Commentary Evaluations - Opinions

Story 1 - Ideacide and you: the guide to avoiding self-censorship

1. Nobody's name is shown for who wrote the story, so it is most likely a general opinion of the staff

2.  It's about the changes in Bowie High School and how students don't have a say in any of it

3. "...there still lies an unconscious tendency in most people to hold back their thoughts and opinions, often referred to as self-censorship." Teenagers may be given the opportunity of having their individual thoughts and opinions, but more likely than not, they won't be taken seriously because of their lack of experience compared to adults.

4. They did not touch on the the other side of the story as much as they should've, but they did include that they should respect adults when necessary and not disregard them at all times.

5. They went back and forth, but not too much to overtake their first opinion. Most students would agree with what the story is trying to convey.

6. No quotes

7. 1st Person p.o.v.

Story 2 - Letter from the Editors

1. Cianna Chairez and Abby Ong

2. What the Dispatch's goals are and how they make their news 'real' for the viewers.

3. "Our purpose as a student led newspaper is to serve the student body through informing, challenging, and highlighting different parts of the school."

4. There wasn't much of a main opinion, but they did discuss the consequences of using fake or bad news in an authentic newspaper.

5. There wasn't too much of an opinion to start with, just statements made by the editors about The Dispatch

6. No quotes

7. 1st Person p.o.v.

Story 3 - Understanding political perspectives

1. Carter Scruggs

2. The story is about how people are starting to express their political opinions since the 2016 elections.

3. "...since the 2016 election, it seems that the levels of political activeness has increased by tenfold, a fact can be seen everywhere in our daily lives."

4. Not too much, but they did touch upon everyone having their own separate opinion and how nobody should judge them for it.

5. No, they mainly stuck with their original opinion throughout the entire story

6. No quotes

7. 1st/3rd Person p.o.v.

Story 4 - IDs spark debate: purpose vs plastic

1. Ian Miller and Jake Brien

2. The opinion on whether or not the IDs for the school was a good implementation to Bowie's customs

3. Ian believes that the IDs are for the better and that the IDs are just a small thing everyone should remember to increase security around the High School. Although Jake thinks that the IDs couldn't have been the only security measure the school could've taken.

4. They separately stated both the opinions for the story on opposite sides of the paper.

5. The article clearly shows separate opinions side-by-side so no confusion can be made about the two

6. No quotes

7. 1st Person p.o.v.

Story 5 - College applications cost more than just your personal time

1. Natalie Aman

2. The article is about how we should not have to pay just to apply to our future colleges and how the opportunity should be free instead.

3. She is not in favor of paying any sort of money to apply to anything. "...I was shocked when I found out how much just applying to college costs... fees combined is costing me over a whopping $400"

4. They never mentioned a different perspective on the topic

5. The author has her opinion straight since the start of the story, never flip flopped her thinking anywhere in the story.

6. No quotes

7. 1st Person p.o.v.

A. What do you think the major differences between a hard news story and an opinions piece? 

    A hard news story contains more facts with no opinions listed unless it is in a quote. An opinions piece doesn't (normally) contain photos, most of the time does have back up evidence for their reasoning, and more often has more than one opinion in the article.

B.  Why do you think there aren't very many photos on this page?

    I doubt that you would need a photograph to help persuade the reader to read the article. These kinds of articles aren't in the same category as most stories, so they don't need to follow the same rules.

C. What are three topics you think would be good to write an opinions piece on?

    A controversial one would be the major sports games, or the major High School sports games, choosing a side and explaining why they did better. Another would be their opinion on politics, whether this side was valid, and the other did horrible, that would be talked about. Colleges would be great for the demographic, helping the students decide between the many options for their future based on the article could do good for the students.