Mags | kellystonela8

Grade 8 Language Arts

Mrs. Kelly/Mr. Stone

Writing Assignment #4 Magazine

Here are the requirements for the magazine assignment that you will need to complete:

Cover Page – Every magazine uses its cover to attract buyers. A bold magazine name, colour and interesting pictures always draw attention. Start looking at the mags in the library and at home.
Your cover must have:
• The title of the magazine (should be the biggest writing on the cover) and subtitle
• The publication month, price and UPC scanner
• The title of the featured article
• The title of the interview or Letter from the Editor
• A prominent illustration which represents the theme of your magazine

Index – The table of contents lists everything included in a magazine, leaving out only the advertisements. You must include the page numbers for your article, interview and or Letter from the Editor and bibliography. Please use size 12 font (you may choose your own style). The writer who created the article needs to be recognized. Under the headline write the name of the contributing journalist in 10 point font.
At the bottom of the page, include the following information in 10 point font:
• A website address for subscription information
• Your company name
• The city where your company is based
• The copyright year

One Article – What does the average person need to know about your topic or what would they be interested in reading about? The article is the “meat” of your magazine so put a great deal of thought and planning into this. Look closely at our article exemplars and know the features of a good article. Provide one article on the topic. The topic must be first cleared by your editors, Mr. Stone or Mrs.Kelly. You must include the following with your article:
• A web and outline of the article
• One draft of your article, a conference with your teacher and edited by someone in your class.
• Two pictures that relate specifically to the article topic(original drawings or copied). Illustrations, diagrams or maps are also appropriate.
• The title must be clearly labeled on the top of the first page.
• The author’s name must appear at the end of the article.

Select one of the following:

1. One Interview – When you interview someone, you must make sure that you are prepared. Do prior research to ask well-informed, quality questions. Choose a person that fits into your theme and that you can rely on to meet with you, or can complete the interview via the internet. You would be amazed at who will actually respond to your questions!
Make sure that you ask at least 10 quality questions (NOT how old are you? Or where did you grow up?) Include the question and the answer as well as an illustration or picture. See example from class.

2. Letter from the Editor- This is like a personal narrative where the Editor shares with the readers something personal. They also discuss the feature articles that are in the magazine and how the reader will benefit from reading these pages.
Please Include:

One Advertisement – The lifeline of any magazine is the money it brings in by selling space to companies. You can use an image of an existing product, but you must create a new company name, product name and slogan. Your advertisement must also include information (50 words or less) describing the benefits to the consumer. You can sell, for example, sneakers, but you can not sell NIKE and have a slogan of “Just Do It!”
Choose one from the list below:
• Product #1 – must be a food product
• Product #2 – must be a non-food item.
• Product #3 – Your choice
• Product #4 – must be on your back cover. Your choice.

Bibliography – Any book, magazine, website, or CD that you use while doing research for this project MUST be cited in order to avoid plagiarism. We will discuss how to format them in class.
Please rough draft your magazine in your Writers Notebook before you move to the computer. I would like to see some of your ideas.

Potential Topics:
1. Cartoons/Video Games – What’s popular and why. Ex. Nintendo Power
2. Music – Any genre you choose. Ex. Rolling Stone, Source
3. Sports – Can be specific or general interest. Ex. Sports Illustrated, Hockey Digest, Skate
4. Travel - Provide places to go and things to see.
5. Celebrity – Discuss what’s happening in the world of stardom. Ex. People, Teen People, Entertainment Weekly
6. Issues – Take an issue that you feel strongly about and educate the class. Ex. Time, National Geographic, MacLean’s
7. Seasonal – Take a holiday or season of the year and write articles based on it. Ex. A Christmas or Halloween magazine
8. Fashion – What are the styles of the day? Ex. In Style, GQ
9. Pets – What is important to know about a dog? Cat? Horse? Ex. Dogs
10. Health- Healthy Living, lifestyles, ways to stay healthy , etc…

A timeline or breakdown of when to have drafts and final copies completed will be given to you in the near future.

Magazine Examples