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1、English news reading and writing Chapter 6: Alternative lead Go over the lead 1,whats lead The first paragraph in the news story 2,lead can. Catch the readers attention Tell readers whats important Pull readers into more detail 3,type of lead Article leads are separated into two categories. Direct l
2、ead-delayed leadDirect leadTell me the news! Directly tell event Including some most important elements ,such as time, place, the source Always used on hard news Look at the examples: The Summary lead is the most basic news lead, covering all of the essential elements. Simply summarize the 5 Ws of n
3、ews reporting. Who, What, Where, When and Why. The Analysis lead digs deeper into the ramifications（分枝，分叉 ） of the news. Put the news into perspective by adding insight beyond the minimum required elements.Alternative lead But it is obvious that, in order to draw the readers attention, there are som
4、e other variety ways to write the good news leads. Especially when you write a soft news, you should think about writing an alternative lead. Summary leads are effective, but alternative leads are creative. 1. An Alternative Leads The alternative leads introduce the topic in a more attention-seeking
5、 fashion, and is usually followed by a nut graph. It brings creativity and variety to news, features, and business writing. 2. The Features of the Alternative leads A. Can be several paragraphs long.1 B. Takes a little longer to get to the gist of the story. C. Teases the reader with a descriptive o
6、r storytelling approach. D. Requires use of a nut graph early in the story to give reader the point of the story.3. The Advantages of the Alternative Leads A. Let your news specific. B. Avoid the obvious. C. Emphasize the storys unusual or unexpected developments. D. Emphasize the most interesting,
7、and capture audiences attention4. Nut Graph Because alternative leads start with a little something to catch the readers attention, therefore they delay the real stuff of leads - the 5Ws, the message and the angle. So they need a paragraph following the attention-grabber that does the heavy lifting
8、to supply the 5Ws, the message and the angle. Nut graph is the focus paragraph that explains the point of the story. .The Types of the Alternative Leads 1. Multi-element lead Most of the stories have had just one main element on which to build them. We call these types of stories single-element stor
9、ies. You look for and find the most important or interesting item and then feature it in the lead. But not every story is that simple. Some stories -especially meeting stories- have more than one most important/interesting element. Thus, we need to write multi-element leads. All the important items
10、must be introduced in the lead.A.Structure The proper order for most single-element stories is to write the lead and then build on it until you are done in an inverted pyramid style. Or, your organization might look like this: Lead - first paragraph Body-follow up paragraphs With a multi-element sto
11、ry, though, your story organization might look like this: Lead (introduces Element A, Element B, Element C) Brief summary of Element A Brief summary of Element B Slightly longer summary of Element C Summary of other items from the meeting More followup/completion of Element A More followup/completio
12、n of Element BB. Applications Five men were arrested in two separate drug busts by Carolton police Tuesday night. The next paragraph would talk about one of the busts and then you would use a transition such as “In the other incident . . . “ to write more fully about the second arrest. A 14-year-old
13、 boy and a East Hills man were treated for gunshot wounds in two separate incidents Tuesday, one week after the Carolton City Council was presented with a petition that would limit possession of buy and sales of guns to some. In this story you would then tell more about the gunshot of the 14-year-ol
14、d (Element A), followed by a summary of the second shooting (Element B). Finally, you would summarize the story about the city council issue (Element C) and how it ties in. Multi-element leads are common in newspapers with stories about multiple accidents, weather incidents, roundups, meeting storie
15、s, etc. Anything where lots is going on and each incident is probably not much news in itself, or where the bigger picture is more newsworthy.C. Avoid One thing to avoid in multi-element stories is burying key information. Do not assume your reader will wade through half your story to find out what is going on. A common mistake, for instance, might be a long but indefinite lead. Summarize the key issues high in the story, and then tackle them one at a time. At least youve given the reader notice what other items are forthcoming.2. Question lead It is also called the
