5. Now you are going to apply what you have learned in class. As per the class discussion, please provide me with three different headlines for the story (article in Question #4) and outline your reasoning(s) and explanation for each. Please ensure you base your answer on the different elements of headlines we spoke about in class. Please go into detail for each. (12 Marks)
Headline #1: Love at First Lopsided Smile: Family Drives 2500 Miles to Rescue Uniquely Adorable Dog
My reasoning and explanations for the headline “Love at First Lopsided Smile: Family Drives 2500 Miles to Rescue Uniquely Adorable Dog” consist of a few different elements. To begin with, this headline is on the longer side because I feel that a slightly longer headline can keep the reader’s attention longer. It is not too long that it is boring but long enough that I was able to include all of the key elements of the story that I wanted to include within this headline. With the story, I chose a common theme for my headlines is that they use emotional words to evoke a sense of emotion in the reader. Using emotional words such as “rescue” it generates an emotional response in the reader and captures the reader’s attention, making them want to read more to find out what is happening in the story. As we learned, using a headline that hits the reader right in the feels is what can drive action by targeting those emotions and what better way to do that than with a headline that is about a heartwarming dog rescue story. The headline that I created also provides a good amount of information about the story and what readers are going to find when they click on the headline to see more. It is important when creating headlines that they are not misleading and not just created for “click bait”, headlines should be a representation of what the reader is going to find when they click on your story.
Headline #2: A Perfect Fit: Misfit Lopsided Dog Finds Happiness and Love with His New Family
For this headline along with my other headlines, it has a main theme of invoking a sense of emotion in the reader. But along with that element, there are a few more that make this headline different from my first headline. The first element is that it focuses on the positive outcome of the story. From the headline, the reader can see right away that the misfit dog finds happiness and love with his new family. By showing that this is a feel-good story with a happy ending from the headline, it is more likely to get the attention of readers who specifically enjoy these types of stories. Going along with that element, my headline is relevant to my audience which is people who enjoy feel-good animal heartwarming stories. By stating that it has a happy ending in the headline and that this story is about a dog it could really resonate with any animal lovers or people who have rescued their own pets. This headline is relevant to my audience because of the themes of hope, animals and heartwarming stories. Finally, I believe the most important phrase in this headline that I used is the beginning which is “a perfect fit”. Using the phrase “a perfect fit” at the very beginning of my headline can be a big aspect of drawing in my audience to read this article because it can be very appealing to people who are interested in a happy ending. This phrase creates an expectation that within the story everything works out for the misfit dog.
Headline #3: Family Overcomes Obstacles to Give Lopsided Dog a Forever Home in Heartwarming Adoption
For the third and final headline the reason, I chose “Family Overcomes Obstacles to Give Lopsided Dog a Forever Home in Heartwarming Adoption” as the headline is because it is clear and concise. This headline directly delivers the main message of the story in a clear and easy way for the reader to understand. It is very clear from just reading the headline once that this story is about a family that overcomes obstacles to give a lopsided misfit dog a forever home. Along with this headline being clear, it is also concise. The headline is fairly short and is able to convey the entire message of the story in one headline. With readers that usually skim over things, it makes it easy for the headline to get the reader’s attention because it is short and easy to read and retain. The next reason and element why I created this headline are because the words are driven by action. The message of the story or article makes readers want to know the obstacles the family had to overcome in order to adopt the misfit dog. Leaving some things unknown in the headline it makes readers more interested and intrigued in your story and makes them want to click on it to find out more. Finally similar to my other two headlines, this headline instils a sense of emotion in the reader especially because it is about an animal. This headline evokes emotion that makes readers want to know what happened to the dog and his adoption story.