Well-written Article

More High School Students Learning in Other Languages

The article that I chose is about education. It was published on August 31, 2010, and it was written by Tania Valdemoro. The name is “More High School Students Learning in Other Languages.” This article caught my attention due to its topic. As I read into it, I liked many things about it that made it work for me.

One of the attributes that stand out about this article to me is the way in which it starts. The title of the article gave me an idea of what I might find inside, and it became the hook that made me take the time to read it. The lead is one that guides me through different programs that exist in different parts of Miami, but it purposefully leaves out the “how it works” or “why this is allowed” part for later reading. I was interested in reading the article because the lead was more of a hook to the topic at hand.

I liked that through the introduction it is very vague on the why and the how of the newsworthy topic, but as it goes on, it answers these questions not only with facts, but it is accompanied by responses by students of these new programs. I also liked that it is divided into sections with titles, so I know what the section deals with as I continue reading.

This article is successful in informing me about this alternative way to learn in different languages. It is much unbiased about the topic, being careful to stay away from controversial ideas such as these programs, especially the ones in Spanish, becoming a crutch for students who come from Latin America and won’t need to apply themselves to learn the local language, English. Another issue it stayed away from, and therefore becoming impartial about, is that education in these programs might be better because it is more challenging and more hands-on and varied than traditional education in Miami-Dade County.

I think that being impartial about news is important because it can be very easy to sway from the newsworthy content and move into feature and editorial forms of writing when working on an article. This article served as a good example of how to not do that.