ARTICLE WRITING

Writing an article is quite challenging. It involves a high degree of

creativity, a wide vocabulary, a thorough knowledge of the subject, and
a lot of organisational abilities.

Points to Remember

1. Give a title that catches the attention of the reader.

2. Begin with a striking opening sentence that attracts the readers
and gets them interested in the topic.
3. Introduce a new point at the beginning of each paragraph to
strengthen your ideas.
4. Present a strong argument for your ideas supporting it with
evidences or elaboration.
5. Use linking words (however, therefore, although, even though,
in order to...) to form a coherent composition.
6. Use passive voice, humour, emotive language, rhetorical
questions to provide a specific effect. The humour should
however be subtle and not overpower the article.
7. Develop your ideas as much as you can to make the article
interesting and substantial. Conclude with your strongest point.
8. Clarity of writing can be ensured only by knowing the purpose
of writing and your audience.
9. Do not add too many quotations. It takes away the essence of
the article.
10. Remember to proofread and edit your writing.
11. Adhere to the given word limit.
Title / Heading Eye-catching, illustrating the central
themes
Name of the writer Writer’s name, either at the end or
immediately below the title.
Introduction Establish the context 9 and delimit the
topic)through a topic sentence.
Focus on the positives and negatives of
the topic.
Put the topic in perspective.
Draw the readers’ attention. Specify and
delimit your topic.
Put a rhetorical question or give some
startling facts or statistics.
Content Spell out the various aspects of the topic
- merits, demerits, causes, consequences,
effects, advantages, disadvantages.
Ending and conclusion Give your opinion, comments, criticism
and recommendations.
Conclude with a hope, a warning , an
appeal or a call for action.
Eg: 1
Teenagers are full of energy as well as ideas. Write an article, in 120-
150 words, on ‘How to Channelise the energy of the Teenagers ?’ You
are Tejinder / Simran. You may use the following clues:

Teenagers curious - full of questions - question elders - sometimes even

wrongly - generation gap - may go astray - effect on society - how to
channelise - productive hobbies - social work – sports - part-time, etc.
Answer:
How to Channelise the Energy of the Teenagers?
By Tejinder
The students in their teenage or early adulthood are full of physical and
emotional energy. Unless this energy is rightly channelised to positive
avenues, it is possible that they use it negatively because they cannot
stop themselves.
Teenagers are curious to know more. This is the age when they develop
their outlook towards the world. They are full of questions about the
world around them and about themselves. These young adults question
their elders, sometimes even wrongly, and try 10 make their own
decisions. This creates a generation gap. Influence of cinema and media
promotes rash behaviour as heroic. If at this time, their energy is not
channelised in a positive direction, they may go astray and can affect the
society negatively.
In channelising a teenager's energy, the parents and the mentor in
schools play the most important roles. Parents should inculcate and
educate their children about right and wrong things. They should teach
them their culture and stories of courage and good. manners, engage the
students in positive and social activities apart from academics. The
students who have underutilised time end up using it in unwanted
activities. Encourage them to take part in productive hobbies, social
work, part-time jobs and sports of their interest. Art, culture and
literature are also avenues for using the youth energy.
The most important of all, educational institutions should be a place
where they have the freedom to express, develop confidence and skills,
and along with that develop good behaviour and discipline. Every
teacher should become a personality development trainer. The dynamic
energy of the youth needs to be channelised positively and not
politically or by media.
Eg: 2

The attitude of the parents towards the girl child is changing. They have
begun to realise that daughters are as good as sons. Parents are more
supportive and paying more attention to their education. Write an article
on the topic, ‘Today’s Parents and the Girl Child’. You are Suhas /
Suhasini.
Eg: 3
Rising pollution, fast and competitive lifestyle, lack of nutritious food,
etc. have caused health woes for a large section of our population.
Providing health care used to be a charitable and ethical activity. Today,
it has become commercialised, a money spinning business. Write an
article, in 120-150 words, on ‘How to Provide Proper Health Care to the
Common Man?’ You are Karan / Karuna.
How to Provide Proper Health Care to the Common Man?
By Karan
In the rat-race to earn more and live a better lifestyle, people do not have time to
take care of themselves. Exercising, yoga, and meditation have become
uncommon these days. They have become fancy terms which people only talk
about. Rising pollution, fast and competitive lifestyle, lack of nutritious food, etc.
have caused health woes for a large section of our population. Providing health
care used to be an ethical activity. Today, it has become commercialised. The
poor illiterate man who goes to the hospital for some other treatment ends up
losing kidney. Such cases of kidney theft in hospitals have become quite
common. Doctors refuse to start treatment of people unless payment is done. Can
the poor afford?

