Topics from the NYT
How to Read The New York Times
Start the day (or at least the class portion of the day) by reading the headlines in The New York Times.
Go to nyt.com and scan the front page. For the first three weeks of class, we are concentrating on informative speaking, so you will confine your reading to articles on the LEFT side of the page and in the center. These are factual accounts giving the who, what, when, where, why and sometimes how of the news. They will be the source of your first major informative speech, without which you cannot pass the course.
On the RIGHT side of the front page, clearly labelled OPINION are articles in which the editors and contributors give facts and opinion. These will provide the source of your persuasive speech, the most important presentation, without which you cannot pass the course.
You may choose your own topics for these major speeches, but they must be generated by a RECENT article in The New York Times, and by recent, we mean August, September & October 2021. The topic cannot be sports, entertainment, fashion or other fun material. It must be a serious local, national or international topic. Make sure your topic is appropriate for a general audience, not just for others with your expertise. Your speech is not about the article. The article is giving you the idea for your topic, and is the first source. Your research will include one other reliable source for the informative speech, and two other reliable sources for the persuasive speech, which do not need to be so current.
In addition, you will need visual aids, such as graphs (for statistics), diagrams and photos, all which may be available in The New York Times.
Since not all articles have a byline (the author of the article), you need only mention the title of the article, in quotations, the name of the source, underlined, and the date (in parenthesis) at the end of your outline. In addition, you can supply the link to the online edition.
How to choose a topic and identify main points
Informative speeches
A well-written newspaper article, such as those found in The New York Times, will give the facts and answer the questions Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
Your first job, after selecting an article, is to formulate a topic sentence (TS) Today I will inform you about ______________. This will incorporate some of the answers, but others will need longer explanation, and will probably constitute the three main points of your speech.
Take, for example, the article which is the subject of your Mid-Term exam:
Music and Cookouts in a Tent City for Afghans Starting Life in the U.S. (NYT 9/25/21). Some vital information is in the headline; more is in the sub-heading; and still more in the picture and caption.
When you have read the entire article, you will be able to select the best topic sentence, and the three main points. Then you can write your full preparation outline.
In choosing the topic for your own informative speech, follow the same procedure. Make sure you email me your TS, NYT article and date (which must be recent meaning since the semester started). When your topic has been approved, you can start work on your research. Remember to find another reliable source, as well as appropriate visual aids. For this speech, you may request screen-sharing to show visuals previously selected. Make sure you show them ONLY when talking about them, as you did when you showed a map to illustrate the location of your country in that speech. Do NOT prepare a power point presentation because we need to see you, the speaker, on full screen.
A Pacemaker for the Brain: No Treatment Helped Her Depression Until This The New York Times (nytimes.com)
this is my topic that I choose from the NYT
A Pacemaker for the Brain: No Treatment Helped Her Depression Until This The New York Times (nytimes.com)
