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This column is for self-study or classroom use and gives guided help with reading the wide variety of writing styles and topics that appear as feature articles in the Bangkok Post. The lessons include background information, skill-building practice and vocabulary explanations. March 15, 2005 Capturing the story INTRODUCTION

In our instant lessons, we often try to get students to use their imagination. Here is a fun little exercise that will get you to do just that as well as practise your English skills in the process. Here at the Bangkok Post, one of the writers’ jobs is to come up with captions that briefly explain what is going on in photographs that accompany their story. Sometimes, if a writer is not present at the scene of a photograph, the photographer will submit his or her own “long caption” that tells the story in a few sentences. Occasionally, these photographs and long captions appear on their own, without writers contributing anything. Here you can see five photographs taken from recent news stories. Underneath the first picture, you can see we have included the caption that was taken from the original story. But with the others, we have only printed the picture. Look at each of the photographs and try to write a story in two or three sentences that you think reflects what you see. You can have a bit of fun with this activity by imagining strange or funny things have happened as we have done in the “alternative caption” under the first photo. Remember that captions should be very direct and written in the present-perfect tense even though the story happened in the past! Picture 1 Original Caption — A man points to a disintegrated part of the Giant Swing. The ancient swing, now in a state of disrepair, will soon be renovated by the city administration and the Fine Arts Department. Alternative caption — A man points to a strange mark that mysteriously appeared yesterday on the Giant Swing. Eyewitnesses report having seen mysterious aliens in the early hours of the morning when the mark was said to have been made. The government has warned the public to stay away from the area while a full investigation is underway. Picture 2 Original Caption — .................................................. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ Alternative caption — .................................................. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ Picture 3 Original Caption — .................................................. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ Alternative caption — .................................................. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ Picture 4 Original Caption — .................................................. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ Alternative caption — .................................................. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................

• This lesson was prepared by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, BA Stanford, MA (TESL) University of Minnesota, Manager/Editor of the Learning Post at the Bangkok Post and general editor of this programme. Read our other instant lesson here. Return to our home page. | © The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. All rights reserved 2005 | Last modified: March 15, 2005