Non Fiction:
“Move Your Shadow,” by Joseph Levyveld, Sightlines 10, pg 337
Memoir Excerpt
Pre-read (as a class)
- Think and take notes about the title and what it could mean.
- Define “Apartheid.”
- Read the information below before you read the memoir excerpt.
Background Information______
Author:
-executive editor of the New York Times
-journalist, foreign correspondent in varied “less glamorous locales”
-1999, award from InternationalCenter for Journalists for excellence in covering international news
-“Move Your Shadow,” is one of the most comprehensive accounts of South Africa, praised for having “put another big nail in the coffin of Apartheid.”
Visual: Saskatoon Artist, Ann Newdigate
-tapestry shows seascape of the artist’s South-African youth
-includes newspaper article chronicling the death of a teenage black funeral mourner, who was shot and killed by an officer for “singing in his own language.”
-Symbolism: artist used fine silk (expensive, luxurious material). The silk embeds the “tragedy of racial oppression” within “the public of an idyllic tourist beach.”
During-read
- Fill out the “words to know” sheet.
- List any striking images.
Post-read
- Answer questions #1 and #2 in your textbook.
- Identify a minimum of three themes that arise in the selection.
- Devise a new report that records the incident discussed in this memoir excerpt. See new report handout for instructions.
Writing: News Report
Definition:
A news report is a writing form in which the purpose is to give “news” (facts and details):
-about something that has happened, or
-an even that will happen in the near future
A new report is a writing form that:
-has a headline which grabs the reader’s attention (3-7 words)
-usually consists of a number of short paragraphs (5-7)
-in its introductory paragraph, gives a brief summary of the 5 W’s of the story: who or what the news report is about, what happened, when it happened, where is happened and why or how it happened (1 sentence for at least 4 out of the 5 W’s)
-the body of the news report expands on the who, what, when, where, why/how by giving supporting details, facts and quotations from witnesses or by standers
-the writing has an objective point of view, meaning: the writer does not give his or her opinion (does not use “I”), but may quote the opinions of others
-the news repot places the most important information in the early paragraphs, in case the reader does not read to the end
How to start:
- Make a chart and fill in the 5 W’s (facts, details, information)
- Make up an attention grabbing headline (no more the 7 words)
- In the introductory paragraph, inform the reader of the 5 W’s
- Write a separate paragraph for each of the 5 W’s
- Order your paragraphs: most important information first
- In at least one of your paragraphs, include quotations from witnesses or bystanders
- edit your news report
- add a photograph and caption for the good copy