the enlightenment newspaper project??

Question

I need help on my world studies project!! We are writing a newspaper about issues that happened during the enlightenment. the newspaper is supposed to be in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1764 and the articles that i am writing are discoveries and Military news..The problem i am having is writing it like a newspaper, and it is written about 200 years after the enlightenment...so when i try to write it it sound more like a report on the discoverys during the enlightenment than an article about it...so please some one help me make it sound like a newspaper article!!

Answer 1

Exciting headlines will catch the readers' attention. Also, if you go to: http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/past/ you can see 3 front pages of colonial newspapers. This should give you some ideas. If you click on the icon, you can see the larger version. None of the examples are from Virginia, but you should get some idea when looking at them.

Use the principles of Journalism - answer the who, what, when, where and why? (or how much)

The first paragraph can include the above general things and the following paragraphs specific examples and details.

Make it sound exciting and like it is happening on that day...you could probably incorporate some of the real people - Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferenson and Richard Henry Lee served in the House of Burgesses at different points.

Try to include some real places for your settings, such as: Raleigh Tavern. You can have a new invention announced there in one of your articles and get some quotes from those in the tavern. http://www.history.org/Almanack/places/hb/hbral.cfm

Or, maybe you can interview a merchant about a story on the military? Perhaps, business is improving or vice versa due to the military news you will write about?

Here is a website which gives you some types of merchants and possible names... http://www.americanparknetwork.com/parkinfo/cw/sights/trades.html

The more creative you get the more interesting it will be. Have fun...

Answer 2

What you need is a "lead" sentence for your newspaper article. This is supposed to be the News!" Your lead does not have to be short, but it should be complete. In particular, it should answer these five questions in the first sentence of: Who? What? Where? Why? When? For example:

Mrs. John Jones stabbed her husband to death in their home today Thanksgiving Day in front of their three children, because he complained that the turkey was undercooked.

Another classic lead is: "As it must to us all, death came to John Jones today."

So you have to pick an issue or an event and write a good lead. It didn't happen 200 years ago. It happened today!