EDITORIAL WRITING

What is an editorial?
What are the qualities of the editorial in all its forms?
What is the editorial writers purpose?
What is the role of the editorial in the publication? What

is its relationship to news and feature stories?

What is the role of the editorial in the school
publication?
How do you pick a subject for an editorial?
How do you write an editorial? What should be avoided?

Editorial
An article that states the
newspapers stance on a
particular issue.
Basically, it is a persuasive
essay that offers a solution to
a problem.

Sample Editorial from your school paper

Point out the factual information
Point out the opinion or message
Identify the tone of the writing

How does the writing (sentence structure,

word choice) and organization differ from
news writing?

 What is the role of the editorial (in

all its forms)?

What is the role of the editorial in a

high school or college publication?

The HEAD
After working with teachers,
administrators and parents, the school
board adopted a new, more
rigid dress code for high school
students for next school year. The
administration said it wanted
students to dress more
professionally. According to the
new policy, students will not be
allowed to wear flip flops, sandals,
and jeans
to school next year.

The NECK

What is your opinion?

The new dress code is too restrictive
and is not necessary for our school.
Students dress appropriately and do not
need to be turned into mini-adults in
business suits.

The BODY
Give three reasons why

you are taking your

stand.
1) The new dress code
limits individuality.
2) Students should not be
expected to dress like
adults.
3) It is an issue of
economics. Flip flops and
jeans are cheaper than
corporate attire.

An ARM
Support your arguments with evidence and
examples. Your English teachers call this
elaboration.
The new dress code limits individuality. High
school students define themselves by what
they wear. They express themselves through
their clothing. A strict dress code will force
students to hide their identity and make
conformist out of the whole school. Part of the
spirit of our school is the acknowledgement of
the differences that we have with each other.

The other ARM

Opposing viewpoints are rebutted. You shut
down the opposition.
The administration says they created the new
dress code because they wanted students to
look professional. This is absurd. Students are
not professionals yet. Students are just
students and should be allowed to dress that
way. When we graduate from high school and
college, it will be
important that we dress professionally, but it
makes no sense for a 15-year-old student to
wear a business suit to a science or P.E. class.

One LEG
If you are going to complain about
something, you must have a better way of
doing it.
If the school wants students prepared for life
after high school or college, a rigid dress
code is not the way to go. Just dressing
professionally doesnt guarantee success.
Good grades, good test scores and a good
resum is what will make a student
successful. The school needs to focus on
college preparatory classes and skills training
and development instead of a dress code.

The other LEG

The school does not need a dress code.
Instead the school should focus on real
issues that will help students be
prepared for life after high school and
college.

Persuasion and the Art of Argumentation

Avoid errors in logic to write more
persuasively
Post

hoc ergo propter hoc

Non sequitur
Hasty generalization
Contradiction
False Cause
Begging the Question
Arguing from Ignorance
Ad Hominem
Appeal to Authority

Errors in Logic
Post hoc ergo propter
hoc ("after this, therefore
because of this)
The fallacy lies in coming

to a conclusion
basedsolelyon the order
of events, rather than
taking into account other
factors that might rule
out the connection.

"I can't help thinking that

you are the cause of this

problem; we never had
any problem with the
water tubes until you
moved into the
apartment." The manager
of the apartment house,
on no stated grounds
other than the temporal
priority of the new
tenant's occupancy, holds
that the tenant's presence
has some causal
relationship to the water
tubes becoming faulty

Errors in Logic
Non sequitur ("it does
not follow)
the conclusion could

be either true or false

but the argument
nonetheless asserts the
conclusion to be true
Humans are mammals
Jackson is a mammal
Therefore, Jackson is
a human

In everyday speech,

anon sequituris a
statement in which
the final part is totally
unrelated to the first
part, for example:
Life is life and fun is

fun, but it's all so quiet

when the goldfish die.
West with the Night,
Beryl Markham

Errors in Logic
Hasty generalization
reaching an inductive

generalization based
on insufficient
evidence

 Bill: "You know, those feminists all hate men."

Joe: "Really?"
Bill: "Yeah. I was in my philosophy class the other day
and that Rachel chick gave a presentation."
Joe: "Which Rachel?"
Bill: "You know her. She's the one that runs that feminist
group over at the Women's Center. She said that men are
all sexist pigs. I asked her why she believed this and she
said that her last few boyfriends were real sexist pigs. "
Joe: "That doesn't sound like a good reason to believe
that all of us are pigs."
Bill: "That was what I said."
Joe: "What did she say?"
Bill: "She said that she had seen enough of men to know
we are all pigs.

Errors in Logic
Contradiction
Information is

presented that is in
direct opposition to
other information
within the same
argument.

You say that your

school is overstaffed,
then later argue that
there is a necessity for
more guidance
counselors.

Errors in Logic
False Cause
A temporal order of

events is confused
with causality; or,
someone
oversimplifies a
complex causal
network.

Stating that poor

performance in
schools is caused by
poverty; poverty
certainly contributes
to poor academic
performance but it is
not the only factor.

Errors in Logic
Begging the Question
A person makes a

claim then argues for

it by advancing
grounds whose
meaning is simply
equivalent to that of
the original claim. This
is also called "circular
reasoning."

You argue that schools

should continue to
have textbooks read
from cover to cover
because, otherwise,
students would not be
well-educated. When
asked to define what
"well-educated"
means, you say,
"knowing what is in
the textbooks."

Errors in Logic
Arguing from

Ignorance
Someone argues that a
claim is justified
simply because its
opposite cannot be
proven.

You argue that God

does not exist, since

you cannot see God.

Errors in Logic
Ad hominem
("to the man" )
an argument is rebutted

by attacking the
character, motive, or
other attribute of the
person making the
argument, or persons
associated with the
argument, rather than
attacking the substance
of the argument itself

You reject a senators

reasons for increasing

tax because of the
plunder cases filed
against him.

 A father may tell his

Ad hominen tuquoque
("You also)
refers to a claim that

the source making the

argument has spoken
or acted in a way
inconsistent with the
argument

son not to start

smoking as he will
regret it when he is
older, and the son may
point out that his
father is or was a
smoker. This does not
alter the fact that his
son may regret
smoking when he is
older

Errors in Logic
Appeal to Authority
Authority is evoked as

the last word on an

issue

When you use the

Bible as the basis for

your arguments
against specific school
reform issues.

How do you avoid these errors?

RESEARCH. Although it

can seem like an

opinion article, the
editorial is not about
you or your feelings. It
is about your papers
stance about the most
important issue that
you and your editorial
board selected.

Really think about

what you will write.

Think about
responsible
journalism. Put time
and effort in it. Do not
rush writing an
editorial.

Persuasion and the Art of Argumentation

Sweet Arguments
Issue: Which candy is better?
Your stance: _____ is definitely
better
Your arguments: Give at least 3

Whats your stance?

K to 12
Death penalty
Unified ID system
Return of Sangguniang Kabataan
Girls courting boys
Assignments and projects given to

students