INFORMATIVE, LITERARY AND JOURNALISTIC WRITING

Informative Writing

The informative essay definition is to educate your audience on a particular topic, to

elaborate on a term, or analyze data. Not to be confused with other forms of assignments. They
are intended to teach your readers new information. Presenting opinions is not the purpose of this
style of assignment. Generally speaking, this type of essay will compare controversial viewpoints
about a particular topic.

How to Write an Informative Essay

• Brainstorm Ideas: Before writing an informative essay, choose a topic accordingly.

Selecting a field of study, you feel strongly about is a good idea. Regardless of the chosen
topic, brainstorming is the way forward for the top result when learning how to start an
informative essay successfully. As it will allow you to create a general outline of your
informative essay and help organize your thoughts accordingly.
• Choosing a Topic: After narrowing down your options, it has finally come time to choose
the most appropriate topic. Remember, the selected subject at hand should not be TOO
BROAD nor TOO NARROW.
• Crank Out Some Informative Research: Gather information and use various sources
including primary and secondary ones! Primary sources are physical pieces of evidence
relating to the topic at hand. Secondary sources are articles and papers written based on
that topic.
• Use a variety of sources, and validate their reliability: Using sites like Wikipedia is generally
frowned upon, however checking out the links used at the bottom of every wiki page is an
effective way to get sources quickly! Do not only use one type of source (example: Website
Articles). Provide different kinds of sources to make your informative essay well-rounded!

Informative Essay Outline

An introduction

It serves to present the main argument in an exciting and interesting manner. The intro
should start with an a hook that grabs the reader's attention. Afterward, your informative essay
introduction should reveal any background context that will be necessary for the reader to
understand while reading through the essay. This is an essential part of your informative essay
outline. These sentences should pay the way for an excellent thesis statement.
Body Paragraphs

The purpose of this section in the informative paper outline is to defend the thesis
statement, so the content in these paragraphs must be tip-top. First of all, each body paragraph
must start with a topic sentence. Create a smooth transition from your intro by creating a topic
sentence that links the thesis to your first main point. With each body paragraph, there must be a
target point and a supporting detail. A target point is the part of the thesis that you are aiming to
prove. The supporting detail is the outside validation that enriches your statement.

3 Step Procedure

• Make a claim: This is your main argument of the body paragraph. Since the quality of the
essay is dependent on how well the thesis is defended, make sure that your 3 claims are
reliable.
• Present the evidence: Usually, in informative writing, this will be a quote from some
document such as journals, articles, bibliographies, etc. Without this, your informative
essay will hold no value. It would be the same as accepting opinion as fact.
• Provide an explanation: They need to display how this claim proves their thesis
statement as fact. This is necessary and should be explained coherently. If eager to gain
extra validation points, the writer can go into more depth about how the evidence backs
up the claim. However, if this can be inferred without the need of extra information, then
that would be ideal.

Conclusion

After portraying your three main arguments, it is time to wrap up your essay by learning
how to conclude an informative essay efficiently. The informative essay conclusion restates the
thesis statement and offers final thoughts and insights on the topic. Explain it in different words
and provide room for a smooth transition. To effectively finish the essay, one must come up with
an overall concluding statement. This statement should serve as an explanation for the
significance of your argument. In other words, explain why the informative writing you just crafted
has value and where this information can be applied.
Literary Writing

Literature, in its broadest sense, is any written work. Etymologically, the term
derives from Latin litaritura/litteratura “writing formed with letters,” although some definitions
include spoken or sung texts. More restrictively, it is writing that possesses literary merit.
Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction and whether it is
poetry or prose. It can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel,
short story or drama, and works are often categorized according to historical periods or
their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre).

Poem

Poems are a collection of literary work that is written in stanzas and lines that make
use of rhythm in order to emphasize or express emotions and ideas. Those who write poetry
pay careful attention to elements like sentence length, word placement and even how lines
are grouped together. This is what is known as ‘form’. Lines or entire stanzas can be
arranged in a way that creates or evokes a specific emotion in the reader.

Rhyme Schemes

Alternating Rhyme – a 4-line stanzas and includes the ABAB pattern.

“Neither Out Far Nor In Deep” by Robert Frost

The people along the sand (A)

All turn and look one way. (B)

They turn their back on the land. (A)

They look at the sea all day. (B)

Coupled Rhyme - a 2-line stanza following the simple format AA, BB, CC, etc.

“Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss

I would not like them here or there. (A)

I would not like them anywhere. (A)

I do not like green eggs and ham. (B)

I do not like them, Sam-I-Am. (B)

Triplet Rhyme – a 3-line rhyming stanza

“Upon Julia’s Clothes” by Robert Herrick

Whenas in silks my Julia goes, (A)

Then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows (A)

That liquefaction of her clothes. (A)

Monorhyme – only has one ending rhyme throughout the entire poem

“Night Storm” by Marie Summers

It came in a winter’s night,

A fierce cold with quite a bite.

Frosted wind with all its might

Sent ice and snow an invite

To layer earth in pure white

And glisten with morning light.

Enclosed Rhyme – structured (ABBA), the name ‘enclosed rhyme’ makes sense. The
couplet of the (BB) is sandwiched between the As

“Shakespeare” by Matthew Arnold

Others abide our question. Thou art free. (A)

We ask and ask—Thou smilest and art still, (B)

Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill, (B)

Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty, (A)

Journalistic Writing

Journalistic writing is a form of non-fiction writing used to report news and factual events.
It can be utilized in newspaper articles, television reports, radio scripts and on news websites. As
it is written to inform, journalistic writing usually consists of short sentences and paragraphs that
get to the point of the article quickly.

How to write a short newspaper article

• Research the topic. Make sure you know the who, what, why, when, where, and how.
Find any supporting or surrounding information on your topic that may be interesting or
useful to your audience.
• Organize your research. Go through your research findings and organize it into three
categories. The first category is for essential information, the second is for useful
information, and the third is for interesting information that is not vital.
• Plan your article. Make an outline of your article content in the inverted pyramid structure.
Briefly note which pieces of information you will include in your lead paragraphs,
supporting paragraphs, and closing paragraph. If you would like more information about
what to include in each section of your newspaper article, head to this wiki page about the
structure of a newspaper.
• Proofread your article and check your facts. Go back through the newspaper structure
guide to ensure you have included all of the relevant information. When proofreading your
article, remove any information that is not useful for your audience to know about the
report.

Key parts of a newspaper article

• Headline. This should grab the reader’s attention through a short, snappy sentence
that clearly portrays what the article will be about.
• Byline. This details the writer’s name, the writer’s journalistic specialism (e.g.
Sports Editor), a link to their other journalistic pieces, and an optional link to their
professional social media channel.
• Lead. Here the who, what, when, why, where, and how should be covered.
• Body. Go into more detail about the event or incident in around three paragraphs,
providing supporting information about the topic.
• Tail. Round off the piece with links to extra information about the topic, or a final
quote from a source.
•

How to Write

The inverted pyramid is a structure that lots of news writers follow when writing news
reports and articles. It helps them to organize the information from their research while
making sure that they include the most important information first. It is also a great way to
help you organize your research notes into an order.

• The most important information: The start of your news article should include the
most newsworthy information, including the 5 Ws and H. This is the most important
part of your news article because your audience should be able to stop reading after
this point, and know exactly what you are reporting on.
• Details about the story: This section should add more details about what
happened, and will build on what the reader has learned from the first section. This
part of your news article should be organized into an order of importance, so include
the most important extra details first, and so on.
• Background information: This part of your article should provide extra information
about the topic you are writing about. For example, if your article was on how an
orchid managed to grow to the size of a house, you may add some background
information about orchid plants, or growing indoor plants in general. This section is
also a good place to add the finer details of your story that could easily be taken out
without disrupting the meaning of the text.
References

Betts, J. (n.d.). Common Rhyme Scheme Examples in Poetry. Example Articles &
Resources. https://examples.yourdictionary.com/common-rhyme-schemeexamples-in-
poetry.html.

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Literature. Encyclopædia

Britannica.https://www.britannica.com/art/literature.

How to Write an Informative Essay (Free Example Essays). EssayPro.

(n.d.).https://essaypro.com/blog/informative-essay.

Poetry Structure – Its Definition, Kinds and Usage - A Research Guide. A Research Guide
for Students. (2020, December 4). https://www.aresearchguide.com/poetry-structure.html.

What is Journalistic Writing? . twinkl.com.ph. (n.d.). https://www.twinkl.com.ph/teaching-

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