Opinion Writing Preview Activity

Lone Star Dispatch:
Story 1: Immigration laws getting out of hand
1. Written by: Doesn't Say
2. This article was written abut the changes in immigration laws within the United States since Trump was elected as president.
3. The author of this section believes that Trump's actions are wrong and based off of "hateful stereotypes". They believe that "The United States is the 'melting pot' of the world," and that "we should be doing everything we can to reach out to the world's immigrants," in order to help support them (Page A6).
4. They discussed how Trump is being stereotypical, but did not address what Trump supporters think about the matter.
5. There was no wishy-washy opinions, it was straight forward from the very beginning.
6. There were no direct quotes.
7. 3rd person

Story 2: Betsy DeVos unfit to serveas U.S. Secretary of Education
1. Written by: Reagan Wallace
2. This article was written about the U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.
3. Wallace believes that DeVos is not "prepared to lead a country's education system," and has seemingly no true qualifications for the task (Wallace A6).
4. Wallace did address what some would consider qualifications that DeVos has.
5. Wouldn't say that the article was necessarily "wishy-washy" in her opinion, but more in her facts as to why she believes DeVos is unfit.
6. One quote from DeVos was used.
7. 1st person

Story 3: Our great tree is worth saving
1. Written by: Ian Miller
2. This story was written to inform people about the critical condition that our courtyard tree is in.
3. In Miller's opinion, "it's absolutely worth the (expensive) price to save" the large tree (Miller A7).
4. Kind of addressed the other side in the very beginning, but could have definitely mentioned it more.
5. There was no wishy-washy opinions, seeing that they really didn't even address the other side.
6. There were no quotes.
7. 1st person

Story 4: Going above the norm for college
1. Written by: Jake Brien
2. This article is about college.
3. At first Brien talked about how expensive college was. Then he talked about all the benefits of going to college. Then he talked about having to go the extra mile to get into college. I'm not entirely sure, but i believe he was trying to say that it's important to go to college.
4. Not sure really what the two sides were, but I think he addressed it?
5. I'd say it was pretty wishy-washy. At first I was convinced his article was going to be all about the crazy expenses you have to pay to get into college, then I don't really know what happened from there.
6. There were no quotes.
7. 1st person

Story 5: Importance of physics class
1. Written by: Abby Ong
2. This article is about the importance of taking a physics class.
3. Ong believes, "all students should take it (physics) regardless of endorsement or future career choice" (Ong A7).
4. She did address how some people would not find it necessary to take a physics course.
5. Was not wishy-washy at all, her opinion was straight forward.
6. No quotes were used.
7. 1st person

OVERALL:
A. (1) News stories typically include more quotes from people involved.
(2) News stories aren't normally written in the first person, normally third to help give more facts.
(3) News stories are not as bias as opinion piece, they offer facts on all sides of the story.

B. I think that there is not as many photos for opinion pieces, because you are not trying to cover an event, more of a belief.

C. I think t would be good to write opinion pieces on controversial topics like politics, and topics that are very relevant today like women's rights, and issues regarding the LGBTQ community.