Breaking Down An Op-Ed

Why do we need op-eds? What does a good example look like? How can students approach it? As a young Op-Ed writer, I’ll attempt to answer these questions by walking through my own Op-Ed, “The Intrusion of an ‘Attention Economy’ is Creating an Educational Crisis,” recently published in The Sunday Diplomat.

What Does an Op-Ed Do? 

Opinion writing isn’t just an exercise to inform; it’s a form of personal expression. In other words, it puts facts in context. For example: While we know that human attention has diminished amidst technological advancements (this is a fact), it wasn’t until I became a teacher at my debate club that I specifically realized the pervasiveness of generative intelligence and its impact on adolescent attention in classrooms (this is the personal context). 

Opinion writing is a challenging genre because it requires the writer to grasp many skill sets. As an Op-Ed writer, you are also: a persuader who generates concise arguments that are important, balancing nuance and clarity; a researcher, cementing your arguments through reliable sources; and a storyteller, using evocative metaphors or analysis to foster a rhythmic cadency that strides.

Multiple drawing hands echoing variety and differences in opinion writing (GDJ/Pixabay)

Lesson 1: Start Strong

Many readers have the attention span of a goldfish, often distracted through multitasking or scrolling through bite-sized videos. As the writer, it’s our job to hook them quickly, usually with a thought-provoking, startling, or relatable opening. A common way to achieve this is through an anecdote.

As an example, here’s my opening anecdote: 

Every child has experienced it: the lifeless anticipation for a lesson to end or the frantic begs for an interactive class game to begin, hoping it would relieve our inattentiveness. However, stepping into lessons as a first-time teacher, I hesitated – watching my classroom transform into an uproar of hoorays after the assembly of a Kahoot! game as my last resort to garner attention — not merely because I know all too well Kahoot’s inability to entrench meaningful knowledge, but chiefly as I saw among their oblivious smiles a diagnosis I recognized too clearly in myself.

An engaging beginning balances clarity and nuance, a skill deemed one of the most challenging to leverage. Nuance thrives when writers use meticulous descriptions, whereas clarity is often made possible through shorter writing lengths. Hence, it is up to the writer to filter for important details that can express personality without giving up clarity. 

The opening should also hint to or outline the themes/mood of the Op-Ed. In my example, we can spot various words that encompass the main idea of the article: “attention capture,” “classroom,” and “adolescents.” 

But just as importantly, the opening should not force an anecdote just for the sake of having one. There are many other ways to write an engaging opening: shocking facts, compelling quotes, or rhetorical questions, among others.

Hand drawn doodle style of hands clapping, applause, thumbs up gesture (Budi yanto/iStock)

Lesson 2: Forming Your Argument

Every engaging Op-Ed contains a clear argument or stance. Without it, the piece turns more into a subject commentary or personal reflection. Therefore, it’s important to inform readers of your stance as early on as possible, ideally after your opening hook. 

That being said, the argument doesn’t need to be stated in one flawless sentence. Instead, its different components can be gradually introduced throughout the article. In my example, I do this by first recognizing a social problem: 

Today, the pervasive development of artificially intelligent technologies has created an attention meltdown.

Then, I explain the angle from which I will tackle the issue and why it is unique: 

While the mechanism of how our ‘rich information era’ consumes attention is much discussed in social media and political spheres, we seem to neglect technology’s efforts to personalize, attract, and fragment our habits within society’s most fundamental incubators – public classrooms.

Finally, I unravel the causes and consequences of the issue: 

The crux of the problem lies … in an attention economy, coined as the often invisible but pervasive commercial exploitation and monetization of our attention…where profit-driven architects form the backbone of our attention dynamics, laying no concern for the long-term development or enrichment of our education.

Here, you as the audience may be overwhelmed by certain unfamiliar notions or a relatively long logic chain. But the truth is, opinion writers often tackle real-world issues that are controversial and convoluted in their very nature, making it impossible for readers to grasp or remember the writer’s argument immediately. So, how can we make our arguments more memorable? That’s where literary techniques come in!