Many government hospitals are in pathetic conditions. There are hardly any
provisions for the sick. The government hospital doctors have made the hospitals
a referral point for their private practices. Inclusion of private sector in health
care has made the entire situation commercialised. Unnecessary tests and
operations are done without any human concern. Proper health care has stopped
being affordable even to the middle class, leave alone the poor class. Though the
cost of treatment is lower than the west, it is still not affordable to the common
man. The government needs to take necessary steps and allocate more funds to
the health care in India. Better health care facilities at the Primary health care
centres, provision of essential medicines free of cost, strict vigilance on the
doctors at the government hospitals, health insurance should be improved and
private hospitals should provide health care to the common man at affordable
cost. "Prevention is better than cure". Therefore, proper precaution and care
should start at home.
Eg: 4
Mid-day meal scheme in the schools introduced by the government
serves several purposes. Millions of children from the deprived sections
of society get nutritious food leading to good health, are attracted to the
schools, kept from going astray and developed into good citizens. The
scheme may have some drawbacks too. Write an article, in 120- 150
words, on all aspects of the scheme. You are Navtej / Navita.
Mid-day Meal Scheme
By Navita
The renowned 'mid-day meal project' is a famous school meal scheme in
the country, India. The scheme began in the year 1960. The main
objective of the scheme is to provide day lunch to students during
working school days. Some other important aims of this scheme include:
protecting students from study-room hunger, improved socialisation
especially among the students, increasing enrollment as well as
attendance, social empowerment; addressing malnutrition, etc. It also
prevents children from going astray and develops them into good
citizens.
However, there are certain drawbacks to this scheme. Sometimes, due to
lack of monitoring and hygiene, children are provided with
contaminated food. This is furthered by corruption at all levels. In most
places, teachers manage kitchens and are often not dignified in
distributing food. A lack of infrastructure in schools and delay in
payment by the Government further aggravates the issue. Children are
often treated as burden. Only when the government, school authorities
and the parents join hands, can this mid-day meal scheme be a true
success.
Eg: 5
In the year to come (if you have not already done this year) you are
going to celebrate your 18th birthday. Write an article, in 120-150
words, on the joys and responsibilities of being eighteen. You are Navtej
/ Navita.

I am Eighteen!
By Navtej

Reaching milestones in age (For example, hitting 18, 21, silver jubilee
or sweet sixteen) is a great birthday to celebrate! It packs all that
magical 'specialness' which a normal year doesn't. Whether it actually
brings along that much more in its stride is still a question. For me,
becoming 18 was an awesome feeling. I was allowed to vote. That for
me was the best part of turning 18. Becoming responsible for your
actions is again something I really loved, as it leads to proper personality
development and our parents are no longer responsible for us. It also
brings with it a feeling of independence and loads of freedom. They said
that age was just a number! I don't think so! Turning 18 has led to a
thousand new duties entrusted upon us. Right to vote, driving, helping
parents with their work; the list is endless. It opened up a new domain of
responsibilities and made us aware how much our parents deal with. As
they say, grass is always greener on the other side. When we were kids,
we wanted to be adults but now that we are adults, we want to be kids
again! With every age comes lots of experience and learning so just go
along with it, live life to the fullest and no matter what your age, don't
forget to be yourself! But remember, being 18 is also about being more
responsible, mature, thoughtful and balanced.
Eg: 6
Over the past few years there has been a constant rise in coaching
institutes and private tuition centres all over India. Write an article, in
about 120-150 words, highlighting the exploitation of young minds that
seek sincere counseling and proper direction. You are Gurpreet, a
student of Class XII of Indira Public School, Jamshedpur.
Coaching Institutes-The Real Purpose
By Gurpreet
The recent trend of joining a coaching institute to get good marks has
led to the mushrooming of coaching institutes and private tuition centres
all over India. The real purpose of coaching institutes was to provide
help by providing students proper guidance. Of late, however, the
purpose has become exploitation of young minds. Some may say that it
is a tall claim. Others might still say that we cannot blame the whole set
because of some money-minded people. Being a victim of this rigmarole
of coaching and tuitions, I can say from my experience that things are
not the same. Parents and children diligently visit various coaching
institutes, in order to choose the best. The counselors at the institute aim
to fill their centres with the cream, so that their results are not
compromised. In case a weak student comes for coaching, they sincerely
offer a crash course knowing fully well that the needs of the student are
different. All this because if the student (without any doubt in this
particular case) does not get through any entrance exam or does not get
good marks, one can always say that they did only a crash course. Such
exploitation of the students and their parents needs to be regulated by
the Education Department. Parents should be made aware of the various
courses at the coaching institute. The most important thing would be to
believe in their wards and understand that just like earlier days, children
can still do well without any extra help from coaching centres. True,
some students might need such help, but it should not be done to blindly
follow a trend.