ‘Yeah- that punk won’t be messing with me again,’ he said, as the echoes of gunshots faded into the blare of approaching sirens. Then he saved the game and got back to his homework.

A question


Have you ever played Grand Theft Auto? Yes? Have you ever murdered a cab driver? No? Funny- because according to The Daily Mail, one leads to the other.


Narrative


Billy comes home from school at about 4pm, has a snack, and unwinds by playing computer games for an hour. Then, he’ll do his homework for another hour or so, eat his dinner and he might go and play football with his friends for a while. Billy is just an ordinary teenager- interested in lots of things, from girls to football to schoolwork- but not obsessive about any of them.


Statement of fact


By the time the average British child is 13, he or she has witnessed over 2,000 murders on TV. If he plays computer games regularly, you can double that figure.



Opinionated pronouncement


I’ve played Microsoft Flight Simulator: that doesn’t make me a pilot. I’ve played Guitar Hero: that doesn’t make me a musician. And I’ve played Grand Theft Auto: that doesn’t make me a murderer!


What the examiners are looking for:

Adapt your style and form to purpose and audience.


-Using one of the seven ‘lead hook’ techniques will adapted your style and form suitably.


Use a range of sentence structures.


-Use long and short sentences and complex sentences. If you use ‘whilst’ or ‘although’, then you have written a complex sentence!


Paragraphs make meanings clear.


-Start a new paragraph for each new subject.


Use graphology.


-In your final draft, use headlines, subheadings, pictures and captions to make your piece look like an magazine article.
Use interviews, statistics and personal opinions and anecdotes


-Interview a parent, a teenage computer gamer, a psychologist. You can invent statistics or research some real ones. Use your own opinions and relevant stories from your own life


Structure
Each one of these sections should be half a side to a side of handwritten text.

1. Lead hook (‘7 methods’)
2. Outline the facts of The Daily Mail article
3. Explain how The Daily Mail article suggests a link between computer games and violence.
4. Respond to this, giving your opinion about whether the Thai student was really driven to murder by computer games. What other explanations of his crime are there?
5. Use an ‘interview’- with a psychologist, a computer gamer with no criminal background, a parent, a politician. Back up the interview with statistics or stories from your own life.
6. Write a conclusion that summarises your strongest argument.


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