Lesson 3: Use Your Writer’s Toolbox

Metaphors and personalized analysis are great ways to leave a long-lasting impression. What might this look like? In my Op-Ed, I reference a metaphor from John Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation,” which cleverly portrays the overarching impact of my argument:

Imagine that your child has been chosen by a visionary billionaire to join the first permanent human settlement on Mars. However, they will be inevitably exposed to cosmic radiation while also having to navigate low-gravity atmospheric environments, increasing their risk of cancer mutations and bone deformities in their still-developing bodies. Worse still: the company did not require proof of parental permission.

In the same way, big tech has involuntarily set students onboard the spaceship to Mars, exposing us to novel ways of superficial learning (cell mutations) and porous attention spans (bone deformities).

Here, a key step in fully taking advantage of a metaphor is extending it throughout our piece. This creates a chain effect, meaning readers can more easily connect distinct symbols that represent your argument. In my case, I extend the Martian metaphor to further illustrate big tech’s ignorance towards sustaining learning:

…we cannot merely support our children’s bone deformities with a temporary brace – never scheduling any further surgical procedures to alleviate the long-term underlying harm. In the same way, we cannot keep familiarizing students with technologies that ‘promise’ to help them learn but rather, are mere ‘slogans’ bought and sold in a package…

You can also emphasize ideas by incorporating personal insights into your analysis. For example, when trying to spotlight the pervasiveness of misleading attention-capture technologies, I included my personal context: 

As an international student studying outside the U.S., the mere experience of seeing exact platforms like Class Dojo and Century being utilized in nearby schools only epiphanize the sheer scope and breadth our attention economy has grown to become. 

Rather than simply saying “the impact of attention-capture technologies is very big,” the Op-Ed undertones the technology’s normalization by taking a foreign perspective.\

Lesson 4: Leave a Meaningful Impression 

One way to end your piece is to complement your personal opinion with those of the more experienced. In my example, I reference experts to support my claims: 

In [source], [author] suggests practical measures of implementing “attention formation as an explicit focus” in the educational curriculum as well as various alternative methods…This includes the practice of “voluntary attention” to deliberately enhance attention control, or exercising “sustained attention,” simple practices traditionally developed to medicate ADHD.

Subsequently, the concluding sentences of again link back to the Martian metaphor, not only reiterating my stance but leaving audiences with a piece of thoughtful reflection: 

In Haidt’s words, “Let children grow up on Earth first, before sending them to Mars.”

By returning to a pre-established metaphor throughout the piece, you can create an ending that is both engaging and coherent.

Drawing of astronaut on Mars, alluding to the Martian metaphor used throughout the article (Zdenek Sasek/iStock)

A Note on Counterarguments

You might wonder: Should I address counterarguments? While it can certainly add more dimension to a piece, it is not a must as long as we, as writers, can effectively instill clear argumentation, evoking change. Notably, as often as writers seek to use counterarguments to provide fairness to the other side, we should refrain from defending stakeholders who perpetuate harm and rather ask ourselves: What context has facilitated the opposing view? What limitations do they hold? How will understanding this stance enrich our argument’s aim?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to tackling an Op-Ed. Other approaches, such as developing a personal style, incorporating unique tones, or including multimedia elements, can just as well make one’s opinion worth reading. 

For me, completing a piece is never easy; it often takes several drafts and precise changes to achieve my favored level. But ultimately, having a dedication to unwaveringly voice your stance through writing is a more-than-nourishing and powerful experience. I hope the tips and perspectives from this walk-through have helped you develop a greater passion and understanding for opinion writing! 

Thank you to The Sunday Diplomat for contributing this blog written by Julia Jiang!

Julia Jiang is a 16-year-old Chinese American student based in Beijing. Her journalistic journey kickstarted on The Sunday Diplomat, where she is a writer for the section “Society & Culture,” and has published many of her favorite articles there. With her lively energy, she’s always ready to support and empower more youth to discover their voices through writing. In her free time, you’ll find her playing sports or traversing nature’s mountains. She hopes her love for journalism can bridge balanced dialogues and diversify understanding.

About The Sunday Diplomat:
The Sunday Diplomat is a global, student-run news publication staffed by a new generation of writers, editors, and researchers. Exploring topics in politics, technology, and the environment, The Sunday Diplomat strives to spotlight student journalism around the world by providing a student perspective on current news.